The world is going to need a lot of metal, particularly copper.
Getting this much copper will be impossible unless we discover significant new copper deposits.
But there has been little exploration for copper over the past decade, as prices have been relatively low.
This software, calledGPlates, is a powerful four-dimensional information system for geologists.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
Mountain ranges like the Andes are formed through subduction and can be rich in copper deposits.
A sample of copper hosted in a quartz vein in the form of a mineral called chalcopyrite.
When exposed to air, the surface oxidises to create this metallic peacock lustre.
These include geological mapping, geochemical sampling, geophysical surveys, and remote sensing.
However, this information is traditionally not used in copper exploration.
One of its many applications is to understand where copper deposits have formed along mountain belts.
In arecent paper, we outline how it works.
This period is also most accurate forour models.
So what turns out to be important?
In addition, it reveals how much time given deposits might have had to move closer to the surface.
Australia has similar deposits, including theCadia copper-gold districtin New South Wales.
