For most of the 20th century, the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) was the primary United States Government

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

 agency conducting scientific research and disseminating information on the extraction, processing, use, and conservation of mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...

 resources

Natural resource

Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....

.
Founded on May 16, 1910, through the Organic Act (Public Law 179), to deal with a wave of catastrophic mine

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 disasters, the mission of the Bureau of Mines expanded over the years to include:

• The conduct of research to enhance the safety, health, and environmental impact of mining and processing of minerals and materials.
• The collection, analysis, and dissemination of information about mining and processing of more than 100 mineral commodities across the Nation and in more than 185 countries around the world.
• Analysis of the impact of proposed mineral-related laws and regulations upon the national interest.
• Production, conservation, sale, and distribution of helium
  Helium
  Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
  
   for essential government activities

From its creation, the USBM was viewed, both nationally and internationally, as the focal point for new and emerging science and technology in the minerals field.