I am a young Venezuelan geochemist who is researching the geochemical prospecting of mineral deposits of critical minerals (V, Zn, U, Li, REE, Graphite, among others). I work as a professor in the Earth Sciences Institute of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, Venezuela. I have a doctorate in Research, Modeling and Risk in the Environment, Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain.
Geochemistry can be applied to the exploration of mineral deposits, for which it is necessary to understand the fundamentals of geochemical prospecting, the geochemical dispersion of elements based on their chemical properties. This chapter presents the basics of geochemical prospecting including: element mobility depending on ionic potential, pH, and Eh, with examples of Cu mobility during supergenic alteration of a primary sulfide deposit, a brief overview of sampling/geochemical prospecting methods, as well as a case study of the geochemical prospecting study carried out in the vanadium (V), uranium (U), and zinc (Zn) sedimentary mineral deposit of Puyango, Ecuador, in which anomalous and subanomalous values were detected in rock samples of various pathfinder elements of V and U.
Part of the book: Geochemistry and Mineral Resources