The feasibility of applying integrated hydrocarbon and mercury method to ore prospecting in alluvial coverage area

The region in middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is rich in minerals, and many mining areas in this region are covered by the alluvium. In consideration of the characteristics of hydrocarbon and mercury such as strong volatile, penetrability and faraway migration distance, the authors conducted an ore prospecting test research on the special landscape of alluvium cover area by using the integrated hydrocarbon and mercury method. In this paper, based on the study of the background of hydrocarbon and mercury and their primary anomaly halos in different types of deposits in middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the effectiveness test of hydrocarbon and mercury method for ore-prospecting, and the contrastive analysis of the microstructures of hydrocarbon component, the authors revealed that primary anomaly halos of hydrocarbon and mercury were formed during mineralization in most deposits of this region. Meanwhile, the alluvial materials contain the anomaly information of hydrocarbon similar to the information in deep deposits. The results obtained by the authors preliminarily indicated that integrated hydrocarbon and mercury method is suitable for ore-prospecting in alluvium landscape.