Kentucky Minerals Database
Thousands of records on Kentucky minerals and mining are now available at the Kentucky Geological Survey at the University of Kentucky. During the past decade, KGS staff members Warren Anderson, Tom Sparks, Richard Smath, and numerous students have developed a minerals database of scanned documents that includes core logs, cross sections, mine and property maps, geochemical and geophysical maps, chemical analyses, and unpublished reports. This map service provides information and location data pertaining to Kentucky's ore mineral resources and their associated commodities: fluorite (fluorspar), galena (lead), sphalerite (zinc), barite, iron, nitrates, and phosphates. The database provides access to more than 20,000 files containing information about the ore-bearing mines and their associated minerals across the state, particularly in the three major mineral districts in central, southern, and western Kentucky. Also included are radionuclide data.
A link called About This Service gives instructions on how to use the service. A legend describes icons used on the map, layers that can be turned on and off, along with search and print utilities. Information can be searched by mine name (general to specific), mineral commodity, mineralogy, or location (county or quadrangle).
This database was made possible by the contribution of records from geologists, mining and exploration companies, and researchers, as well as by students and staff who scanned and organized these records over the years of the database's development.
