Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T08:23:19.027Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A possible role for light hydrocarbons in Pb/Zn mineral exploration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

J. Ferguson
J. Ferguson*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Imperial College, London SW7 2BP
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A method of base metal exploration in sedimentary rocks which depends on detecting anomalous amounts of the light hydrocarbon gas methane in the host rocks has been applied in a number of orientation surveys in the British Isles and in Europe. The results of these studies are described, and the limitations of the method discussed. It is suggested that the principal difficulty lies in the extraction technique which is based on heating, and alternative methods are proposed. The preliminary results from these new methods are discussed and compared with those from the original study. A number of the samples analysed by the new methods are calcites of differing diagenetic origins. It is postulated that the differences in methane found in these samples may give a clue to the organic geochemistry of the rocks at the time when the calcites were deposited.

Keywords

hydrocarbonslead-zinc mineralizationbase metal explorationcalcite
Type
Mineralogy and petroleum genesis
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 51 , Issue 362 , October 1987 , pp. 527 - 533
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beales, F.W. and Onasick, E.P. (1970) Stratigraphic habitat of Mississippi Valley type orebodies. Trans. Inst. Min. Metall. Sect. B, 79, B145-54.Google Scholar
Carter, J.S. (1981) The connection between gaseous hydrocarbons and lead-zinc mineralisation. Unpubl. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. of London.Google Scholar
Carter, J.S.and Cazalet, P.C.D. (1984) Hydrocarbon gases in rocks as pathfinders for mineral exploration. In Prospecting in areas of glaciated terrain, Glasgow, 1984. Inst. Min. Metall., 11-20.Google Scholar
Carter, J.S. Cazalet, P.C.D. (1985) The potential for using hydrocarbon gases in rocks as pathfinders for mineral exploration, 1 and 2. Mercury Hydrocarbons Ltd, Limerick, Ireland.Google Scholar
Carter, J.S., Cazalet, P.C.D., Ferguson, J. (1984) The methane content of some Carboniferous limestones from the northern Pennines and its relationship to mineralisation. Proc. Yorks. Geol. Sac. 45, 67-9.Google Scholar
Carter, J.S. Cazalet, P.C.D. (1985) The role of light hydrocarbon gases in mineralisation. Imperial College, London, 92 ppGoogle Scholar
Goodman, S. (1986) The relationships between light hydrocarbons, carbonate diagenesis, and base metal ore deposits. Unpubl. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. of London.Google Scholar
Hitchon, B. (1977) Geochemical links between oil fields and ore deposits in sedimentary rocks. In Proceedings of the forum on oil and ore in sediments. (P. Garrard, ed.) Imperial College, London, 1-34.Google Scholar