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Book Review |
Daniel Muller & David I. Groves, Springer Verlag 2000; xiii+252 pp. ISBN 3-540-66371-1.
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As a research student working on lamprophyres with Nick Rock, I well remember the discussion initiated by Nick and David Groves that lamprophyres and similar potassic rocks are intimately associated with gold mineralization. A growing body of evidence now supports the idea of a close link between potassic magmatism and Au mineralization. The book comprises ten chapters , the first two of which take the reader through the history, nomenclature and classification of potassic igneous rocks (PIR’s), the latter being particularly useful in sorting out the previous plethora of terms. They also define the criteria by which they select relevant suites of potassic igneous rocks for further consideration. Chapter 3 discusses the tectonic setting of these rocks, based on the rigorous analysis of geochemical data from which the five main tectonic environments are defined. Non-specialists may wish to skip the statistical details. Chapter 4 provides illustrative examples of PIR’s from these settings although some examples are covered in more depth and detail than others, resulting in a slightly uncomfortable imbalance. Chapter 5 provides a summary of the theory behind enrichments in precious metals in PIR’s and a case study examining the evidence for primary vs. secondary enrichments in noble metals. The next two chapters give case studies of examples of direct and indirect associations between PIR’s and Au–Cu deposits. Selection of members of the direct association is based upon analysis of a database and include such major deposits as Grasberg, Misima, Porgera, El Indio and Bingham. One is struck by
