ROLE OF GEOCHEMISTRY IN MINERAL EXPLORATION.

Paper reviews the use of geochemical methods of exploration for metallic minerals which are based on the fact that any mineral deposit will give rise to the anomalous dispersion of some indicator material in the earth surrounding the deposit. This commonly gives rise to a far wider target area than the orebody sought which may be detectable in the ground overlying and surrounding the orebody. It discusses the geochemical environment, mobility and dispersion of elements in any environment, geochemical distribution and normal background, indicates abundance of elements in normal igneous rocks, and describes geochemical anomalies and provinces. Chemical analytic procedures and execution of hydrogeochemical surveys are described.