Supergene and hydrothermal dispersion of heavy metals in wall rocks near ore bodies, Tintic district, Utah

Part I, T. S. Lovering. Preliminary work in the Tintic district, Utah, determined the relative distance of migration of ore metals in moist carbonate and silicic wall rocks near ore, and in ground water having a very sluggish circulation through mineralized ground. The analyses of efflorescences in the Tintic Standard mine openings at suitable localities indicated that under the conditions existing during the past 25 years lead has not moved perceptibly; gold has migrated only a few inches; copper has moved a few score feet at most and only in acid solutions; and zinc has traveled hundreds of feet, but not as far as some silver. Silver may travel far in the oxidized zone, but if it comes in contact with sulfides its migration is quickly halted. The chief chemical factors that influence the migration of metals in supergene solutions are the hydrogen ion concentration (pH) of hydrolysis of the metal ion, the solubility of sulfates of the metals, and the position of the metals in Schuermann's series if the solutions are in contact with sulfides for a considerable time.