{rfName}
Ex

Indexed in

License and use

Citations

2

Altmetrics

Grant support

The elaboration of this work has benefited from the valuable collaboration of numerous individuals and institutions. This paper was written during the Visiting Scientist stay of Mario Iglesias-Martinez at CSIRO Mineral Resources, funded by the Spanish Scholarship program " Ayuda para la Recualificacion del Sistema Universitario Espanol (Margarita Salas) " through the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid , as part of the European Union funds Next Generation EU. Special thanks are due to Walid Salama and Ryan Noble, who supported Mario's stay at CSIRO Mineral Resources. Thanks to Belinda Godell for the micro-CT images and Raymond E. Smith, Yoram Teitler, Ian Tyler and Daniel Mueller for revising the manuscript.

Analysis of institutional authors

Iglesias-Martinez, MarioCorresponding AuthorEspi, Jose AntonioAuthor
Share
Publications
>
Article

Exploration and mining of lateritic gold deposits (Part I): Ore formation, characterization, and sampling of ferruginous gravel and duricrust

Publicated to:Ore Geology Reviews. 170 106146- - 2024-07-01 170(), DOI: 10.1016/j.oregeorev.2024.106146

Authors: Iglesias-Martínez, M; Salama, W; Anand, RR; Butt, CRM; Espí, JA

Affiliations

CSIRO Mineral Resources, 26 Dick Perry Ave, Kensington, WA 6104, Australia - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, ETSI Minas & Energia, C Rios Rosas 21, Madrid 28003, Spain - Author

Abstract

Lateritic gold deposits are emerging as a substantial reservoir of precious metals. The growing demand and escalating gold price have focused on lateritic gold and other supergene deposits due to their potential for lowcost production. The occurrence of gold in economic concentrations has been described in supergene-enriched mineralization in many regions dominated by intensely weathered terrains of the humid tropics and subtropics, such as equatorial rainforests, savannas, and some Mediterranean regions. Lateritic gold deposits also occur in semi-arid belts with historically similar climates. These deposits form through the physical accumulation and biological and chemical redistribution of Au during the weathering of primary mineralization. This study focuses on the upper ferruginous part of a lateritic profile known as Ferruginous Gravels and Duricrust (FGD) deposits, which includes lateritic residuum and/or similar ferricrete, overlying the ferruginous saprolite or mottled zone. The FGD and saprolite are separate systems with different physical and chemical conditions for Au mobilization. Intense artisanal mining in areas considered barren by geochemical surveys reveals disparities in sampling and analytical methods, such as panning for coarse gold versus geochemical analysis of fine fractions. Coarse gold in FGD significantly contributes to total gold content. Still, small drill samples fail to represent gold distribution accurately-the friable nature of lateritic materials results in low sample recovery rates (55%-70%). This paper synthesizes information from diverse deposits in Africa, South America, and Australia, drawing on academic papers and technical reports from industry to provide a comprehensive global overview of the supergene gold metallogeny and exploration strategies leading to enhance the success of new discoveries or the reassessment of known deposits.

Keywords
Alluvial goldCore recoverFerruginous gravel and duricrust depositsGeochemical-explorationGold samplinGold samplingLateritic goldMineral explorationNilambur-valleyRegolith oreSupergene goldSupergene processesSurficial environmentWeathering profilesWestern-australiaYilgarn craton

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Ore Geology Reviews due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2024 there are still no calculated indicators, but in 2023, it was in position 7/32, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Mining & Mineral Processing.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-05-15:

  • WoS: 1
  • Scopus: 1
Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-05-15:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 9 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

    It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

    • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
    Leadership analysis of institutional authors

    This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Australia.

    There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (IGLESIAS MARTÍNEZ, MARIO) and Last Author (ESPI RODRIGUEZ, JOSE ANTONIO).

    the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been IGLESIAS MARTÍNEZ, MARIO.