Occurrence And Distribution Of Platinum Group Elements In British Columbia

Geochemical exploration for chromitite-associated platinum deposits is hampered by a poor understanding of the distribution and behaviour of platinum in the surficial environment. This study investigates platinum content, residence sites, and mineralogy of soils developed on till and colluvium above the Tulameen Ultramafic Complex in southern British Columbia. Samples were taken of 76 soil profiles, sediments, bogs, and water above the dunite core of the Tulameen Complex. Platinum content of the -70-mesh fraction of soils and sediments was determined by fire assay-inductively coupled plasma spectrometry. Samples from 14 selected profiles were then examined in detail to determine platinum mineralogy and its distribution between different size, density, and magnetic fractions.

Noble Metals and Biological Systems examines the relationship between noble metals (gold, silver, and platinum group metals) and biological systems. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 is concerned with the analytical chemistry of noble metals and includes a description of the latest methods of analysis. Part 2 describes such topics as ecology and environmental science of noble metals as they pertain to biogeochemical exploration, noble metals in hair, the environmental geochemistry of palladium, microorganisms and noble metals, animals and noble metals, and a general survey of noble metals in the environment. Coverage is comprehensive and includes information regarding the use of dogs and termites as field assistants in mineral prospecting, as well as the fascinating story of the "gold bug", a microorganism that plates itself with gold. Part 3 is devoted entirely to noble metals in the treatment of disease and includes chapters describing the use of osmium and gold for arthritis treatment, silver as a bactericide, and platinum and ruthenium as anticancer agents. Noble Metals and Biological Systems will provide fascinating reading for applied geochemists, environmentalists, public health specialists, ecologists, microbiologists, clinical biochemists, oncologists, and specialists in rheumatic diseases.

Alaskan-type ultramafic-mafic complexes in British Columbia are potential hosts for commercially exploitable deposits of platinum group elements (PGEs). Such complexes are named for a distinctive suite of intrusions distributed along a narrow, northerly trending belt 600 kilometres long in south-eastern Alaska. All Alaskan-type complexes in British Columbia lie within the allochthonous terranes of the Intermontane Belt that were amalgamated and accreted to the cratonic margin of ancestral North America in the Mesozoic. This report examines the geology and PGE/noble metal geochemistry of eight specific complexes, providing information on regional geology and geochronology, structure, metamorphism, petrography, geochemistry, and mineralization. It then discusses PGE mineralization, using the Tulameen Complex and associated placers as a case study, and examines the economic potential of the complexes and their magmatic and tectonic settings.