Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposits of the World - Database and Grade and Tonnage Models

Mosier, Dan L.; Berger, Vladimir I.; Singer, Donald A.

doi:10.3133/ofr20091034

Cited by 50 publications

(34 citation statements)

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“…With current reserves and resources of 209 Mt at 1.26% Cu, 3.82% Zn, 0.86% Pb, and 51 g/t Ag (Lundin 2017), the total metal content of Neves-Corvo is by far the largest in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), and one of the largest for any VHMS deposit in the world (Mosier et al 2009). Based on this exceptional metal endowment, Neves-Corvo is currently one of the most important producers of copper and zinc concentrates in the European Union (Gurmendi 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The geometallurgical assessment of by-products—geochemical proxies for the complex mineralogical deportment of indium at Neves-Corvo, Portugal

Frenzel

Bachmann

Carvalho³

et al. 2018

Miner Deposita

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Many by-product metals are classified as critical. However, they are only of marginal interest to many mining companies and are rarely part of detailed resource statements or geometallurgical assessments. As a result, there is a general lack of reliable quantitative data on the mineralogy and spatial distribution of these metals in ore deposits-hampering assessments of future availability. We propose here an innovative approach to integrate by-product metals into geometallurgical assessments. As an example, we use the distribution and deportment of indium at Neves-Corvo, a major European base-metal mine (Cu + Zn), and one of the largest and richest volcanichosted massive sulfide (VHMS) deposits in the world. Based on a combination of bulk-ore geochemistry and mineralogical and microanalytical data, this study is the first to develop a quantitative model of indium deportment in massive sulfide ores, demonstrating how regularities in indium partitioning between different minerals can be used to predict its mineralogical deportment in individual drill-core samples. Bulk-ore assays of As, Cu, Fe, Pb, S, Sb, Sn, Zn, and In are found to be sufficient for reasonably accurate predictions. The movement of indium through the ore processing plants is fully explained by its mineralogical deportment, allowing for specific mine and process planning. The novel methodologies implemented in this contribution for (1) the assessment of analytical uncertainties, (2) the prediction of complex mineralogical deportments from bulk geochemical data, and (3) the modeling of byproduct recoveries from individual mining blocks, are of general applicability to the geometallurgical assessment of many other byproduct metals in polymetallic sulfide ores, including Ga, Ge, Mo, Re, Se, Te, as well as the noble metals.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The geometallurgical assessment of by-products—geochemical proxies for the complex mineralogical deportment of indium at Neves-Corvo, Portugal

Frenzel

Bachmann

Carvalho³

et al. 2018

Miner Deposita

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“…). The data from Singer and colleagues () were replaced by Mosier and colleagues () for the deposit types besshi, cyprus massive sulphide, and kuroko. For antimony and lithium, gold‐antimony deposits from Berger () and lithium pegmatite deposits from Rogers () were used, respectively.…”

Section: Methodology and Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Data from Berger (), Berger and colleagues (), Berger and colleagues (), Cox and colleagues (), Mosier and colleagues (), Rogers (), and Singer and colleagues (, 2005, ).…”

Section: Methodology and Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Surplus Ore Potential as a Scarcity Indicator for Resource Extraction

Vieira¹,

Ponsioen²,

Goedkoop³

et al. 2016

J of Industrial Ecology

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The importance of increase in the scarcity of resources can be assessed using different approaches. Here, we propose a method that is based on the amount of extra ore mined to assess the importance of the extraction of resources. The surplus ore potential (SOP) indicator quantifies the extra amount of ore mined per additional unit of resource extracted by applying log-logistic cumulative grade-tonnage relationships and reserve estimates. We derived SOPs for 18 resources (17 metals including uranium and phosphorus) with 5 orders of magnitude difference (between 4.1 × 10 −1 kilograms [kg] of extra ore per kg of manganese extracted and 5.5 × 10 4 kg of extra ore per kg of gold extracted). The sensitivity of the SOP values to the choice of reserve estimates (reserves vs. ultimate recoverable resource) are within a factor of 3 of each other. Combining the SOP values with the 2012 global extraction rates of these 18 resources resulted in a 236 to 372 kg ore /capita surplus ore extracted. Iron, phosphorus, copper, gold, and aluminium were the largest contributors. The large variation in SOP values we observed between resources emphasizes the potential relevance of including resource-specific SOP values to assess the contribution to resource scarcity by specific products and technologies. Keywords:industrial ecology life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) metals resource extraction scarcity surplus ore potential Supporting information is linked to this article on the JIE website

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“…The host rock composition combined with the entrainment of volatile species from the magmatic system facilitates the enrichment of economically important metals such as copper, gold and zinc (e.g. Sangster, 1980;Herzig, 1999;Iizasa, 1999;Hannington et al, 2005Hannington et al, , 2011Mosier et al, 2009). The bathymetry and geological observations of North Su volcano collected from 5 three cruises in 2002, 2006 and 2011, combined with a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) database of AUV-based micro-bathymetry as well as video recordings, rock analyses and temperature measurements are used to understand the recent volcanic and hydrothermal activity of North Su volcano.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subaqueous cryptodome eruption, hydrothermal activity and related seafloor morphologies on the andesitic North Su volcano

Thal

Tivey

Yoerger

et al. 2016

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research

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North Su is a double-peaked active andesite submarine volcano located in the eastern Manus Basin of the Bismarck Sea that reaches a depth of 1154 m. It hosts a vigorous and varied hydrothermal system with black and white smoker vents along with several areas of diffuse venting and deposits of native sulfur. Geologic mapping based on ROV observations from 2006 and 2011 combined with morphologic features identified from repeated bathymetric surveys in 2002 and 2011 document the emplacement of a volcanic cryptodome between 2006 and 2011. We use our observations and rock analyses to interpret an eruption scenario where highly viscous, crystal-rich andesitic magma erupted slowly into the water-saturated, gravel-dominated slope of North Su. An intense fragmentation process produced abundant blocky clasts of a heterogeneous magma (olivine crystals within a rhyolitic groundmass) that only rarely breached through the clastic cover onto the seafloor. Phreatic and phreatomagmatic explosions beneath the seafloor cause mixing of juvenile and pre-existing lithic clasts and produce a volcaniclastic deposit. This volcaniclastic deposit consists of blocky, non-altered clasts next, variably (1-100 %) altered clasts, hydrothermal precipitates and crystal fragments.The usually applied parameters to identify juvenile subaqueous lava fragments, i.e. fluidal shape or chilled margin, were not applicable to distinguish between pre-existing non-altered clasts and juvenile clasts. This deposit is updomed during further injection of magma and mechanical disruption. Gas-propelled turbulent clast-recycling causes clasts to develop variably rounded shapes. An abundance of blocky clasts and the lack of clasts typical for the contact of liquid lava with water is interpreted to be the result of a cooled, high-viscosity, crystal-rich magma that failed as a brittle solid upon stress. The high viscosity allows the lava to form blocky and short lobes. The pervasive 3 volcaniclastic cover on North Su is partly cemented by hydrothermal precipitates. These hydrothermally-cemented breccias, crusts and single pillars show that hydrothermal circulation through a thick layer of volcaniclastic deposits can temporarily increase slope stability through precipitation and cementation.

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Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposits of the World - Database and Grade and Tonnage Models

Cited by 50 publications

References 10 publications

The geometallurgical assessment of by-products—geochemical proxies for the complex mineralogical deportment of indium at Neves-Corvo, Portugal

The geometallurgical assessment of by-products—geochemical proxies for the complex mineralogical deportment of indium at Neves-Corvo, Portugal

Surplus Ore Potential as a Scarcity Indicator for Resource Extraction

Subaqueous cryptodome eruption, hydrothermal activity and related seafloor morphologies on the andesitic North Su volcano

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