Exploration Criteria

Abstract

As was discussed in Chapters 4 and 6, direct geophysical and geochemical methods are unlikely to be of value for the location of buried Pennine- or Irish-style mineralisation, although lithogeochemical criteria may increase the target size for drilling operations. Studies using remotely sensed data on the exposed Pennine orefields by Hunting Geology and Geophysics were of only limited value for identifying further exploration targets and it is unlikely that methods based on remotely sensed data would help to locate buried ore deposits in the East Midlands since most of the structures that controls ore deposition have not affected the basal Permian (or later) cover rocks. As was suggested in Chapter 8, however, a number of stratigraphic and structural events can be shown to have played a role in the formation of Pennine- and Irish-style ore deposits and several indirect geophysical and geological exploration criteria can be derived to identify such features.