Albert H Hofstra (Former Employee)

Porphyry and epithermal deposits are important sources of base and precious metals. Most actively mined deposits have been exhumed such that ore bodies are relatively close to the surface and are therefore locatable and economic to extract. Identifying and characterizing concealed deposits, particularly more deeply buried porphyry deposits, represents a far greater challenge for mineral

Tellurium-bearing low-sulfidation epithermal Au-Ag deposits are significant producers of gold, silver, and potentially strategic elements if mineral processing methods are optimized for recovery. Although these deposits are generally related to alkaline magmatism, our study documents an unusual occurrence of Te-rich low-sulfidation epithermal systems in the North Heilongjiang Belt in...

Quartz trace elements record information about fluid evolution as well as metal migration and precipitation. Here, we summarize most of the reported (including this study) quartz trace element data (N = ~4,600) generated by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) on various textural types and paragenetic stages of quartz in I-type porphyry-epithermal (Cu...

The Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) is conducted in phases to identify areas for acquiring new geologic framework data to identify potential domestic resources of the 35 mineral materials designated as critical minerals for the United States. This report describes the data sources and summary results for 13 critical minerals evaluated in the conterminous United States and...

The ages of Carlin-type gold deposits in the Golden Triangle of South China have long been questioned due to the general lack of minerals unequivocally linked to gold deposition that can be precisely dated using conventional radiogenic isotope techniques. Recent advances in U-Pb methods show that calcite can be used to constrain the ages of hydrothermal processes, but few studies have...

A challenge for the global economy is to meet the growing demand for commodities used in today’s advanced technologies. Critical minerals are commodities (for example, elements, compounds, minerals) deemed vital to the economic and national security of individual countries that are vulnerable to supply disruption. The national geological agencies of Australia, Canada, and the United...

Precise constraints on the source and evolution of ore-forming fluids of Carlin-type gold deposits in the Golden Triangle (south China) are of critical importance for a better understanding of the ore genesis and a refined genetic model for gold mineralization. However, constraints on the source of ore fluid components have long been a challenge due to the very fine grained nature of the...

In response to a need for information on potential domestic sources of critical minerals, the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) was established to identify and prioritize areas for acquisition of new geologic mapping, geophysical data, and elevation data to improve our knowledge of the geologic framework of the United States. Phase 1 of Earth MRI concentrated on those...

To define and prioritize focus areas across the United States with resource potential for 35 critical minerals in a few years’ time, the U.S Geological Survey Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) required an efficient approach to streamline workflow. A mineral systems approach based on current understanding of how ore deposits that contain critical minerals form and relate to...

The paragenesis, textures, and chemical compositions of magnetite in two mafic to intermediate intrusions and four IOA deposits in SE Missouri were studied to discriminate between igneous and hydrothermal sources. In this study, we found that replacement magnetite with mineral inclusion-rich cores yields erroneously high Ti, Al, Si, Mg, and Mn contents as determined by EMP and LA-ICP-MS...

The paragenesis, textures, and chemical compositions of secondary hematite in regional potassic altered rhyolites, four IOA deposits, the sedimentary iron deposit at Pilot Knob and the Boss IOCG deposit in SE Missouri were determined and compared to primary magnetite from the IOA and IOCG deposits. Magnetite is composed of elements characteristics of mafic to intermediate intrusions...

Several types of critical mineral-bearing ore deposits in the southern Midcontinent region of the U.S. are hosted in Mesoproterozoic igneous rocks largely concealed beneath Paleozoic cover. Discerning the architecture of igneous intrusions and volcanic centers in the crust is fundamental to understanding the geologic evolution of this vast region and its mineral resources. To advance the