Ore deposits formed during crustal magmatism and related hydrothermal processes: Formation, beneficiation, and the environmental and social considerations of utilization

Adam Simon, Rob Bowell, Elizabeth Holley, Irene del Real, Nicole Smith, Santiago Tassara, Zoltan Zajacz, Zhaoshan Chang, Jose Tomas Ovalle, Raphael Deberdt

Crustal magmatic systems that form volcanoes also produce mineral deposits that are important sources of critical metals. These include porphyry, epithermal, skarn, iron-oxide-copper-gold, and Carlin-type mineral deposits that form by magmatic-hydrothermal processes, magmatic sulfide deposits that form by purely igneous processes, and pegmatite deposits that form by both processes. These mineral deposits are important sources of copper, gold, iron, lead, lithium, nickel, platinum-group-elements (platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium, iridium), molybdenum, silver, selenium, tantalum, tellurium, tungsten, tin and zinc. These metals are fundamental to equitable global development, and it is essential to understand the geological processes that form these mineral deposits in order to explore for and discover new deposits to replace those that have been utilized. This chapter provides an overview of these mineral deposit types, including how they form, how metals are extracted from them (mineral beneficiation), the environmental impacts of mining and mineral production, and the importance of community and regulatory considerations for responsible mining.