New "Goldilocks Zone" could provide precious metals for energy transition

Researchers at the University of Leicester claim to have discovered a new "Goldilocks Zone", which could provide a stable cache of minerals essential in the energy transition.

Metals such as gold, copper and tellurium are often used in personal electronics, battery storage, solar panels and wind turbines, but the scarcity of these resources has provided production pitfalls that may have hindered adoption of greener tech.

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The new study was led by the Centre for Sustainable Resource Extraction at the University of Leicester and was published in the Nature Communications journal on January 31.

The team discovered deposits of these minerals closer to the surface, thanks to magma flow that pushes them from the Earth's crust, making them easier to extract.

Typically, these same minerals are found near the mantle - located several kilometres beneath the Earth - making them expensive and time-consuming, if not entirely impossible, to mine.

Every now and again, magma will push its way to the surface from the mantle, which will usually deposit large amounts of these metals near the surface. This is known as a "magmatic arc" and typically happens at subduction zones for continental plates.

“When magmas reach the base of the crust, the conditions there act like a ‘Goldilocks Zone’ for these metals", the paper's lead author Dr David Holwell said.

The study refers to the temperature variables to allow for the metals to pass through the crust as "valves".

"If the temperature is either too hot or too cold, these ‘valves’ remain shut and metals cannot pass through, but we have found that in many cases, it may be ‘just right' at around 1,000°C, where metals like copper, gold and tellurium can be released", Holwell added.

It can be assumed that the proper temperatures may allow magma flow to continue, pushing more of these valuable metals to the surface over time.

This research sheds light on planetary cycles of metal and explains how some of the largest deposits of metals such as copper form.

“This paper represents a fantastic piece of work from the project team that sheds new light on magmatic processes that operate deep in the Earth’s crust but which have major implications for the accessibility of critical metals for humankind", said Prof. Jamie Wilkinson of London's Natural History Museum.

"The results will enable more targeted mineral exploration, thus lowering the environmental footprint associated with the discovery and extraction of green metals".

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The study was carried out as part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)-funded FAMOS project, and involved collaborators from Cardiff University, University of Western Australia and mining giant BHP.

If the research is corroborated, it could allow scientists and miners to accurately predict where large deposits of these minerals could be with relative ease. It could also allow researchers to acknowledge where future deposits may crop up.

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