Browsing by Subject "geogas"

Geochemical ore exploration with geogases is based, like the MMI method, on the movement of mobile metal ions. The assumption is that the buried mineralization is possible to locate using the samples collected from the surface sediment. In this study, the detection of gold-copper anomalies by geogases was tested in three different regions of the West Lapland ice divide zone. Geogas samples were collected using an active gas collector at 25 cm below the lowest visible soil horizon. The samples were bubbled into nitric acid and analysed with ICP-MS. The elements studied were As, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni, Pb, U and Zn. Only few elevated levels of arsenic, cobalt, mercury and nickel were found in the gas samples In the Hannukainen mining area, geogases were collected at known ore settlement, in which gas concentrations showed a clear anomaly in soil directly above the outcropping ore. At Kelontekemä, the concentrations of geogases were compared with MMI results from soil samples collected nearby. There appears to be a connection between concentrations of gases and soil samples, but the concentrations of soil samples are often a thousandfold higher. In this study, the Jolhikko region served as a background area, which allowed to conduct a comparison between the area containing mineralization and the background area of precious metals. In light of this research, geogases are a working tool for geochemical ore exploration. However, and in order to understand the complexity of this phenomenon, it is necessary to conduct further studies. The use of geogases also requires special care from samplers to minimize contamination risks.