Mineral deposit mineral deposit formation of mineral deposits. Mineral deposit models usgs publications repository. Mineral deposits mineral systems and mineralising events. In addition, mill sites and tunnel sites may be located to provide support. Form of the deposit size, shape, orientation and ore mineral distribution. A list to some major types of ore deposits and a link book download. A modified version of these mineral deposit models for australias major mineral deposit types is available on the australian mines atlas. Emphasizes highquality content and form, and international coverage. Essentially this means that per tonne of rock containing the desired minerals, the costs of removing the minerals from the rock and separating the metal from the minerals are lower than the value of metal per tonne of rock. Discriminant diagrams for iron oxide trace element. There are two main approaches to mineral deposit classification. Geological survey, mail stop 973, box 25046, denver, colorado 80225 john l.
The purpose of this paper therefore is to present a summary of the geological attributes of commonly recognized types of. Mineral deposits formed as a consequence of sedimentary processes. Interpreted genesis of the deposit processes, controls. Mineral deposit profiles province of british columbia. Geology of canadian mineral deposit types geology of. Hydrothermal mineral deposits are accumulations of valuable minerals which formed from hot waters circulating in earths crust through fractures. Mineral deposits form because some medium serves as a concentrating and transporting agent for the ore minerals, and some process subsequently causes the transporting agent to precipitate, or deposit, the minerals. Ore deposit geology john ridley, colorado state university. Pdf ore deposit types and their primary expressions researchgate. This publication describes the geologic characteristics of a number of specific mineral deposits and their regional geologic environments.
The mineral deposits of canada mdc volume is a collection of 44 papers that have a global perspective but a canadian focus, and have been grouped under five major headings. The usgs mineral resources program mrp delivers unbiased science and information to increase understanding of mineral resource potential, production, and consumption, and how mineral resources interact with the environment. The most widely adopted, especially for resource assessments, is the mineral deposit models classification of cox and singer 1992 published by the usgs, which includes grade and tonnage models. The compendium of geologic models presented includes 85 descriptive models giving identifying attributes of the deposit type and 60 gradetonnage models giving estimated premining tonnages and grades from over 3900 wellcharacterized deposits. Pdf assessing rare earth element mineral deposit types. Some deposits are related to metamorphic processes and are as such classified as deposits of metamorphic origin. The rights granted by a mining claim protect against a challenge by the united states and other claimants only after the discovery of a valuable mineral deposit. The model descriptions, called mineral deposit profiles, are being developed by bcgs staff in cooperation with experts from the geological survey of canada, industry and universities. Models and exploration methods for major gold deposit types. Gold deposits million oz au grade gt ksm snowfield prosperity red chris blackwater schaft creek brucejack davidson galore creek mt.
An ore deposit is a mineral deposit which has high enough grades of metal that makes it economic to mine. Structural deformation may alter the form and attitude of some of these deposits. Mineral deposits geolearning department of earth sciences. Geology of canadian mineral deposit types geology of north america o. Recognition of the environment and existence of potentially economic mineral deposits may be based upon a variety of geological criteria. Pdf ore deposit types and their primary expressions. Includes mines, prospects, and occurrences, permissive tracts for several mineral deposit types, and gravity anomaly contours. Critical geologic characteristics and viable models jean s. An ore deposit may be either of igneous or of sedimentary origin. Mineral resource assessment of colombia hodges and others, 1984. Demand for minerals is increasing world wide as the population increases and the consumption demands of individual people increase. Hence, there is a tendency to talk about stillwater complex type or carlintype gold deposits, which rather defeats the purpose of finding a general from the specific. Mineral deposit models are the keystone in combining the diverse geoscience information on geology, mineral. Descriptive model of laterite type bauxite deposits, by sam h.
Lenticular masses, veins, lodes and zones of disseminated mineralization result from metamorphic processes. Reconstruction of fragmented continents can provide a useful basis for. The models use the mineral systems approach mccuaig et al. Within these three broad modes of origin, a mineral deposit of economic value might have originated due to set of simple or complex processes. Geological survey has a long and distinguished history in assessing the mineral resources of the public domain, and that role remains active today in programs designed to assess the mineral resources of the lands administered by the u. These summaries reflect the current understanding of mineral deposits and correspond closely to the definition of mineral deposit types in common use. Economic mineral deposit types are known to occur in all geological environments. Residual lateritic deposit formed during humid climate. The term metal, however, is reserved for those chemical elements that possess two or more of the characteristic physical properties of metals opacity, ductility, malleability, fusibility and are also good conductors of heat and electricity. Mineral deposit profiles provide brief summaries of the types of mineral deposits found in british columbia. Effective cooperation on this project required that u. Sarkar, in essentials of mineral exploration and evaluation, 2016. With this framework, it is possible, for a given deposit type, to predict where in structural systems hydrothermal systems may occur, the chances that significant. These have now evolved to what is known as a genetic model, which includes theories on deposit formation as well as the physical properties of the mineral deposit.
It is necessary to specify that, from a formal point of view, we can talk about mineral deposits only if the quantity and quality of rocks and minerals allow men to economically exploit the resource. Gisbased identification of areas that have resource. The mineral deposit types are grouped hierarchically in terms of resource elements. In addition, mill sites and tunnel sites may be located to provide support facilities for lode and placer mining claims 43 cfr 3832. Mineral deposit formation of mineral deposits britannica. The two types of mining claims are lode and placer. Assessing rare earth element mineral deposit types and links to. Classification of mineral deposits geology for investors. They eventually create richmetallic fluids concentrated in a selected volume of rock, which become supersaturated and then precipitate ore minerals.
They describe deposit types which are found, or could be found, in british columbia. Minerals provide the material used to make most of the things of industrial based society. Mineral deposit, aggregate of a mineral in an unusually high concentration about half of the known chemical elements possess some metallic properties. Electron microprobe analyses of minor and trace elements in magnetite and hematite from a range of mineral deposit types. Application of mineral deposit concepts to geothermal exploration ian bogie1 and jim lawless1 1kingston morrison ltd. The mrp is the federal governments sole source for this mineral resource science and information. They include descriptions of host rocks, mineralogy, alteration, tectonic setting, associations, genetic models, and exploration guides, and give typical examples with grades and tonnages. Useful to those engaged in field geology, mineral deposit. Polley gold resource estimates measured and indicated categories b. Mineral deposits have been historically classified in many different ways according to a number of geological parameters, viz. As mentioned, there are many factors to look at when determining the value of a copper deposit. Exploration targeting from prospectivity modelling of. Major features and element dispersion characteristics of the main types of supergene au deposit adapted from butt, 1998. Classification of deposits generally we can classify mineral deposits into two major groups.
The descriptive models are a more objective label, which describes the rocks and tectonic setting of the deposit. By mineral deposit we mean those areas where minerals and rocks are extracted to be later used by men. Ore deposits, mines and mineral resources publisher denver, colo. Mineral deposits include several different types related to magmatic, hydrothermal, sedimentary and metamorphic processes. Skarn deposits geology of canadian mineral deposit types. Rare earth elements, mineral deposit types, environmental implications, mineral resources, ree mining and processing, ghg emission.
There is a need to summarize such information and, more importantly, to attempt to synthesize it into a coherent classification of gold deposits. The key geology features of the oreforming environments and the key geologic manifestations of the different deposit types form the footprints of ore systems that are targeted in exploration programs. Geologic controls on the composition of natural waters. These summaries reflect the current understanding of mineral deposits and correspond closely to the definition of mineraldeposit types in common use. Examples of concentrating and transporting agents are groundwater, seawater, and magma. Syndeformational hydrothermal and replacement deposits. Mineral deposit models are important in exploration planning and quantitative resource assessments for two reasons.
The journal is of interest to those engaged in field geology, mineral deposit research, and ore deposit exploration. Discriminant diagram introduction magnetite and hematite are two common oxide minerals in magmatic, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks e. Info geology and resource assessment of costa rica at 1. Mineral deposits form in particular tectonic settings which are governed by plate tectonics. Known, absent and potential mineral deposit types in australia. Associated host rocks or geological structures ore associations. The university of arizona geosciences department the. Geological processes operating due to energy released at plate boundaries control the process of mineral deposition. Presents new observations, principles, and interpretations from the field of economic geology. These minerals form partial to complete solid solutions with magnetite, chromite, and spinel series, and ulvospinel as a result of divalent, trivalent, and tetravalent cation substitutions. Among the deposits derived from magmatic processes, diamonds, chromite, and platinum group elements are discussed, while there are a few articles on.
Cline, university of nevada, las vegas, 4505 maryland parkway, box 454010, las vegas, nevada 891544010 albert h. A large color section serves to illustrate details of some of these mineral deposits, and locations of all known deposits are presented on an oversize figure and are indexed in an appendix, as well. Deposit types and their modes of origin the section below describes the main geological features of eight basemetal deposit types, listed here by the names and acronyms by which they are. Ardfrecord mineraldepositkeywordandscoring templates used in the study entitledgisbased identification of areas that have resource potential for critical minerals in six selected groups of deposit types in alaska excel spreadsheet appendix d. Most mineral deposits are formed by more than one process, so attaching a single label to them is difficult. Pdf in order to determine whether it is desirable to quantify mineraldeposit models further, a test of the ability of a probabilistic neural network. Assessing rare earth element mineral deposit types and links to environmental impacts article pdf available in applied earth science imm transactions section b 1222. In some occurrences, minerals can be extracted at a profit by mining.
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