The Economic Aspect of GeologyLeith, C. K. (Charles Kenneth)
Science
The Economic Aspect of Geology
Leith, C. K. (Charles Kenneth)
Geology, Economic
The Kennecott copper deposits of Alaska have a number of resemblances to
the Lake Superior copper deposits, suggesting similarity in origin. The
Kennecott deposits occur exclusively in limestone, which rests
conformably on a tilted surface of igneous flows ("greenstones") not
unlike those of Lake Superior. The flows carry native copper and copper
sulphides in minutely disseminated form and in amygdules, but apparently
not in quantities sufficiently concentrated to mine. The flows are
supposed to be the original source of the copper now in the limestone.
The primary copper mineral in the limestone is chalcocite, in
exceptionally rich and solid masses, showing no evidence of having
replaced earlier sulphides. It is regarded as a product of primary
deposition, under the influence of hot solutions related in some way to
the igneous flows; but whether the solutions were magmatic, originating
in the lavas or below, or whether they were meteoric waters rendered hot
by contact with the extrusives, and thereby made effective in leaching
copper from them, is not clear. The oxidation of the Kennecott copper
ores is not extensive. It presents an interesting feature, in that since
glacial time the ground has been frozen and the moisture is now present
in the form of ice. The oxidation clearly took place before glacial
time. Abundant fragments of both the oxide and the sulphide ores are
mined from the lateral moraine of a nearby glacier. This is a good
illustration of the cyclic nature of secondary concentration which is
coming to be recognized in so many camps.
The Boleo copper deposits of Lower California occur in volcanic tuffs
and associated conglomerates of Tertiary age. They have certain peculiar
mineralogic associations--the ores containing large quantities of all
the common copper oxide minerals, and a number of rare oxide minerals of
copper, lead, silver, and cobalt, together with gypsum, sulphur, and
much iron and manganese oxide. The copper oxides and carbonates are in
places gathered into rounded concretions called "boleos" (balls).
Sulphides are present in the lowest beds and may represent the form in
which the copper was originally deposited. The copper-bearing beds have
been much silicified, and it has been suggested that mineralization was
accomplished by hot-spring waters, probably of igneous origin. These
deposits have a few marked similarities to the Lake Superior copper
ores.
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