IT’S good news for gold-diggers. There’s now an easier way for mining companies to spot rocks that contain ores richly laced with the precious metal.
The world’s richest sources of ores such as copper lie in porphyry deposits, which form when magma chambers deep in the Earth’s crust release steam-rich gases and salty fluids. As these rise and cool, they deposit a rich cargo of metals such as copper and gold. The levels of gold in a deposit are very important to mining companies. “Gold as a by-product significantly increases the value of the ore, and could make the difference between an economic and an uneconomic…
