Publications

Various models have been proposed to explain the formation mechanism of colloform sphalerite, but the origin is still under debate. In order to decipher influences on trace element incorporation and sulfur isotope composition, crystalline and colloform sphalerite from the carbonate-hosted Mississippi-Valley Type (MVT) deposit near Wiesloch, SW Germany, were investigated and compared to...

Among the many European millstones, the geology of the French burrstone was prized for the effect of its quartz grain.

The article discusses the latest developments in the barite or baryte industry, particularly in the U.S., as of June 2011. It claims that the bulk of barites production in the country comes from four mines in Nevada, including the Big Ledge Mine, the Rossi Mine and the Greystone Mine. It cites that barite is mainly used as a weighting agent in natural gas and oil field drilling muds...

The article provides information on copper and its various uses. It was the first metal used by humans and is considered as one of the materials that played an important role in the development of civilization. It is a major industrial metal because of its low cost, availability, electrical conductivity, high ductility and thermal conductivity. Copper has long been used in the circuitry...

The article discusses the latest developments in the global ball clay mining industry, particularly in the U.S., as of June 2011. It cites several firms that are involved in ball clay mining in the U.S., including HC Spins Clay Co. Inc., the Imerys Group and Old Hickory Clay Co. Among the products made from ball clay are ceramic tiles, sanitaryware, as well as fillers, extenders and...

In 2010, domestic production of peat, excluding Alaska, was estimated to be 612 kt (674,600 st), compared with 609 kt (671,300 st) in 2009. In 2010, imports increased to 947 kt (1.04 million st), compared with 906 kt (998,600 st) in 2009. Exports were estimated to have decreased to 69 kt (76,000 st) in 2010. U.S. apparent consumption for 2010 was estimated to have increased to 1.5 Mt (1...

The article discusses the latest developments in the borates industry, particularly in the U.S., as of June 2011. It claims that the biggest economically feasible deposits of borates are seen in the U.S.' Mojave Desert, the Alpide belt in southern Asia and the Andean belt of South America. Turkish state-owned mining firm Eti Maden AS reported that borates were mainly used in the...

World fluorspar demand showed some signs of recovery in 2010 but was still depressed compared with 2008. In 2010, nearly all fluorspar (CaF[sub2]) consumption in the United States was from imports. Hastie Mining and Trucking Co. produced some fluorspar as a byproduct from its limestone quarry operations in Illinois. In addition, a small amount of usable synthetic fluorspar was produced...

We report remanent magnetization measurements from 13 sites in Cretaceous plutonic rocks in the northern Sierra Nevada (38°N–39.5°N). By increasing the number of available paleomagnetic sites, the new data tighten constraints on the displacement history of the Sierra Nevada block and its pre-extensional position relative to interior North America. We collected samples in freshly exposed...

Chromium is an important metal used as an alloying element in cast iron, steel and superalloys, as well as in refractory and numerous chemical applications.

Porphyry Cu indicator minerals are mineral species in clastic sediments that indicate the presence of mineralization and hydrothermal alteration associated with porphyry Cu and associated skarn deposits. Porphyry Cu indicator minerals recovered from shallow till samples near the giant Pebble Cu-Au-Mo porphyry deposit in SW Alaska, USA, include apatite, andradite garnet, Mn-epidote...

The US Geological Survey recently assessed the potential for undiscovered conventional petroleum in the Arctic. Using a new map compilation of sedimentary elements, the area north of the Arctic Circle was subdivided into 70 assessment units, 48 of which were quantitatively assessed. The Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal (CARA) was a geologically based, probabilistic study that relied...