Zeitschriftenartikel zum Thema „Uranium – Gisements – Nunavut (Canada)“

The Thelon Basin is temporally and spatially related to the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada, which hosts the highest-grade unconformity-related uranium deposits in the world. Several uranium deposits occur within the Aberdeen sub-basin of the Thelon Basin, and it has been suggested that they may also be unconformity-related deposits. However, the genesis of the deposits is still debated and the age of the uranium mineralization event remains loosely constrained. In this study, we use secondary ion mass spectrometry to measure three sulphur (S) isotopes in pyrite from the Kiggavik deposit to constrain the sources of sulphur. We use this information to determine whether these sulphides, if dated by the Re–Os method, would provide a better constraint on the timing of uranium mineralization. The Kiggavik deposit comprises three zones (Main, Centre, and East) that formed from ∼200 °C fluids at ∼1600 Ma. Non-hydrothermal pyrite and galena from all three zones have a wide range of δ34S values, from −41.2‰ to +37.4‰. The Δ33S values (>0‰) indicate recycling of mass independent fractionation sulphur, suggesting that pyrite from the Kiggavik deposit derived sulphur from the Neoarchean metagraywacke host rock. The preservation of these anomalous Δ33S values suggests that the pyrite formed from low-temperature processes rather than hydrothermal processes. Low-temperature, high-latitude fluids may have been involved in the formation of the pyrite because some of these sulphides are also associated with uranium minerals that are devoid of Pb and contain corroded calcite. Based on these data, Re–Os geochronology of these sulphides would not yield an age that would constrain the timing of hydrothermal uranium mineralization.

The Thelon Basin located in Nunavut, Canada, shares many similarities with the U-producing Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan. The Kiggavik project area, located near the northeastern edge of the Thelon Basin, contains U deposits and showings along the ∼30 km long NE–SW Kiggavik – Andrew Lake structural trend. The Andrew Lake deposit is near the southern end of this trend. Pre-mineralization is characterized by quartz ± carbonate veins that occupy fault systems later reactivated as conduits for U-mineralizing fluids. A four-phase genetic model is proposed for the Andrew Lake deposit. Phase 1 comprises vein-style uraninite (U1; 1031 ± 23 Ma) that is associated with illite and hematite, and contains variable PbO contents (0.2–9.5 wt.%). Phase 2 is characterized by altered uraninite (U2; ∼530 Ma) that is associated with coffinite. Altered uraninite (U3; <1 Ma) characterizes phase 3 and occurs as centimetre-scale “roll-fronts”. In phase 4, all three uraninite stages, and coffinite, are altered to boltwoodite. Although the oldest uraninite U–Pb age is ∼1030 Ma, illite associated with the U mineralization gives 40Ar/39Ar ages of 941 ± 31 and 1330 ± 36 Ma. The younger age is similar to the age for U1, suggesting that there was a fluid event that either precipitated U1 or reset the U–Pb isotopic system at ∼1000 Ma. While the older age for illite (1330 Ma) does not correlate with Andrew Lake U–Pb uraninite ages, it does correlate with ages previously reported for uraninite and clay alteration minerals in the Kiggavik area.

Pb-isotopes have been proposed as pathfinders for sandstone-hosted unconformity-related U deposits, with isotope ratios providing information on mineralization timing and element remobilization and migration. Pb-isotopes proximal to mineralization display radiogenic signatures, often with ‘excess Pb’ suggestive of derivation from greater U concentrations than are currently present. The U deposits in the Kiggavik project area (west of Baker Lake, NU, Canada) are basement-hosted, contain several generations of pitchblende mineralization, display a strong structural control, and are located in fault-related fracture systems and foliation-parallel veinlets. Drill core samples were analysed by Inductively-Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) for Pb isotopes following multi-acid total-digestion, reverse Aqua Regia partial-digestion, and weak-acid-leach attacks, to evaluate the utility of the respective dissolution methods in Pb-isotope pathfinder geochemistry. Partial-digestion results are similar to weak-acid-leach results, indicating that interpretation of Pb-isotope signatures can be carried out from partial-digestion data if weak-acid-leach data are unavailable. Application of this pathfinder method at Kiggavik shows that Pb-isotope ratios display systematic trends useful for exploration vectoring. Uranium-content-adjusted 206Pb/204Pb ratios and 206Pb/204Pb ‘excess-lead’ data highlight anomalous isotopic values. 207Pb/206Pb ratios display downhole trends complementary to location of mineralization. Three-dimensional (3D) distributions of Pb-isotope data at the Contact U prospect show systematic trends and form halos around the mineralization. Isotopic footprints are limited to <50 m from the mineralization outline, reflecting host-rock and structural control, but indicate areas with elevated potential for U mineralization and provide vectoring information within basement lithologies.

In the Kiggavik area (Nunavut, Canada), major fault zones along, or close to, where uranium deposits are found are often associated with occurrence of thick quartz breccia (QB) bodies. These bodies formed in an early stage (~1750 Ma) of the long-lasting tectonic history of the Archean basement, and of the Proterozoic Thelon basin. The main characteristics of the QB are addressed in this study; through field work, macro and microscopic observations, cathodoluminescence microscopy, trace elements, and oxygen isotopic signatures of the quartz forming the QB. Faults formed earlier during syn- to post-orogenic rifting (1850–1750 Ma) were subsequently reactivated, and underwent cycles of cataclasis, pervasive silicification, hydraulic brecciation, and quartz recrystallization. This was synchronous with the circulation of meteoric fluids mixing with Si-rich magmatic-derived fluids at depth, and were coeval with the emplacement of the Kivalliq igneous suite at 1750 Ma. These processes led to the emplacement of up to 30 m thick QB, which behaved as a mechanically strong, transverse hydraulic barrier that localized later fracturing, and compartmentalized/channelized vertical flow of uranium-bearing fluids after the deposition of the Thelon Basin (post 1750 Ma). The development and locations of QB control the location of uranium mineralization in the Kiggavik area.

We compared modern limnological characteristics of three lakes near the world’s northernmost base metal (lead-zinc) mine, Polaris Mine, which operated from 1981 to 2002 on Little Cornwallis Island (Nunavut, Canada), to a suite of sites from Resolute Bay (Qausuittuq), Cornwallis Island. Although both study regions are underlain by broadly similar geology and experience nearly identical climatic conditions, present-day water chemistry variables differed markedly between sites on the two islands. Specifically, the lakes near the Polaris Mine recorded substantially higher concentrations of zinc and lead, as well as several other heavy metals (cadmium, molybdenum, nickel, uranium, vanadium), relative to the sites on Cornwallis Island. Although the Polaris Mine closed in 2002, elevated levels of heavy metals in our 2017 survey are likely a legacy of contamination from prior operations.

In unconformity-related uranium deposits, mineralization is associated with hydrothermal clay-rich alteration haloes that decrease the density of the host rock. In the Kiggavik uranium project, located in the eastern Thelon Basin, Nunavut (Canada), basement-hosted shallow deposits were discovered by drilling geophysical anomalies in the 1970s. In 2014, gravity data were inverted for the first time using the Geosoft VOXI Earth ModellingTM system to generate three-dimensional (3D) models to assist exploration in the Contact prospect, the most recent discovery at Kiggavik. A 3D unconstrained inversion model was calculated before drilling, and a model constrained by petrophysical data was computed after drilling. The unconstrained inversion provided a first approximation of the geometry and depth of a low-density body and helped to collar the discovery holes of the Contact mineralization. The constrained inversion was computed using density values measured on 315 core samples collected from 21 drill holes completed between 2014 and 2015. The constrained modelling highlights three shallower and smaller low-density bodies that match the geological interpretation and refines the footprint of the gravity anomalies in relation to the current understanding of the deposit. The 3D inversion of gravity data is a valuable tool to guide geologists in exploration of shallow basement-hosted uranium deposits associated with alteration haloes and to assess the deposit gravity geometry.

The Paleoproterozoic Thelon Basin, located on the border between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada, is a contemporaneous analog of the uranium-rich Paleoproterozoic Athabasca Basin in Canada. Early diagenesis resulted in precipitation of extensive hematite on the surfaces of detrital quartz grains throughout the Thelon Formation and minor hydroxy-phosphate in veins locally. Continued diagenesis then resulted in syntaxial quartz cementation of detrital quartz at 130°C from fluids having ca. 17 wt.% equivalent NaCl, similar to the Athabasca Basin. Cementation of this type is most pronounced in fine-grained sequences in the Thelon Basin. A period of extensive desilicification during continued burial was followed by formation, at ca. 200°C, of peak-diagenetic illite having Ar–Ar ages of ca. 1400–1690 Ma in the Thelon Formation. This illite was associated with fluids with δ18O and δD values of ca. 6‰ and –50‰, respectively, similar to those during peak diagenesis of the Athabasca Basin. Although the timing, salinity, and isotopic composition of the peak-diagenetic fluids in the Thelon and Athabasca Basins are similar, the peak-diagenetic mineral assemblage in the Athabasca Formation is dickite and illite, with minor dravite and goyasite rather than simply illite. Consequently, the fluids at peak diagenesis, which in the Athabasca Basin are synchronous with formation of world-class unconformity-type uranium deposits, had different compositions in each basin. Post-peak diagenesis in the Thelon Basin was quite distinct from that in the Athabasca Basin in that illite was replaced in the central portion of the basin by K-feldspar and then sudoite, which crystallized from saline brines at ca. 1000 Ma and 100°C. Evidence for later infiltration of these brines is absent in the Athabasca Basin, although uranium mobilization at ca. 900 Ma from fluids having the same characteristics as those at peak diagenesis was pronounced in the Athabasca Basin. Recent incursion of meteoric waters along reactivated structures into the Athabasca Basin has variably affected hydrous and uraniferous minerals, but evidence for this is lacking in the Thelon Basin. The Thelon Basin reflects less intensive fluid–rock interaction in its early history than that recorded in the basal units of the Athabasca Basin.

The north–northwest-striking Bathurst fault in the northeastern Slave craton displaced the 1.9 Ga Kilohigok basin and the ca. 2.02–1.96 Ga Thelon tectonic zone, and projects beneath the 1.7 Ga Thelon basin where unconformity-associated uranium deposits are spatially associated with basement faults. Here we investigate the deformation–temperature–time history of the Bathurst fault rocks using structural and microstructural observations paired with U–(Th–)Pb and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology. Highly strained hornblende-bearing granitoid rocks, the predominant rock type on the northeastern side of the Bathurst fault in the study area, show ambiguous sense of shear suggesting flattening by coaxial deformation. Quartz and feldspar microstructures suggest ductile deformation occurred at ≥500 °C. Along the main fault trace, brittle features and hydrothermal alteration overprint the pervasive ductile flattening fabric. In situ U–Th–Pb dating of synkinematic monazite suggests ductile fabric formation at ca. 1933 ± 4 Ma and ca. 1895 ± 11 Ma, and zircon from a cross-cutting dyke constrains the brittle deformation to ≤1839 ± 14 Ma. 40Ar/39Ar dating of fabric-defining minerals yield cooling ages of ca. 1920–1900 Ma and ca. 1900–1850 Ma for hornblende and muscovite, respectively, and a maximum cooling age of ca. 1840 Ma for biotite. We suggest the ca. 1933–1895 Ma ductile flattening fabric developed during orthogonal collision and indentation of the Slave craton into the Thelon tectonic zone and Rae craton. Brittle deformation on the Bathurst fault was localised parallel to the ductile flattening fabric after ca. 1840 Ma and preceded Thelon basin deposition. Brittle deformation features in Bathurst fault rocks preserve evidence for fluid–rock interaction and enhanced basement permeability, suggesting the fault is a possible conduit structure for mineralising fluids.

Lithoprobe (1984–2005), Canada’s national, collaborative, multidisciplinary, Earth Science research project, investigated the structure and evolution of the Canadian landmass and its margins. It was a highly successful project that redefined the nature of Earth science research in Canada. One of many contributions deriving from the project was the demonstration by example that Earth scientists from geophysics and geology, including all applicable sub-disciplines within these general study areas, must work together to achieve thorough and comprehensive interpretations of all available data sets. In Part 1, this statement was exemplified through studies involving lithospheric structures. In Part 2, it is exemplified by summarizing interpretations from six exploration-related studies derived from journal publications. In the first example, subsurface structures associated with the Guichon Creek batholith in south-central British Columbia, which hosts porphyry copper and molybdenum deposits, are better defined and related to different geological phases of the batholith. Reprocessed seismic reflection data and 2.5-D and 3-D inversions of magnetic and gravity data are combined with detailed geological mapping and drillhole information to generate the revised and improved subsurface interpretation. Research around the Bell Allard volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit in the Matagami region of northern Quebec provides the second example. A seismic reflection line over the deposit shortly after it was discovered by drilling, aided by core and geophysical logs, was acquired to test whether the deposit could be imaged. Direct detection of the ore body from the seismic section would be difficult if its location were not already known; however, structural characteristics that can be tied to lithologies from boreholes and logs were well identified. Nickel deposits and associated structures in the Thompson belt at the western limit of the Superior Province in northern Manitoba were the focus of seismic and electromagnetic (EM) studies combined with geology and physical property measurements. The combined seismic/EM image indicates that the rocks of the prospective Ospwagan Group, which have low resistivity, extend southeastward beneath the Archean gneiss and that structural culminations control the subsurface geometry of the Ospwagan Group. The Sudbury structure in Ontario is famous for its nickel deposits, the largest in the world, which formed as the result of a catastrophic meteorite impact. To help reconcile some of the enigmas and apparent contradictions surrounding studies of the structure and to develop more effective geophysical techniques to locate new deposits, Lithoprobe partnered with industry to carry out geophysical surveys combined with the extensive geological information available. A revised structural model for the Sudbury structure was generated and a 3-D seismic reflection survey identified a nickel deposit, known from drilling results, prior to any mine development. The Athabasca Basin of northwestern Saskatchewan and northeastern Alberta is one of the world’s most prolific producers of uranium from its characteristically high-grade unconformity-type deposits and is the only current uranium producer in Canada. An extensive database of geology, drillhole data and physical properties exists. Working with industry collaborators, Lithoprobe demonstrated the value of high-resolution seismic for imaging the unconformity and faults associated with the deposits. The final example involves a unique seismic reflection experiment to image the diamondiferous Snap Lake kimberlite dyke in the Slave Province of the Northwest Territories. The opportunity to study geological samples of the kimberlite dyke and surrounding rocks and to ground-truth the seismic results with drillhole data made available by the two industry collaborators enabled a case history study that was highly successful.RÉSUMÉLithoprobe (1984-2005), ce projet de recherche pancanadien, multidisciplinaire et concerté en sciences de la Terre, a étudié la structure et l'évolution de la croûte continentale canadienne et de ses marges. Ça a été un projet très réussi et qui a redéfini la nature de la recherche en sciences de la Terre au Canada. L'une des nombreuses retombées de ce projet a démontré par l'exemple que les spécialistes des sciences de la Terre en géophysique et en géologie, y compris toutes les sous-disciplines applicables dans ces domaines d'étude généraux, doivent travailler de concert afin de parvenir à une interprétation exhaustive de tous les ensembles de données disponibles. Dans la partie 1, cette approche s'est concrétisée par des études portant sur les structures lithosphériques. Dans la partie 2, elle a produit un résumé des interprétations tirées de six études liées à l'exploration à partir de publications dans des revues scientifiques. Dans le premier exemple, les structures souterraines associées au batholite du ruisseau Guichon, dans le centre-sud de la Colombie-Britannique, et qui renferme des gisements porphyriques de cuivre et de molybdène, sont maintenant mieux définies et mieux reliées aux différentes phases géologiques du batholite. Un retraitement des données de sismique réflexion, et d’inversion magnétique et gravimétrique 2,5-D et 3-D combiné à une cartographie géologique détaillée et à des données de forage ont permis une interprétation révisée et améliorée du de subsurface. La recherche autour du gisement de sulfures massifs volcanogéniques de Bell Allard de la région de Matagami, dans le nord du Québec, est un deuxième exemple. Un levé de sismique réflexion réalisé au-dessus du gisement, peu après sa découverte par forage, couplé avec des diagraphies géophysiques et de carottes, a été réalisé pour vérifier si l'ensemble pouvait donner une image du gisement. La détection directe du gisement de minerai à partir de la coupe sismique serait difficile si son emplacement n'était pas déjà connu; cependant, les caractéristiques structurales qui peuvent être liées aux lithologies déduites des forages et des diagraphies ont été bien définies. Les gisements de nickel et les structures qui y sont reliées dans la bande de Thompson, à la limite ouest de la province du Supérieur, dans le nord du Manitoba, ont fait l'objet d'études sismiques et électromagnétiques (EM), combinés à des mesures de caractéristiques géologiques et physiques. L'image sismique/EM combinée indique que les roches du groupe d’intérêt d’Ospwagan, lesquelles ont une résistivité faible, s'étendent vers le sud-est sous le gneiss archéen et, les culminations structurales contrôlent la géométrie souterraine du groupe d’Ospwagan. La structure de Sudbury, en Ontario, est réputée pour ses gisements de nickel, les plus importants au monde, lesquels se sont formés à la suite d'un impact météoritique catastrophique. Pour aider à comprendre certaines des énigmes et résoudre d’apparentes contradictions entourant les études de la structure, et pour développer des techniques géophysiques plus efficaces afin de localiser de nouveaux gisements, Lithoprobe s'est associé à l'entreprise privée pour réaliser des levés géophysiques, et les comparer aux très nombreuses informations géologiques disponibles. Une révision du modèle structural du gisement de Sudbury, ajouté à un levé sismique réflexion tridimensionnelle, ont permis de circonscrire un gisement de nickel, avant tout autre travail de développement minier. Le bassin de l'Athabasca, dans le nord-ouest de la Saskatchewan et le nord-est de l'Alberta, est l'un des producteurs d'uranium les plus prolifiques au monde provenant de gisements à haute teneur de type discordant, et est le seul producteur d'uranium au Canada. Une volumineuse base de données sur la géologie, les forages et les propriétés physiques est disponible. En collaboration avec des entreprises privées, Lithoprobe a démontré la valeur de la sismique à haute résolution pour l'imagerie de la discordance et des failles associées aux gisements. Le dernier exemple est celui d'une expérience de sismique réflexion unique visant à représenter le dyke de kimberlite diamantifère du lac Snap dans la province des Esclaves, dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest. L'occasion d'étudier des échantillons géologiques du dyke de kimberlite, et des roches environnantes, et de valider les résultats sismiques à l'aide des données de forage mises à disposition par les deux partenaires privés, a permis une étude de cas très fructueuse.

The Mallery Lake area contains precious metal-bearing quartz–chalcedony stockworks that are pristine examples of ancient low-sulfidation epithermal deposits. Fluorite extracted from these epithermal deposits define a Sm–Nd errorchron age of 1434 ± 23 Ma mean square of weighted deviates (MSWD) = 4.8. This date is interpreted to have age significance because (1) a simple linear trend does not exist between the 143Nd/144Nd ratios of the fluorite with respect to their 1/Nd concentrations as would be expected for mixing of two geochemical end members; (2) microthermometric studies indicate that the fluorite analysed in this study has an intimate association with a single high-salinity, calcic brinal fluid; and (3) the age determined from seven fluorite samples extracted from a single outcrop location yielded an identical age result (1434 ± 60 Ma; MSWD = 5.5) compared to the fluorite composite. Rhyodacites of the Pitz Formation and syenites from the Nueltin suite (intrusive equivalent to the rhyodacites) are the youngest volcanic–plutonic rocks that are observed in outcrop in the Mallery Lake area, and they were dated by U–Pb zircon analysis at 1760 ± 43 Ma and 1755.4 ± 1.8 Ma, respectively. The ~320 million year age difference between the epithermal deposits and the hosting rhyodacitic flows suggests that the epithermal stockworks may have formed by a regional hydrothermal event unrelated to this earlier Paleoproterozoic volcanic activity. Uranium deposits in the Thelon and Athabasca basins, to the northwest and south of the Baker Lake Basin, were determined to have similar ore emplacement ages with no evident heat source.

The following seven papers were presented on May 16, 1984, at the Geological Association of Canada and Mineralogical Association of Canada joint annual meeting. The special session, organized by R. W. Macqueen and J. A. Coope, contained 10 papers and was sponsored by the Mineral Deposits Division of the Geological Association of Canada.Our objective in organizing the special session was to examine organically based processes and relationships that may be of major importance to the origin of ore deposits. As noted by Fyfe (1984), the concept of the geochemical cycle focuses attention on pathways of chemical elements and isotopes of the Earth's system during geologic history. It is clear from the chemistry of carbon-rich materials that a wide range of elements is concentrated directly or indirectly by biological processes operating as part of the geochemical cycle. Two of the papers of the special session examine some of these concentration processes, although definitive links to actual ore deposits cannot be made yet. Beveridge and Fyfe document the remarkable ability of the anionic cell walls of certain bacteria to concentrate metals and to provide sites for nucleation and growth of minerals. In a related paper, Mann and Fyfe show that several species of simple freshwater green algae readily concentrate large amounts of uranium under both experimental and natural conditions (Elliot Lake and Thames River, Ontario).Two papers deal with aspects of sulphate reduction. Birnbaum and Wireman describe controlled experiments that suggest that sulphate-reducing bacteria may be involved in the selective replacement of sulphate-evaporite minerals by silica and in the precipitation of silica in association with sulphide mineral phases in banded iron formations. Their work focuses directly on the effect that bacterial sulphate reduction has on silica solubility. Trudinger et al. examine the question of mechanisms of sulphate reduction at temperatures less than 200 °C and the bearing this has on origin of sulphide for low-temperature sulphide ore deposits. Although there is empirical evidence favouring abiological sulphate reduction at temperatures in the vicinity of 100 °C, Trudinger et al. have not been able to demonstrate abiological reduction of sulphate under controlled laboratory conditions and at temperatures under about 200 °C. Perhaps catalysts, as yet undiscovered, are involved in this process in nature.Impressive progress has been made in understanding the diagenetic evolution of organic matter in response to heat and pressure in geological environments: excellent reviews are found in Barnes et al. (1984) and Bustin et al. (1985). Simoneit's paper examines and reviews the genesis of petroleum in a most unusual setting, that of the active ocean ridge spreading centre of Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California. There, in the vicinity of black smokers and associated metallic sulphide deposits, petroleum originates instantaneously geologically as a result of hydrothermal activity. The question of genetic involvement of organic matter in the origin of the metallic sulphides (e.g., reduction of sulphate to H2S) cannot be answered yet for this setting with the available data.The final two special session papers included here are concerned with organic matter associated with mineralization in Canadian Shield Precambrian settings. Willingham et al. demonstrate that Elliot Lake – Blind River Early Proterozoic uranium deposits with minor amounts of associated gold also contain kerogen-like organic matter. Some of this organic matter has anomalously rich amounts of gold and uranium and appears to have originated as mats of cyanobacteria, possibly with the ability to concentrate these metals. For a number of settings in the Archean-aged Abitibi greenstone belt of Ontario and Quebec, Springer demonstrates that carbon, at least partly of organic origin, is closely associated with some gold deposits. Her interpretation is that carbon activated by shear-zone-associated hydrothermal fluids has provided sites for fixing some of the gold.Three of the papers given at the special session are not included here. H. T. Shacklette reviewed metal uptake by young conifer trees, demonstrating that nursery-grown seedlings of several species readily concentrated a variety of metals, including lead, zinc, tin, and gold, over a 7 year period. This work is of interest to those involved in geochemical prospecting and is now published elsewhere (King et al. 1984). R. W. Macqueen presented quantitative data on the genesis of sulphide by abiological bitumen–sulphate reactions at the Pine Point lead–zinc property, Northwest Territories, Canada (Macqueen and Powell 1983; Powell and Macqueen 1984). Although Trudinger et al. have not been able to demonstrate abiological reduction of sulphate at temperatures approximating those of Pine Point [Formula: see text], the data presented by Macqueen (Powell and Macqueen 1984) are consistent with the amounts, alteration, and composition of bitumens at Pine Point, as well as with the presence of native sulphur and the sulphur isotope compositions of the various Pine Point sulphur species. This work is continuing, and a more extensive account is in preparation. J. R. Watterson examined relationships between freezing climates and the local chemical behaviour of gold in the weathering cycle, concluding that ice-induced accumulation of organic acids, bacteria, and other organic matter at mineral surfaces may increase rates of chemical attack, leading to dissolution of normally insoluble metals such as gold (Watterson 1986).Interest in organic aspects of the geochemical cycle, including ore deposition, is growing dramatically (e.g., Fyfe 1984). Although the following papers address a limited range of topics within the field, they do indicate some of the diversity and variety of active processes and associations between metallic elements and organic components. Perhaps, in the not too distant future, we will be able to identify or even discover whole classes of ore deposits that owe their origin directly to organic influences operating within the geochemical cycle.