New models to aid the discovery of critical raw material deposits for the Green Stone Age

Abstract

Critical raw materials (CRMs) will be crucial for the delivery of the technologies society requires to meet its decarbonization goals and successfully address the current climate crisis. Although there are a number of well-established ore deposit models, few have been developed for CRMs. History demonstrates that ore deposit models are commonly developed to explain new discoveries. However, it is also possible to develop new ore deposit models based solely on basic geochemical and geological principles. We review the development of several ore deposit models, suggest some deposits for which models have not yet been developed, and utilise the specific example of hydrothermal nickel deposits in the Central African Copperbelt to illustrate how new ore deposit models for CRM deposits may be formulated. The current impetus to discover new resources of what have been up to the present elemental curiosities should spur significant research including work to determine the geochemical behaviour of CRMs across a range of physio-chemical conditions. There is no reason to believe that economically significant concentrations of any of the newly critical elements do not exist in nature. Imagination should make the future of CRM discovery in the Green Stone age bright.