Stewart M. Hamilton

Keywords Dlpole, reduced chimney, SP, soil geochemistry, redox, Thaianga 

In the 1960s and 1970s the use of soil geochemistry in mineral exploration led to the discovery of the now commonly observed twin-peak or rabbit-ear geochemical anomaly (Govett 1976). From the time rabbit-ear anomalies were first described they were attributed to electrochemical processes but the theory proposed at that time could only 

Queensland, Australia (Govett Atherden 1987). That study showed strong rabbit-ear responses in surface soils in commodity elements and elevated H in 

Electrical Dipoles and Current Development Around Conductive Ore-Bodies 

Sato Mooney (1960) pointed out that the oxidation of the conductor itself cannot be responsible for the SP phenomenon because it would oxidize locally in the upper part of the ore-body where oxidizing agents are in direct contact with the ore and there would be no separation of charge and therefore no SP phenomenon. The redox reactions that produce SP therefore occur between reactants in the groundwater environment at the top and bottom of the ore body. This cathodically protects the upper part of the ore body from direct oxidation. Oxidation of the ore body can still occur (hence gossans) but results from local detached oxidation which cannot produce SP. 

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