The study is not intended to be a complete geometallurgy book, but it certainly is a great example of applied geometallurgy. It was conducted on the Caribou deposit in New Brunswick, which is a Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit (VMS). VMS deposits form on the seafloor at divergent plate boundaries from hydrothermal vents (e.g. black smokers), and are one of the most important source of base metals. These deposits often contain important byproducts (e.g. Au and Ag) which can offset costs.

The purpose of the geometallurgy study was to document variations in Ag and Au intra- and inter-distributions of pyrite, sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite-tennantite and arsenopyrite to evaluate their effect on Au and Ag recoveries during exploitation of the Caribou deposit.

The paper was published in the Minerals Journal, an open access journal and is available online for free (see links below):

“Analysis of Au-Ag Mineralization in the Caribou Base-Metal VMS Deposit, New Brunswick; Examination of Micro-Scale Inter- and Intra-Sulphide Distribution and Its Relation to Geometallurgy”
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