Vein-type ore deposits: Introduction

Abstract

A vein-type ore deposit is defined here, as: a deposit of ore filling a fissure, or fissures, in rock. This term is non-genetic and is non-restrictive with regard to orientation. The history of vein-type ores illustrates a marked change from their being the major source of most metals, up to the late 19th century, to their being the source of a more limited range of metals today, and in the foreseeable future. Although this volume falls short of a review of all commodities and deposit types, it is justified on the grounds that it contains many new descriptions and represents a time-capsule of the late 20th-century thinking on the geological setting, classification and genesis of vein-type ores.