Finding or acquiring giant deposits

Abstract

An earlier quote stated that no “world class” deposit was discovered between 1996 and 2001. This, of course, depends on the magnitude threshold for such deposits, and the term “discovery” is also not appropriate: it should read “announcement”, as “giant” deposits enter the database only once their tonnage and grade is announced and this takes place some time after discovery. This is the cause of frequent discrepancies in recording discovery dates. Existence of the “giant” Oyu Tolgoi porphyry Cu– Mo in Mongolia; new high sulfidation Au–Cu orebodies in Monywa, Burma; the Superior-deep Cu–Mo in Arizona; new “giant”-size resources at Telfer and Boddington, Western Australia; and several other deposits was announced in this period (Table 17.1). There are thousands of new prospects in the process of exploration and resource proving, and some of them will likely turn out to be “giant”. In addition to this, some existing “large” deposits or districts will achieve the “giant” rank as a result of ongoing exploration and cut-off grade lowering.