Posted on 02/12/2015 10:48:03 AM PST by JimSEA
The link between volcanism and the formation of copper ore could lead to discovery of new copper deposits.
Copper has been in use for 6,000 years and it shows no signs of slowing down. The average home has about a hundred pounds of it and we are going to have more people and homes, not fewer. Volcanoes may be the answer.
A research team led by Professor Jon Blundy of University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, studied giant porphyry copper deposits of the variety that host 75 percent of the world's copper reserves. Copper forms in association with volcanoes such as those around the Pacific Ring of Fire but the nature of this association has never been entirely clear. Copper ore is predominantly in the form of copper-iron sulphides so an enduring problem has been how to simultaneously create enrichments in both copper and sulfur. Volcanoes rich in copper tend to be poor in sulfur and vice versa.
(Excerpt) Read more at science20.com ...
PEX piping so much better than copper.
There are many copper deposits in the intermountain west areas of Idaho and Utah in areas that were volcanically active in the past.
The proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska is rich in several metals including copper and is thought to be an ancient volcanic belch that never quite erupted. Now its giving the EPA indigestion.
Ain’t geology grand?
Copper for everyone!!!
/Sarcasm/wierdness mode off
As I recall, diamond mines are also associated with volcanoes, or at least with magma channels.
It used to be that there was a third thing associated with copper deposits. On the surface above the copper was semiprecious turquoise, and opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminum.
Does sunlight ruin copper like PEX?
Kimberlite pipes found in very old cratons such as those found in Canada, South Africa, Russia and Australia. They are really interesting because they bring up very old and deep rocks we wouldn’t ordinarily see.
Not directly as far as I know. Organic material is usually trapped beneath sedimentary layers like shales.
Yes, that’s part of the hydrothermal activity and oxidation above the porphyry in faults, seams and joints. Bisbee, AZ is the classic example. I think there is still some turquoise “mining” in that region.
Well if you are going to talk dirty we will have to get the kids off the site.
Didn't that happen in 1215 in England?
Who is worried about sulfur?
We have sulfur coming out of our ears from the enviro-nazi insisting that it has to be removed from diesel oil.
.
I’ve never had to expose any piping to sunlight. Does copper freeze and then burst when the temp drops below 32?
To each his own. Personally I like Ford fittings and polyethylene pipe.
Copper still has it’s applications.
It was a company formed in the 1900s for an AZ mine which was bought out and closed about 2000. Now a subsidiary of the company that bought them out (BHP ) is reopening the original Magma mine.
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