Metallogenesis of Cobalt-bearing Mineralisation in the English Lake District

Eskdale, Adam; Johnson, Sean Peter; Gough, Amy; Lowry, David; Solferino, Giulio

doi:10.7185/gold2021.3717

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…1979;Stanley & Vaughan. 1980, 1982aEskdale et al 2021). These ores are thought to be emplaced between 390 -370 Ma (Stanley and Vaughan.…”

Section: Mineralisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The advantage to using stream sediment geochemistry is the access of the river sediments to deeper lithology not visible at the surface, including veins which are typically covered by vegetation or the more sulphide-rich phases not at an observable level relative to modern topography (typically forming at mid-shallow crustal depths in geological time). The overlap of 4 of these 10 prospective areas with known Co mineralisation: Scar Crags, Dale Head North, Ulpha and Seathwaite (Stanley & Criddle, 1979;Ixer et al 1979;Stanley & Vaughan 1982a;Solferino et al 2021;Eskdale et al 2021), indicates that this workflow was relatively successful, although in-field verification is required at the other 6 sites before the true success can be determined. This will involve local sampling of host rocks and visible mineralisation, smaller scale drainage basin mapping, and further geochemical analysis to confirm Co concentrations and vein-based ore metal assemblages.…”

Section: Prospective As-co-cu-ni Mineralisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The applicability of G-BASE stream sediment geochemistry as a combined geological mapping, and prospective exploration tool for As-Co-Cu-Ni mineralisation across Cumbria, UK.

Eskdale¹,

Johnson²,

Gough³

2023

Preprint

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Stream sediment geochemistry is a useful tool to analyse the geochemistry of the local geology within the source catchment area. This has significant applicability within the field of mineral exploration where understanding regional lithological geochemistry is needed, facilitating the identification of critical metal deposits. Successful identification of these deposits is essential to help tackle the deficit of these metals supply chains, especially for cobalt. This is in order to meet future carbon-neutral technological demand as part of global initiatives towards a more environmentally sustainable society. We make use of the UK Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) dataset to demonstrate that stream sediment geochemical data has the potential to be used as a useful tool for isolating potential Energy Critical Elements (ECEs) in host rocks across the UK Lake District. We reduced the dimensionality of the G-BASE stream sediment data, creating geochemical maps that identify a combination of volcanic, sedimentary, and plutonic lithologies lining up geological boundaries from established 50k scale geological maps of the area. This was conducted through a combined statistical and mapping approach within QGIS and ioGAS. Furthermore, we identified average ore metal concentrations (Ag, As, Bi, Co, Cu, Mo, Ni, Sn, Zn) for the Skiddaw Group and the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, two established host groups for As-Co-Cu-Ni mineralisation. Average concentrations of Co in the Skiddaw have been modelled to be 63.26 ppm, and in the Borrowdale volcanics to be 26.86 ppm. These values, combined with As, Cu, and Ni modelled concentrations, and other available exploration-related data (structural maps, underlying batholith topography, mining history etc.) have allowed us to identify 10 prospective areas of interest for possible As-Co-Cu-Ni mineralisation across these two lithological groups. This workflow has strong applicability within critical metal exploration in other, more prospective regions across the globe.

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“…1979;Stanley & Vaughan. 1980, 1982aEskdale et al 2021). These ores are thought to be emplaced between 390 -370 Ma (Stanley and Vaughan.…”

Section: Mineralisationmentioning

confidence: 99%