Abstract
Abstract Economically viable concentrations of mineral resources are uncommon among the predominantly silicate-dominated rocks in Earth's crust. Most ore deposits that were mined in the past or are currently being extracted were found at or near Earth's surface, often serendipitously. To meet the future demand for mineral resources, exploration success hinges on identifying targets at depth, which, on the one hand, requires advances in detection and interpretation techniques for geophysical and geochemical data. On the other hand, however, our knowledge of the chain of events that lead to ore deposit formation is limited. As geoscience embraces an integrated Earth systems approach, considering the geodynamic context of ore deposits can provide a step change in understanding why, how, when and where geological systems become ore-forming systems. Contributions to this volume address the future resources challenge by: (i) applying advanced microscale geochemical detection and characterization methods; (ii) introducing more rigorous 3D Earth models; (iii) exploring critical behaviour and coupled processes; (iv) evaluating the role of geodynamic and tectonic setting; and (v) applying 3D structural models to characterize specific ore-forming systems.
Highlights
Viable concentrations of mineral resources are not common among the predominantly silicate rocks that formed Earth’s crust: rock is everywhere, but ore deposits are rare! Exploration for mineral resources and their extraction has been an essential aspect of human society since prehistoric times, whether, nomadic, agrarian rural or urban: archaeological insights into early civilizations depend largely on the discovery and analysis of stone, ceramic and metal implements, and residential dwellings and monuments
The overwhelming majority of mineral deposits that were mined in the past, or are being extracted currently, were found at or near the Earth’s surface, and only very few discoveries resulted from a structured search underpinned by scientific methods (e.g. Hronsky & Groves 2008).With a growing global population aspiring to the same levels of material affluence enjoyed by prosperous post-industrial societies, it is inevitable that demand for mineral resources in energy generation, building and manufacturing will continue to increase (Sykes et al 2016; Ali et al 2017; Arndt et al 2017)
In their paper ‘Microscale data to macroscale processes: a review of microcharacterization applied to mineral systems’, Pearce et al (2017) explore how innovations in microanalytical procedures and techniques, including synchrotron X-ray fluorescence, electron backscatter diffraction and X-ray computed tomography, combined with trace-element mapping can be applied to ore deposit studies to constrain macroscopic processes within mineral systems
Summary
The development of new microscale analytical methods and their application is an important contribution to better characterize ore-forming systems. In their paper ‘Microscale data to macroscale processes: a review of microcharacterization applied to mineral systems’, Pearce et al (2017) explore how innovations in microanalytical procedures and techniques, including synchrotron X-ray fluorescence, electron backscatter diffraction and X-ray computed tomography, combined with trace-element mapping can be applied to ore deposit studies to constrain macroscopic processes within mineral systems. Based on case studies of mineralization at Sunrise Dam Gold Mine and the Mount Keith Ni-sulphide deposit in Western Australia, the authors find that an increasing use of microanalysis and the combination of micro- and macroscale datasets in ore deposit geology allow constant reassessment of established models for ore genesis
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