USGS Mineral Resources (MRDS) Data Scraper

Extract 300,000+ mine and mineral deposit records from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) — the authoritative federal database of mines, mineral prospects, and mineral occurrences across North America and globally.

Whether you're in mining exploration, industrial supply chain research, geological analysis, or building a critical-minerals pipeline for AI, this Actor gives you structured, filtered access to the complete MRDS dataset in seconds.

What data does this scraper extract?

Field	Description
depId	Unique MRDS deposit ID
siteName	Name of the mine, prospect, or occurrence
latitude / longitude	Geographic coordinates
state / county / country	Location
commodity1 / commodity2 / commodity3	Primary and secondary commodities (gold, copper, lithium, uranium, etc.)
devStatus	Development status: Producer, Past Producer, Occurrence, Prospect
depositType	Deposit classification (e.g., placer, lode, vein)
productionSize	Size classification (L=Large, M=Medium, S=Small, N=None)
ore / gangue	Ore and gangue mineral descriptions
discoveryYear	Year discovered
firstProductionYear / lastProductionYear	Historical production timeframe
mrdsId	Legacy MRDS identifier
url	Direct link to the full MRDS record

Who uses this data?

• Mining companies and exploration firms identifying known deposits in target areas before field campaigns
• Investment analysts and due-diligence teams building comprehensive mineral resource databases
• Critical minerals researchers tracking supply-chain exposure to lithium, cobalt, rare earths, and strategic materials
• Geologists and academics studying regional mineralization patterns
• Government agencies and NGOs monitoring domestic mineral production capacity

How to scrape USGS MRDS mineral data

1. Open the Actor on Apify Store and click Try for free.
2. Configure your filters in the input form:
   • State: Enter a 2-letter US state code (e.g., NV for Nevada, AK for Alaska). Leave blank for all states.
   • Commodity: Enter a partial name like gold, copper, lithium, or uranium. Matches any of the three commodity columns.
   • Development Status: Filter by mine status — Producer, Past Producer, Occurrence, or Prospect.
   • Max Results: Default is 3,000 for a fast preview. Set to 0 to export the full 300,000+ record dataset.
3. Click Save & Run — the Actor downloads the MRDS zip, parses the CSV, and writes results to your dataset.
4. Download your data as JSON, CSV, or Excel from the Dataset tab.

Input example

{
  "state": "NV",
  "commodity": "gold",
  "devStatus": "Producer",
  "maxResults": 500
}

Output example

{
  "depId": "10009306",
  "siteName": "Horse Mountain",
  "latitude": 39.69999,
  "longitude": -106.20061,
  "country": "United States",
  "state": "Colorado",
  "county": "Eagle",
  "commodityType": "M",
  "commodity1": "Uranium",
  "commodity2": "",
  "commodity3": "",
  "devStatus": "Occurrence",
  "operationType": "Unknown",
  "depositType": "",
  "productionSize": "N",
  "ore": "",
  "gangue": "",
  "discoveryYear": "",
  "firstProductionYear": "",
  "lastProductionYear": "",
  "mrdsId": "D002208",
  "url": "https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/show-mrds.php?dep_id=10009306"
}

Pricing

This Actor downloads the full ~25 MB MRDS dataset and filters it locally — a single run costs approximately $0.003–$0.005 depending on the number of results.

Run type	Estimated cost
Filtered run (state + commodity, ~500 results)	~$0.003
Full 300k+ export	~$0.005

FAQ

Is the MRDS database kept up to date? USGS updates the MRDS periodically. Each run fetches the latest official download directly from USGS servers, so your data always reflects the current state of the database.

Can I filter by multiple commodities? The commodity filter does a partial-text match against all three commodity columns simultaneously. Enter gold to match any deposit where gold appears in any commodity field. For multiple commodities, run the Actor twice and merge the datasets.

Does this work outside the United States? Yes. MRDS contains global deposits. Leave the state filter blank to include all countries. Set maxResults: 0 to export the complete international dataset.

Why does an empty run return 3,000 records by default? With 300,000+ records, an unlimited run can take several minutes. The 3,000-record default delivers a fast, representative preview. Set maxResults: 0 to retrieve the full dataset when you're ready.

What does commodityType M or N mean? M = Metallic deposit (gold, silver, copper, etc.), N = Non-metallic deposit (phosphate, silica, potash, etc.).

Other scrapers by SeatSignal

• USGS Earthquake Hazards Scraper — seismic event data from USGS feeds
• EPA ECHO Compliance Scraper — Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act violations
• USASpending Federal Awards Scraper — federal grants and contracts data

Legal disclaimer

This Actor accesses only publicly available, non-personal data from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System — a US federal government open-data resource in the public domain. No authentication is bypassed. Use responsibly and in accordance with all applicable laws. The Actor operator is not affiliated with USGS or the Department of the Interior. For support, contact the developer via the Apify Store listing.