The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

A fractal relationship between vein thickness and gold grade in drill core from La Codosera, Spain

A fractal relationship between vein thickness and gold grade in drill core from La Codosera, Spain
A fractal relationship between vein thickness and gold grade in drill core from La Codosera, Spain
Analysis of quartz vein thicknesses and gold grades in drill core from western Spain indicates that both approximate a power law distribution, suggesting an underlying fractal relationship. Log-log plots of cumulative frequency (N) against vein thickness (t) show systematic changes in relation to gold grade. The exponent D, in a power law of the form N = C t (super -D) , is lower for higher gold grades, indicating that a greater proportion of the dilation is taking place on the thicker veins, which are interpreted as providing interconnected conduits for gold-bearing fluids. Thus, monitoring the vein thickness distribution may provide a means of discriminating mineralized and barren structures in vein-hosted mineral deposits.
0361-0128
168-173
Sanderson, David J.
5653bc11-b905-4985-8c16-c655b2170ba9
Roberts, Stephen
f095c7ab-a37b-4064-8a41-ae4820832856
Gumiel, Pablo
da4b627d-85ed-45ea-b4c3-9482975f783a
Sanderson, David J.
5653bc11-b905-4985-8c16-c655b2170ba9
Roberts, Stephen
f095c7ab-a37b-4064-8a41-ae4820832856
Gumiel, Pablo
da4b627d-85ed-45ea-b4c3-9482975f783a

Sanderson, David J., Roberts, Stephen and Gumiel, Pablo (1994) A fractal relationship between vein thickness and gold grade in drill core from La Codosera, Spain. Economic Geology, 89 (1), 168-173. (doi:10.2113/gsecongeo.89.1.168).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Analysis of quartz vein thicknesses and gold grades in drill core from western Spain indicates that both approximate a power law distribution, suggesting an underlying fractal relationship. Log-log plots of cumulative frequency (N) against vein thickness (t) show systematic changes in relation to gold grade. The exponent D, in a power law of the form N = C t (super -D) , is lower for higher gold grades, indicating that a greater proportion of the dilation is taking place on the thicker veins, which are interpreted as providing interconnected conduits for gold-bearing fluids. Thus, monitoring the vein thickness distribution may provide a means of discriminating mineralized and barren structures in vein-hosted mineral deposits.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 1 February 1994

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 76134
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/76134
ISSN: 0361-0128
PURE UUID: e5140cee-8e04-408c-9768-fda4cb2f17b8
ORCID for David J. Sanderson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2144-3527
ORCID for Stephen Roberts: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4755-6703

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 11 Mar 2010
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:53

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Stephen Roberts ORCID iD
Author: Pablo Gumiel

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×