Soil gas geochemistry for base and precious metals exploration beneath deep overburden

The paper summarizes the results from geochemical orientation and project surveys in North and South America. The orientation surveys were designed to characterize the soil gas response over buried mineralization and compare soil gas geochemistry with other geochemical exploration techniques for overburden. In addition to successful tests in orientation surveys, soil gas geochemistry has been applied in large-scale exploration programs for gold, copper, and zinc. The studies includes results from several of these surveys, including the Crandon Zn-Cu massive sulfide deposit in Wisconsin, USA, and the Ruby Star skarn Cu deposit in Arizona, USA.