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Chapter 3
Chapter 3
GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION
Purpose---- Property has mineral value only when it contains a deposit from which a
product can be won at a profit. Since evaluation necessarily contemplates the processes
of mining and extracting the product, the size, shape, position and the grade of the deposit
are fundamental features that must be determined, at least within reasonable limits, as a
basis. Determination of these features is largely a matter of geology.
Sampling is an allied process.
Mineral deposits 1 range from thin, erratic veins to extensive bedded deposits and
massive bodies such as the copper-porphyries. Processes of genetic concentration may
have been igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic. Some deposits are primary in that they
have retained their original qualities and relationships to adjoining rocks; others have
been altered, either by chemical or mechanical means, to secondary deposits. Structural
relationships 2 range from inclusion in undisturbed series to distortion in tight folding and
dislocation by complicated fault offsets. only after it has been mined. It can seldom be
seen as a whole body.
FIELD WORK.It is not within the scope of this book to cover in detail the many
geologic field procedures and the methods of interpretation of data that may be called
upon in the course of a mine examination. These, appropriately, may be found in geology
texts and handbooks in which mineral deposits, structural principles, and field practice 1
are treated at length
1
Forrester, J. D., Principle of Field and Mining Geology, John Willey & Sons, 1946
Mc Kinstry, H.E., Mining Geology Prentice - Hill, Inc.,1948, Chap. 3.
Instrument Surveys..The dip needle and magnetometer are among the most useful
instrument for geological work. Each is readily portable and rapid to operate. Choice
depends, usually, upon accuracy desire. The airborne magnetometer maybe employed
advantageously to indicate mayor anomalies which can then be investigated more closely
by ground observations within a limited area. These instruments record only the presence
of magnetic materials, but a knowledge of mineral associations may lead to using them
on allied minerals and marker formations where the mineral under investigation is, itself,
non magnetic. Asbestos, for instance, may be associated with enough magnetic for a
survey of this type to outline the formations.
In respect to radioactive minerals, the Geiger counter is obviously useful. Portable field
models are readily available. An understanding of types of emission is essential to proper
interpretation of readings. Portable ultraviolet lamps are an aid to prospecting for
fluorescent minerals, such as scheelite.
Geophysical methods, 1such as gravitation, seismic, and electrical resistivity, are
usually applied to large-scale exploration, as for petroleum. They may also be useful as
aids to determining the geology of the ordinary mineral deposit. Advanced methods and
instruments for well-logging, likewise, have been most helpful in petroleum work. To
date, they have not been applied extensively to ore deposits.
1
Lahee, F.H., Field Geology, McGraw-Hill Book C.o., Inc., 1941, Chap. XXII
Heiland, C.A., Geophysical Exploration, Prentice-Hall, 1940.
Jakosky, J. J., Exploration Geophysics, Times-Mirror Press, Los Angeles, Calif., 1940.
Nettleton, L. L., Geophysical Prospecting for Oil McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1940.
Geophysical Prospecting A.I.M.E., 1929, 1932, 1934, 1940, 1945.
LABORATORY STUDIES..Laboratory work is call for in many mineral investigations. It
may be for the purpose of optical or x-ray identification of minor minerals value in
association with the major ones in deposit; for age determination to correlate series; or to
point out chemical and physical qualities critical to the milling and metallurgy of the
product.
The engineer or geologist examining a property, though he may not be proficient in
these specialized fields, should be aware of the valuable help of such work. Interpretation
of geological features may be verified by studies or tests of this type. Critical problems of
treatment and marketing, solved in the laboratory, may be the determining factor in the
success of the operation.
Surface..Surface maps usually are of two types, property and topographic. The property
map show only land parcels and be plotted on form sheets printed to cover a regular
township with its 36 numbered sections. Or it may be a map drawn to show property
lines, railroads, highways, streams, building, mine dumps, etc., but usually without
topography. The topography map probably will show property lines also and will have on
it the railroads, highways, etc., listed above. In addition, it will show topography
(counters) and geology. Property lines, with tie-in lines to reference points, are usually
Surveyed with transit and tape for record purposes, although for a preliminary report and
as a base for geologic work, stadia measurements will suffice for boundary lines but
should be so noted. The plane table is the usual field instrument for topographic and
geologic work, as it is somewhat more rapid than the transit. Choice of contour interval
will depend on ruggedness of topography and scale will depend on area being worked.
The compass is often used for some of traversing. Solar observations are the usual means
for determining meridian in remote areas. If the area is large, aerial mapping will be
much faster and possibly more economical.
1
Breed, Surveying, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Lahee, F.H., Field Geology, McGraw-Hill Book C.o., Inc., 1941, Chap. XV to XXI,
Inclusive
Forrester, J. D., Principle of Field and Mining Geology, John Willey & Sons, 1946
Mc Kinstry, H.E., Mining Geology Prentice - Hill, Inc.,1948, Chap. 1
Underground ..The brunton compass, in some situations, may be sufficiently accurate
for the underground survey for examination purposes. In any case, an instrument of this
type is well adapted to making sketch maps of underground openings and for the
mapping of geologic data. Measurements may be tape or pace, as the situation requires.
Side developments and extensions of main underground openings are frequently
measured up by brunton until such as time as more accurate location is needed.
The transit is the usual instrument for underground surveying. Linear measurements
are by tape to hundredths of foot. Angular readings to one minute of accuracy are
customary with readings to one-half minute or even closer for important closures and for
extended main-level developments. Elevations are carried by using the transit as a level
and by vertical angle measurements through either main or auxiliary telescope.
Corrections must be applied by computation for vertical angle measurements made by top
telescope. Bearing (azimuths) are carried underground by transit or plumb wires as the
openings demand.
Both plan maps and sections are usually needed to show underground workings and
ore deposits. Elevation at which plans are drawn will probably coincide with main levels
or sublevels. For a property undeveloped except by drilling and for projection of geologic
inferences, the elevation of such a plan map or sketch will be determined by the data at
hand and the purpose. Position of sectional veins and plane of projections usually depend
on shape and position of the deposit; the footwall is often a controlling factor.
Underground maps show position of openings such as shafts, drifts, (entries), crosscuts,
raises, and stopes and are plotted accurately to scale.
On the background are recorded the geologic data and sampling results. These are
often called assay or geological maps to distinguish them from operating maps for
contract measurement: the geology maps will show rock and ore formations, dips, strikes,
contacts, folds, slips, faults, feature zones, and mineral associations and assays. In vein
structures, width of veins vs. width of mining opening is important, as will be noted
under sampling.
All relevant data are entered on the working maps which are drawn to a scale (often 40
ft per inch suitable for such record. Final maps for reports are more often at scales of 100
to 400 ft. per inch, with formations and geologic features displayed clearly by use of
colors and symbols.
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1. Lindgren, W., Mineral Deposits, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 4th Ed.,1933, p. 204
IMPORTANCE OF STRUCTURE..Structure refers to the build of the earths crust. Those
structural features which aid in mineral concentration or delimit ore bodies maybe
primary sedimentational structures or deformational. Ore bodies maybe found in
sedimentary beds, may follow favourable horizons such as lime stones, or may be
concentrated in other sedimentary horizons. Deformational features, as fractures, folds,
contacts, and barriers, may be causal determinants of ore deposition. Rock alteration
associated with ore also is often related to structural features.
The examiner should be aware of the importance of thorough study of structure
around and in an ore deposit as basis for his deductions as to the extent and delineation of
the ore. Hypotheses of origin and detailed description of the relations of structural
features to ore bodies maybe found among the references already given.
Deformational structures, notably faults, may be post-ore in age. In this event,
dislocation and displacement of part of an ore body may present a difficult problem to the
investigator. Careful studies of both minor and major geological features in three-
dimensional relationships are required to solve problems of this kind. Special drilling,
trenching, or mine openings may be needed to give significant information. Methods of
structural analysis applicable to cases of this kind involve descriptive geometry1 or
stereographic projection2.
As noted, three dimensions are involved. Map and sections are mean to an end; they
help the examiner to see the three dimensional picture and by contributing to
understanding of the geometry are a means for making quantitative measurements of
features of importance. While geometry may be all importance in solving post-ore
structural problems, structure has much broader implications on the genetic side.
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1
Billings, M.P., Structural Geology, Prentice Hall, Inc.,1942
2
Fisher, D. J., A New Projection Protractor, University of Chicago, Dept. of Geology,
1940