Definition: Organic deposits result from the concentration of organic matter on, or close to the surface, by sedimentation and early diagenesis.

Definition: Surficial processes are the physical and chemical phenomena which cause concentration of ore material within the regolith, generally by removal of chemical constituents by aqueous leaching. This includes laterite deposits and residual or eluvial deposits.

Definition: Placer deposits represent concentrations of heavy minerals of certain elements, particularly of Au, U, and PGE, by sedimentary processes.

Definition: Mineral deposits associated with sediments or volcanic material on continental crust. They form where volcanic rocks and ash layers react with alkaline groundwater, and may also crystallize in post-depositional environments over periods ranging from thousands to millions of years in shallow marine basins.

Definition: Sediment-hosted deposits can be divided into two major subtypes. The first subtype is clastic-dominated lead-zinc ores, which are hosted in shale, sandstone, siltstone, or mixed clastic rocks, or occur as carbonate replacement, within a clastic-dominated sedimentary rock sequence. This subtype includes deposits that have been traditionally referred to as sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) deposits. The second subtype of sediment-hosted Pb-Zn deposits is the Mississippi Valley-type that occurs in platform carbonate sequences, typically in passive-margin tectonic settings.

Definition: Mineral deposits, mainly Fe or Mn, of sedimentary origin which originated as chemical precipitates from ancient ocean water. The process of accumulating these sedimentary deposits is controlled by the physicochemical properties inherent in iron and manganese.

Definition: Mineral deposits formed in a marine volcanic environment. Magmatic and hydrothermal fluids react with sea water for giving volcanogenic massive sulphides (VMS), which are at the origin stratiform deposits of Cu, Zn, Pb, Ag, Au.

Definition: Epithermal deposits occur largely in volcano-plutonic arcs associated with subduction zones, with ages similar to those of volcanism. The deposits form at shallow depth, less than 1 km, in the temperature range of 50°-200°C, are hosted mainly by volcanic rocks, and occur mainly as veins.

Definition: It is a systematic group with special occurrence of mineral deposits in a finite volume within a rock.

Definition: Manto ore deposits are defined by a strict stratigraphic control on their distribution, generally within a porous formation within a structural trap site. The source of ore within manto deposits is considered to be interformational, from a sedimentary source within an adjacent sedimentary basin, or from ore fluids driven off from intrusive rocks.

Definition: Mineral deposits formed by replacement of limestone by ore and calc-silicate minerals, usually adjacent to a felsic or granitic intrusive body.

Definition: Porphyry deposits are intrusion-related, large to
age low grade mineral deposits with metal assemblages that may include all or some of copper, molybdenum, gold and silver. The genesis of these deposits is related to the emplacement of intermediate to felsic, hypabyssal, generally porphyritic intrusions that are commonly formed at convergent plate margins.

Definition: Mineral deposits related to mafic and ultramafic plutonism and resulting from magmatic processes such as fractional crystallisation. The main types of deposits are chromite and platinoids in ophiolitic peridotites, titanum within anorthosites, nickel, copper and platinoïds in ultramafic complexes.

Definition: Carbonatites are intrusive carbonate-mineral-rich igneous rocks, many of which contain distinctive abundances of apatite, magnetite, barite, and fluorite, that may contain economic or anomalous concentrations of rare earth elements, phosphorus, niobium, uranium, thorium, copper, iron, titanium, barium, fluorine, zirconium, and other rare or incompatible elements. They may also be sources of mica or vermiculite. Carbonatites may form central plugs within zoned alkalic intrusive complexes, or as dikes, sills, breccias, and veins.

Definition: Pegmatites tend to occur in the aureoles of granites in most cases, and are usually granitic in character, often closely matching the compositions of nearby granites. Pegmatites should thus represent exsolved granitic material which crystallises in the country rocks. However, an origin of pegmatite fluids by devolatilisation (dewatering) of metamorphic rocks is also envisaged. Pegmatites are coarse-grained rocks, mainly composed of quartz, feldspar and mica and are important because they often contain rare earth minerals and gemstones, such as aquamarine, tourmaline, topaz, fluorite, apatite and corundum, often along with tin and tungsten minerals, among others.

Definition: Mineral deposits associated to deep metamorphism, more than ten km, in a context in which carbonic and aqueous fluids may give birth to gold veins.

Definition: A piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments.

Definition: industrialMinerals are geological materials which are mined for their commercial value, which are not fuel minerals and are not sources of metallic minerals. They are used in their natural state or after beneficiation either as raw materials or as additives in a wide range of applications.

Definition: felsic-intermediate igneous rock related

Definition: sedimentary

Definition: contact metamorphism

Definition: metasomatic replacement or hydrothermal shear or vein

Definition: bulk rock material

Definition: energy

Definition: Alkaline igneous rocks

Definition: Other