Geologists Identify Deep-Earth Structures That May Signal Hidden Metal Lodes

Geologists Identify Deep-Earth Structures

that May Signal Hidden Metal Lodes

Finding New Giant Copper, Lead, Zinc Deposits Will Fuel Green Infrastructure by Kevin Krajick

If the world is to maintain a sustainable economy and fend off the worst effects of climate change, at least one industry will soon have to ramp up dramatically: the mining of metals needed to create a vast infrastructure for renewable power generation, storage, transmission and usage. The problem is, demand for such metals are likely to far outstrip currently both known deposits and the existing the technology used to find more ore bodies.

Now, in a new study, scientists have discovered previously unrecognized structural lines 100 miles or more down in the earth that appear to signal the locations of giant deposits of copper, lead, zinc and other vital metals lying close enough to the surface to be mined, but too far down to be found using current exploration methods. The discovery could greatly narrow down search areas, and reduce the footprint of future mines, the authors say. The study appears this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. 

 

A new study shows that giant ore deposits are tightly distributed above where rigid rocks that comprise the nuclei of ancient continents begin to thin, far below the surface (white areas). Redder areas indicate the thinnest rocks beyond the boundary; bluer ones, the thickest. Circles, triangles and squares show known large sediment-hosted deposits of different metals. (Adapted from Hoggard et al., Nature Geoscience, 2020)

 

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