The Geology of Ore Deposits [Hardcover]

John Guilbert (Author), Charles F. Park Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1985 | ISBN-10: 0716714566 | ISBN-13: 978-0716714569 | Edition: 4 Sub

The renowned authors present a modern, unified treatment of economic geology, the study of geologic characteristics and the genesis of ores in the earth's crust. Ore deposits are explored in relation to plate tectonics, petrology and isotope and fluid inclusion techniques. Understanding how ore-bearing rocks form, say Guilbert and Park, is fundamental to understanding the nature, origin and distribution of ore deposits themselves. "...should be recommended reading for all students in this field of study." Mining Magazine "...the photographs are quite extraordinary...this book is not only a most valuable help for experts ...The Geology of Ore Deposits should not be missing in any library specializing in geo-sciences." Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics

Product Details

• Hardcover: 985 pages
• Publisher: W. H. Freeman; 4 Sub edition (March 15, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716714566
• ISBN-13: 978-0716714569
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,377,324 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Geology of Ore Deposits, March 29, 2000

By 

William Jahn (Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Geology of Ore Deposits (Hardcover)

This book, by Guilbert and Park, is the "Bible" for any economic geologist on ore deposits. As a graduate student in geology, I am constantly using it as a reference and use it more frequently than any other book I have. We used another textbook for my economic geology course, but all of us referred to "The Geology of Ore Deposits" when some info was needed. It is also on several professers shelves as well. Well organized and easy to find specific info.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic textbook, comprehensive and entertaining, October 5, 2007

By 

George Leigh (Brisbane, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Geology of Ore Deposits (Hardcover)

More than 20 years after its publication, this book is still (and deservedly) probably the most widely used text on the origin, description and classification of ore deposits. It is written in an entertaining style and provides enjoyment to the reader on a subject that could easily become dry. In 1986, when this book first appeared, many processes of ore formation were suspected but not scientifically proven. Most have since been proven, and Guilbert and Park have been proven correct in their assumptions. The book is in general very comprehensive, although it lacks any description of iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits, the first of which (Olympic Dam in South Australia) was discovered in 1976. For an up-to-date text, the reader can consult the "recent classic" by Robb Introduction to Ore-Forming Processes. The community of geologists has been extraordinarily industrious over the period between the publication of these two books.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Geology-Centered Introduction to Ore Deposits, January 22, 2008

By 

Jan Peczkis "Scholar and Thinker" (Chicago IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Geology of Ore Deposits (Hardcover)

This is a book on the geology of ore deposits. It is not a book on exploration techniques. Although most of the geology described in this book is on land, there is also discussion of submarine volcanics and oceanic manganese nodules.

Carbonatites are mentioned as bearers of various metals, notably the REEs (rare earths). The authors treat carbonatites as strictly igneous rocks, comparable to kimberlites. The REE-rich Mountain Pass carbonatite of California is mentioned, but not the larger one at Bayan Obo, Inner Mongolia.

Pegmatites are featured as important carriers of precious metals. These include common metals, as well as exotic ones such as niobium, tantalum, rare earths, and many more. REEs are often found concentrated in the contact-metamorphic aureoles of pegmatites (p. 198). Most pegmatites are late-stage magmatic products, enriched in volatiles as well as elements that don't "fit" the matrices of the common granitic minerals.

Many economic deposits are the result of concentration by alteration processes. Apropos to this, a helpful table of the relative mobility of ions is included (p. 780). Attention is also devoted to skarn deposits.

Details are given about such things as porphyry copper deposits, various hydrothermal deposits, massive sulphide deposits, BIFs (banded iron formations) Mississippi-Valley type deposits, uranium deposits, bauxite, and much more. The chapter on placer deposits includes sketches of important auriferous placers.

There are several schematic sketches in this book. These include such things as the zonal distribution of metal deposits in a lithologic sequence.