Native Copper, Silver, and Gold Accessible to Early Metallurgists

1971 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clair C. Patterson
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
Silver Halide ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Sulfide Ores ◽  
Lead Carbonate ◽  
Native Copper ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Geological Sciences ◽  
Metallic Impurities ◽  
Silicate Carbonate

AbstractThe weathered zones of ore deposits, which no longer exist, are reconstructed by inference to provide estimates of relative abundances of usable nuggets of native copper, silver, and gold in ancient times. New analyses and selected data from the literature summarize metallic impurities in native copper, silver, gold, and lead and in the oxidized copper minerals, oxide, silicate, carbonate, chloride, and sulfate, together with impurities in lead carbonate and silver halide minerals. The influence that these occurrences and compositions exerted upon the origin and development of metallurgy in Mesoamerica and South America is discussed in relation to new analyses of artifacts and selected data from the literature. Topics emphasized are: the discovery of smelting and melting by the Moche; the inability of New World metallurgists to smelt copper from sulfide ores or silver from lead ores; and the lack of influence by transoceanic contacts. This paper is contribution number 1702 of the Division of Geological Sciences, C.I.T.

Constraints on temperature–pressure conditions and fluid composition during metamorphism of the Sullivan orebody, Kimberley, British Columbia, from silicate–carbonate equilibria

1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (11) ◽  
pp. 1937-1949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glen R. De Paoli ◽  
David R.M. Pattison
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Garnet Growth ◽  
Fluid Composition ◽  
Exchange Equilibrium ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Metamorphic Temperature ◽  
Lower Temperature ◽  
Silicate Carbonate ◽  
Peak Metamorphic Temperature

The Sullivan mine, in southeastern British Columbia, is one of the world's largest sediment-hosted, massive sulphide deposits. It has undergone at least one period of metamorphism since it was deposited in mid-Proterozoic times. Mineral textures within the deposit are predominantly of metamorphic origin. A well-constrained estimate of metamorphic conditions is required to understand how the original, depositional character of the orebody has been modified by metamorphism. Metamorphic conditions were estimated using multiequilibrium thermobarometric techniques involving silicate–carbonate–fluid equilibria. Peak metamorphic temperature constrained by calibration of the garnet–biotite Fe–Mg exchange equilibrium is 450 ± 50 °C. Lower temperature estimates from some samples are interpreted to record the temperature of cessation of garnet growth prior to the attainment of peak metamorphic temperature. Peak metamorphic pressure as determined from equilibria applicable to the assemblage garnet–biotite–muscovite–chlorite–calcite–quartz–fluid is 380 ± 100 MPa. The fluid composition accompanying this pressure estimate is [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]. This estimate is particular to one sample and may not be representative for the deposit as a whole. Metamorphic fluids at the estimated P–T conditions would not have contained significant concentrations of C–O–H–S species other than H2O and CO2. Textural evidence and temperature–pressure results from a titanite-bearing metamorphosed mafic intrusion in the deposit suggest published titanite ages near 1330 Ma in the area of the mine represent the age of the peak metamorphic event. The results of this study carry tectonic implications for the Sullivan area, and may have application to other metamorphosed ore deposits and low-grade metamorphic settings.

Compositional peculiarities of the host rocks and ores of the Lazursky ore field, Zmeinogorsk ore region of the Rudny Altai minerogenic zone

2021 ◽  
pp. 36-47
Author(s):  
Tatyana SERAVINA ◽  
Svetlana KUZNETSOVA ◽  
Ludmila FILATOVA
Keyword(s):  
Massive Sulfide ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Sulfide Ores ◽  
Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide ◽  
Sulfide Deposits ◽  
Ore Bodies ◽  
Ore Minerals ◽  
Copper Pyrite ◽  
Host Rocks ◽  
Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposits

The article describes composition of the host rocks and ores of the Lazursky and Maslyansky polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits of the Lazursky ore field located within the Zmeinogorsk ore region of the Rudny Altai minerogenic zone. The ore field is composed of various facies of the Devonian (Late Givetian – Frasnian) ore-bearing siliceous-terrigenous basalt-rhyolite formation containing horizons of synvolcanic metasomatites. All rocks of the ore field were subjected to folding and schistosity with zones of tectonic brecciation. Hydrothermal alterations are represented by carbonatization and chloritization. The ore bodies exposed at the Lazursky and Maslyansky ore deposits are represented by copper-pyrite, copper, and zinc-copper-pyrite massive sulfide ores and other varieties. The major ore minerals of the deposits are chalcopyrite, pyrite, sphalerite, marcasite, and pyrrhotite.

BRINGING WERNER’S TEACHINGS TO THE NEW WORLD: ANDRÉS MANUEL DEL RÍO AND THE CHAIR OF MINERALOGY IN THE SCHOOL OF MINES OF MEXICO (1795–1805)

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-261
Author(s):  
FRANCISCO OMAR ESCAMILLA-GONZÁLEZ ◽  
LUCERO MORELOS-RODRÍGUEZ
Keyword(s):  
Mexico City ◽  
New World ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
Historical Documents ◽  
Mining Engineering ◽  
Educational Model ◽  
Engineering School ◽  
Del Rio ◽  
Geological Sciences

ABSTRACT Professor Andrés Manuel del Río (1764–1849) taught mineralogy from 1795 to 1846 in the School of Mines of Mexico City. This institution was the first mining engineering school of the New World and it followed closely the educational model of the Freiberg Mining Academy, established in 1765 in Saxony. The geological sciences, in particular, were taught at the School of Mines using Abraham Gottlob Werner’s (1749–1815) teaching method. This article analyzes the first ten years of Del Río’s work by studying the three branches of mineralogy that he taught: orictognosy, geognosy, and the ‘art of mining’. This analysis is based on the textbooks he wrote as well as other primary historical documents, many associated with students, that record the discoveries made by him from 1795 to 1805. This interval is considered to be the first golden period of his academic career during which he wrote textbooks and discovered vanadium.

scholarly journals Gold Allocation Forms in Sulfide Ore and Products of their Processing Enrichment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexey Mironovich Amdur ◽  
Sergei Andreevich Fedorov ◽  
Anna Nikolaevna Matushkina
Keyword(s):  
Melting Point ◽  
Size Distribution ◽  
Similar Type ◽  
Sulfide Ores ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Gold Particles ◽  
Dispersed Particles ◽  
Sulfide Ore ◽  
Copper Pyrite ◽  
Metallic Impurities

Gold in sulfide ores and technogenic formations after their processing is concentrated in the form of micro-dispersed particles. This article presents a study on the composition of the ultrafine gold particles, their size distribution, and some predicted gold properties. The studies were carried out using copper pyrite ore as an example. It was found that the content of metallic impurities in Au particles, which may appear during their formation under natural conditions, increases with a decrease in their size. The presence of copper in gold particles significantly lowers the melting point of the alloy. The data obtained are used to develop a technology for utilizing gold from technogenic formations of a similar type. Keywords: gold particles, copper, metallic impurities, alloy, radius of particle

The chalcocite and native-copper types of ore deposits

1933 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 407-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edson Sunderland Bastin
Keyword(s):  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Native Copper

Lead or Mercury, haifuki-hō or plata de azogue: the Environmental Dilemma in the History of Silver Refining

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 107-125
Author(s):  
Saul Guerrero
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
New World ◽  
Silver Content ◽  
Silver Sulfide ◽  
Spanish Empire ◽  
Smelting Process ◽  
Anthropogenic Emissions ◽  
Sulfide Ores ◽  
Sulfide Deposits ◽  
History Of

Abstract In the sixteenth century the Spanish Empire would find itself owner and conqueror of the largest deposits of primary silver and mercury in the world, a geopolitical conjunction which would lead to the use of mercury at an industrial scale in the production of plata de azogue (silver by mercury) from silver sulfide deposits found in the Americas. Thus, two refining processes, the millennia-old two-stage smelting process based on lead and high temperatures, and the upstart based on mercury sine igne (without fire), came to share in nearly equal parts the aggregate global production of silver from the sixteenth to the final decade of the nineteenth century. These processes relied on the extensive use of two of the heavy metals most toxic to humans, and their anthropogenic emissions to the environment have caused impacts lasting over subsequent centuries. However, the successful use of haifuki-hō (smelting-cupellation process) in Japan to produce silver from silver sulfide ores with 0.2 percent silver content demonstrates that the extensive use of mercury by Spanish refiners in the New World was not the consequence of the geochemistry or silver content of the ores.

Hell and Black Smokers

Pyrite ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Rickard
Keyword(s):  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Mineral Formation ◽  
Ore Genesis ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Unknown Reason ◽  
Ore Minerals ◽  
Lead Zinc ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Arsenic Copper ◽  
Solid Liquid

Most of the important metal ores in medieval and ancient times were pyrite-rich sulfides. These pyrite-rich ores were a major source of a suite of valuable commodities such as sulfur, arsenic, copper, lead, zinc, and nickel, as well as some gold and silver. This is why in 1725 Henckel could devote a 1,000-page volume to pyrites, sensu lato. Because of its relative abundance, its potential economic importance, and its exotic composition compared with the rock-forming minerals, pyrite has played a key role through the ages in developing ideas of how minerals and ore deposits form. During the last century, pyrite became an even more important mineral in discussions of ore genesis because it is also a key component of sediments. This led to conflicting theories of ore genesis, in which the ore minerals were formed in the sediments or introduced later, often by processes related to volcanism. The conflict between adherents of these theories continues to this day. Pyrite constituted a key, but sometimes uncomfortable, mineral in ancient theories of mineral formation. It was relatively common and often economically important. However, it contained sulfur as a key constituent and this contrasted it to many other common minerals and rocks in that this meant that pyrite could be changed by heating. Heating released sulfur from pyrite, leaving a residue of stony slag. The ancients also recognized sulfur as a special material since it occurred in solid, liquid, and gaseous form, rather like water. Any theory of mineral formation needed to explain how this protean element got into pyrite. This problem was compounded by the fact, discussed in Chapter 3, that for some unknown reason the ancients did not know that pyrite contained iron. Ancient theories of mineral formation divide into three categories: (a) the Genesis theory: that all minerals were formed by God during the creation of the Earth; (b) the Aristotelian theory: that all minerals were formed at depth in the Earth through the interactions of the four basic elements; and (c) the Alchemical theory: that minerals were formed from combinations of mercury and sulfur.

scholarly journals Mineralogical and Geochemical Characteristics of Lead-zinc Ore Deposits, and Potential Accompanying Components in the Cho Don - Cho Dien Area, Bac Kan Province, Vietnam

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tien Dung NGUYEN ◽  
Khac Du NGUYEN ◽  
Ngoc Thom NGUYEN
Keyword(s):  
Principal Components ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Manufacturing Industries ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Sulfide Ores ◽  
Icp Ms ◽  
Sulfide Ore ◽  
Lead Zinc ◽  
Entire Dataset ◽  
By Products

The Pb-Zn mineralization in the Cho Don - Cho Dien ore districts often occurs in 2 types: (1)oxidized ore near to the surface and (2) sulfide ore at deeper section. Based on microscopic observations,sulfide ores can be divided into sphalerite-galena-pyrite and/or galena-sphalerite mineralization types. Toexamine the geochemical features of the Pb-Zn ores, SEM-EDX and ICP-MS analytical methods wereperformed in this study. Previous δ34S data of Pb-Zn concentrates, and sulfide minerals from variousdeposits suggest that the Pb-Zn ore-forming fluids might be related to the felsic-granitic magmaticactivities rather than a genesis of stratiform type. Geochemical data show that the major, minor, and traceelement compositions of lead-zinc ores have wide ranges of variation even in each deposit. The sulfideores are generally higher in economic components than those in the oxidized ores. The positivecorrelations between Pb-Ag can be found in the entire dataset, whereas excellent Zn-Cd correlation canonly be observed from Cho Don ore samples. Apart from the principal components (Pb and Zn), the oresalso contain other accompanying elements that supply high-technological manufacturing industries. Ofwhich As, Cu, Ag, Sb, and Cd could be potential by-products and can be extracted during smelting Pb/Znconcentrate processes, and need more detailed studies for every deposit.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document