Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-04-01 | Page 10 | Electric Activity may Produce Ore

ELEGTHIC ACTIVITY MAY PRODUCE ORE United States Geological Survey Issues Interesting Bulletin on Subject. The marvelous accomplishments in eleetrfT! science have far surpassed anything any-thing that men would have dared to predict in the early days of its development, develop-ment, yet certain prophecies in regard to it have remained unfulfilled. Among these are the suggestions of some geologists ge-ologists that electric phenomena might play au important part in the formation forma-tion of ore deposits and that electric methods might he utilized in prospecting prospect-ing for ore. bodies. Both these suggestions, sugges-tions, in the light of the growing knowledge of ore deposits and of electricity, elec-tricity, appear to be illusions. It is now clear that the great causes of ore deposition are not electric in the ordinary ordi-nary sense and that the electric currents cur-rents generated in ore deposits are far too small to aid a prospector in discovering dis-covering ore by their influence on a galvanometer or other electric apparatus appara-tus held in his hands. If, however, electricity is denied a leading part in the formation of ore deposits its action can not be excluded entirely. It is well known that many chemical reactions are capable of developing de-veloping measurable electric currents, and it should therefore be expected that in places where chemical action is in progress in ore deposits today electric activity should also be detectable. This has indeed been shown to be the ease by several experimenters, and miniature batteries can be formed with water for the battery fluid and certain metallic minerals common in ore deposits as the poles. A report entitled "Electric Activity in Ore Deposits," by Roger C. Wells, recently re-cently issued by the United States geological geo-logical survey, records a series of careful measurements of the electric potentials developed when various metallic minerals miner-als common in ore deposits are in contact con-tact with Tfitter or with solutions of various va-rious salts. Mr. Wells concludes that the character of the solutions has fully as great an influence on the electric activity ac-tivity developed as the nature of the metallic minerals and that in general acid and oxidizing solutions give the highest potentials and alkaline and reducing re-ducing solutions the lowest. Economic geologists have long recognized recog-nized that the solutions in the upper oxidized portion of many ore deposits are acid and oxidizing, while farther down they .become neutral or alkaline. Whether such variations and the electric elec-tric differences dependent upon them are sufficient to cause an appreciable electric current to flow from the upper nart of an ore deposit to a lower part or vice versa is still an open question. Surely such action, if it. exists, is of relatively minor importance in controlling control-ling ore deposition, the main factor being be-ing the actual movement of metal-beating solutions from one place to another. Measurements of electric potentials can, however, be quickly and easily made and may prove very useful in indicating indicat-ing the direction and intensity of the chemical reactions of which they are one expression. Mr. Wells's report, which was issued as bulletin 54S of the United States geological geo-logical survey, is technical in character ami will be of interest mainly to chemists, chem-ists, physicists, and economic geologists. It mav'be obtained at a cost of 10 cents a copy from the superintendent of documents, Washington, D. U.