01 Introduction PDF
01 Introduction PDF
01 Introduction PDF
INTRODUCTION
This story starts in 1997 with an invitation from CAMIRO to prepare a scoping report on
the use of selective leaches in exploring for deeply-buried mineral deposits. Claims had
been made for the success of these methods and mining companies wished to get an
unbiased opinion on their efficacy. In retrospect, to my qualifications of unbiased might
have been added the adjective uninformed. At that time I was working on isotopes in
Fraser River waters and on granulites from southern Norway; my knowledge of selective
leaches was limited.
What I did have at the start of what became Phase I of the project was a considerable
respect for the contributions to exploration geochemistry of analytical chemists, notably
those in commercial laboratories. Over the past two decades there has been spectacular
advances in analytical technology, much of this coming from the ICP-MS, an instrument
that has proved capable of development to levels unimagined a few years ago. It is this
instrument that has permitted elements to be determined to the parts per billion and
parts per trillion levels that are required to detect the often weak signal from buried
mineral deposits. But to be practical, these technological advances had to be married to
effective cost and quality control. All this has been achieved by the commercial
laboratories, with Canadian firms at the forefront.
I was less enthusiastic about progress in interpreting the results of the labour of the
laboratories. Research infrastructure for exploration geochemistry has greatly eroded
since the 1970’s, at universities, in government, and in the mining industry. Filling the
vacuum has been brochure-quality research. This has hindered proper application of
methods and interpretation of the results. Some mining companies have been
discouraged from the full application of the methods.
In starting out on the Phase I project, there was an obvious dearth of relevant
fundamental research in the exploration geochemistry literature. But, fortunately, there
was a great deal of information from other fields. As one example, the United States
government had spent several million dollars on fundamental studies on the potential
migration of elements from deeply-buried nuclear waste to the surface.
The Phase I project consisted of two components, assembling information from the
literature, and presenting case histories. To present case histories, I first had to get
them, and several sponsors were very generous in passing on results of test surveys.
Although I have acknowledged them already, I will again thank Bob Clark and Eric
Hoffman of Actlabs; Bill Coker and Jeff Jaacks of BHP; Ivor Elliot of Cominco; Ray Band
and Richard Moore of Falconbridge; Nigel Radford of Normandy; Greg Hall of Placer-
Dome; Mark Boast and Kerry O’Sullivan of Rio Tinto; and Alan Mann of Wamtech. And
my long-time colleague, Gwendy Hall, was a fine tutor in matters analytical.
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Overlapping both Phases I and II was consulting work on the application of deep-
penetrating methods, which was crucial to full involvement in the Phase II studies. The
most important was work in Chile. Because the land surface in the Atacama Desert has
remained largely unchanged for several million years, one can carry out what are
virtually anthropological studies of anomalies. And the people there – both Chilean and
expatriates – are the very best. I learned a lot from working with project geologists. I am
grateful to Garth Graves of Noranda, Neil O’Brien of Cominco, Roger Nordin of Boliden,
Steve Rowins of Westmin, and Gordon Siddeley of Yamana. And likewise for the
hospitality of R. Diaz and his Codelco staff, who allowed me to wander around two of the
most astounding geological features of the world, the open pit mines of Chuquicamata
and Radomiro Tomic.
The concept of Phase II was to use the results of the preceding phase to design studies
that would (a) try to understand the processes that give rise to geochemical anomalies
over deeply-buried mineralization and (b) evaluate different selective leach methods. At
the start the thought was of grid sampling over a limited number of deposits. It was the
insightful comments of Joe Inman of Kennecott that changed that to collecting fewer
samples at any one place, but looking at more sites. This allowed us to visit a larger
number of locations in year one, then focus on the most promising in year two.
One other issue was decided early on. That was to release reports on an ongoing basis
throughout the project. The first, and most obvious, reason for this was to involve the
sponsors in the work and get their feedback. This was certainly effective and I have
several megabytes of e-mail correspondence as evidence. The researchers, particularly
myself, benefited greatly from this exchange. But there was a second reason, at least
equal in importance. The act of writing helps one to understand what one is doing, so
that when forks appear on the road, one knows which direction to take. Postponing
writing to the end misses these opportunities. But there is also a downside to releasing
reports along the way, as will be abundantly obvious when pursuing the contents of this
CD. You will see results, illustrations, ideas, repeated, ad nauseum, in several reports.
My apologies.
Three regions were chosen for the studies: Abitibi, Nevada, and Northern Chile. The
work started in the Abitibi in July, 1999. Two others were initially involved in the field
work: Stew Hamilton of the Ontario Geological Survey and Beth McClenaghan of the
Geological Survey of Canada. I first met Stew several years prior when he had traveled
from Sudbury to Ottawa to present a divergent view on my editorial opinion of one of his
manuscripts. Not too many authors do this and even fewer can participate in a spirited
discussion on the topic without taking personal offence. During the course of this project
I have become a staunch admirer of Stew’s energy, enthusiasm and originality and our
views on the science that we cover have largely merged.
Beth is a Quaternary geologist and one with considerable experience mapping in the
Abitibi belt. Our first day in the field I spent with Beth at the Tillex deposit. Results from a
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company survey of clay soils, described in the Phase I report, showed a beautiful
anomaly over the copper mineralization. But within an hour, Beth had demonstrated that
the anomaly was probably an environmental effect. The ground overlying the deposit
formed a depression, filled with peat. The peat has protected the underlying clay from
leaching and this pristine clay contained moderate amounts of labile copper that the
selective leach correctly measured. The soils on either side, forming the flanks of the
anomaly, had not been protected and were oxidized and leached, losing their content of
labile copper. Hence the “anomaly”. Later we saw a selective leach map of the area,
which correctly identified the swamps. This is one example of the point made above. The
analytical method was not at fault, it did a fine job of identifying the mobile metal content
of the clay, but the results need careful interpretation.
At the time that the Phase II project was being conceived, the Ontario Geological Survey
had plans for similar research in the Abitibi. It seemed to make sense to combine our
efforts, which we did, and Cam Baker and Dick Alcock were key to making this possible.
The substantial funding which OGS brought to the combined projects made it possible to
drill the overburden at two of the Abitibi sites.
Before we went to the field in 1999, Stew and his OGS colleagues developed a list of
eighty potential test sites. This was whittled down to fifteen by the time that we arrived in
Timmins. Stew, Beth and I spent much of the first week looking at these sites. It may
sound easy to pick sites, but very few meet most of the criteria for a research project.
Three sites were chosen, the Marsh Zone, which looks very much as its name suggests;
Half-Moon Lake; and Cross Lake. For the latter two sites, VMS mineralization underlies
the overburden, whereas at the Marsh Zone it is a gold vein. After getting the first set of
results, we did not proceed further with Half-Moon Lake. Drilling was carried out at both
the Marsh Zone and Cross Lake. When that was completed, much of the subsequent
work was carried out at Cross Lake, because it turned out to be such a great site. We
were initially taken there by Bob Middleton. In the following years most of our interaction
with the owners, Cross Lake Minerals, was with Ian Miller-Tait, who has been generous
and prompt to our requests for information. With the right people, field work can be a lot
of fun. Making our Abitibi work more effective and pleasant was Brian Polk, a Timmins
geologist, with great knowledge, enthusiasm and energy. Finally, in the last moments of
the project, I asked Colin Dunn to carry out a biogeochemical survey at Cross Lake, to
complete the gamut of tested methods. He did so and completed a report in remarkably
short time.
Prior to Phase II, I was not too optimistic about seeing a clearly recognizable signal from
mineralization through tens of meters of clay. There has been only a period of ten
thousand years for this to have occurred, which is not enough for theoretical studies of
rates of ion migration to endorse. But, migration has happened. The key was Stew’s
identification in drill core from the clay sections at the Marsh Zone and Cross Lake of
reduced columns that reach from the sulphide subcrop to the surface. The reduced
materials that migrate to the surface include indicator metals, such as zinc. It took some
time to track down where the zinc was present in the soils. In the top 10 cm of the B-
horizon are strong anomalies for this element, but flat profiles when the materials below
are sampled.
Fast forward to Chile. Northern Chile and the Abitibi present extremes in the task of
locating deposits beneath exotic cover. Very dry and very wet. A long period of time for
anomalies to form and a very short period of time. Difficult sampling conditions in the
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Abitibi, with trees, swamps and a lot of variation in soil types; easy access and
reasonably uniform soils in Chile.
My work in Chile prior to Phase II had suggested that metal anomalies were related to
groundwater. This insight was the result of the multielement analyses provided by the
ICP-MS. Highs for copper, arsenic, or molybdenum were frequently accompanied by
highs for sodium and chloride. But with sampling at 200 meter or wider intervals, as is
common, it was difficult to pick up recognizable patterns. So, assuming that this
interpretation of groundwater involvement was correct, there was an essential
requirement to study the groundwater. Hence the involvement of Matt Leybourne. I knew
Matt from the University of Ottawa, where he finished a PhD study on groundwater in the
Bathurst camp, New Brunswick, one of a very few studies of its kind. Matt and I had two
trips to Chile and shared the work of sampling soils and waters. And also shared the
same sense of humour, perhaps derived from links between our Scot and Kiwi roots.
On the first Chile visit we dropped by the Rio Tinto office in Antofagasta. In an informal
and generous way, George Steele offered us a truck and driver for the duration of the
trip. Daniel Salinas, proved to be much more than a driver: knowledgeable, skilled,
cheerful, hard working. And a great sense of humour, which shows that language is no
barrier to getting along.
There is a lot of luck in science. We were lucky to select Cross Lake and we were also
lucky to select Spence as one of our sites in Chile. There is no way that we could have
predicted, based on prior knowledge, that Spence was so suitable. A gravel aquifer
flowing across the deposit made the groundwater study possible. Fracture zones in the
gravel that brought groundwater to the surface made the soil study interesting. And
finally the climate. The climate of the Atacama is generally thought of being uniformly
arid; there are no precipitation maps! But Spence seems to have experienced more
rainfall than other places. Certainly, there has been sufficient precipitation to redistribute
the elements that arrived at the surface in the groundwater. This permitted us to
examine the differing behaviours of elements.
Work at Spence was made easier by the generous help that we received from the
RioChilex staff, Ollie Bonham, Jack Currie, and Alexi Ramirez and from Kelly O’Connor
at Rio Algom in Canada. Shortly before our second trip, Rio Algom became the prize in
a takeover battle between Billiton and Noranda. During this period, Noranda received an
exclusive right to view all of Rio Algom’s data and properties, which included a
confidentiality agreement keeping third parties off Rio Algom properties. Two weeks
before our trip we received a “keep off” message. But after hearing our case, the
chairman of the Rio Algom board, Gordon Gray, reversed the lawyers, and made the trip
possible.
The company with the most experience of geochemistry in Chile is Codelco. Their chief
geochemist, Alvaro Puig, arranged for us to visit Gaby Sur, one of the more significant
recent porphyry copper discoveries. He also arranged for Ricardo Venegas and Aldo
Vásquez to accompany us to demonstrate Codelco’s sampling method. The photograph
on the CD case cover is from Gaby, with Ricardo and Aldo at the left of the scene. We
also sampled at Mansa Mina and, in year two, at Tamarugal, the latter a “monster”
anomaly, but considerably distal from porphyry mineralization.
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The third study area was Nevada where Owen Lavin and Robert Jackson offered
Newmont’s Mike deposit as a site. Because of the major commitments in the Abitibi and
Chile, I knew that my time available for Mike was limited. Mary Doherty kindly agreed to
play an important role. Mary and Pat Highsmith carried out the first field work, a gas
study. Robert Jackson has done a great deal of geochemical work at Mike and during
my first visit to the property gave us a complete review of all the results. Equally
important, he agreed to prepare a summary report of his work, which was one of the
earliest reports distributed by this project. Kevin Creel of Newmont also worked with us
in the field and collected the BRGM Gaz collectors. Mike is an important and interesting
deposit, with the potential as a test site as great as Cross Lake and Spence. I regret that
lack of time did not allow us to do more.
There were two components to the project, field and laboratory. Without the laboratories,
there would be no project. The number of commercial laboratories joining the project,
and providing analyses gratis, exceeded my expectations. This was one of the first
comparative tests of laboratories and methods, which is not something that a lab enters
into without some thought. In terms of stark quantitative measurement, their
achievements are remarkable. One of the reports on this CD includes a measurement of
analytical precision. It is more difficult to achieve precision as the amount of material
extracted decreases and as the concentration of individual elements decrease. Viewed
in this light, the precision achieved by the laboratories is exceptional. Take one element,
rhenium. In the text from which I learned geochemistry (no, not Agricola), there were
three pages out of more than seven hundred devoted to this element, such was its rarity
and the difficulty of analysis. Yet at Spence, we were able to use this as an indicator
element, although the highest concentrations extracted from the soils were less than one
part per billion.
I express my thanks to the analysts who contributed so generously and effectively to this
project: John Gravel of Acme, Eric Hoffman of Actlabs, Brenda Caughlin and Pat
Highsmith of ALS Chemex, Claude Massey and George Cartwright of Bondar-Clegg,
Robert Ellis of Gedex, and Hugh DeSouza of XRAL. At the outset, Gwendy Hall talked to
all the companies and put together an analytical package. Her own lab carried out the
sequential leach studies. And she has been a strong supporter of this project since day
one.
Before the samples can reach a lab they must be prepared. The choice of Overburden
Drilling Management could not have been bettered. Remy Huneault and Mike Hamilton
and their staff were meticulous and I felt total confidence in what they did.
We did not do everything promised. Philippe Freyssinet of BRGM was not able to
complete analyses of the Gaz collectors that we installed at Cross Lake and Spence.
One of the objectives of the project was to involve Chinese geochemists, to compare
their analytical methods with ours and also to try out metal-in-soil-gas measurements at
one or more of the test sites. We sent the samples, but did not get a response.
Hopefully, they can become involved in future projects.
Getting all the correct ingredients does not necessarily make the soup taste right. In this
case the master chef behind the scenes was Dick Alcock. He was invariably helpful and
encouraging and had much good advice. CAMIRO could not have found itself a more
able person as Director of Exploration Research.
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This account of the project places more emphasis on people than science, because that
was the most important ingredient. I am most grateful to all of those who are mentioned
here and others who are not. It has been fun. Some of the demands placed on
participants have been unreasonable, not least because they are all volunteers. None of
this would have been possible without the sponsors. They have given support
throughout a time that was difficult for their industry. And their support was intellectual as
well as monetary. Thank you.
Carp, Ontario,
31 October, 2001.