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Content archived on 2019-03-12

FLUID INCLUSION CHEMISTRY

Objective



TO CONTINUE AND EXTEND RESEARCH CARRIED OUT DURING THE PRIMARY RAW MATERIALS PROGRAMME 1978-81. TOGETHER WITH NEW OBJECTIVES IT SEEKS TO DEVELOP AND EXTEND THOSE IDEAS AND TECHNIQUES WHICH ARE CONSIDERED TO OFFER THE GREATEST CONTRIBUTION FOR IMRPOVING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ORE PROCESSES AND SUCCESS OF FUTURE EXPLORATION PROGRAMMES.

FOR THE MAJORITY OF MINERAL DEPOSITS INVOLVING A HYDROUS FLUID, ORE GENESIS CAN BE DEFINED BY FOUR CRITICAL FACTORS:

1. A SOURCE FOR THE ORE CONSTITUENTS
2. THE SOLUBILITY OF THOSE CONSTITUENTS IN THE HYDROUS PHASE
3. THE MIGRATION OF THE METAL-BEARING FLUID
4. THE SELECTIVE PRECIPITATION OF THE ORE CONSTITUENTS

BY INVESTIGATING THESE ASPECTS FOR SELECTED GEOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTS, USING MODERN ANALYTICAL METHODS, IT IS INTENDED TO IDENTIFY THOSE CONTROLS WHICH HAVE EXERTED THE MAXIMUM INFLUENCE ON ORE FORMATION. THE PROGRAMME COMPRISES THREE INTER-RELATED PARTS:

(I) STUDY OF THE CHEMICAL AND ISOTOPIC EVOLUTION OF MAGMATIC - HYDROTHERMAL ORE FLUIDS ASSOCIATED WITH GRANITE MAGMATISM, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO SM - W - CU ORES.

THIS IS INTENDED TO EVALUATE THE DIRECT APPLICATION OF FLUID INCLUSIONS TO MINERAL EXPLORATION BY INVESTIGATING THE NATURE AND DISTRIBUTION OF INCLUSION GEOCHEMICAL ANOMALIES WITHIN AND AROUND KNOWN ORE DEPOSITS.
THE RATIONALE TO BE ADOPTED WILL BE BASED ON THE DUAL CONCEPTS OF "FLUID INCLUSION SIGNATURE" AND "FLUID INCLUSION ANOMALIES"."".
(II) DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF TECHNIQUES FOR THE QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL AND ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS OF INCLUSION FLUIDS.

IN ANY GIVEN ENVIRONMENT, THE POTENTIAL OF MINERALISING FLUID FOR GENERATING AN ORE DEPOSITS DEPENDS MUCH UPON ITS METAL CONTENT AND METAL-CARRYING CAPACITY. TO MEASURE THESE PARAMETERS EITH SUFFICIENT ACCURACY AND PRECISION FOR PREDICTIVE MODELLING WILL REQUIRE CONSIDERABLE IMPROVEMENT OF EXISTING ANALYTICAL METHODS.""(III) COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH

EXPERIENCE GAINED IN THE UK WILL BE USED TO STUDY SIMILAR DEPOSITS IN OTHER COUNTRIES OF THE COMMUNITY VIA FORMAL AND INFORMAL RESEARCH AGREEMENTS.

Topic(s)

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Call for proposal

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Funding Scheme

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Coordinator

NERC Institute of Geological Sciences
EU contribution
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Address
64-78 Gray's Inn Road
WC1X 8NG London
United Kingdom

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Total cost
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