Journal
ELEMENTS
Volume 11, Issue 5, Pages 337-342Publisher
MINERALOGICAL SOC AMER
DOI: 10.2113/gselements.11.5.337
Keywords
prokaryotes; mineral dissolution; mineral precipitation; supergene processes; metal deposits
Categories
Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada Discovery and Accelerator Grants
- ARC
- Vale Technology Institute, Vale SA
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Microbe-catalyzed redistribution of metals in the Earth's crust can produce remarkable, and often economic, metal enrichments. These catalytic processes rely on redox transformations to produce secondary-mineral assemblages. Classic supergene systems relate to copper, where weathering is driven by microbial activity. Roll-front uranium deposits represent a similar, albeit lateral, evolution from aerobic weathering to anaerobic enrichment. Gold is generally resistant to oxidation but a remarkable biogeochemical cycle can produce secondary gold. Finally, banded iron formations, which are microbially catalysed sedimentary deposits, can be further weathered to form high-grade ore. Metals are as important to enzyme catalysts as these catalysts are to metal enrichment.
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