A Colorado-based laboratory has developed a geochemical exploration method capable of detecting mineral deposits buried under up to 1,000 ft. of overburden or cover rock.
If the method proves legitimate, it could revolutionize conventional geochemical exploration techniques, which are rarely able to “see” through more than 100 ft. of overburden.
The technique, developed and patented by respected geochemist J.R. Clark and marketed through Enzyme-Actlabs, uses an enzyme leach that selectively attacks amorphous manganese oxides in soil samples. These oxides are considered to be one of the most efficient traps for mobilized trace elements. After the soil is subjected to the enzyme leach, the solution is tested for 59 elements using a mass spectrometer. To date, tests have been conducted over gold, porphyry copper and base metal targets in both arid and glaciated terrains.
“Drilling has been the only means of collecting useful geochemical samples in areas of extensive overburden,” says Clark in a paper published in the July, 1992, edition of Explore, a newsletter for the Association of Exploration Geochemists. “An inexpensive technique was needed for gathering meaningful geochemical data from overburden that would provide some indication of the chemistry of the bedrock.”
The cost of analysis depends on the sample volume but falls below US$20 per sample.
Clark, a former geochemist for the U.S. Geological Survey, has been working on the enzyme leach process for 17 years.
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