An abundance model resource appraisal for some Canadian commodities

  • Robert G. Garrett
Article
Received:

Abstract

An abundance model resource appraisal has been undertaken for 10 mineral commodities in Canada: nickel, copper, zinc, lead, molybdenum, uranium, silver, gold, chromium, and tin. The purpose of the appraisal was to investigate the applicability of the model to the Canadian situation. Resource appraisals for the first 6 of the commodities studied have been published following deposit modeling studies. For many other commodities studied have been published following deposit modeling appraisals. The demonstration of the relevance of the abundance model to Canada would allow its application in such cases. The data presented in this paper indicate that the approximate relation, resource (short tons)=abundance (%)×1010. holds true for all commodities studied except chromium and tin. As the resources versus abundances relationship observed on a global scale is observable in Canada, it is concluded that Canada is a sufficiently large fraction (∼7%) of the earth's continental crust to represent a valid sample of that crust. Canada appears to be relatively well endowed with resources of copper, molybdenum, lead, and zinc, and poorly endowed with chromium and tin. It is proposed that the intersection of national boundaries with the boundaries of the world's metallogenic provinces is of greater importance than the intensity of past search, a feature that has been suggested in other studies. If these areas overlap, a nation may be self sufficient in a commodity: if they do not, the nation must import, or find a nationally available substitute. The sources of information used in the appraisal are outlined together with an analysis of the problems encounterea and the time requirements.

Key words

geochemistry crustal abundance resource analysis 
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Copyright information

© Pleum Publishing Corporation 1978

Authors and Affiliations

  • Robert G. Garrett
    • 1
  1. 1.Geological Survey of CanadaOttawaCanada

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