Metals are essential materials that play a crucial role in the development of society and technologies, e.g. green energy technologies, electric vehicles, cell phones, batteries, and constructions. Economic ore deposits occur in all geological environments and are mined in substantial quantities that meet the world's demands. However, they are vulnerable to imbalances between supply and demand. Many factors crucial for the formation of ore deposits control their mineral paragenesis, alteration, and mineral chemistry. These features affect the exploration projects and the mining and metallurgical processes of the companies, which invest a considerable amount of capital to extract these deposits.
The economic interest in metals has increased in the last few years, leading to the enhanced exploration of previously subeconomic deposits and the re-evaluation of abandoned mines. New advanced analytical techniques applied to the ore mineral deposits are employed, providing important contributions to the ore genesis and metals distribution in the Earth’s crust.
Geochemistry is a powerful and effective technique for understanding the processes and conditions involved in the formation of different mineral deposits. The fundamental principles of geochemistry in various geological environments are important tools to assess the geochemical background, the distribution of metals, and the geochemical anomalies, and to detect mineral deposits at depth. Despite significant achievements in the field of exploration geochemistry in recent years, there is still an opportunity for improvement in understanding the geochemical processes in different geological environments and effectively utilizing geochemistry in mineral exploration. Recently, the focus of the exploration projects in the minerals industry has slightly changed, and apart from Au, U, Cu, Ni, Al, and other base metals, new targets have been added, with an emphasis in the critical metals, which are essential for the green energy transmission. Increasing metal prices and the development of new geochemical techniques have allowed exploration activities in new districts, which were underestimated until now, and this is a challenge.
This Research Topic invites contributions that apply geochemistry (major and trace elements, stable and radiogenic isotopes), geochronology (40Ar/39Ar, Rb/Sr, U/Pb), and fluid inclusions on whole rock, alteration zones, and minerals of various ore deposits. We encourage review and original papers covering novel techniques, developments, and applications in applied geochemistry. We focus on studies of base, precious, rare, and critical metals by applying several techniques, e.g., Raman, SEM, EPMA, LA-ICP-MS, SIMS, TIMS, PIXE, PGNAA, QEMSCAN, and others. These data will contribute significantly to the knowledge about the distribution of the metals in specific ore deposits for possible future exploration and exploitation. In designing geochemical exploration surveys, various combinations of sampling media, sample processing, geochemical analysis methods, and data processing and interpretation models can be used for the construction of three-dimensional (3D) models, which is challenging due to the diverse geological processes and scarcity of information related to deep mineralization.
Keywords:
Geochemical prospecting for ore deposits, Mineral deposits, Critical metals, Mineral geochemistry, Ore geochemistry, Geochronology, Fluid inclusions
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
Metals are essential materials that play a crucial role in the development of society and technologies, e.g. green energy technologies, electric vehicles, cell phones, batteries, and constructions. Economic ore deposits occur in all geological environments and are mined in substantial quantities that meet the world's demands. However, they are vulnerable to imbalances between supply and demand. Many factors crucial for the formation of ore deposits control their mineral paragenesis, alteration, and mineral chemistry. These features affect the exploration projects and the mining and metallurgical processes of the companies, which invest a considerable amount of capital to extract these deposits.
The economic interest in metals has increased in the last few years, leading to the enhanced exploration of previously subeconomic deposits and the re-evaluation of abandoned mines. New advanced analytical techniques applied to the ore mineral deposits are employed, providing important contributions to the ore genesis and metals distribution in the Earth’s crust.
Geochemistry is a powerful and effective technique for understanding the processes and conditions involved in the formation of different mineral deposits. The fundamental principles of geochemistry in various geological environments are important tools to assess the geochemical background, the distribution of metals, and the geochemical anomalies, and to detect mineral deposits at depth. Despite significant achievements in the field of exploration geochemistry in recent years, there is still an opportunity for improvement in understanding the geochemical processes in different geological environments and effectively utilizing geochemistry in mineral exploration. Recently, the focus of the exploration projects in the minerals industry has slightly changed, and apart from Au, U, Cu, Ni, Al, and other base metals, new targets have been added, with an emphasis in the critical metals, which are essential for the green energy transmission. Increasing metal prices and the development of new geochemical techniques have allowed exploration activities in new districts, which were underestimated until now, and this is a challenge.
This Research Topic invites contributions that apply geochemistry (major and trace elements, stable and radiogenic isotopes), geochronology (40Ar/39Ar, Rb/Sr, U/Pb), and fluid inclusions on whole rock, alteration zones, and minerals of various ore deposits. We encourage review and original papers covering novel techniques, developments, and applications in applied geochemistry. We focus on studies of base, precious, rare, and critical metals by applying several techniques, e.g., Raman, SEM, EPMA, LA-ICP-MS, SIMS, TIMS, PIXE, PGNAA, QEMSCAN, and others. These data will contribute significantly to the knowledge about the distribution of the metals in specific ore deposits for possible future exploration and exploitation. In designing geochemical exploration surveys, various combinations of sampling media, sample processing, geochemical analysis methods, and data processing and interpretation models can be used for the construction of three-dimensional (3D) models, which is challenging due to the diverse geological processes and scarcity of information related to deep mineralization.
Keywords:
Geochemical prospecting for ore deposits, Mineral deposits, Critical metals, Mineral geochemistry, Ore geochemistry, Geochronology, Fluid inclusions
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.