Selective Extractions

Many 'blind' orebodies are buried beneath thick sequences of exotic overburden, lake beds, barren bedrock or younger volcanic rocks. Selective extractions using surface materials can be used to extract a specific component of the soil that may have been added by degassing biological activity or electrochemical cells. Bioleach, a technology that Actlabs has developed, dissolves remnant proteins that bacteria have left behind when the die. These proteins migrate directly above mineral deposits by a variety of processes and bioleach is designed to digest this soil component which can then be analyzed by ICP/MS or for most effectiveness by high resultion ICP/MS. Enzyme Selective Extraction dissolves metals that have been adsorbed onto amorphous manganese dioxides (but not from crystaline managanese oxides which comprise the bulk of manganese but is more related to parent material). Sodium pyrophosphate will digest organic material. Sodium acetate pH5 or pH7 will digest exchangeable cations adsorbed on clay or co-precipitated on carbonates. There are also a number of leaches like hot and cold hydroxylamine leaches that will dissolve amorphous and crystalline iron and manganese oxides. Generally to be most effective at depth penetration, the weakest leaches are best including Bioleach and Enzyme Selective Extraction. Spatiotemporal Geochemical Hydrocarbons (SGH) is also an extractive procedure that has been useful in finding buried ore deposits in difficult terrain.

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Selective Extractions