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MINERAL DEPOSITS AS MAGMATIC SEGREGATIONS IN IGNEOUS ROCKS
In this class are included deposits which crystallize within the body of igneous rock, almost, if not quite, simultaneously with the adjacent rock. These deposits form one of the main types of syngenetic deposits.
The titaniferous magnetites constitute a widely distributed but at present commercially unavailable class of iron ores. The magnetite crystals of these deposits interpenetrate with the other constituents of an igneous rock, commonly of a gabbro type, and the deposits themselves are essentially igneous rocks. Their shapes are for the most part irregular, their boundaries ill-defined, and their concentration varying. While their magmatic origin is clear, there is little agreement as to the precise conditions which determined their segregation in the molten rock. There is often a tendency for the ores to follow certain primary sheeted structures in the igneous mass, a fact for which the reason is not obvious.
The Sudbury nickel ores, of Ontario, Canada, the principal source of the world's nickel, lie mainly within and along the lower margin of a great intrusive igneous mass of a basic type called norite, and locally the ores project beyond the margin into adjacent rocks. Their textures and their intercrystallization with the primary minerals of the igneous rock have suggested that they are essentially a part of the norite mass, and that they crystallized during some segregative processes which were effective before the magma had solidified. Near the ores there are likely to be granitic rocks, which, like the ores, seem to be segregations from the norite magma. Locally both the ores and the associated granitic rocks replace the main norite body in such a fashion as to indicate their slightly later crystallization. However, the intimate association of the ores with the primary minerals in the magma, together with their absence from higher parts of the norite and from the extraneous rocks far from the contact, indicate to other investigators that they were not brought in from outside in vagrant solutions which followed the intrusion of the main magma, but that they were segregated within the magma essentially in place. The occurrence of these heavy ores near the base of the norite naturally suggests that they were segregated by sinking to the bottom of the molten magma, but this conclusion implies certain physical conditions of the magma which have not yet been proved. Again the precise nature of the process and the part played in it by aqueous and gaseous solutions are subject to some doubt and controversy. The settlement of this problem awaits the solution of the more general problem of the origin and crystallization of magmas.
In this general class of igneous deposits may be mentioned also diamonds, platinum, chromite, corundum, and other mineral products, although for the formation of commercial ores of many of these substances further concentration by weathering and sedimentation has been required.
Pegmatites are coarsely crystalline acid dike rocks which often accompany a large igneous intrusion and which have obviously crystallized somewhat later than the main igneous mass. They may constitute either sharply delimited dikes or more irregular bodies which grade into the surrounding igneous mass. They have a composition roughly similar to the associated igneous rock, but usually a different proportion of minerals. They are probably the result of the differentiation of the parent magma. The pegmatites are of especial interest to the economic geologist because of the frequency with which they carry commercial minerals, such as the precious stones, mica, feldspar, cassiterite (tin ore), and others. They show a complete gradation from dikes of definitely igneous characteristics to veins consisting largely of quartz in which evidence of igneous origin is not so clear. The pegmatites thus afford a connecting link between ores of direct igneous sources and ores formed as "igneous after-effects," which are discussed in the next paragraph. Aplites are fine-grained acid igneous rocks of somewhat the same composition as the pegmatites and often show the same general relations to ores.
MINERAL DEPOSITS WITHIN AND ADJACENT TO IGNEOUS ROCKS WHICH WERE FORMED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE COOLING AND CRYSTALLIZATION OF THE MAGMAS THROUGH THE AGENCY OF HOT MAGMATIC SOLUTIONS.
These deposits are closely associated in place and age with igneous rocks, either intrusive or extrusive, and are usually considered to have come from approximately the same source; and yet they afford distinct evidence of having been deposited after the adjacent igneous rocks were completely crystallized and fractured. They are thus epigenetic deposits. They are not themselves igneous rocks and they do not constitute pegmatites, but they often grade into pegmatites and belong to the same general stage in the sequence of events. They include deposits formed by contact metamorphism. They are sometimes designated by the general term "igneous after-effects"—a term also applied in some cases to pegmatites. Some geologists discriminate between "deep vein" deposits (p. 43) and "contact-metamorphic" deposits, but the two are so closely related in place and origin that for our purposes they will be considered together.
The ores of this class are clearly deposited from vagrant solutions which wander through openings of all kinds in the igneous rock and outward into the adjacent country rocks. They also replace the wall rocks; limestone is especially susceptible. This is a phase of contact metamorphism. Some of the most important metalliferous deposits belong in this class, including most of the gold, silver, copper, iron, lead and zinc ores of the western United States and the copper deposits of Lake Superior.
In general, ores of this class are more abundant about intrusive igneous rocks, that is about igneous rocks which have stopped and cooled before reaching the surface,—than in association with extrusive igneous rocks which have poured over the surface as lava flows—but the latter are by no means insignificant, including as they do such deposits as the Lake Superior copper ores, the Kennecott copper ores of Alaska, some of the gold-silver deposits of Goldfield and other Nevada camps, and many others.
There is general similarity in the succession of events shown by study of ore bodies related to intrusives. First, the invasion of the magma, resulting in contact metamorphism of the adjacent rocks, sometimes with, and often without conspicuous crowding effects on the invaded rocks; second, the cooling, crystallization, and cracking of both the igneous rock and the adjacent rock; third, the introduction of ore-bearing solutions into these cracks,—sometimes as a single episode, sometimes as a long continued and complex process forming various types of minerals at successive stages. This order may in some cases be repeated in cycles, and overlapping of the successive events is a common feature.
One of the interesting facts is the way in which the igneous mass has invaded and extensively altered the country rocks in some mineral districts,—in some cases by crowding and crumpling them, and in others without greatly disturbing their structural attitudes. The latter is illustrated in the Bingham district of Utah and the Philipsburg district of Montana. In such cases there is so little evidence of crowding of the country rocks as to raise the question how such large masses of intrusives could be introduced without greater disturbing structural effect. This leads naturally to consideration of the general problem of the manner of progress of magmas through adjacent rocks,—a subject which is still largely in the realm of speculation, but which is not thereby eliminated from the field of controversy. Facts of this kind seem to favor the position of certain geologists that magmas may assimilate the rocks they invade.
EVIDENCE OF IGNEOUS SOURCE
No one ever saw one of these deposits in the process of formation; the conclusion, therefore, that they originated from hot solutions, either aqueous or gaseous, or both, which were essentially "after-effects" of igneous activity and came from the same primary source as the associated igneous rocks, is an inference based on circumstantial evidence of the kind below summarized:
(1) The close association both in place and age with igneous rocks. This applies not only to individual deposits, but to certain groups of deposits which have common characteristics, and which constitute a metallogenic province; also to groups of the same geologic age, which indicate a metallogenic epoch (pp. 308-309). The association with igneous rocks in one place might be a coincidence but its frequent repetition can hardly be so explained. A zonal arrangement of minerals about intrusives is often noted. Geologic evidence often shows the processes of ore deposition to have been complete before the next succeeding geologic event,—as for instance in the Tonopah district of Nevada (p. 236), where the ores have been formed in relation to certain volcanic flows and have been covered by later flows not carrying ore, without any considerable erosion interval between the two events.
(2) The general contrast in mineralogical and chemical composition, texture, and mineral associations, between these ore minerals and the minerals known to be formed by ordinary surficial agencies under ordinary temperatures. The latter carry distinctive evidences of their origin. When, therefore, a mineral group is found which shows contrasting evidences, it is clear that some other agencies have been at work; and the natural assumption is that the solutions were hot rather than cold; that they came from below rather than above.
(3) The contrast between the character and composition of these ores (and their associated gangue) and the character and composition of the wall rocks, together with the absence of leaching of the wall rocks, favor the conclusion that the ore minerals are foreign substances introduced from extraneous sources. The source not being apparent above and the processes there observed not being of a kind to produce these results, it is concluded that the depositing solutions were hot and came from below.
(4) The fact that many of the ore minerals are never known to develop under ordinary temperatures at the surface. For some of them, experimental work has also indicated high temperature as a requisite to their formation.
Quartz, which is a common associate of the ores and often constitutes the principal gangue, serves as a geologic thermometer in that it possesses an inversion point or temperature above which it crystallizes in a certain form, below which in another. In deposits of this class it has often been found to crystallize at the higher temperatures.
The quartz sometimes shows bubbles containing liquid, gas, and small heavy crystals, probably of ferric oxide, as in the Clifton-Morenci district of Arizona. It is clear that the ore-bearing solutions in these cavities, before the crystallization of the heavy mineral inclusions, held dissolved not only much larger quantities of mineral substances than can be taken up by water at ordinary temperatures, but also a substance like ferric oxide which is entirely insoluble under ordinary cool conditions.
(5) The association of the ores with minerals carrying fluorine and boron, with many silicate minerals, such as garnet, amphiboles, pyroxenes, mica (sericite) and others, and with other minerals which are known to be characteristic developments within or near igneous masses and which are not known to form under weathering agencies at the surface. Various characteristic groupings of these associated minerals are noted. In limestone much of the mass may be replaced by garnet and other silicates in a matrix of quartz. In igneous rock the ore-bearing solutions may have altered the wall rock to a dense mixture of quartz, sericite, and chlorite. Where sericite is dominant, the alteration is called sericitic alteration. Where chlorite is important, it is sometimes called chloritic or "propylitic" alteration. The chloritic phases are usually farther from the ore deposit than the sericitic phases, indicating less intense and probably cooler conditions of deposition. Locally other minerals are associated with the ores, as, for instance, in the Goldfield district of Nevada (p. 230), where alunite replaces the igneous rock. Alunite is a potassium-aluminum sulphate, which differs from sericite in that sulphur takes the place of silicon. In the quartzites of the lead-silver mines of the Coeur d'Alene district of Idaho (p. 212), siderite or iron carbonate is a characteristic gangue material replacing the wall rock.
Quartz in some cases, as noted above, gives evidence of high temperature origin and therefore of igneous association. Jasperoid quartz, as well illustrated in the Tintic district of Utah (p. 235), may show texture and crystallization suggestive of deposition from colloidal solution,—a process which can occur under both cold and hot conditions, but which is believed to be accelerated by heat.
Certain minerals, such as magnetite, ilmenite, spinel, corundum, etc., are often found as primary segregations within the mass of igneous rock. These and other minerals, including minerals of tin and tungsten, monazite, tourmaline, rutile, and various precious stones, are characteristically developed in pegmatites, which are known to be igneous rocks, crystallized in the later stages of igneous intrusion. When, therefore, such minerals are found in other ore deposits an igneous source is a plausible inference. For instance, in the copper veins of Butte, Montana (p. 201), are found cassiterite (tin oxide) and tungsten minerals. Their presence, therefore, adds another item to the evidence of a hot-water source from below.
(6) The occasional existence of hot springs in the vicinity of these ore deposits. Where hot springs are of recent age they may suggest by their heat, steady flow, and mineral content, that they are originating from emanations from the still cooling magmas. In the Tonopah camp (p. 236), cold and hot springs exist side by side, exhibiting such contrasts as to suggest that some are due to ordinary circulation from the surface and that others may have a deep source below in the cooling igneous rocks. This evidence is not conclusive. Hot springs in general fail to show evidence of ore deposition on any scale approximating that which must have been involved in the formation of this class of ore bodies. Much has been made of the slight amounts of metallic minerals found in a few hot springs, but the mineral content is small and the conclusion by no means certain that the waters are primary waters from the cooling of igneous rocks below.
In this connection the mercury deposits of California (p. 259), contribute a unique line of evidence. In areas of recent lavas, mercuric sulphide (cinnabar) is actually being deposited from hot springs of supposed magmatic origin, the waters of which carry sodium carbonate, sodium sulphide, and hydrogen sulphide,—a chemical combination known experimentally to dissolve mercury sulphide. The oxidation and neutralization of these hot-spring solutions near the surface throws out the mercury sulphide. At the same time the sulphuric acid thus formed extensively leaches and bleaches the surrounding rocks. Such bleaching is common about mercury deposits. When it is remembered that the mercury deposits contain minor amounts of gold and silver and sulphides of other metals; that they are closely associated with gold and silver deposits; and further that such gold, silver, and other sulphide deposits often contain minor amounts of mercury,—it is easy to assume the possibility that these minerals may likewise have had their origin in hot solutions from below. The presence of mercury in a deposit then becomes suggestive of hot-water conditions.
(7) Ores sometimes occur in inverted troughs indicating lodgment by solutions from below, as, for instance, in the saddle-reef gold ores of Nova Scotia and Australia, and in certain copper ores of the Jerome camp of Arizona (p. 204.) This occurrence does not indicate whether the solutions were hot or cold, magmatic or meteoric, but in connection with other evidences has sometimes been regarded as significant of a magmatic source beneath.
Perhaps no one of these lines of evidence is conclusive; but together they make a strong case for the conclusion that the solutions which deposited the ores of this class were hot, came from deep sources, and were probably primary solutions given off by cooling magmas.
The conclusion that some ores are derived from igneous sources, based on evidence of the kind above outlined, does not mean necessarily that the ore is derived from the immediately adjacent part of the cooling magma. In fact the evidence is decisive, in perhaps the majority of cases, that the source of the mineral solutions was somewhat below; that these solutions may have originated in the same melting-pot with the magma, but that they came up independently and a little later,—perhaps along the same channels, perhaps along others.
POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF METEORIC WATERS IN DEPOSITION OF ORES OF THIS CLASS
It is hardly safe, with existing knowledge, to apply the above conclusion to all ore deposits with igneous associations, or in any case to eliminate entirely another agency,—namely, ground-waters of surface or meteoric origin, which are now present and may be presumed often to have been present in the rocks into which the ores were introduced. Such waters may have been heated and started in vigorous circulation by the introduction of igneous masses, and thereby may have been enabled to effectively search out and segregate minutely disseminated ore particles from wide areas. This has been suggested as a probability for the Kennecott copper ores of Alaska (p. 200) and for the copper ores of Ely, Nevada. In the Goldfield camp (p. 230) the ores are closely associated with alunite in such a manner as to suggest a common origin. It has been found difficult to explain the presence of the alunite except through the agency of surface oxidizing waters acting on hydrogen sulphide coming from below.
In the early days of economic geology there was relatively more emphasis on the possible effectiveness of ground-waters in concentrating ores of this type. With the recognition of evidence of a deeper source related to magmas, the emphasis has swung rapidly to the other extreme. While the evidence is sound that the magmatic process has been an important one, it is difficult to see how and to just what extent this process may have been related to the action of ground-waters,—which were probably present in a heated condition near the contact. It may never be possible to discriminate closely between these two agencies. It seems likely that at some stages the two were so intimately associated that the net result of deposition cannot be specifically assigned either to one or to the other.
ZONAL ARRANGEMENT OF MINERALS RELATED TO IGNEOUS ROCKS
Evidence is accumulating in many mining districts that ore deposits of these igneous associations were deposited with a rough zonal arrangement about the igneous rock. At Bingham, Tintic, and Butte (pp. 204, 208, 235), copper ores are on the whole closest to the igneous rock, and the lead, zinc, and silver ores are farther away. Furthermore, the quartz gangue near the igneous rock is likely to contain minerals characteristic of hot solutions, while farther away such minerals as dolomite and calcite appear in the gangue, suggestive of cooler conditions. In Cornwall (p. 262), tin ores occur close to the intrusives, and lead-silver ores farther away. The gradations are by no means uniform; shoots of one class of ore may locally cut abruptly across or through those of another class.
The existence of zones horizontally or areally arranged about intrusives suggests also the possibility of a vertical zonal arrangement with reference to the deep sources of the solutions. Of course when secondary concentration from the surface, described later, is taken into account, there may be a marked zonal distribution in a vertical direction, but this is not primary zoning. A few veins and districts show evidence of vertical zoning apparently related to primary deposition; for the most part, however, in any one mine or camp there is yet little evidence of primary vertical zoning. On the other hand, certain groups of minerals are characteristic of intense conditions of heat and pressure, as indicated by the coarse recrystallization and high degree of metamorphism of the rocks with which they are associated; and other groups have such associations as to indicate much less intense conditions of temperature and pressure. Depth is only one factor determining intensity of conditions, but it affords a convenient way to indicate them; so mineral deposits associated with igneous rocks are sometimes classified by economic geologists on the basis of deep, intermediate, and shallow depths of formation.
There are a considerable number of minerals which are formed in all three of these zones, although in differing proportions. There are comparatively few which are uniformly characteristic of a single zone. On the whole, it is possible to contrast satisfactorily mineral deposits representing very intense metamorphic conditions, usually associated with formation at great depth, with those formed at or near the surface; but there are many deposits with intermediate characteristics which it is difficult to place satisfactorily.
The accessible deposits of the deep zone are associated with plutonic igneous rocks which have been deeply eroded, and not with surface lavas. They are characterized by minerals of gold, tin, iron, titanium, zinc, and copper, and sometimes of tungsten and molybdenum, in a gangue of quartz, which contains also minerals such as garnet, corundum, amphibole, pyroxene, tourmaline, spinel, and mica. The deep-zone minerals are not unlike the pegmatite minerals in their grouping and associations.
Deposits formed at shallow depths are related to extrusive rocks and to intrusives near the surface. Erosion has not been deep. Mercury, silver and gold (tellurides, native metals, and silver sulphides), antimony, lead, and zinc minerals are characteristic, together with alunite, adularia, and barite. Metallic copper also is not infrequent. Very often the gangue material is more largely calcite than quartz, whereas calcite is not present in the deep zone.[5]
The trend of evidence in recent years has favored the conclusion that the principal ores associated with igneous rocks have not developed at very great depths. Even within our narrow range of observation there is a difference in favor of the shallower depths, and the greatest depths we can observe are after all but trivial on the scale of the earth.
A survey of the ore deposits of Utah has suggested the generalization that ores are more commonly related to intrusive stocks than to the forms known as laccoliths, and that within and about intrusive stocks the ores are much more abundant near the top or apex of a stock than lower down.[6] In parts of the region where erosion has removed all but the deeper portions of the stocks, ore bodies are less abundant. It will be of interest to follow the testing of this generalization in other parts of the world.
The scientist is constantly groping for underlying simple truth. Such glimpses of order and symmetry in the distribution of ore around igneous rocks as are afforded by the facts above stated, tempt the imagination to a conception of a simple type or pattern of ore distribution around intrusions. For this reason we should not lose sight of the fact that, in the present state of knowledge, the common and obvious case is one of irregular and heterogeneous distribution, and that there are many variations and contradictions even to the simplest generalization that can be made. The observer is repeatedly struck by the freakish distribution of ores about igneous masses, as compared with their regularity of arrangement under sedimentary processes to be discussed later. It is yet unexplained how an intrusive like the Butte granite can produce so many different types of ores at different places along its periphery or within its mass, and yet all apparently under much the same general conditions and range of time. It is difficult also to discern the laws under which successive migrations of magma, from what seems to be a single deep-seated source or melting-pot, may carry widely contrasting mineral solutions. Far below the surface, beyond our range of observation, it is clear that there is a wonderful laboratory for the compounding and refinement of ores, but as to its precise location and the nature of its processes we can only guess.
Other features of distribution of minerals associated with igneous rocks are indicated by their grouping in metallogenic provinces and epochs (see pp. 308-309).
THE RELATION OF CONTACT METAMORPHISM TO ORE BODIES OF THE FOREGOING CLASS.
The deposition of ores of igneous source in the country rock into which the igneous rocks are intruded is a phase of contact metamorphism. Ordinarily where this deposition occurs there are further extensive replacements and alterations of the country rock, resulting in the development of great masses of quartz, garnet, pyroxene, amphibole, and other silicates, and in some cases of calcite, dolomite, siderite, barite, alunite, and other minerals. Looked at broadly, the deposition of ores at igneous contacts under contact metamorphism is a mere incident in the much more widespread and extensive alterations of this kind. Hence it is that the subject of contact metamorphism is of interest to economic geologists. The minerals here formed which do not constitute ores throw much light on the nature of the ore-bearing solutions, the conditions of temperature and pressure, and the processes which locally and incidentally develop the ore bodies. The subject, however, is a complex one, the full discussion of which belongs in treatises on metamorphism.[7] We may note only a few salient features.
For many hundreds of yards the rocks adjacent to the intrusions may be metamorphosed almost beyond recognition. This is especially true of the limestone, which may be changed completely to solid masses of quartz and silicates. The shales and sandstones are ordinarily less vitally affected. The shales become dense, highly crystalline rocks of a "hornstone" type, with porphyritic developments of silicate minerals. The sands and sandstones become highly crystalline quartzites, spotted with porphyritic developments of silicates. Occasionally even these rocks may be extensively replaced by other minerals, as in the Coeur d'Alene district, where quartzites adjacent to the ore veins may be completely replaced by iron carbonate.
A question of special interest to economic geologists is the source of the materials for the new minerals in these extensively altered zones. In some cases the minerals are known to be the result of recrystallization of materials already in the rock, after the elimination of certain substances such as carbon dioxide and lime, under the pressures and temperatures of the contact conditions. In such cases there has obviously been large reduction in volume to close the voids created by the elimination of substances. In the majority of cases, the new substances or minerals are clearly introduced from the igneous source, replacing the wall rock volume for volume so precisely that such original textures and structures as bedding are not destroyed. In many cases the result is clearly due to a combination of recrystallization of materials already present and introduction of minerals by magmatic solutions from without. So obvious is the evidence of the introduction of materials from without, that there has been a tendency in some quarters to overlook the extensive recrystallization of substances already present; and the varying emphasis placed on these two processes by different observers has led to some controversy.
SECONDARY CONCENTRATION IN PLACE OF THE FOREGOING CLASSES OF MINERAL DEPOSITS THROUGH THE AGENCY OF SURFACE SOLUTIONS
Mineral deposits of direct magmatic segregation are seldom much affected by surficial alteration, perhaps because of their coarse crystallization and their intermingling with resistant crystalline rocks. Mineral deposits of the "igneous after-effect" type may be profoundly altered through surficial agencies. The more soluble constituents are taken away, leaving the less soluble. The parts that remain are likely to be converted into oxides, carbonates, and hydrates, through reaction with oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water, which are always present at the surface and at shallow depths. These processes are most effective at the surface and down to the level of permanent ground-water, though locally they may extend deeper. This altered upper part of the ore bodies is usually called the oxide zone. It may represent either an enrichment or a depletion of ore values, depending on whether the ore minerals are taken into solution less rapidly or more rapidly than the associated minerals and rocks; all are removed to some extent. In certain deposits, there is evidence that both zinc and copper have been taken out of the upper zone in great quantity; but they happen to be associated with limestone, which has dissolved still more rapidly, with the result that there is a residual accumulation of copper and zinc values. Manganese, iron, and quartz are usually more resistant than the other minerals and tend to remain concentrated above. The same is true to some extent of gold and silver. The abundance of iron oxide thus left explains the name "iron cap" or "gossan" so often applied to the upper part of the oxide zone. Not infrequently, and especially in copper ores, the upper part of the oxide zone is nearly or entirely barren of values and is called the capping.
The depth or thickness of the oxide zone depends on topography, depth of water table, climatic conditions, and speed of erosion. A fortunate combination of conditions may result in a deep oxide zone with important accumulations of values. In other cases erosion may follow oxidation so rapidly as to prevent the growth of a thick oxide zone.
It is clear from the study of many ore deposits that the process of oxidation has not proceeded uniformly to the present, but has depended upon a fortunate combination of factors which has not been often repeated during geologic time. As illustrative of this, the principal oxidation of the Bisbee copper ores of Arizona (p. 204) occurred before Tertiary time, with reference to a place that has since been covered by later sediments. The conditions in the Ray, Miami, and Jerome copper camps of Arizona (pp. 203-205) likewise indicate maximum oxidation at an early period. The Lake Superior iron ore deposits (pp. 167-170) were mainly concentrated before Cambrian time, during the base-leveling of a mountainous country in an arid or semi-arid climate. The oxide zone of these deposits has no close relation to the present topography or to the present ground-water level. In the Kennecott (Alaska) copper deposits all oxidation has been stopped since glacial time by the freezing of the aqueous solutions. At Butte and at Bingham the main concentration of the ores is believed to have occurred in an earlier physiographic cycle than the present one. The cyclic nature of the formation of oxide zones is of comparatively recent recognition, and much more will doubtless be found out about it in the comparatively near future. Its practical bearing on exploration is obvious (see p. 325).
It should be clearly recognized that oxidizing processes are not limited to the zone above the ground-water level. Locally oxidizing solutions may penetrate and do effective work to much greater depths, especially where the rocks traversed at higher elevations are of such composition or in such a stage of alteration as not to extract most of the oxygen. Consequently the presence of oxide ores below the water table is not necessarily proof that the water table has risen since their formation. On the other hand, the facts of observation do indicate generally a marked difference, in circulation and chemical effect, between waters above and below this horizon, and show that oxidation is dominantly accomplished above rather than below this datum surface.
During the formation of the oxide zone, erosion removes some of the ore materials entirely from the area, both mechanically and in solution. Part of the material in solution, however, is known to penetrate downward and to be redeposited in parts of the ore body below the oxide zone,—that is, usually below the water table. Evidence of this process is decisive in regard to several minerals. Copper is known to be taken into solution as copper sulphate at the surface, and to be redeposited as chalcocite where these sulphate solutions come in contact with chalcopyrite or pyrite below. Not only has the process been duplicated in the laboratory, but the common coating of chalcocite around grains of pyrite and chalcopyrite below the water level indicates that this process has been really effective. Sulphides of zinc, lead, silver, and other metals are similarly concentrated, in varying degrees. The zone of deposition of secondary sulphides thus formed is called the zone of secondary sulphide enrichment. Ores consisting mainly of secondary sulphides are also called supergene ores (p. 33). In some deposits, as in the copper deposits of Ray and Miami, there is found, below the secondary sulphide zone, a lean sulphide zone which is evidently of primary nature. The mineralized material of this zone, where too lean to mine, has been called a protore.
With the discovery of undoubted evidence of secondary sulphide enrichment, there was a natural tendency to magnify its importance as a cause of values. Continued study of sulphide deposits, while not disproving its existence and local importance, has in some districts shown clearly that the process has its limitations as a factor in ore concentration, and that it is not safe to assume its effectiveness in all camps or under all conditions. At Butte for instance, secondary chalcocite is clearly to be recognized. The natural inference was that as the veins were followed deeper the proportion of chalcocite would rapidly diminish, and that a leaner primary zone of chalcopyrite, enargite and other primary minerals would be met. However, the great abundance of chalcocite in solid masses which have now been proved to a depth of 3500 feet, far below the probable range of waters from the surface in any geologic period, seems to indicate that much of the chalcocite is primary. The present tendency at Butte is to consider as secondary chalcocite only certain sooty phases to be found in upper levels. The solid masses of chalcocite in the Kennecott copper mines seem hardly explainable as the result of secondary sulphide enrichment. No traces of other primary minerals are present and the chalcocite here is regarded as probably primary.
The possible magnification of the process of secondary enrichment above referred to has had for its logical consequence a tendency to over-emphasize the persistence of primary ores in depth. The very use of the terms "secondary" and "primary" has suggested antithesis between surficial and deep ores. Progress in investigation, as indicated on previous pages, seems to indicate that the primary ores are not uniformly deep and that in many cases they are distinctly limited to a given set of formations or conditions comparatively near the surface.
In general the processes of oxidation and secondary sulphide enrichment have been studied mainly by qualitative methods with the aid of the microscope and by considerations of possible chemical processes. These methods have disclosed the nature but not the quantitative range and relations of the different processes. Much remains to be done in the way of large scale quantitative analysis of ores at different depths, as a check to inferences drawn by other methods. One may know, for instance, that a mineral is soluble and is actually removed from the oxide zone and redeposited below. The natural inference, therefore, is that the mineral will be found to be depleted above and enriched below. In many cases its actual distribution is the reverse,—indicating that this process has been only one of the factors in the net result, the more rapid solution and deposition of other materials being another factor. If one were to approach the study of the concentration of iron ores with the fixed idea of insolubility of quartz from a chemical standpoint, and were to draw conclusions accordingly, he would fail to present a true picture of the situation. While quartz is insoluble as compared with most minerals, it is nevertheless more soluble than iron oxide, and therefore the net result of concentration at the surface is to accumulate the iron rather than the silica. Descriptions of enrichment processes as published in many reports are often misleading in this regard. They may be correct in indicating the actual existence of a process, but may lead the reader to assumptions as to net results which are incorrect.
RESIDUAL MINERAL DEPOSITS FORMED BY THE WEATHERING OF IGNEOUS ROCKS IN PLACE
Igneous rocks not containing mineral deposits may on weathering change to mineral deposits. The lateritic iron ores such as those of Cuba (p. 172), many bauxite deposits, many residual clays, and certain chromite and nickel deposits are conspicuous representatives of this class. The chemical and mineralogical changes involved in the formation of these deposits are pretty well understood. Certain constituents of the original rock are leached out and carried away, leaving other constituents, as oxides and hydrates, in sufficiently large percentage in the mass to be commercially available. The accumulation of large deposits depends on the existence of climatic and erosional conditions which determine that the residual deposit shall remain in place rather than be carried off by erosion as fast as made. In the glaciated parts of the world, deposits of this nature have usually been removed and dispersed in the glacial drift.
When the minerals of these deposits are eroded, transported, and redeposited in concentrated form, they come under the class of placer or sedimentary deposits described under the following heading. There are of course many intermediate stages, where the residual deposit is only locally moved and where the distinction between this class of deposits and that next described is an arbitrary one.
MINERAL DEPOSITS FORMED DIRECTLY AS PLACERS AND SEDIMENTS
Mineral deposits of this class are of large value, including as they do salt, gypsum, potash, sulphur, phosphates, nitrates, and important fractions of the ores of iron, manganese, gold, tin, tungsten, platinum, and precious stones; also many common rocks of commercial importance. The minerals of these deposits are derived from the weathering and erosion of land surfaces, either igneous or sedimentary. They are deposited both under air and under water, both mechanically and chemically (in part by the aid of organisms). These deposits form the principal type of syngenetic deposits (p. 32); the term sedigenetic deposits has also been applied to them.
MECHANICALLY DEPOSITED MINERALS
Mechanical erosion of preexisting mineral deposits or rocks and their transportation, sorting, and deposition are responsible for the placers of gold, tin, tungsten, platinum, and various precious stones, and for certain iron sands and conglomerates. Sands, sandstones, shales, and certain clays and bauxites also belong in this group. These deposits may be formed under air or under water, and under various climatic and topographic conditions. During the process of formation the minerals of differing density are more or less sorted out and tend to become segregated in layers. The process is not unlike the artificial process of mechanical concentration where ores are crushed, shaken up, and treated with running water. The process is most effective for minerals which are resistant to abrasion and to solution, and of such density as to differentiate them from the other minerals of the parent rock.
The origin of deposits of this kind is fairly obvious where they are of recent age and have not been subsequently altered or buried. A considerable amount of experimental work has brought out clearly the main elements of the processes. Physiographic and climatic conditions play an important part, and cannot be safely overlooked by anyone studying such deposits.
Extensive copper deposits exist as sediments (pp. 205-206). It is not clear to what extent they are mechanically or to what extent chemically deposited. For the most part the concentration of copper in this manner has not been sufficient to yield deposits of large commercial value; the mineral is too much dispersed. Relatively small amounts are mined in the Mansfield shales of Germany and the Nonesuch shales and sandstones of the Lake Superior country.
The Clinton and similar iron ores of the United States and Newfoundland, the pre-Cambrian iron ores of Brazil, and the Jurassic iron ores of England and western Europe (pp. 166-167) are now commonly agreed to be direct sedimentary deposits in which mechanical agencies of sorting and deposition played a considerable part. How far chemical and bacterial agencies have also been effective is not clear. The climatic, topographic, and other physiographic and sedimentary conditions which cause the deposition of this great group of ores present one of the great unsolved problems of economic geology. The study of present-day conditions of deposition affords little clue as to the peculiar combination of conditions which was necessary to accomplish such remarkable results in the past.
On the whole, minerals of this mechanically deposited group are not greatly affected by later surficial alteration and concentration, because, having already been subjected to weathering, they are in a condition to resist such influences.
CHEMICALLY AND ORGANICALLY DEPOSITED MINERALS
The products of surface weathering and erosion are in part carried away in chemical solution and redeposited as sediments. Sediments thus formed include limestone and dolomite, siderite, salt, gypsum, potash, sulphur, phosphates, nitrates, and other minerals. Precipitation may be caused by chemical reactions, by organic secretion, or by evaporation of the solutions. The processes are qualitatively understood and it is usually possible to ascertain with reasonable accuracy the conditions of depth of water, relation to shore line, climate, nature of erosion, and other similar factors; yet the vast scale of some of these deposits, and their erratic areal and stratigraphic distribution, present unsolved problems as to the precise combinations of factors which have made such results possible.
Chemically and organically deposited minerals of this class are usually susceptible to further alteration by surface weathering, and some of them, for instance the phosphates and siderites, are thus secondarily concentrated. These processes are discussed under the next heading.
In general the great unsolved problem of the origin of the entire group of mineral deposits in placers and sediments relates to the scale of the results. Observation of present-day processes and conditions of deposition of these minerals affords satisfactory evidence of their nature, but fails to give us a clear idea of the precise combinations of agencies and conditions necessary to produce such vast results as are represented by the mineral deposits. For example, solution of iron on a land surface and redeposition in bogs and lagoons (as actually observed to be taking place today) show how some iron-ore sediments may be formed; but these processes are entirely inadequate to explain the deposition of iron ores in thick masses over broad areas without intermingling of other sediments—as represented by the Clinton iron ores of North America, the Jurassic ores of Europe and England, and the ancient iron ores of Brazil. The Paleozoic seas in northern and eastern United States encroached over land areas to the north and east and deposited ordinary sediments such as sandstone, shale, and limestone. Suddenly, without, so far as known, tapping any new sources of supply on the ancient land areas, and without any yet ascertainable change in topographic or climatic conditions, they deposited enormous masses of iron ore. There is clearly some cyclic factor in the situation which we do not yet understand.
The various deposits of salt, gypsum, potash, sulphur, and other minerals are known to be the result of evaporation, and the deposition of each of these minerals is known to be related to the degree of evaporation as well as to temperature, pressure, and factors such as mass action and crystallization of double salts. The nature of the processes is fairly well understood; but again, observation of the present-day operation of these processes fails to give us much clue to the enormous accumulations at certain times and places in the past. It is difficult to say just what conditions of climate, in combination with particular physiographic factors, could have preserved uniformity of conditions for the long periods necessary to account for some of the enormously thick salt deposits. Again some cyclic factor in the situation remains to be worked out.
SEDIMENTARY MINERAL DEPOSITS WHICH HAVE REQUIRED FURTHER CONCENTRATION TO MAKE THEM COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE
The conditions for the direct deposition of sedimentary mineral deposits of the foregoing class are also responsible for the deposition of minerals in more dispersed or disseminated form, requiring further concentration through surface agencies to render them commercially available. Some of these deposits are discussed below.
The lead and zinc ores of the Mississippi Valley, Virginia, Tennessee, Silesia, Belgium, and Germany (pp. 211-212, 216-219) are in sedimentary rocks far removed from igneous sources. Lead and zinc were deposited in more or less dispersed form with the enclosing sediments. It is supposed that deposition was originally chemical and was favored by the presence of organic material, which is a rather common accompaniment of the sediments. It is supposed further that these organic participants were originally localized during sedimentation in so-called estuarine channels and shore-line embayments. When subsequently exposed to weathering, the lead and zinc minerals were dissolved and redeposited in more concentrated form in fissures and as replacements of limestone.
Agreement as to origin of these deposits, so far as it exists, does not go beyond these broad generalizations. There is controversy as to whether the original sources of the ore minerals were the sediments directly above, from which the mineral solutions have been transferred downward during weathering and erosion, or whether the original minerals were below and have been transferred upward by artesian circulation, or whether they were situated laterally and have been brought to their present position by movement along the beds, or whether there has been some combination of these processes. It is the writer's view that the evidence thus far gathered favors on the whole the conclusion of direct downward concentration from overlying sources which have been removed by erosion, although this conclusion fails to explain why certain sulphide deposits give so little evidence of important downward transfer from their present position. This matter is further discussed on pages 216-219. The choice of the various alternatives has some practical bearing on exploration.
Since these ores were brought into approximately their present position, they have undergone considerable oxidation near the surface and secondary sulphide enrichment below. The chemical and mineralogical changes are pretty well understood, but the quantitative range of these changes and their relative importance in determining the net result are far from known. Undoubted evidence of secondary sulphide enrichment has led in some quarters to an assumption of effectiveness in producing values which is apparently not borne out by quantitative tests.
A group of mineral deposits in sandstones in Utah is regarded as due to chemical concentration of material originally disseminated in the rock. They include silver, copper, manganese, uranium, and radium deposits. The Silver Reef deposits, including silver, copper, uranium, and vanadium, are commercially the most important of this type.[8] The ore minerals are commonly associated with carbonized material representing plant remains, and have replaced the calcareous and cementing material of the rock, and also some of the quartz grains. The deposits are regarded as having been formed by circulating waters which collected the minerals disseminated through the sedimentary rocks, and deposited them on contact with carbonaceous matter, earlier sulphides, or other precipitating agents. The circulation in some places is believed to have been of artesian character and to have been controlled to a large extent by structural features. The Silver Reef deposits are near the crest of a prominent anticline. Most of the minerals have been later altered by surface solutions.
Another great group of ores to be considered under this head are the iron ores of Lake Superior,—which were originally deposited as sediments, called jaspers or iron formations, with too low a percentage of iron to be of use, and which have required a secondary concentration by surficial agencies to render them valuable. The process of concentration has been a simple one. The iron minerals have been oxidized in place and the non-ferrous minerals have been leached out, leaving iron ores. This process contrasts with the concentration described above, in that there is little evidence of collection of iron minerals from disseminated sources. The Lake Superior iron ores are essentially residual concentrations in place. The outstanding problems of secondary concentration relate to the structural features which determined the channels through which the oxidizing and leaching waters worked, and to the topographic and climatic conditions which existed at the time the work was done. As with many other classes of ores, it was first assumed that these processes were related to the present erosion surface; but it is now known that concentration happened long ago under conditions far different from those now existing. These deposits contribute to the rapidly accumulating evidence of the cyclic nature of ore concentration.
Our least satisfactory knowledge of the Lake Superior ores relates to the peculiar conditions which determined the initial stage of sedimentation of the so-called iron formation. As in the case of the Clinton iron ores, no present-day sedimentation gives an adequate clue. Students of the problem have fallen back on the association of the iron formation with contemporaneous volcanic rocks, as affording a possible explanation of the wide departure from ordinary conditions of sedimentation evidenced by these formations.[9]
Coal deposits are direct results of sedimentation of organic material. They are mainly accumulations of vegetable matter in place. To make them available for use, however, they undergo a long period of condensation and distillation. Conditions of primary deposition may be inferred from modern swamps and bogs; but, as in the case of sediments described under the preceding heading, we are sometimes at a loss to explain the magnitude of the process, and especially to explain the maintenance of proper surface conditions of plant growth and accumulation for the long periods during which subsidence of land areas and encroachment of seas are believed to have been taking place. The processes of secondary concentration are also understood qualitatively, but much remains to be learned about the influences of pressure and heat, the effect of impervious capping rocks, and other factors.
Various oil shales and asphaltic deposits are essentially original sediments which have subsequently undergone more or less decay and distillation. The migration of the distillates to suitable underground reservoirs is responsible for the accumulation of oil and gas pools.
Oil and gas are distillates from these oil shales and asphaltic deposits, and also from other organic sediments such as carbonaceous limestones. The distillates have migrated to their present positions under pressure of ground-waters. The stratigraphic horizons favorable to their accumulation are generally recognized. The geologist is concerned in identifying these horizons and in ascertaining where they exist underground. He is further concerned in analysis of the various structural conditions which will give a clue to the existence of local reservoirs in which the oil or gas may have been accumulated. So capricious are the oil migrations that the most intensive study of these conditions still leaves vast undiscovered possibilities.
ANAMORPHISM OF MINERAL DEPOSITS
Mineral deposits formed in any one of the ways indicated above may undergo repeated vicissitudes, both at the surface and deep below the surface, with consequent modifications of character. They may be cemented or replaced by introduction of mineral solutions from without. They may be deformed by great earth pressures, undergoing what is called dynamic metamorphism (pp. 25-27), which tends to distort them and give them schistose and crystalline characters. They may be intruded by igneous rocks, causing considerable chemical, mineralogical, and structural changes. All these changes may take place near the surface, but on the whole they are more abundant and have more marked effects deep below the surface.
In general all these changes of the deeper zone tend to make the rocks more crystalline and dense and to make the minerals more complex. Cavities are closed. The process is in the main an integrating and constructive one which has been called anamorphism, to contrast it with the disintegrating and destructive processes near the surface, which have been called katamorphism (see also pp. 27-28). There is little in the process of anamorphism in the way of sorting and segregation which tends to enrich and concentrate the metallic ore bodies. On the contrary the process tends to lock up the valuable minerals in resistant combinations with other substances, making them more difficult to recover in mining. Later igneous intrusions or the ordinary ground-waters may bring in minerals which locally enrich ores under anamorphic conditions, but these are relatively minor effects. An illustration of the general effect is afforded by a comparison of the Cuban iron ores, which are soft and can be easily taken out, with the Cle Elum iron ores of Washington, which seem to be of much the same origin, but which have subsequently been buried by other rocks and rendered hard and crystalline. In the first case the ores can be mined easily and cheaply with steam shovels at the surface. In the second, underground methods of mining are required, which cost too much for the grade of ore recovered.
On the other hand, the same general kind of anamorphic processes, when applied to coal, result in concentration and improvement of grade. The same is true up to a certain point in the concentration of oil; but where the process goes too far, the oil may be lost (pp. 140-141).
CONCLUSION
Mineral deposits are formed and modified by practically all known geologic processes, but looked at broadly the main values are produced in three principal ways:
(1) As after effects of igneous intrusion, through the agency of aqueous and gaseous solutions given off from the cooling magma.
(2) Through the sorting processes of sedimentation,—the same processes which form sandstone, shale, and limestone. Organic agencies are important factors in these processes.
(3) Through weathering of the rock surface in place, which may develop values either by dissolving out the valuable minerals and redepositing them in concentrated form, or by dissolving out the non-valuable minerals and leaving the valuable minerals concentrated in place. The latter process is by far the more important.
The overwhelming preponderance of values of mineral deposits as a whole is found in the second of the classes named.
Under all these conditions it appears that the maximum results are obtained at and near the surface. On the scale of the earth even the so-called deep veins may be regarded as deposits from solutions reaching the more open and cooler outer portions of the earth. However, valuable mineral deposits are found in the deepest rocks which have been exposed by erosion, and the question of what would be found at still greater depths, closer to the center of the earth, is a matter of pure speculation.
Ultimately all minerals are derived from igneous sources within the earth. The direct contributions from these sources are only in small part of sufficient concentration to be of value; for the most part they need sorting and segregation under surface conditions.
We can only speculate as to causes of the occurrence of valuable minerals in certain igneous rocks and not in others. Many granites are intruded into the outer shell of the earth, but only a few carry "minerals"; also, of a series of intrusions in the same locality, only one may carry valuable minerals. It is clear that in some fashion these minerals are primarily segregated within the earth. Causes of this segregation are so involved with the problem of the origin of the earth as a whole that no adequate explanation can yet be offered. Our inductive reasoning from known facts is as yet limited to the segregation within a given mass of magma, and even here the conditions are only dimly perceived. A discussion of these ultimate problems is beyond the scope of this book.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] Ransome, Frederick Leslie, Copper deposits near Superior, Arizona: Bull. 540, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1914, pp. 152-153; The copper deposits of Ray and Miami, Arizona: Prof. Paper 115, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1919, p. 156; Discussion: Econ. Geol., vol. 8, 1913, p. 721.
[5] For more specific definitions of vertical zones of ore deposition in association with igneous rocks see Spurr, J. E., Theory of ore deposition: Econ. Geol., vol. 7, 1912, pp. 489-490; Lindgren, W., Mineral deposits, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 2d ed., 1919, Chapters XXIV-XXVI; and Emmons, W. H., The principles of economic geology, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1918, Chapters VI-VIII.
An excellent discussion of a case of vertical and areal zoning of minerals is contained in Ore deposits of the Boulder batholith of Montana, by Paul Billingsley and J. A. Grimes, Bull. Am. Inst. Min. Engrs., vol. 58, 1918, pp. 284-368.
[6] Butler, B. S., Loughlin, G. F., Heikes, V. C., and others, The ore deposits of Utah: Prof. Paper 111, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1920, p. 201.
[7] Leith, C. K., and Mead, W. J., Metamorphic Geology, Pt. 2, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1915.
[8] Butler, B. S., Loughlin, G. F., Heikes, V. C., and others, The ore deposits of Utah: Prof. Paper 111, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1920, pp. 152-158.
[9] Van Hise, C. R., and Leith, C. K., Geology of the Lake Superior region. Mon. 52, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1911, pp. 506-518; and references there given.
CHAPTER IV
MINERAL RESOURCES—SOME GENERAL QUANTITATIVE CONSIDERATIONS
Of the 1,500 known mineral species, perhaps 200 figure in commerce as mineral resources.
For the mineral substances used commercially, the term "mineral" is used in this chapter with a broad significance to cover any or all of the materials from which the needed elements are extracted,—whether these materials be single minerals or groups of minerals; whether they be rocks or ores; whether they be liquid or solid.
The following figures are generalizations based on the miscellaneous information available. The purpose is to indicate the general perspective rather than the detail which would be necessary for precise statement.
WORLD ANNUAL PRODUCTION OF MINERALS IN SHORT TONS
Exclusive of water, but inclusive of petroleum, the world's annual output of mineral resources amounts to two billions of tons. This figure refers to the crude mineral as it comes from the ground and not to the mineral in its concentrated form.
Of this total extraction, coal amounts to nearly 70 per cent, stone and clay 10 per cent, iron ore about 9 per cent, petroleum 4 per cent, copper ore 3 per cent, and all the remaining minerals constitute less than 6 per cent.
If spread out on the surface in a uniform mass with an estimated average density based on relative proportions of the crude minerals, this annual production would cover a square mile to a depth of 2,300 feet.
Of the total annual production 85 per cent comes from countries bordering the North Atlantic basin; 75 per cent is accounted for by the United States, England, and Germany; the United States has 39 per cent of the total, England 18 per cent, and Germany 18 per cent. By continents, Europe accounts for nearly 51 per cent, North America for nearly 42 per cent, Asia for nearly 4 per cent, and the remaining continents for nearly 4 per cent. The United States mineral production in recent years has been about 900,000,000 tons.
According to the United States census of 1920, nearly half of all the establishments or businesses engaged in quarrying or mining operations in this country are operating in oil and gas.
Of the crude materials extracted from the ground perhaps 10 per cent, including gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, and other ores, are concentrated mainly at the mine, with the result that this fraction of the tonnage in large part does not travel beyond the mine. About 90 per cent of the total production, therefore, figures largely in the transportation of mineral resources.
It is estimated that roughly two-thirds of the annual world production is used or smelted within the countries of origin, the remaining one-third being exported. Of the minerals moving internationally, coal and iron constitute 90 per cent of the tonnage.
The metal smelting capacity of the world in terms of yearly production of crude metal is estimated at nearly 100,000,000 short tons. Of this amount about 80 per cent is located in the United States, England, and Germany. The United States alone has over half of the total. Of the oil-refining capacity the United States controls nearly 70 per cent.
One of the significant features of the situation above summarized is the concentration of production and smelting in a comparatively few places in the world. This statement applies with even more force to the individual mineral commodities.
Water may be regarded as a mineral resource in so far as it is utilized as a commodity for drinking, washing, power, irrigation, and other industrial uses. For purposes of navigation and drainage, or as a deterrent in excavation, it would probably not be so classed. While it is not easy to define the limits of water's use as a mineral resource, it is clear that even with a narrow interpretation the total tonnage extracted from the earth as a mineral resource exceeds in amount all other mineral resources combined.
WORLD ANNUAL PRODUCTION OF MINERALS IN TERMS OF VALUE
In terms of value, mineral resources appear in different perspective. The annual world value of mineral production, exclusive of water, is approximately $9,000,000,000. This figure is obtained by dividing the annual value of the United States output of each of the principal minerals by the percentage which the United States output constitutes in the world output, and adding the figures thus obtained. The values here used are mainly selling prices at the mines. It is impossible to reduce the figures absolutely to the value of the mineral as it comes from the ground; there are always some items of transportation included. This method of figuring is of course only the roughest approximation; the values as obtained in the United States cannot be accurately exterpolated for the rest of the world because of locally varying conditions. However, the figures will serve for rough comparative purposes.
Of this total value coal represents roughly 61 per cent, petroleum 12 per cent, iron 6 per cent, copper 5 per cent, and gold 3 per cent.
In terms of value, about 25 per cent of the world's mineral production is available for export beyond the countries of origin. Of this exportable surplus the United States has about 40 per cent, consisting principally of coal, copper, and formerly petroleum.
The value of the United States annual mineral production in recent years has been from about $3,500,000,000 to $5,500,000,000. Annual imports of mineral products into the United States have averaged recently in the general vicinity of $450,000,000, the larger items being copper, tin, fertilizers, petroleum, gems and precious stones, manganese, nickel, and tungsten.
Again the perspective is changed when the value of water resources is considered. As a physiologically indispensable resource, the value of water in one sense is infinite. There is no way of putting an accurate value on the total annual output used for drinking and domestic purposes,—although even here some notion of the magnitude of the figures involved may be obtained by considering the average per capita cost of water in cities where figures are kept, and multiplying this into the world population. This calculation would not imply that any such amount is actually paid for water, because the local use of springs, wells, and streams can hardly be figured on a cash basis; but, if human effort the world over in securing the necessary water is about as efficient as in the average American city, the figures would indicate the total money equivalent of this effort.
SIGNIFICANCE OF GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF MINERAL PRODUCTION
The remarkable concentration of the world's mining and smelting around the North Atlantic basin, indicated by the foregoing figures, does not mean that nature has concentrated the mineral deposits here to this extent. It is an expression rather of the localized application of energy to mineral resources by the people of this part of the world. The application of the same amount of energy in other parts of the world would essentially change the distribution of current mineral production. The controlling factor is not the amount of minerals present in the ground; this is known to be large in other parts of the world and more will be found when necessary. Controlling factors must be looked for in historical, ethnological, and environmental conditions. This subject is further discussed in the chapters on the several resources, and particularly in relation to iron and steel.
THE INCREASING RATE OF PRODUCTION
The extraction of mineral resources on the huge scale above indicated is of comparatively recent date.
From 1880 to the end of 1918 the value of the annual mineral production of the United States has increased from $367,000,000 to more than $5,500,000,000, or nearly fifteen times; measured in another way, it has increased from a little over $7 per capita to more than $52.[10]
More coal has been mined in the United States since 1905 than in all the preceding history of the country. More iron ore has been mined since 1906 than in all the preceding history. The gold production of the United States practically started with the California gold rush in 1849. The great South African gold production began in 1888. Production of diamonds in South Africa began about 1869. The large use of all fertilizer minerals is of comparatively recent date. The world's oil production is greater now each year than it was for any ten years preceding 1891, and more oil has come out of the ground since 1908 than in all the preceding history of the world. The use of bauxite on a large scale as aluminum ore dated practically from the introduction of patented electrolytic methods of reduction in 1889.
In one sense the world has just entered on a gigantic experiment in the use of earth materials.
The most striking feature of this experiment relates to the vast acquisition of power indicated by the accelerating rate of production and consumption of the energy resources—coal, oil, and gas (and water power). Since 1890 the per capita consumption of coal in the United States has trebled and the per capita consumption of oil has become five times as great as it was. If the power from these sources used annually in recent years be translated roughly into man power, it appears that every man, woman, and child in the United States has potential control of the equivalent of thirty laborers,—as against seven in 1890. Energy is being released on a scale never before approximated, with consequences which we can yet hardly ascertain and appraise. This consideration cannot but raise the question as to the ability of modern civilization to control and coodinate the dynamic factors in the situation.
CAPITAL VALUE OF WORLD MINERAL RESERVES
It is impossible to deduce accurately the capital value of mineral resources from values of annual output, but again some approximation may be made. The profit on the extraction of mineral resources on the whole, considering the cost of exploration, is probably no greater than in other industries (p. 330). If we assume a 6 per cent return, which perhaps is somewhere near the world-wide standard of interest rate for money, and capitalize the value of the world's annual output at this rate, we obtain a world capital value for mineral resources, exclusive of water, of 150 billions of dollars. This assumes an indefinitely long life for reserves. This assumption may need some qualifications, but it is the writer's view (Chapter XVII) that it is justified for a sufficiently long period to substantiate the above method of calculation.
POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL CONTROL OF MINERAL RESOURCES
The occurrence of a mineral resource within a country does not necessarily mean control by that particular political unit. A citizen of the United States may own a mineral resource in South America. Commercial control of this sort was demonstrated during the war to be of more far-reaching significance than had been supposed, and it became necessary to ascertain, not only the output of the different countries, but the commercial control of this output. Investigation of this subject for twenty-three leading commodities shows that the political and commercial control are by no means the same. These are partly summarized in the accompanying graphs from Spurr.[11] It is to be noted that the graphs show the control of many commodities as it existed in 1913, the last normal year before the war. Changes during and since the war have of course largely altered the situation for certain commodities, notably for iron, coal, and potash. These developments are summarized in the discussion of the individual resources. It is also to be noted that the commercial or financial control of the world's minerals, under the influence of the fostering and protective policies of certain governments discussed in Chapter XVIII, is at present in a state of flux. Considerable changes are taking place today and are to be looked for in the future.
RESERVES OF MINERAL RESOURCES
Annual production figures are only to a very partial extent an indication of the distribution of the great reserves of mineral resources. For instance, there are enormous reserves of coal in China which are not yet utilized to any large extent. The minerals of South America and Africa are in a very early stage of development. The total world reserves will of course not be known until exploration and development of the world's resources are complete—a time which will probably never come. Figures of reserves represent only our present partial state of knowledge and are likely to be considerably modified in the future. Furthermore, the quantitative accuracy of knowledge of reserves is so variable in different parts of the world that it is almost impossible to make up world figures which have any great validity. There are, however, certain broad facts ascertainable.
Every country in the globe is deficient in supplies of some minerals. The United States is better off than any other country, but still lacks many mineral commodities (see pp. 396-399.) No single continent has sufficient reserves of all mineral commodities.
For the world, however, it may be stated with reasonable certainty that the reserves of the principal minerals are now known to be ample with the exception of those of oil, tin, and perhaps gold and silver. By ample we mean sufficient to give no cause for worry for the next few decades. For many mineral commodities the amounts now actually in sight will not last long, but the possibilities of extension and discovery are so great that a long future availability of these commodities can be counted upon with reasonable safety.
The present shortages in oil, tin, and other minerals mentioned may be only temporary. There is a large part of the world still to be explored, and the present reserves merely mark a stage in this exploration. Nevertheless, the ratio of reserves and discovery on the one hand to accelerated use on the other gives cause for much concern. Looking forward to the future, the problem of mineral reserves in general is not one of the possible ultimate amount which the earth may contain—presumably in no case is this deficient—but of the success with which the resource may be found and developed to keep up with the rapid acceleration of demand. In the chapter on conservation the suggestion is made that future difficulties are more likely to arise from failure to coodinate the dynamic factors of supply and demand, than from absolute shortage of material in the earth.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] Bastin, Edson S., and McCaskey, H. D., The work on mineral resources done by the U. S. Geological Survey: Min. Res. of the United States for 1918, U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 1, 1920, p. 3a.
[11] Spurr, J. E., Who owns the earth?: Eng. and Min. Jour., vol. 109, 1920, pp. 389-390.
CHAPTER V
WATER AS A MINERAL RESOURCE
GENERAL GEOLOGIC RELATIONS
With the solid earth as the special care of geology, it may seem presumptuous for the geologist to claim the waters thereof, but he does not disclaim this inheritance. Water is so all-pervasive that it is more or less taken for granted; and so many and so intricate are its relations that it is not easy to make an objective survey of the water problem in its relation to geology.
The original source of water, as well as of air, is in molten magmas coming from below. These carry water and gases,—some of which are released and some of which are locked up in the rocks on cooling, to be later released during the alterations of the rocks. It is supposed, whatever theory of the origin of the earth we favor, that in its early stages the earth lacked both hydrosphere and atmosphere, and that during the growth of the earth these gradually accumulated on and near the surface in the manner stated.
During alterations at the surface water is added to the mineral constitution of the rocks, and by alterations deep below the surface it may be subtracted. Water is the agent through which most mineral and chemical changes of rocks are accomplished. It is the agent also which is mainly responsible for the segregation of mineral deposits. Water, both as running water and in the solid form of ice, plays an important part in determining the configuration of the earth's surface. Water is the medium in which most sedimentary rocks are formed. It is an important agent in the development of soil and in organic growth. These various influences of water on geological processes touch the economic field at many points, especially in relation to the concentration of ores and to the development of soils and surface forms.
Water comes even more directly into the field of economic geology as a mineral resource. Water supplies, for the greatest variety of purposes, involve geologic considerations at almost every turn.
Finally, water may be an aid or a hindrance to excavation and to a great variety of structural operations, both in war and in peace; and in this relation it again affords geologic problems.
The part played by water in geologic processes, such as that of mineral segregation, is more or less incidentally discussed in other chapters. We may consider more fully in this chapter the application of geology to the general subject of water supplies.
From the geological point of view, water is a mineral,—one of the most important of minerals,—as well as a constituent of other minerals. It becomes a mineral resource when directly used by man. It is ordinarily listed as a mineral resource when shipped and sold as "mineral water," but there is obviously no satisfactory line between waters so named and water supplies in general, for most of them are used for the same purposes and none of them are free from mineral matter. Water which is pumped and piped for municipal water supply is as much a mineral resource as water which is bottled and sold under a trade name. Likewise water which is used for irrigation, water power, and a wide variety of other purposes may logically be considered a mineral resource.
Notwithstanding the immense economic importance of water as a mineral resource its value is more or less taken for granted, and considerations of valuation and taxation are much less in evidence than in the case of other mineral resources. Water must be had, regardless of value, and market considerations are to a much less extent a limiting factor. Economic applications of geology to this resource are rather more confined to matters of exploration, development, total supply, and conservation, than to attempts to fix money value.
DISTRIBUTION OF UNDERGROUND WATER
Free water exists in the openings in rocks where it is sometimes called hygroscopic water. There is also a large amount of water combined molecularly with many of the minerals of rocks, in which form it is called water of constitution. This water is fixed in the rock so that it is not available for use, though some of the processes of rock alteration liberate it and contribute it to the free water. The immediate source of underground water, both free and combined, is mainly the surface or rain waters. A subordinate amount may come directly from igneous emanations or from destruction of certain hydrous minerals. Ultimately, as already indicated, even the surface water originates from such sources.
The openings in rocks consist of joints and many other fractures, small spaces between the grains of rocks (pore space), and amygdaloidal and other openings characteristic of surface volcanic rocks. Many of these openings are capillary and sub-capillary in size. Most rocks, even dense igneous rocks, are porous in some degree, and certain rocks are porous in a very high degree. The voids in some surface materials may amount to 84 per cent of the total volume. In general the largest and most continuous openings are near the surface,—where rocks on the whole are more largely of the sedimentary type and are more fractured, disintegrated, and decomposed, than they are deep within the earth. The largest supplies of water are in the unconsolidated sediments. The water in igneous and other dense rocks is ordinarily in more limited quantity.
APPROXIMATE QUANTITY OF WATER WHICH WILL BE ABSORBED BY SOILS AND ROCKS[1]
——————————————————————————— Volume of water asborbed Material per 100 of material ——————————————————————————— Sandy soil[2] 45.4 Chalk soil[2] 49.5 Clay[2] 50-52.7 Loam[2] 45.1-60.1 Garden earth [2] 69.0 Coarse sand [2] 39.4 Peat subsoil[2] 84.0 Sand 30-40 Sandstone 5-20 Limestone and dolomite 1-8 Chalk 6-27 Granite 03.-.8 ——————————————————————————— 1: Mead, Daniel W., Hydrology: McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1919, p. 393.
2: Woodward, H. B., Geology of soils and substrata: Edward Arnold, London, 1912.
Immediately at the surface, the openings of rocks may not be filled with water; but below the surface, at distances varying with climatic and topographic conditions, the water saturates the openings of the rocks and forms what is sometimes called the zone of saturation or the sea of underground water. The top surface of this zone is called the water table, or the ground-water level. The space between the water table and the earth's surface is sometimes referred to as the vadose zone or the zone of weathering, since it is the belt in which weathering processes are most active. The zone of weathering is not necessarily dry. Water from the surface enters and sinks through it and water also rises through it from below; it may contain suspended pockets of water surrounded by dry rocks; it is not continuously and fully saturated.
The water table or ground-water level may be near or at the surface in low and humid areas, and it may be two thousand feet or more below the surface in arid regions of high topographic relief. Because of the influence of capillarity, the water table is not a horizontal surface. It shows irregularities more or less following the surface contours, though not nearly so sharply accentuated.
The lower limit of the ground-water is more irregular than the upper surface and is less definitely known. In general, openings in rocks tend to diminish with depth, due to cementation and to closing of cavities by pressures which are too great for the rock to withstand. But rocks differ so widely in their original character, and in their response to physical and chemical environment, that it is not unusual to find dense and impervious rocks above, and open and porous rocks below. The lower limit of the zone of abundant underground water varies accordingly. A well may encounter nearly dry rock at a comparatively shallow depth, or it may reach a porous water-bearing stratum at considerable depth. At the greater depths pockets of water are sometimes found which have a composition different from that of the surface water, and which evidently are isolated from the surface water by zones of non-pervious rock.
Attempts have been made to calculate the total volume of underground water by measuring the openings of rocks and making assumptions as to the depth to which such openings may extend. In this manner it has been estimated that, if all the ground-water were assembled in a single body, it would make a shell between eighty and two hundred feet thick (depending on the assumptions) over all the continental areas. |
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