In a recent research (Scientific research designates in the first place all the actions undertaken with a view to…)scientists from theUniversity of Geneva (The University of Geneva (UNIGE) is the public university of the canton of Geneva in…) (UNIGE) demonstrate that these precious deposits are largely the result of mechanisms similar to those causing major volcanic eruptions. While current resources in copper (Copper is a chemical element with symbol Cu and atomic number 29. Copper…) are dwindling, and that this metal (A metal is a chemical element that can lose electrons to form…) cheek (The cheek is the part of the face that covers the oral cavity, closed by the…) a key role in the energy transition, this discovery opens up new avenues for the development of tools aimed at day (The day or the day is the interval which separates the sunrise from the sunset; it is the…) new deposits. These results can be read in the journal Nature – Communications Earth & Environment.
The Chuquicamata open-pit mine (Chile) exploits one of the largest porphyry copper deposits in the planet (A planet is a celestial body orbiting around the Sun or another star in…): it is 4.3 km long, 3 km wide and in places up to 0.9 km deep.
(c) Massimo Chiaradia
Copper is one of the most exploited natural resources on the planet. Excellent conductor and very resistant to corrosion (Corrosion refers to the alteration of a material by chemical reaction with a…), this metal is used to produce all types of wires and electrical connections. It also allows the production of many alloys, such as bronze (Bronze is the generic name for the alloys of copper and tin. The term brass…) and brass. Considered a material (A material is a material of natural or artificial origin that man shapes…) essential to the energy transition – it is massively used to equip cars (An automobile, or car, is a land vehicle that propels itself with the help of a…) electricity – its demand will exceed known available resources within decades. Discovering new deposits and acquiring new knowledge about their formation is therefore a crucial issue.
A study led by Massimo Chiaradia, master ofeducation (The teaching (from the Latin « insignis », remarkable, marked with a sign, distinguished) is a…) and research at the Department of Earth and Earth Sciencesenvironment (The environment is everything that surrounds us. It is all the natural elements and…) of the UNIGE Faculty of Science, has made an important discovery in this field. It highlights the fact that the so-called « porphyry » deposits – named after a igneous rock (Igneous rocks, also referred to as igneous rocks,…) which contains copper – come from mechanisms very similar to those causing major volcanic eruptions. “We discovered that the great reserves of copper arise from failed eruptions,” explains the searcher (A researcher (fem. researcher) refers to a person whose job is to do research…).
Everything comes from magma
Copper comes from hot fluids, mainly composed ofwater (Water is a ubiquitous chemical compound on Earth, essential for all…), released by cooling magmas. These magmas, which are also at the base of the eruptions, come from the intermediate layer between the core and the Earth’s crust (The Earth’s crust is the superficial, solid part of the material of which the Earth is made….)called « coat », and then go back to the surface (A surface generally refers to the superficial layer of an object. The term a…) of the Earth where they form a « magma chamber ». This is generally between 5km and 15km deep. « If the volume (Volume, in physical or mathematical sciences, is a quantity that measures extension…) and the speed (We distinguish 🙂 ofinjection (The word injection can have several meanings:) of magma in this reservoir are very important, a large quantity (The quantity is a generic term of metrology (account, amount); a scalar,…) of fluids can be emitted catastrophically into theatmosphere (The word atmosphere can have several meanings:) with magmas during a volcanic eruption », explains Massimo Chiaradia, first author of the research. But these fluids can also develop in a more silent way under the earth’s surface and give rise to a deposit, at a depth variable (In mathematics and logic, a variable is represented by a symbol. It…) from 1km to 6km.
However, this phenomenon is much less frequent, which partly explains the scarcity of deposits. « It takes tens or even hundreds of thousands of years to see a copper deposit form, whereas volcanic eruptions are more frequent. A failed eruption depends on the combination of several parameters: the injection speed of the magma, the rate of its cooling and the rigidity of the earth’s crust which surrounds the magma chamber.It must be flexible to absorb the pressure (Pressure is a fundamental physical notion. You can think of it as a reported force…) exerted by the new arrivals of magma, so that the eruption does not take place », explains Luca Caricchi, second author and associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Facilitate the exploration of future (Futurs is a science fiction collection from Éditions de l’Aurore.) deposits
« Highlighting the similarities between large eruptions and deposits will make it possible to use a large number (The notion of number in linguistics is treated in the article « Number…) of knowledge acquired by vulcanologists to progress in understanding the formation of porphyry deposits », Massimo Chiaradia rejoices. To achieve its results, the UNIGE team relied on the one hand on the data (In information technology (IT), data is an elementary description, often…) and figures provided by mining companies and on the other hand on those collected in the field and in the laboratory by numerous researchers – combined with petrological and geochemical models.
These discoveries open new avenues for the development of geological, mineralogical and geochemical tools for more efficient exploration of the largest porphyry copper deposits on Earth. « The next step will be to work on a model to quantify as accurately as possible the content total (Total is the quality of complete, without exception. From an accounting point of view, a…) in copper and therefore the quality of a potentially exploitable deposit », concludes Massimo Chiaradia.
Publication:
This research is published in Communications Earth & Environment – DOI: 10.1038/s43247-022-00440-7
contacts:
– Massimo Chiaradia – Teaching and research professor Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences –
Faculty of Sciences – Massimo.Chiaradia at unige.ch
– Luca Caricchi – Associate Professor – Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences – Faculty of Sciences – Luca.Caricchi at unige.ch
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