A personal retrospective of exploration geochemistry in the

A personal retrospective of exploration geochemistry in the 1960s-1980s 

O Box 207, Moss Vale, NSW 2075 AUSTRALIA email penvcoed optusnet.com.au) 

Abstract The discovery in the 1960s to early 1970s that rock geochemistry could be used to detect mineral deposits under 50-100 metres of post-mineralization rocks was probably one of the first indications that that geochemistry could be used for deep exploration. Some case histories from Cyprus and Canada are presented to illustrate this. The second important impetus to considering deep exploration was research into the mechanisms involved in the formation of anomalies. This led to the proposal of electrochemical models and the measurement of unconventional parameters such as pH, conductivity in water slurries of samples as well as measurement of elements in dilute leaches including water. These developments are illustrated by case histories from Canada and Australia. 

Keywords deep exploration, anomaly formation, halos, electrochemistry, sulfides 

In an article in the Northern Miner in March 1973 I wrote, in part, that 

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