Surface surprise
Photograph A: Plant fossils in silica sinter. PuhiPuhi, North Island, New Zealand.
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Locality: PuhiPuhi, North Island, New Zealand
Deposit Type: Epithermal: Low Sulfidation Commodity: Originally mercury (small scale mining ceased in 1945). Currently undergoing exploration for gold and silver Take a long look at the sample in photograph A. Once your eyes adjust, you’ll see that this sample is packed full of plant fossils. Have you spotted them yet? These fossils are preserved in silica sinter, a precipitate that forms when hot, solute-rich waters (hydrothermal fluids) discharge at the Earth’s surface. You will probably know this more commonly as a hot spring.
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Location, location
Today’s sample highlights that ore deposits can form close to, and at, the Earth’s surface. This knowledge is vital for future economic geologists – particularly those wanting to go into exploration.
Please Sir, we want to learn some ore
For budding geologists hoping to discover ore deposits, living in the UK can be a bit of a headache. Most fieldtrips to world-class deposits and mines involve travel abroad. This is also (usually) the case for anyone wanting hands-on experience with epithermal deposits. However, here at the Museum, we’ve resolved the problem of location by creating an epithermal teaching suite with help from our ore collection.
Ores-R-Us
With all types of deposits all under one roof, the ore collection is the next best thing to fieldwork for an economic geologist. Our epithermal deposit teaching suite being the next best thing to the real deal. The teaching suite is visited by academic institutions throughout the year as a teaching aid for geology undergraduates. This shows how valuable the Museum’s ore collection is – providing knowledge at your fingertips.
Visit window fourteen and window twenty four to read more about how the Museum’s ore collection is used.
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Today’s sample highlights that ore deposits can form close to, and at, the Earth’s surface. This knowledge is vital for future economic geologists – particularly those wanting to go into exploration.
Please Sir, we want to learn some ore
For budding geologists hoping to discover ore deposits, living in the UK can be a bit of a headache. Most fieldtrips to world-class deposits and mines involve travel abroad. This is also (usually) the case for anyone wanting hands-on experience with epithermal deposits. However, here at the Museum, we’ve resolved the problem of location by creating an epithermal teaching suite with help from our ore collection.
Ores-R-Us
With all types of deposits all under one roof, the ore collection is the next best thing to fieldwork for an economic geologist. Our epithermal deposit teaching suite being the next best thing to the real deal. The teaching suite is visited by academic institutions throughout the year as a teaching aid for geology undergraduates. This shows how valuable the Museum’s ore collection is – providing knowledge at your fingertips.
Visit window fourteen and window twenty four to read more about how the Museum’s ore collection is used.
< Back to calendar