Copper exploration Part 2: Geology of Copper Deposits, Secrets of copper deposit weathering

We as a planet have not put the emphasis on exploring for copper that we need to do - we need to do more prospecting for copper. Copper occurs in certain types of deposits with a certain type of geology. In this video we will look at those types of geologic environments. Prospecting for copper deposits - they need to be big to be economic. Many copper deposits have a leached out zone near the surface, an enriched zone below the leached zone, and a zone of lower-grade primary ore below the enriched zone. This means a lot of copper deposits may have only a little copper at the surface.
For those who want to learn more about Prospecting and finding gold check out my book, Fists full of Gold. It’s an encyclopedia of everything on the topic of prospecting. It’s available on from High Plains Prospectors. (Affiliate) You can find it at:
highplainsprospectors.com/pro...
For even more information on prospecting, minerals, gems and other related information you can also check out my website at:
nevada-outback-gems.com/prospe...
The Prospecting and Mining Journal magazine can be found at:
www.icmj.com

[@alnoornkya]

Hello Chris, I am in Tanzania, we have started prospecting for copper in one of the region, where at the depth about 2feet deep we managed to samples which gives 5% copper purity. We also cut deep in one the area to a depth of 4meters, we took samples and the test gives 26%, 28% and 30% purity. We are excited and look forward to explore more and more! Thank you for your detailed explanation about prospecting copper ore. Stay blessed Chris

[@ChrisRalph]

thank you.

[@oldminer5387]

Chris. thank you for the time and effort you put into this video, great information.

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad it was helpful!

[@activerelic4385]

I appreciate GREATLY that you take the TIME for multiple parts to any of your subjects and that you share your in depth expertise with various people ,,, I'm literally watching your video like a student would sit and listen in class!!! Peace and blessings to you !!!!

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@waltertodd4479]

Thanks for that info Chris. There's also a lot of large detectable gold nuggets associated with those copper porphyrys too!

[@ChrisRalph]

That is true....

[@stacyjv_4982]

Once again a very educational video in which I have learned so much! Thank you!

[@JsStack]

Lots of great information here. Great job.

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gordjensen8649]

another very informative video thanks for all the info cant wait til next one

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you enjoyed it and there is more to come.

[@IBRAKEFORBEDROCK]

I actually like mineral specimen collecting more than finding gold. Another great video Chris!

[@ChrisRalph]

Mineral specimen collecting is loads of fun. Thanks for watching!

[@ahmedbahaa7261]

Thanks chris for informative videos

[@ChrisRalph]

Any time!

[@HALIYALBETAGERIVLOG2024]

Thank you so much sir. Helpful information.👍

[@ChrisRalph]

Most welcome, glad you enjoy the videos.

[@rayblaine4965]

I really enjoy your videos, most informative Thank you

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you like them!

[@stevo728822]

Wow! This is packed full of information. Too much information for my brain to take in.

[@ChrisRalph]

Yes, but you can watch it again and pick up more info as you watch it a second time.

[@ProspectorTripp]

Super good training course Chris! Interesting timing on the copper topic. I’ve recently been to a outcrop area with huge iron oxidation and some blue jasper near the surface. This site looks very similar to some of what you explained. I usually am looking for a bit of gold but yesterday I humped out two buckets of this opaque blue material. I’m gonna cut and inspect for beautiful samples to possibly give as gifts to family.. if it pans out! Thanks for enriching my brain.. again! ✌️PT

[@ChrisRalph]

Sounds great! Best of luck to you in your efforts.

[@freedomunrestricted]

I'm in a similar position. Found an old copper mine that was just a small operation back in the 50s. Will poke around but hopefully can find a little gold too. Supposed to be some.

[@PawanSingh-tp6by]

I enjoy your every vedio on prospecting or exploration.

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you like them!

[@nweasels]

I think the video will help me in my search for some larger rock samples with malachite and azurite in it.

[@ChrisRalph]

sounds good.

[@allansgoldmining]

Very inspirational Chris ! For the reasons you described, copper has a very bright future. I'm definitely going to investigate areas of open traces of copper oxides, especially mixed with limonite . I know of several places already. Also contemplating the copper mine I had a lease on years ago. Copper oxides in Dolomite of altered limestone formations. Perhaps there's a chance of an igneous zone with sulfides further below ? The old timers made several stopes, and drifts, however, the lowest level (about 150 ft.) has little values. Hummm ?

[@ChrisRalph]

Frank Hunt went down well over 200 feet before he found any worthwhile values. That said, you never know if it will be good or not until you get there.

[@allansgoldmining]

@@ChrisRalph indeed. It part of the Bird Spring formation near Goodsprings. Something had to tilt and alter that limestone.

[@Smithsgold]

Copper is so cool !!!!!!

[@ChrisRalph]

Thanks!

[@secrettreasure1388]

''' SÜPERRRRRR......Paylaşım ,, TEŞEKKÜRLER.,,,,,

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@fritzschwanserhauser2266]

I once read about a deposit of copper way out on the eastern plains of Colorado, far far from any mountains, the rocks were sedimentary I think. It just seemed funny that threrd be any marketable type ores outside of "the mineral belt" and mountainous terrain.

[@ChrisRalph]

May well be of the Red bed type described in this video.

[@MontanaRockMom]

Valuable information Chris! So glad I found your channel!

[@ChrisRalph]

Welcome aboard! Glad to know you enjoy the channel.

[@fritzschwanserhauser2266]

Is there any similarity between the black smoker pipes to the kimberlyte pipes you've described when speaking about diamond formation? Both volcanic, so...

[@ChrisRalph]

No relation.

[@Peter-ob6ue]

I've got bluish green rocks on property in South Australia, there might be uranium around here too Olympic Dam mine is to the north of us.

[@ChrisRalph]

Sounds interesting.

[@jansugalski4856]

High Ralph. Like your vids a lot, but I would like to see more on how to avoid claim jumping. For example you have a good video on northern California claims, but how much of this is legally accessible without necessarilly belonging to a prospecting group like GPAA which I do belong to.

[@ChrisRalph]

Learning to do research on land status and potential areas to prospect is a whole skill in itself that would take many hours to learn. I have a video on claim staking and will do more on this but doing research is a big topic to learn. That's why for new guys I recommend joining a club to get you started. Here is my video on claim staking: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4C2q4WeZqmUbZY

[@mike122344]

Ay could you please put pt. 1, 2, and 3 in the descriptions of your series? The random youtube suggestion makes for this to be not a convenient thing.

[@ChrisRalph]

I will in the future but KZbin is not structured to automatically seek out part 1 and then give you that first.

[@WhoTFareyou2]

Hi Chris, im in the motherboard country, sierra county to be specific and im detecting tailings piles of what I think was a ground slicing operation using the gold monster 1000. The ground is insanely hot due to volcanic mudflow deposits and the ground is littered with iron trash do you have any suggestions on dealing with these issues

[@ChrisRalph]

If you take my magazine - the ICMJ Prospecting and Mining Journal, I just wrote an article on dealing with hot rocks that will be in next month's issue. As far as dealing with iron trash, I did a video on using discrimination. See: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHnPoIV-f8iAg7M

[@WhoTFareyou2]

@@ChrisRalph cool thank you

[@oddball8758]

I had about ten questions for you Chris but after the video, surprisingly I only have two now. 1) How does leaching to the sulfide zone from the oxidation zone get past the water table ? 1b) Isn't the water table under pressure ? 2) I noticed my favorite mineral U in your IOCG chart but not the sulfide side, Where did that enter the mix, and is it a lot or just a small impurity ? I know it's 238 and non-fissile but you don't want to make dust with rocks containing it, it's still a U. isotope.

[@ChrisRalph]

Enrichment above the water table is oxide minerals, enrichment below the water table is sulfide minerals. No, the water is not under pressure. In IOCG deposits, the U is low grade, bu there is a lot in total as the deposits are so big. Most all rocks have traces of U

[@oddball8758]

@@ChrisRalph A new Copper Question,...We got plenty of Copper in the States and a good share of Gold too,...How come it don't mix with Gold over here as it does to make Rose Gold over in England ?

[@ChrisRalph]

There is loads of copper and gold mixed here but mostly in tiny pieces too small for most prospectors. England actually has very little gold for a country that size.

[@Algoldprospecting]

Do you know where I can get some stuff assayed?

[@ChrisRalph]

I use ALS geochemistry in Reno, Nevada. The address is 4977 Energy Way Reno, NV - you can find more info about them using google.

[@jensenchavez265]

I have a mine that has yielded lead, galena, torbernite and wulfenite. We are pushing through a large vein of pegmatite in a region known for having gold in those formations and believe that it sits on a vent. Could I be digging in something similar to what you are describing here? All of our quartz points tend to be stained yellow and crusted over with what we assume to be iron.

[@ChrisRalph]

Really hard to say just based on your comments. Quartz stained by iron is super common in many deposits.

[@jensenchavez265]

@@ChrisRalph What could I look for that might give me some clues as to what we're working with? We're in a mountain range in Central Arizona.

[@ChrisRalph]

I really am not very familiar with that area, get some books and old reports using Google and do some research.

[@markthomas1455]

May I ask what you think about the Garrett cti 2500 pro metal detector

[@ChrisRalph]

Great detector for hunting relics or coins and jewelry. Not a very good detector for finding gold nuggets.

[@markthomas1455]

What would you suggest for relics, coins, jewelry and gold in the $1000 range as I will be searching for all of the above?

[@markthomas1455]

I decided on getting the Garrett AT Max with 3 coils and the adapter to use wired headphones via wireless

[@stevo728822]

Have you seen the video of the guy prospecting for gold in the Australian outback with a metal detector and a pick axe? At the end he displays his $1 million plus of gold nuggets laid out on a table in his RV. I think the gold was all deposited from meterorites because much of Australia is a very old continent that has not been covered by water deposits for 100's of millions of years.

[@ChrisRalph]

No, I've not seen that and I can't say I agree with your geologic theories.

[@Glucoperon]

Chris, what is the deal with all of the closed placer and lode claims? Is there ever any good gold in them and were just not worked/ not paid for annually/ owner passed away --- or did people just steak claims around where some gold was found hoping to get a piece of a pie that didn't end up in their claim?

[@ChrisRalph]

There are a hundred reasons why claims get staked and later dropped. Some have gold some do not.

[@Glucoperon]

@@ChrisRalph Thanks Chris! That some might have any gold is all I need to know😁

[@ChrisRalph]

Yes, some have gold but no way to know which unless you go out there and test.

[@ChrisRalph]

Merry Christmas!

[@stevo728822]

I've discovered a new word which I won't forget. Gossan.

[@ChrisRalph]

A word well known to geologists who specialize in mineral deposits.

[@danbosch-]

Dug that pit on that chalcedony looking contact. Came up with copper. Funny this video posted today. Looked just like sixth example. The sulfide ore. I apologise for asking my question last time in a very stupid way. I only went five feet down. Ain't for the faint.

[@danbosch-]

Felt like I was on a chain gang

[@ChrisRalph]

Not stupid, just hard for me to understand. You see what you've seen with your own eyes and know and I have no idea what you've seen.

[@danbosch-]

@@ChrisRalph i completely understand, and you will have to excuse my bad humor please. much gratitude for your efforts to educate people like myself, and much respect for your knowledge life accomplishments

[@tibomoltini2851]

some say that if we go for electric cars in europe only, we would need all the copper extracted in the past 400years worldwide > only for the recharge stations.

[@ChrisRalph]

Its true that we are going to need a whole lot of copper.

[@Madrock11]

First view

[@ChrisRalph]

You are first!

[@Madrock11]

@@ChrisRalph yes

[@Madrock11]

I am still watching the vedio

[@jeremycalnan4180]

Ote man

[@ChrisRalph]

Si, Quatro.

[@jeremycalnan4180]

Yah I see a horse and. Rider but I can't. See what his armor looks like

[@ChrisRalph]

Por quoi?

[@brucebickersteth3234]

1st photo... Baja

[@ChrisRalph]

maybe.

[@jeremycalnan4180]

And Mercury....talk to the corner....

[@ChrisRalph]

No, to the coroner.

[@jeremycalnan4180]

Because your made out of it...somewhat....!

[@ChrisRalph]

Non.