Figure 52a. Carlin Bingham Canyon area interpreted, wormed seismic tomography at 300 km depth with mines overlain.
This post details my gold copper exploration targeting in the Carlin/Bingham Canyon area.
This plan shows seismic tomography from Griffin et. al., 2013. This was a good plan back in 2013. However, if there has been advances in structural geology definition, which is what we need to for targeting, then there are no detailed structural geology images on the internet, apart from mine. This is a pity because it hobbles detailed/specific exploration targeting at all scales. These fuzzy seismic tomography plans are only good for very general exploration targeting.
That is the huge advantage my EagleEye structural geology plans have over the above standard seismic tomography plans. We will be enhancing within the yellow rectangle to see what structures these giant mines are related to.
Carlin Bingham Canyon mineralisation and exploration targeting.
This figure, from the seismic tomography at 300 km depth, is of the more local Carlin/Bingham Canyon area and although a preliminary structural geology plan it clearly shows the NNE, ENE, WNW, NW and EW linear structures.
The biggest mines lie on the intersection of these structures and are on the dark tectonically active areas.
The Goldstrike/Carlin field is renowned as a dome and basin structural area and that is exactly the pattern one would get with this set of intersecting linears. Remember, we are down 300 km and these structures must propagate to the surface. I have not checked to see if they have the same trend at the surface.
The most obvious ring structure is to the centre-right and extends from the top-right through the centre and down to the bottom centre. It is about 500 km in diameter. In the top centre-left is a very distinct small ring about 120 km in diameter.
There are also strong ENE structures with what looks like crenulation cleavage between them.
Carlin, Gold Strike and Bingham Canyon mines are associated with at these ring structures and NNW, WNW and ENE structures which form the basis for the dome and basin structures.
The orange circles are my first pass targeting areas based on the above structural elements.
The ring structures are clearer in the small insert at the bottom-right. These ring structures can be seen more clearly on the small-scale plans than large-scale plans where the structures are too much in your face.
If this was a microscope slide, diamond drill core, an underground mine face map or surface field map, then it could only be described as brittle to semi-brittle structural geology.
However, we are down at 300 km depth in the middle of what is currently considered the mobile mantle? It is not mobile, otherwise these almost perfect rings and linear structures would not still exist.
Are there other ways of finding out the detailed structure to refine the targeting?
This is a very interesting and useful wormed plan.
I have enhanced this plan so that only the strongest crenulations stand out. Generally the largest mines lie on the strongest crenulations between the black ENE linear structures. These may represent the dome and basin structure at 300 km depth?
I find this a useful way of finding out the detailed structure to refine the targeting?
On this plan there is a system of 355° broken structures on which the main mines all lie. In fact the two main zones of dark areas are ENE and 355°. These are not so evident in the previous plan.
This is a new exploration targeting tool.
Targeting rationale. Follow the brightest ENE crenulations until they meet the rings or other mineralised geological structures. This gives the best chance of finding a new mining field. You draw on the targets!
The observations using this new structural geology gives a deeper understanding of the rheology of the layers of the Earth. These brittle structures at 300 km depth suggests that the Plate Tectonics mechanism and continent evolution needs an update!