Introduction to Ore-Forming Processes

Introduction to Ore-Forming Processes is the first senior undergraduate – postgraduate textbook to focus specifically on the multiplicity of geological processes that result in the formation of mineral deposits.

Commencing with an overview of magmatic ore-forming processes, the text moves systematically through hydrothermal and sedimentary metallogenic environments, covering as it does the entire gamut of mineral deposit types, including the fossil fuels and supergene ores. The final chapter relates metallogeny to global tectonics by examining the distribution of mineral deposits in space and time. The text is punctuated with boxed examples of world famous ore deposits which provide context and relevance to the process-oriented descriptions of ore genesis. This book brings the discipline of economic geology back into the realm of conventional mainstream earth science by emphasizing the fact that mineral deposits are simply one of the many natural wonders of geological process and evolution.

Introduction to Ore-Forming Processes has been written as a core text for advanced undergraduates or graduate students in earth science programs taking a course in economic geology, mineral deposits, or ore geochemistry, and for geologists working in mineral exploration, the mining industry, and related areas.