Multi-Media Geochemical Exploration in the Critical Zone: A Case Study over the Prairie and Wolf Zn–Pb Deposits, Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia

In this study, we compared traditional lithochemical sample media (soil) with hydrochemical (groundwater), biogeochemical (plant matter of mulga and spinifex), and other near-surface sample media (ferro-manganese crust), in a case study applied to mineral exploration in weathered terrain, through th...

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Autores principales:	Anicia Henne, Nathan Reid, Robert L. Thorne, Samuel C. Spinks, Tenten Pinchand, Alistair White
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	biogeochemistry hydrochemistry spinifex mulga groundwater mineral exploration Mineralogy QE351-399.2
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/1d78bb5bb3b54ace94927eb386560fdb
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:1d78bb5bb3b54ace94927eb386560fdb2021-11-25T18:25:58ZMulti-Media Geochemical Exploration in the Critical Zone: A Case Study over the Prairie and Wolf Zn–Pb Deposits, Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia10.3390/min111111742075-163Xhttps://doaj.org/article/1d78bb5bb3b54ace94927eb386560fdb2021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/11/11/1174https://doaj.org/toc/2075-163XIn this study, we compared traditional lithochemical sample media (soil) with hydrochemical (groundwater), biogeochemical (plant matter of mulga and spinifex), and other near-surface sample media (ferro-manganese crust), in a case study applied to mineral exploration in weathered terrain, through the critical zone at the fault-hosted Prairie and Wolf Zn–Pb (Ag) deposits in Western Australia. We used multi-element geochemistry analyses to spatially identify geochemical anomalies in samples over known mineralization, and investigated metal dispersion processes. In all near-surface sample media, high concentrations of the metals of interest (Zn, Pb, Ag) coincided with samples proximal to the mineralization at depth. However, the lateral dispersion of these elements differed from regional (several km; groundwater) to local (several 100′s of meters; solid sample media) scales. Zinc in spinifex leaves over the Prairie and Wolf deposits exceeded the total concentrations in all other sample media, while the metal concentrations in mulga phyllodes were not as pronounced, except for Ag, which exceeded the concentrations in all other sample media. These observations indicate potential preferential metal-specific uptake by different media. Pathfinder elements in vegetation and groundwater samples also indicated the Prairie Downs fault zone at the regional (groundwater) and local (vegetation) scale, and are, therefore, potentially useful tools to trace fault systems that host structurally controlled, hydrothermal Zn–Pb mineralization.Anicia HenneNathan ReidRobert L. ThorneSamuel C. SpinksTenten PinchandAlistair WhiteMDPI AGarticlebiogeochemistryhydrochemistryspinifexmulgagroundwatermineral explorationMineralogyQE351-399.2ENMinerals, Vol 11, Iss 1174, p 1174 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	biogeochemistry hydrochemistry spinifex mulga groundwater mineral exploration Mineralogy QE351-399.2
spellingShingle	biogeochemistry hydrochemistry spinifex mulga groundwater mineral exploration Mineralogy QE351-399.2 Anicia Henne Nathan Reid Robert L. Thorne Samuel C. Spinks Tenten Pinchand Alistair White Multi-Media Geochemical Exploration in the Critical Zone: A Case Study over the Prairie and Wolf Zn–Pb Deposits, Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia
description	In this study, we compared traditional lithochemical sample media (soil) with hydrochemical (groundwater), biogeochemical (plant matter of mulga and spinifex), and other near-surface sample media (ferro-manganese crust), in a case study applied to mineral exploration in weathered terrain, through the critical zone at the fault-hosted Prairie and Wolf Zn–Pb (Ag) deposits in Western Australia. We used multi-element geochemistry analyses to spatially identify geochemical anomalies in samples over known mineralization, and investigated metal dispersion processes. In all near-surface sample media, high concentrations of the metals of interest (Zn, Pb, Ag) coincided with samples proximal to the mineralization at depth. However, the lateral dispersion of these elements differed from regional (several km; groundwater) to local (several 100′s of meters; solid sample media) scales. Zinc in spinifex leaves over the Prairie and Wolf deposits exceeded the total concentrations in all other sample media, while the metal concentrations in mulga phyllodes were not as pronounced, except for Ag, which exceeded the concentrations in all other sample media. These observations indicate potential preferential metal-specific uptake by different media. Pathfinder elements in vegetation and groundwater samples also indicated the Prairie Downs fault zone at the regional (groundwater) and local (vegetation) scale, and are, therefore, potentially useful tools to trace fault systems that host structurally controlled, hydrothermal Zn–Pb mineralization.
format	article
author	Anicia Henne Nathan Reid Robert L. Thorne Samuel C. Spinks Tenten Pinchand Alistair White
author_facet	Anicia Henne Nathan Reid Robert L. Thorne Samuel C. Spinks Tenten Pinchand Alistair White
author_sort	Anicia Henne
title	Multi-Media Geochemical Exploration in the Critical Zone: A Case Study over the Prairie and Wolf Zn–Pb Deposits, Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia
title_short	Multi-Media Geochemical Exploration in the Critical Zone: A Case Study over the Prairie and Wolf Zn–Pb Deposits, Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia
title_full	Multi-Media Geochemical Exploration in the Critical Zone: A Case Study over the Prairie and Wolf Zn–Pb Deposits, Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia
title_fullStr	Multi-Media Geochemical Exploration in the Critical Zone: A Case Study over the Prairie and Wolf Zn–Pb Deposits, Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia
title_full_unstemmed	Multi-Media Geochemical Exploration in the Critical Zone: A Case Study over the Prairie and Wolf Zn–Pb Deposits, Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia
title_sort	multi-media geochemical exploration in the critical zone: a case study over the prairie and wolf zn–pb deposits, capricorn orogen, western australia
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/1d78bb5bb3b54ace94927eb386560fdb
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Multi-Media Geochemical Exploration in the Critical Zone: A Case Study over the Prairie and Wolf Zn–Pb Deposits, Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia

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