Authors / CoAuthors
Huston, D. | Bastrakov, E.
Abstract
Sphalerite is the main Zn ore mineral and is the primary source of Cd, Ge and In and a minor source of Ga. Owing to a shift from fossil fuel to renewable energy sources, these four minor elements have progressively become more important to the economy. Despite this, resources of Cd, Ga, Ge and In are rarely reported as these metals are not considered material to the economics of resource development. As a result, the distribution of these elements between and within deposits is poorly known, and national and international resources are largely unreported. Following previous studies, we have compiled analytical data for Cd, Ga, Ge and In from sphalerite and used global and local ore geochemical datasets to assess geochemical controls on the concentration of these elements in Zn deposits. Our results are similar to previous studies and suggest that lower-temperature deposits are enriched in Ge whereas higher-temperature deposits are enriched in In. However, modelling of hydrothermal geochemistry indicates other factors are important in concentrating these metals. In particular, the oxidation state of the fluid (oxidised versus reduced) and the depositional mechanisms also have a strong influence in Ga, Ge and In enrichment. Reduction of oxidised fluids is particularly effective in depositing Ge, whereas cooling very effectively deposits In and, in some cases, Ge. As a consequence, some higher-temperature deposits (e.g. high sulfidation epithermal and some volcanic-hosted massive sulfide) deposits can be Ge-enriched, and some lower-temperature deposits (e.g. siliciclastic-carbonate shale-hosted deposits) can be enriched in In. Using the existing ore geochemical data and calculated characteristic Ge/Zn and In/Zn ratios, indicative estimates have been made on the endowment of Australian Zn deposits of Ge and In. These estimates highlight the potential of the North Australian Zinc Belt for Ge and for VHMS deposits for In. Although there is a large amount of uncertainty in the estimates, they are indicative of the potential for these metals in Australia. This dataset accompanies a paper published in the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences (AJES) https://doi.org/10.1080/08120099.2024.2423772
Product Type
dataset
eCat Id
148619
Contact for the resource
Point of contact
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia
Point of contact
- Contact instructions
- MEG
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Digital Object Identifier
Keywords
- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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- EARTH SCIENCESInorganic GeochemistryGEOLOGYGEOCHEMISTRY
- ( Feature type )
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- Sphalerite
- ( Feature type )
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- Zinc deposits
- ( Feature type )
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- Cadmium
- ( Feature type )
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- Gallium
- ( Feature type )
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- Germanium
- ( Feature type )
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- Indium
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- Published_External
Publication Date
2024-12-04T23:20:07
Creation Date
2023-07-10T13:49:00
Security Constraints
Legal Constraints
Status
completed
Purpose
Dataset to accompany publication in peer-reviewed journal
Maintenance Information
asNeeded
Topic Category
geoscientificInformation
Series Information
Australian Journal of Earth Sciences
Lineage
This dataset was developed to accompany a peer-reviewed journal paper.
Parent Information
Extents
[-54.75, -9.2402, 112.92, 159.11]
Reference System
Spatial Resolution
Service Information
Associations
Source Information