Innovation in mineral exploration is crucial, and using geochemical techniques and on-site technologies that offer immediate feedback and adaptability for various mining tasks has revolutionized the mining field. These advancements provide new insights for the mining industry, with geochemical analysis serving as a foundation for resource and reserve estimates. Given the significance of geochemical data and analysis in the sector, this article will explore its application in mineral exploration, discuss various geochemical analysis techniques, and highlight future needs to demonstrate its positive impact on the mining industry.
Image Credit: Anna Kucherova/Shutterstock.com
Geochemical Methods and the Mining Industry
As populations expand, the demand for resources like mineral deposits increases. These deposits are often considered geochemical anomalies, making their detection and environmental impact assessment dependent on geochemical techniques.
Geochemical research and applied geochemistry intersect in metal exploration and extraction by utilizing element mobility in near-surface environments to locate deeper deposits and mapping element distributions around deposits to assess the chemical environment fully.
Geochemical methods are crucial in understanding how macro- and microenvironments affect element mobility across the geosphere–biosphere interface, which is essential for developing effective remediation strategies during resource extraction.1
What are the Different Types of Geochemical Analysis?
Mineral exploration is a complex, multidisciplinary process that uses theoretical knowledge and specialized tools from different industrial settings. Geochemical techniques have played a crucial role in discovering numerous mineral deposits and have become an integral part of mining projects' standard industrial analysis framework. A few essential geochemical analysis techniques for mining are discussed below.
Lithogeochemistry: A key analysis method for the mining industry
One widely used method is lithogeochemistry, which analyzes the chemical composition of rocks and minerals during mining operations. Lithogeochemistry helps identify the geochemical signatures of different rock types, aiding in the detection of specific minerals linked to certain deposits, such as gold-bearing minerals in rocks and soils. This powerful analytical technique is valuable for studying rocks from various geological settings, including igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. Lithogeochemistry has been applied globally, significantly advancing the mining industry.2
An overview of hyperspectral scanning analysis
Another method for geochemical analysis in mineral exploration is hyperspectral scanning. This remote sensing technique examines the reflectance spectra of rocks and soils. It efficiently detects alterations in soil chemistry to help detect minerals.
Hyperspectral imaging is the most widely employed of the various techniques due to its fast results and optimized costs.3 Moreover, its use in studying the environmental impact of mining and its effectiveness in emergency responses during mining operations make it a popular choice.
What is radiogenic isotope geochemical analysis for mineral exploration?
Radiogenic isotopes have been widely used in mineralization studies to determine the age of mineralizing events and as tracers to provide information, such as the source of metals. They can reveal details about the nature, age, and origin of mineralization, fluid pathways, potential metal sources, and the processes leading to mineralization.
On a larger scale, from camp to continent, the radiogenic isotope analysis technique can shed light on the structure of the mineral system and the geological framework. At these scales, regional isotopic maps are particularly useful and informative. Geochemical analysis methods that use indicator minerals, like radiogenic isotope analysis, are cost-effective and efficient, making them valuable tools in mineral exploration projects.4
Main Application Areas of Geochemistry and Geochemical Analysis in the Mining Industry
Geochemical techniques are strategically important across the entire exploration and mining process, from the initial targeting phase to resource definition, efficient mining, and finally, mine closure. In the mining industry, applied geochemistry is divided into three areas: exploration geochemistry, mining geochemistry (or geo-metallurgy), and environmental geochemistry. While the objectives of these areas differ, their approaches, applications, and techniques are similar.
Environmental Geochemistry: Promoting Sustainability in the Mining Field
Environmental geochemistry on mine sites and projects includes establishing the geochemical baseline, monitoring the quality of surface and borehole water, and assessing ore and waste rocks for the potential of acid mine drainage and metal leaching. Over the past few decades, significant technological advancements, such as inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), have made fast and relatively inexpensive multi-element analysis possible. These techniques enable the creation of extensive multi-element data sets, which are valuable in exploration, mining, and, most importantly, preserving the environment by implementing sustainability into the mining operations.5
Geochemical Data and Digital Technologies: What Needs to be Done?
Beyond locating mineralization, geochemical data can also be used to establish geochemical baselines, interpret bedrock geology, and carry out environmental assessments, among other applications. The integration of automation, data science, and artificial intelligence (AI) is continuously transforming how insights are derived from geochemical data in the mining industry.
However, the use of AI on geochemical data is currently more of a temporary or periodic occurrence, mainly due to the large amounts of accumulated data. High data velocity is not typical in exploration geochemistry because, in their current form, geochemical data generation processes like sampling and analysis are only scalable in a linear manner.
Establishing and adopting what can be called "universal reference materials" (URMs) is necessary to allow the integrated use of geochemical data from various sources. Currently, no study or committee has developed URMs for any sample media.
The long-term viability of geochemical data will largely depend on how usable they are in the future. Data managers are crucial in ensuring that data quality and standards are maintained for geodata scientists. They achieve this by synthesizing data requirements and conveying them to data engineers.6 The industry must provide necessary resources to geochemical data managers to allow the development of frameworks to maintain the quality of geochemical data and to ensure seamless integration of data sciences into the mining industry.
Conclusion
Geochemical analysis techniques form the necessary framework for accomplishing mining operations. They play an essential role in mineral exploration, and different techniques, such as lithogeochemistry and hyperspectral analysis, are essential for mineral estimation.
With the development of portable instruments, analysis methods have accelerated massively, with large chunks of data generated continuously. Although data analysis techniques are being researched, the need of the hour is to define standards to assess the quality and usefulness of data. This would ensure that digital technologies such as AI play a vital role in optimizing the geochemical mineral exploration methods for the mining industry.
References and Further Reading
- Kyser, K. et al. (2015). Applied Geochemistry in Mineral Exploration and Mining. Elements; 11 (4), 241–246. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.11.4.241
- Valls R. et al. (2023). Five Common Geochemical Data Analysis Techniques Used in Mineral Exploration. Valls Geoconsultant. (Online). Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/five-common-geochemical-data-analysis-techniques-used/ [Accessed on: August 27, 2024].
- Krupnik, D., & Khan, S. (2019). Close-range, ground-based hyperspectral imaging for mining applications at various scales: Review and case studies. Earth-science reviews, 198, 102952. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.102952
- Champion, D. et al. (2016). Radiogenic isotopes, ore deposits and metallogenic terranes: Novel approaches based on regional isotopic maps and the mineral systems concept. Ore Geology Reviews, 76, 229-256. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2015.09.025
- Kyser, K. et al. (2015). Applied geochemistry in mineral exploration and mining. Elements, 11(4), 241-246. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.11.4.241
- Bourdeau, J. et al. (2024). Data generation for exploration geochemistry: Past, present and future. Applied Geochemistry, 106124. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2024.106124
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author expressed in their private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of AZoM.com Limited T/A AZoNetwork the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer forms part of the Terms and conditions of use of this website.