Applied Geochemistry in Mineral Exploration and Mining

The prosperity of our societies and our standards of living are directly related to our ability to find, exploit, and manage our metal and mineral resources. Metal and mineral deposits are, in fact, geochemical anomalies and, as such, applied geochemistry plays a critical role throughout the mineral resources value chain, from early stage exploration to mine closure. The fundamentals of element mobility (i.e. transport and fixation) in the near-surface environment are used by geochemists to detect mineral deposits at depth, reveal element distributions in and around deposits, assess the total geochemical environment, and refine effective and benign extraction and waste disposal techniques. Both pure- and applied-research ventures play fundamental roles in providing the techniques to manage metal resources and thereby benefit society.