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T.G. Lovering

Publications and source records attributed to T.G. Lovering.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1983

The use of sagebrush (Artemisia) as a biogeochemical indicator of base-metal deposits in Precambrian rocks of west-central Colorado

The efficacy of sagebrush ( Artemisia ) as a biogeochemical indicator of base-metal mineralization in stratabound Precambrian ore deposits in west-central Colorado was investigated by collecting new (mostly flowering) growth from several sagebrush shrubs over and near five such deposits in three different areas. These are the Sedalia mine and two mines in the Turret district near Salida, and two mines in the Cochetopa district southeast of Gunnison. Two species were used, A. tridentata and A. frigida , depending on the area. Sagebrush clippings were separated into two subsamples consisting of (1) stems, and (2) leaves and blossoms stripped from the stems. These subsamples were ashed separately and the ash analyzed with an emission spectrograph for 30 elements. There appear to be no appreciable differences in the analyses of the two subsamples, indicating that composite samples would provide adequate information for further investigations. Eight of these elements, Ag, Bi, Cu, Pb, Sn, Y, Zn, and Zr, are present in notably higher concentrations in the ash of samples growing over mineralized ground than in that of control samples growing over barren ground. Although the distribution pattern, and the number of these anomalous elements, differs at each of the five localities, three of them, silver, copper, and lead, show good contrast and close association with subjacent mineralization in all five study areas.

Journal of Geochemical Exploration↗
USGS1981

Jasperoid float and stream cobbles as tools in geochemical exploration for hydrothermal ore deposits

Fragments of silicified rocks that are associated with deposits of base and precious metals may be transported as cobbles and pebbles in alluvium far downstream from the source outcrop. These rocks commonly exhibit certain characteristics which distinguish them from other detrital siliceous material, and may thus serve as a useful tool in reconnaissance geochemical exploration. The predominant characteristics of jasperoid samples, classified according to genesis, type of host rock, and proximity to base and precious metal deposits have been tabulated from a large master file containing descriptive and analytical information on jasperoid samples representing more than a hundred areas in the United States. Jasperoid that is genetically and spatially associated with ore deposits is generally dark gray or brown in color, brecciated, phaneritic, and vuggy. Jasperoids associated with lead and zinc deposits exhibit extensive halos of lead and silver anomalies, and more restricted zinc and gold anomalies. Those related to copper deposits show extensive copper, silver, and gold anomalies, and more restricted bismuth and molybdenum anomalies. Jasperoid related to gold deposits tends to exhibit extensive gold and silver anomalies and more restricted titanium, barium, vanadium, molybdenum, and rare-earth element anomalies.

Journal of Geochemical Exploration↗
USGS1978

Ore deposits of the Gilman District, Eagle County, Colorado

The Gilman mining district, known also in the past as the Red Cliff district, is in the mountains of southeastern Eagle County, west-central Colorado. The district is the leading source of zinc in Colorado and one of the major base-metal mining districts in the State. As valued at the time of production, total output of zinc, silver, copper, lead, and gold through 1972 was about $328 million. About 90 percent of this total was produced after 1930. The productive part of the district is an area of about 3 square miles (7.8 square kilometers) on the northeast side of the deep canyon of the Eagle River between the small towns of Gilman and Red Cliff. The ore deposits are principally replacement deposits in dolomites of Mississippian and Devonian age and in quartzite of Cambrian age. A few productive veins occur in Precambrian rocks. The replacement deposits crop out in the cliffs of the canyon wall and extend northeastward downdip beneath Battle Mountain, which is composed of a thick sequence of Pennsylvanian clastic rocks. The deposits were originally worked through several separate mines along the canyon wall, but since 1918, all deposits in dolomite rocks, except some small ones near Red Cliff, have been worked through the Eagle mine of the New Jersey Zinc Company at Gilman. The Gilman district lies on the eastern flank of the huge anticline of the Sawatch Range, near the steeply plunging north end of the anticline. Sedimentary rocks on the flank of this part of the anticline dip homoclinally northeastward to a synclinal axis about 8 mi (miles) (13 km (kilometers> northeast of Gilman and then rise more steeply to the Gore fault at the edge of the Gore Range. The homocline is broken by only a few faults most of which have displacements of less than 100 ft (feet) (30 m (meters>. In contrast, the underlying Precambrian rocks are broken by numerous faults and shear zones related to the Homestake shear zone, a northeast-trending master shear zone several miles wide. Fractures and shear zones along the northwest side of the master zone extend beneath the Gilman district. The Gilman district is at the northwestern edge of the northeast-trending Colorado mineral belt as defined by mineralized areas and bodies of intrusive porphyries. Neighboring mining districts in the mineral belt to the southeast of Gilman are the Kokomo lead-zinc district, 13 mi (21 km) distant; the Climax molybdenum district, 16 mi (26 km) distant; and the Leadville district, 20 mi (32 km) distant. These districts, as well as others farther away, are characterized by abundant intrusive rocks of Laramide and middle Tertiary ages and by complex faults systems. The Gilman district, in contrast, contains only a single sill of porphyry and has very simple geologic structure. This probably reflects a position either at the side of or high above a batholith that is inferred from geologic and geophysical data to underlie the mineral belt at shallow depth. The rock column preserved in the district consists, in succession downward, of (1) grit, conglomerate, sandstone, and shale of the Pennsylvanian Minturn Formation, as much as 6,300 ft (1,920 m) thick; (2) shale, limestone, and. sandstone of the Pennsylvanian Belden Formation, 200 ft (61 m) thick; (3) a sill of quartz latite porphyry of the Cretaceous Pando Porphyry about 80 ft (24 m) thick intruded in the basal shale of the Belden Formation; (4) dolomitized limestone of the Mississippian Leadville Dolomite, 110-140 ft (34-43 m) thick; (5) sandstone and sandy and cherty dolomite of the Mississippian or Devonian Gilman Sandstone, 15-50 ft (4.5-15 m) thick; (6) thin-bedded primary or diagenetic dolomite of the Mississippian(?) and Devonian Dyer Dolomite, 50-80 ft (15-24 m) thick; (7) quartzite, conglomerate, and green shale of the Devonian Parting Formation, 35-50 ft (11-15 m) thick; (8) sandstone and shale of the Ordovician Harding Sandstone, 14-80 ft (4.2-24 m) thick; (9) shaly and sandy dolomite and dolom

Professional Paper↗
USGS1978

Conceptual models in exploration geochemistry-The Basin and Range Province of the Western United States and Northern Mexico

This summary of geochemical exploration in the Basin and Range Province is another in the series of reviews of geochemical-exploration applications covering a large region; this series began in 1975 with a summary for the Canadian Cordillera and Canadian Shield, and was followed in 1976 by a similar summary for Scandinavia (Norden). Rather than adhering strictly to the type of conceptual models applied in those papers, we have made use of generalized landscape geochemistry models related to the nature of concealment of ore deposits. This study is part of a continuing effort to examine and evaluate geochemical-exploration practices in different areas of the world. Twenty case histories of the application of geochemical exploration in both district and regional settings illustrate recent developments in techniques and approaches. Along with other published reports these case histories, exemplifying generalized models of concealed deposits, provide data used to evaluate geochemical-exploration programs and specific sample media. Because blind deposits are increasingly sought in the Basin and Range Province, the use of new sample media or anomaly-enhancement techniques is a necessity. Analysis of vapors or gases emanating from blind deposits is a promising new technique. Certain fractions of stream sediments show anomalies that are weak or not detected in conventional minus 80-mesh fractions. Multi-element analysis of mineralized bedrock may show zoning patterns that indicate depth or direction of ore. Examples of the application of these and other, more conventional methods are indicated in the case histories. The final section of this paper contains a brief evaluation of the applications of all types of sample media to geochemical exploration in the arid environment of the Basin and Range Province. ?? 1978.

Journal of Geochemical Exploration↗
USGS1962

The origin of jasperoid in limestone

The name jasperoid has been applied to rocks that consist mainly of silica and that have formed by replacement. This paper considers only those jasperoids formed by replacement of limestone . Major problems involved in the origin of such jasperoid include: source of the silica; nature of solutions that dissolve, transport, and precipitate silica; and the mechanism of replacement of limestone by silica. The answers to these problems are of practical as well as scientific interest because many jasperoid bodies are closely related to mineralization. Silica may be derived from: juvenile silica of magmatic origin ; silica leached from underlying rocks by hydrothermal solutions; silica locally derived from enclosing rocks by circulating solutions; and silica carried downward in ground water from the weathering of overlying rocks. The nature and the concentration of other substances in solutions influence, in a complex manner, the ability of these solutions to dissolve, transport, and precipitate silica. Nevertheless, the following generalizations can be made. The solubility and rate of solution of silica in water at moderate pressure increase slowly with temperature up to 200 degrees C.; from 200 degrees to 360 degrees C. they increase rapidly; above 360 degrees C. solubility is pressure dependent, increasing steadily at high pressure and decreasing slightly at moderate pressure due to the formation of a vapor phase. The pH has slight effect on the ionic solubility of silica in the range from pH 1 to ph 9 at low temperature. The effect of other components on the solubility of silica is probably subordinate to that of temperature above 200 degrees C., but becomes increasingly important as the temperature falls below that point. Most jasperoid bodies form by both replacement and silica deposition in voids, with replacement dominant during the early phase, and precipitation dominant during later phases. Replacement of limestone by silica is favored by relatively low temperature acid solutions, and the presence of CO 2 . As limestone dissolves, Ca ions are released to promote the precipitation of colloidal silica. Acid solutions then diffuse through this gelatinous film to continue dissolving limestone behind it; the Ca ions diffusing outward cause the precipitation of more colloidal silica at the solution-gel interface. As the gel mass ages, it shrinks, hardens, and ruptures. More silica is then deposited in the fractures. Eventually the gel crystallizes to a dense mass of aphanitic quartz and chalcedony, with shrinkage cracks and vugs filled or coated with younger coarse-grained quartz and other minerals that have been deposited directly from solution. The theory that relatively low temperature favors the formation of jasperoid replacement bodies in carbonate rocks, and high temperature inhibits their formation, offers an explanation for the gap that is observed in some districts between contact metasomatic lime silicates and siliceous replacement of limestone . This gap is characterized by the lack of any reaction between limestone and silica-bearing solutions moving through it.

Economic Geology↗
USGS1962

The effect of CO2 at low temperature and pressure on solutions supersaturated with silica in the presence of limestone and dolomite

The effect of 1 atm of CO 2 over initially neutral solutions supersaturated with silica, at room temperature, as contrasted with 1 atm of air was determined over a period of 5 months, together with changes brought about by the introduction of calcite and dolomite to these solutions in the form of either chips or finely ground powder. In the absence of CO 2 all solutions quickly reached equilibrium and no silica precipitated. In the presence of CO 2 approximately two-thirds of the silica precipitated as silica gel within the first 2 months; the amount of silica precipitated was not affected by the presence of limestone or dolomite. Silica gel precipitated as a fine powder in the presence of finely ground calcite and dolomite, but as a cloudy gelatinous mass in the presence of coarse chips of dolomite and calcite, and in the absence of either calcite or dolomite. Preferential leaching of calcium from dolomite took place, both in the presence of air and in the presence of CO 2 , but was more pronounced in the presence of air. There was no evidence of physical replacement of either limestone or dolomite by precipitated silica.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗
USGS1961

A comparison of analytical methods used in geochemical prospecting for copper

Analytical methods used in geochemical prospecting for copper were compared by analysis of samples of residual soil collected in duplicate near a copper -bearing vein at the Malachite mine, Jefferson County, Colo. In this area barren or "background" samples have a mean copper content of 58 ppm (parts per million) and anomalous samples containing copper derived from the vein have a mean copper content of 216 ppm. Most anomalous samples are above 100 ppm and most barren samples are below. Geochemical prospecting tests, such as the spectrographic, biquinoline, dithizone and chromograph tests for copper and the citrate soluble and acid-soluble tests for total heavy metal, are almost as sensitive but are less precise and less accurate than standard quantitative trace analysis. Statistical techniques based chiefly upon the coefficient of variation show that the geochemical prospecting tests differ considerably among themselves in sensitivity, precision, and accuracy. This study indicates that the dithizone and the biquinoline tests for copper are the best for geochemical prospecting in this area.

Colorado↗