The truth is out there
Photograph A: Carbon Leader rReef, quartz pebbles in dark carbonaceous matrix, Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa.
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Sample: Carbon Leader rReef, quartz pebbles in dark carbonaceous matrix
Locality: Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa Primary Commodity: Gold, uranium Deposit Type: Sediment-hosted gold and uranium conglomerates |
It’s not every day that the ore collection gets a request that could aid our understanding of the origins of life. However, this is what Arthur Coakley’s PhD project is looking into and to research his work, Arthur needed some old rocks…really old rocks.
You’ve aged well…
The sample in photograph A is from the giant Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa. Witwatersrand has produced over 48,000 tonnes of gold metal since its discovery in 1886 (Robb, 2005). To put that in context, this basin is thought to have accounted for about 35 per cent of all gold production…ever (Robb, 2005).
These are not the only impressive facts about this deposit. Can you guess its age? It is 2.710 to 2.950 billion years old (Herrington, 2011) and its age is what makes it so attractive for Arthur’s project: could this sample harbour niche environments favourable for life’s earliest building blocks?
Multi-purpose
With over 16,000 samples the ore collection preserves one of the best historical records for global mining activities. However, this sample is just one example of how the collection’s use is not limited to the area of economic geology.
Visit window two and window twenty four to view two more samples that illustrate how the ore collection it is proving valuable to other scientific disciplines.
References
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You’ve aged well…
The sample in photograph A is from the giant Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa. Witwatersrand has produced over 48,000 tonnes of gold metal since its discovery in 1886 (Robb, 2005). To put that in context, this basin is thought to have accounted for about 35 per cent of all gold production…ever (Robb, 2005).
These are not the only impressive facts about this deposit. Can you guess its age? It is 2.710 to 2.950 billion years old (Herrington, 2011) and its age is what makes it so attractive for Arthur’s project: could this sample harbour niche environments favourable for life’s earliest building blocks?
Multi-purpose
With over 16,000 samples the ore collection preserves one of the best historical records for global mining activities. However, this sample is just one example of how the collection’s use is not limited to the area of economic geology.
Visit window two and window twenty four to view two more samples that illustrate how the ore collection it is proving valuable to other scientific disciplines.
References
- Robb, L.J. 2005. Introduction to Ore-Forming Processes. United Kingdom. Blackwell Publishing.
- Herrington, R., 2011. Geological Features and Genetic Models of Mineral Deposits, in: Darling, P. (ed.), Mining Engineering Handbook, Volume 1, 83-104, Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. (SME)
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