Presented by Scott Halley.

It is now commonplace for mining and exploration companies to analyse drill core and/or chips using a 4 acid digest ICP-MS method. In addition to plotting the commodity metals, companies should also use this data as an aid to improving the identification of rock types, alteration mineralogy and magmatic processes.

There are a few simple plots from the immobile trace elements in the ICP-MS suite that are reliable indicators of fractionation processes and “magmatic fertility” in different geological environments. Examples will be presented from porphyry copper (East Lachlan), Archean gold (Yilgarn), and mid crustal melts (Tasmanian tin granites).