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By V. F. Hollister

Although it is apparent that porphyry copper deposits may have formed in the Andean orogen from Permian time onward, commercial deposits thus far developed appear to have Cenozoic ages only. Following Chilean usage, the porphyry deposits are divided into either (1) a stockwork or (2) a tourmaline breccia model. As indicated by evidence cited in the paper, stockwork-type deposits tend to be related to major strike-slip structures which may be either transcurrent or transverse faults related to plate movements, while the tourmaline breccia type may more frequently form independently of regional faults. Stockwork types may be conjugate fractures that intersect and ramify as a network of veins and veinlets, cutting altered rock, and genetically related to a major regional fault, or in other cases they may reflect the intersection of two large fault structures. Circular fracture patterns may more rarely occur in stockwork deposits in response to a specific intrusion. Tourmaline breccia types are characterized by circular and radial fractures genetically connected in some way with touramline breccia pipe development or an intrusive piercement that preceded it. Each structural model contains mineralized intrusions which have a close time-space relationship to ore, and in each model mineral paragenesis is similar, regardless of age or location in the plate. Also, each model contains the same type of alteration halos (phyllic, argillic, propylitic) as are developed in intrusive centers in porphyry copper deposits found in North America. The potassic zone is exposed best in the older deposits. Examples of each type of deposit are illustrated, demonstrating the feature evolved.

Jan 1, 1975

By R. J. Sweigard, R. V. Ramani

Three case studies were undertaken to investigate the role of land use potential evaluation in reclamation planning and to determine the impact of regional differences on final land use plans. The three surface mines studied were representative of operations in the Appalachian, Interior, and Northern Great Plains provinces. The scope of the investigations included a survey of regional characteristics, a detailed investigation of the mining operations and site conditions, and an assessment of local land use planning activities in the area of the mines. Special attention was given to key factors that presently determine the use of reclaimed land. Also, for each case study, the postmining land use potential was evaluated using site planning principles. Specifically, the environmental, economic, and social impacts of several potential postmining land use plans were considered.

Jan 1, 1987

By S. R. L. Harding

"Introduction0N MAY 2th, 1953, Socony Seaboard Pembina No. 1 well, located 70 miles west-southwest of Edmonton, was completed as a producer of high-gravity oil from the Cretaceous Cardinm sand. This event is possibly the most significant in the development of the oil industry in Western Canada since the Devonian discovery at Leduc in 1947. The result of the Pembina discovery and the follow-up drilling has been a tremendous increase in interest in the Cardium formation.Descriptions of the Cardium formation, as it occurs in the 'Central Foothills' and in the 'Southern British Columbia Foothills' have been presented by R. E. Folinsbee (9)-and C. R. Stelck (21), respectively. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the more regional aspects of the subject.The name Cardium was first used .as a stratigraphic term in 1863. Dr. James Hector ( l2), geologist attached to Captain John Palliser's exploratory expedition, gave the name 'Cardium to the whole section of marine Cretaceous beds exposed along the Bow river west of Calgary."

Jan 1, 1955

By D. C. Cooper, P. M. Green, J. A. Plant, P. R. Simpson, A. J. Reedman

Paper presented at the 28th International Geological Congress held in Washington DC, July 1989 (International geochemical mapping sessions). The Grampian Highlands and English Lake District evolved as part of the American and European continental plates, respectively, and were separated by the Iapetus Ocean until they were tectonically juxtaposed during the late stages of the Caledonian orogeny. The similarity in the controls of the distribution of gold pathfinder elements and gold mineralisation in the two regions thus provides important information for understanding the genesis of gold deposits in comparable tectonic settings elsewhere. The data presented are inconsistent with models that invoke a juvenile source of gold or its pathfinder elements. Instead, they support a model whereby gold and its pathfinders were initially concentrated in volcano-sedimentary sequences in rapidly subsiding, tectonically controlled basins and in associated volcanic rocks. Remobilisation and mineralisation occurred subsequently, probably as a result of an increase in oxygen fugacity associated with the influx of granite magmas into the crust and the establishment of hydrothermal convective circulation systems

Jul 1, 1991

By Smith DM Jr

Silver deposits, in which silver forms at least fifty percent of the value of the ore, are abundant and large on the east side of the Pacific and are absent in the western Pacific. To determine if this uneven distribution is related to features of consuming plate tectonic boundaries which dominate the metallogeny of the Pacific Rim, the variation of Ag/Au in porphyry copper deposits was used to estimate the relative silver content of magma generated in subduction zones. Porphyry copper provinces with high Ag/Au occur in regions of the eastern Pacific where silver deposits are abundant, suggesting that the distribution of silver deposits is controlled by the relative abun- dance of silver in subducted ocean crust. Ocean crust being subducted in the eastern Pacific is mostly less than 50 million years old in contrast to most ocean crust in the western Pacific which is much older. Enrich- ment of silver in young ocean crust at spread- ing centers may reflect metallogenetic evolution over geologic time. Silver may be transported to the surface in volcanic rocks, and deposits are common where felsic varieties are abundant. The high ,solubility of silver in natural waters provides a natural storage mechanism for silver weath- ered from these rocks and ultimately circulated in near-surface hydrothermal systems where many silver deposits form. The regional distribution of silver deposits is not influenced by discoverability, vertical metal zoning, or regional tectonic style. The effect of igneous differentiation is unclear.

Jan 1, 1987

By Towsey C. A

Significant advances in regional geochemical exploration techniques have been made over the last 5 years in the search for gold deposits. This has occurred largely by the development of the bulk cyanide ex- tractable gold (BLEG) also known as the Bulk Cyanide Leach (BCL) tech- nique. The technique has been developed and designed for Australian conditions and has two main ad- vantages over the pan concentrate technique preferred by many ex- plorationalists, viz:,. 1. It is designed to collect ultra fine gold common to epithermal and other north Queensland types of gold deposits. 2. The large sample (approx.5 kg) allows very low detection levels, ranging between 0.1 and 0.05 ppb Au. The use of the BLEG technique in exploration has led to the discovery of the Wirralie gold deposit and numerous other epithermal gold prospects previously undetected by pan concentrate and minus 80 mesh (pathfinder elements) surveys in the Drummond Basin.

Jan 1, 1989

By Henry N. McCarl

[ ]

Jan 1, 1966

By H. Forster, F. H. Koenemann, U. Knittel

The greenstone belt developed along the Sandawana line, an anastomosing, transcrustal shear zone. The lode gold is concentrated in veins and along brittle-ductile shear zones and other faults. Gold contents of 200 rock samples were found to be well below economically significant levels, excluding purely syngenetic deposit formation. Average gold content of unmineralised banded iron formation decreases from 7.3 ppb in the east (Manica) to 1.6 ppb in the west (Odzi), where depletion reflects hydrothermal leaching. The mineralising fluids may have been generated during deep crustal deformation, metamorphism and magmatism. Gold was hydrothermally deposited during carbonatisation and sericitisation of ultramafic and mafic rocks and during hydrothermal overprinting of banded iron formation and felsic rocks. It is present in native form and as microscopic to submicroscopic inclusions in pyrite, arsenopyrite and pyrrhotite. Argentiferous galena and other sulphides are commonly observed. Rezende, which produced over 38 t Au, is hosted by a granodiorite stock. By-product gold was produced from Cu-Ni sulphides at Mundonguara. The deposits are related to the older, but not the younger, of the granitoids intruding the belt's supracrustal sequences; the estimated age of mineralisation is 2700-2600 Ma. Odzi district, with 61 mines, has produced only 3.5 t Au as its higher-level host rocks have apparently been eroded. Mutare (formerly Umtali) district, with 133 mines and 9 placers, has produced 68 t Au (65 t from Rezende and adjacent deposits), and Manica district, with 23 mines and 8 placers, 12 t Au. Estimated reserves for the Rezende area are 20 t Au and for Manica district 4 t lode Au and 19 t placer Au

Apr 1, 1996

By Jorge A. Benitez Muro

Within the exploration programs carried on by the Consejo de Recursos Naturales No Renovables, the one with the largest coverage (more than 75, 000 square kilometers) is the northern Coahuila Exploration Project. Due to its nature, geochemical exploration methods were selected to obtain quick results. The program included essentially, three main stages : 1. - A regional geochemical stream sediment survey. 2. - Semi-detailed studies of the anomalous areas selected in the previous stage, and 3. - Detailed exploration of the promising areas. To the date, the first two stages have been completed, and the third one is being carried on. The work was started on september 1972, and it will probably take one more year before drilling can be started, but at the end of stage three it is expected that at least 5 important targets will have been detected. The regional work was conducted by 3 field crews, but the detailed program is being done by only one.

Jan 1, 1974

By R. B. Barlow, J. A. C. Fortescue

Originally developed for use in mineral exploration, regional geochemical mapping based on stream (and lake) sediment sampling is showing broader application in other areas of the earth sciences and in environmental science. The purpose of this paper is to focus attention on the role of regional geochemical mapping in relation to geological and environmental studies. This is achieved using a descriptive equation for the chemical composition of a stream-sediment sample and then relating it to the use of successive approximations in geochemical and environmental investigations. The procedure is further qualified with reference to time and process in the formation of regional geochemical patterns. Examples are included of studies based on stream sediments related to bedrock geology, surficial geology, ecology and man's effect on the geochemistry of the environment. The range of applications of regional geochemical mapping in earth and environmental studies is outlined and some conclusions drawn regarding the future development of geochemical mapping under Canadian conditions.

Jan 1, 1980

By D. M. A. Flight, G. E. M Hall, P. R. Simpson

theoretical viewpoints.

Apr 1, 1994

By Richard G. Warren, Michael M. Minor, Gayle J. Thomas

INTRODUCTION Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) initiated its effort in the Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR), a part of the Department of Energy (DOE) National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE) program, in late 1975. Since that time, LASL has completed sampling of the Rocky Mountain states of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana at a density of about one water or waterborne sediment sample per 10 km2 and has sampled about 85% of Alaska at a density of at least one per 25 km2. Analytical results for these samples are reported by National Topographic Map Series (NTMS) quadrangle. All collection and analytical procedures have been standardized from the outset (Sharp, 1977; Sharp and Aamodt, 1978). Until early 1979, only uranium results were reported for these samples; thereafter, results include analyses for at least 42 additional elements in the sediment samples. Each LASL HSSR report also includes a discussion of the relationship of these analytical data to known or possible uranium resources; more recently, these data have been re- examined for their relationship to resources for other metals (Beyth et al., 1980; 1980a). Analytical results for LASL HSSR sediment samples are both comprehensive, including 43 elements, and precise, allowing close inter-comparison of data between quadrangles. A recent HSSR study shows that elemental concentrations in sediment samples from the Dixon Entrance quadrangle in Alaska are insensitive to the choice of sieve size fraction and do not vary significantly between stream locations a few meters apart, except for extremely high elemental concentrations (Warren, et al., 1980). Elements that are particularly reproducible include thorium, hafnium, and the .ram earth elements. Fortunately, sensitivities for these elements, which are often associated with uranium, are excellent by the nondestructive analytical technique of neutron activation analysis that LASL employs. Wet chemical techniques may not always give reliable results for these elements in sediment samples due to the difficulty of dissolving the resistate mineral phases that normally contain these elements. LASL has recently open-filed results for a large number of NTK3 quadrangles; to date analyses have been reported for about 605 of the quadrangles within the states of the Rocky Mountain region. As a result, uranium analyses am now complete for all sediment samples collected from the state of Wyoming. We have chosen to sumnarize the analytical results for Wyoming and portions of adjoining states hereafter termed "the ~ Wyoming regionn (Fig. 1 ) ; nearly 24 000 uranium analyses and nearly 17 000 analyses for 42 additional elements are available for sediment samples collected from this area. The DOE open-file report numbers are shown in Fig. 1 for reports open filed before September 1, 1980. The Wyoming region provides an ideal area for an examination of regional geochemical patterns ex- hibited by sediment samples. It is endowed with a variety of exposed geologic units and with widely distributed uranium districts associated with host units of several ages. However, discussion will focus on rock units of Eocene and Precambrian ages because they are widely exposed and host the majority of the uranium resources within the region (Fig. 2). Miocene units are also widespread and host mineralization in the Brown's Park Formation (Fig. 2). Epigenetic uranium mineralization occurs in sand- stones of lower Eocene age such as the Wasatch, Battle Springs, and Wind River Formations whereas vein type mineralization occurs in Precambrian crystalline rocks. Precambrian rocks within the region consist of a variety of granitic and meta- morphic rocks with l .4-2.8 billion year ages, except within the Uinta Arch, where they consist of a sequence of very low grade metamorphosed or unmetamorphosed 1.0 billion year old sedimentary rocks. Precambrian rocks have served as sources for much of the clastic material comprising the lower Eocene units, and may also have provided the source for the uranium in mineralized Eocene or Miocene sandstones (Stuckless, 1979). The remainder of this paper describes the relationship of elemental concentrations in HSSR sediment samples to exposures of Eocene and Precambrian rocks. The results are used primarily to determine where these Precambrian rocks might provide the most suitable uranium source areas and to infer the direction of transport toward adjacent depositional basins during the Eocene.

Jan 1, 1980

By John T. Awald

The Bradshaw Mountains of west-central Arizona cover an area of 1600 square miles and contain numerous old mines and prospects. The area has been geochemically sampled on a reconnaissance basis to relate mineralized areas to regional structure and rock types. Copper analyses of stream sediments have been classified and contoured to show the distribution of low and high backgrounds and low, intermediate, and highly anomalous areas. Contoured results are compared to geology and known mines. Several prospecting areas are indicated.

Jan 1, 1972

By John T. Awald

The Bradshaw Mountains of west-central Arizona cover an area of 1600 square miles and contain numerous old mines and prospects. The area has been geochemically sampled on a reconnaissance basis to relate mineralized areas to regional structure and rock types. Copper analyses of stream sediments have been classified and contoured to show the distribution of low background, high background, and low, intermediate and highly anomalous areas. Contoured results are compared to geology and known mines. Several prospecting areas are indicated.

Jan 1, 1970

By J. A. C. Fortescue

"Reconnaissance geochemical mapping, based on the chemical analysis of waters, stream, and / or lake sediments had its origin in geochemical prospecting surveys carried out in New Brunswick during the 1950s. More recently, reconnaissance geochemical surveys carried out by government agencies for mineral resource appraisal purposes have been seen as a special case of regional geochemical mapping which is carried out with the aim of describing geochemical patterns f or elements which may he interpreted for mineral resource appraisal, environmental or geological purposes. The interpretation of pal/ ems on regional geochemical maps is based on the concepts of landscape geochemistry, in this paper, the regional approach 10 geochemical mapping is described with reference to an experimental regional geochemical survey which was completed in southwest Ontario during 1981-82. II is concluded, on the basis of data pal/ems for one element only (i.e. arsenic), that the new approach has much potential for solving modern problems in geoscience.""If things don 'I alter they will stay as they are... An old adage.IntroductionDuring the past hundred years topographic, geological, and geophysical maps have been made for all, or nearly all, of Ontario. During the past thirty years these maps have become related as components of what is now called geoscience. Geoscience maps at the regional (i .e. 1 :250,000) scale are often used together to solve general problems in earth science especially in relation to prospecting, or mineral re source appraisal."

Jan 1, 1986

By Alain Simard, Sylvain Lacroix, Louis-Martin Dubé, Pierre Pilote

"The Harricana-Turgeon belt (HTB) is a poorly known volcano sedimentary belt in the NW part of the Abitibi Sub-province; it includes the Matagami, Joutel, Brouillan and Casa-Berardi mining districts. The HTB is dominated by volcanic rocks, which covers 65% of its surface area, followed by sedimentary (18%) and plutonic (17%) rocks. It is also transected by numerous deformation zones located either at the contacts of volcano-sedimentary units and granitoid bodies or cross-cutting them. A preliminary geological synthesis shows that mineral deposits are associated with certain regional geologic elements.The volcano-sedimentary units are grouped here into twelve band-shaped lithotectonic domains, most of which extend for more than 150 km E-Win the HTB. Each domain is defined by lithologies and facies associations, and gradiometric and electromagnetic signatures.Eight domains are composed of basaltic or basaltic to komatiitic associations, interlayered with thin pelagic sediments, representing sub-marine lava plains. Two domains are composed of basaltic to rhyolitic associations that are interpreted as volcanic arcs formed by one or several central volcanic complexes.The sedimentary rocks are grouped into two lithotectonic domains. Each is composed of rhythmic sequences of turbiditic sandstone- siltstone-shale, Algoma-type banded iron formations and conglomerates bearing plutonic and volcanic pebbles. These three facies come partly from mass flow at the bottom of a slope in a moderately deep marine environment. In each domain, a conglomerate sandstone- siltstone sequence, containing poly genetic pebbles of local provenance, is similar to Timiskaming-type alluvial deposits.The nineteen granitoids, found within the HTB and at its border, belong to numerous petrographic suites, and have been grouped into four structural families: pre-tectonic, pre- to early-tectonic, syn- to late-tectonic, and late- to post- tectonic. The pre- to early-tectonic plutons are presumed to be sub-volcanic and are generaly associated with the volcanism of central complexes.The HTB mineral resources consist essentially of polymetallic (Cu-Zn-Ag-Au) and gold (Au-Ag) deposits. The polymetallic deposits are located exclusively in the two lithotectonic domains composed of basaltic to rhyolitic associations (Matagami-Brouillan and Joutel Raymond). All gold deposits are associated with deformation zones superimposed on lithotectonic domain contacts and highlighted by graphitic units. Most of the deposits are hosted in the Casa-Berardi and Douay deformationzones, located at the contact of the Cartwright basaltic to komatiitic domain and the Taibi sedimentary domain"

Jan 1, 1990

By R. Lasmanis

"Washington State's diverse geological setting is reflected by its several types of porphyry Cu-Mo deposits. All are associated with calc-alkaline intrusions, and they range in age from Jurassic to Miocene.The largest is the Mount Tolman Mo-Cu deposit located in the Omineca Belt. It contains 2.18 billion tonnes of material averaging 0.093% MoS2 and 0.09% Cu. There are intermediate-size Mesozoic deposits in the Intermontane Belt. The Cascade volcanic arc hosts small- to medium-Tertiary deposits. Among these, of particular interest is the Sunrise breccia pipe, which has been explored over a vertical distance of 1000 m. It contains reserves of 64.6 million tonnes averaging 0.319% Cu and 0.071% MoS2 with significant tungsten values. The Glacier Peak deposits have potential resources of 1.7 billion tonnes averaging 0.334% Cu and more than 0.015% MoS2 and also contain tungsten. The Margaret deposit can be classified as a porphyry Cu-Au type; it has reserves of 200 million tonnes averaging 0.434% Cu, 0.0175% MoS2> 0.27 g!t Au and 1.92 g!t Ag. Drill intercepts of the North Fork deposit also show significant gold values.Mineralization and hydrothermal alteration of these deposits are typical of porphyry deposits, although some differences can be noted. The Mount Tolman molybdenum deposit contains topaz alteration zones and is transitional between a plutonic type and a Climax-type molybdenum system. Other deposits, such as the Kelsey, Mazama, North Fork, and Margaret, are low-sulphide systems that contain significant amounts of magnetite."

Jan 1, 1995

By James Pirie

"The major Archean gold deposits in the Red Lake greenstone belt, which have produced over 374 million grams of gold since 1930, occur near the top of the lower komatiitic to tholeiitic mafic to ultramafic metavolcanic sequence. The upper calc-alkalic mafic to felsic rocks form three discrete and separate ediftces overlymg this lower sequence.The gold deposits are classified according to their stratigraphic or lithologic associations into:1) mafic-volcanic-hosted deposits;2) felsic-intrusive-hosted deposits; and3) stratabound deposits.Group 1 and to a lesser extent Group 2 deposits occur within zones of alteration several square kilometres in extent. The nature of this pervasive alteration can be characterized by comparison of petrochemical data from the altered rocks and their fresher equivalents some distance away. The altered rocks have substantial addition of SiO2> CO2, K2O, As and Sb and subtraction of Na20, CaO, MgO and total Fe. Cr, Ni, Co and Zr appear to have been relatively immobile. Hydrothermal alteration and gold deposition probably accompanied early fumarolic activity and continued during subsequent deformation the metavolcanic sequence, with gold eventually being mobtltzed and concentrated into major vein structures to form the present orebodies. The smaller Group 2 deposits formed by emplacement of felsic intrusions into already altered, anomalously gold-bearing mafic metavolcanics, with the heat from the intrusions setting up parasitic hydrothermal systems which mobilized the gold and deposited it along with minor sulphides in fractures in the cooling intrusions."

Jan 1, 1982

By Robert Macdonald, William Coombe, John F. Lewry

Gold occurrences have been known in the La Ronge Domain for many year . Mineable reserves have more recently been outlined and there is every prospect of a major gold camp being established in the domain within this decade. The La Ronge Domain lies in the Lower Proterozoic 'Trans-Hudson Orogen' and is part of a collage of Early Proterozoic crust comprising volcanoplutonic arcs, batholiths, associated volcaniclastics and volcanogenic sediments lying between the Superior Craton to the outheast and the reworked Archean basement/Aphebian cover terrain to the northwest. The domain has several lithostructural subdivisions, the most important of whjch , from a gold exploration point of view, is the Central Metavolcanic Belt. This belt is composed dominantly of a range of metavolcanic rocks and gabbroic to granitic intrusives, which geochemically resemble younger subduction-generated 'primitive' arcs developed on oceanic crust. U-Pb zircon geochronology indicates that the arc volcarusm and pre- to late-kjnematic plutonism occurred about 1890 Ma to 1850 Ma ago. The belt has an attained grade of upper greenschist to amphibolite facies and is relatively undeformed , though high strain zones occur locally. Most gold occurrences in the La Ronge Domain have been found in the Star-Waddy Lakes area of the Central Metavolcanic Belt, and in the Sulprude-MacKay Lakes area to the south which is interpreted as a tectonically dismembered part of the main belt. Both tratiformand vein-type gold occurrences are present in the domain; vein-type predominate and form nearly 90 per cent of the occurrences. The stratiform-type occurrences show a regional lithological a sociation with iron-rich sediments within proximal felsic volcanjc sequences. Some vein-type occurrences appear related to brittle fracturing associated with intrusive emplacement (the magmatic-hydrothermal "syn:' and "subvolcanic" veins) and faulting. However, most of the vein-type occurrences exhibit a spatial association with regionalscale ductile shear and other high strain zones, and were probably formed by metamorphichydrothermal processes.

Jan 1, 1986

By Abell RS, Wyborn D, Solomon M, Stuart-Smith PG, Henderson GAM

The two major massive sulphide deposits in the Silurian rocks of southern NSW, Captains Flat and Woodlawn, differ from classical Kuroko deposits in several ways, e.g. they lie on the flanks of felsic volcanic piles in volcano-sedimentary marine sequences, are relatively thin and large compared to individual Kuroko deposits, show prominent banding in lead-zinc ore, and contain arsenopyrite. Qualified stuctural and stratigraphic correlations of the various fault-bounded remnant Silurian sequences that host these deposits provide the basis for a new interpretation of the regional geological setting that also differs from that of the Kuroko deposits (Ohmoto, Tanimura, Date, Takahashi, 1983), and sheds further light on the distribution of volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits in the Silurian rocks of NSW.

Jan 1, 1987