Blandine Gourcerol

• PhD
• economic geologist at Geological and Mining Research Bureau

Algoma-type banded iron formations (BIF) are chemical sedimentary rocks characterized by alternating layers of iron-rich minerals and chert that are generally interstratified with bimodal submarine volcanic rocks and/or sedimentary sequences in Archean greenstone belts. However, the geological setting for Algoma-type BIF deposition remains equivoca...

The geochemistry of chert layers in Algoma-type banded iron formation (BIF) has been used to constrain the depositional setting of the BIFs, as rare earth element (REE) and yttrium (Y) systematics are a function of their chemical environment of formation. In contrast, the chemistry of the interbedded oxide-rich layers (i.e., magnetite) has not been...

his project is designed to establish if there is a distinctive geochemical signature for the types of banded iron-formations (BIF) that contain gold mineralization and whether a hydrothermal footprint for the mineralization can be detected. Herein are reported the preliminary geochemistry results of a LA ICP-MS study of 39 chert samples for BIFs fr...

Algoma-type banded iron formations (BIFs) are generally Archean chemical sedimentary rocks comprised of alternating layers of iron-rich minerals and chert of that are stratigraphically associated with submarine volcanic rocks and localized within greenstone belts. Although much research has been done on Algoma-type BIFs, their depositional and over...

Peraluminous rare-metal granites and pegmatites (RMGP) formed in late-orogenic settings represent an important source of elements essential to the energy transition and the electronics industry, such as Li, Ta, Nb and Sn. However, exploration for RMGP in crystalline basement is hampered by their typically small size, lack of distinctive petrophysic...

Magmatic volatile phases play a major role in igneous systems, but indirect sampling of the magmatic fluid, especially for basic magmas, remains challenging to document. Here, we report compelling evidence of primary fluid inclusions trapped within magmatic ilmenite from two different basic intrusive settings: Armorican Massif (France) and Central...

Située dans le sud du Massif Central, la commune de Chaudes-Aigues dépeint une manifestation remarquable du thermalisme français. En plus d'abriter la source la plus chaude d'Europe (source du Par) à une température de 82°C et un débit constant de 500 L.min-1 , 26 autres sources ayant une température entre 25 et 68°C ont été recensées. La zone d'ém...

Metasomatic iron and alkali-calcic mineral systems include a wide range of deposits with critical and precious metals, notably IOA, IOCG, skarn, albitite-hosted U, iron-rich Co (Au, Bi, Cu), and polymetallic vein deposits. Host systems evolve along diagnostic metasomatic paths with: 1) Na (albitite) and local skarn, 2) high-temperature (HT) Ca-Fe,...

We provide a comparative review of greisenization in the Beauvoir (France) and Cínovec (Czech Republic/Germany) deposits, which are two of the world's best studied examples of peraluminous Li-Sn-Ta-W-mineralized granitic systems. While the Cínovec granite cupola is two-to-eight times less enriched in rare metals than Beauvoir, a Li-Sn-W greisen dep...

Les ressources métalliques jouent un rôle majeur dans la transition énergétique, à la fois pour le développement de nouvelles technologies et dans la production et le stockage d’énergies vertes.Ressources métalliques 2 propose une sélection d’études de provinces métallogéniques ou de gisements remarquables en Amérique, en Afrique ou présents au niv...

Lithium (Li) is a strategic metal - especially for batteries in electric vehicles - for which worldwide demand is constantly increasing. Presently, several investigations are examining if a part of lithium could be extracted from deep European geothermal fluids. Among the data from geothermal and hydrocarbon wells found in the literature review car...

As part of the European-Peruvian ION4RAW project (Horizon 2020 framework programme of the European Commission), which aims at developing mineral-processing technology to recover selected by-products (e.g., Te, Bi, Co, Re, Mo, Pt, Sb, Ge, Se, In) from primary Cu-Ag-Au deposits, we assessed a geographical inventory of selected elements. However, not...

Archean banded iron formations (BIF) represent a major contributor to better constraining and assessing the paleogeography and evolution of Archean cratons. In this context, we conducted an exhaustive sampling and analysis campaign of BIF units in the Congo Craton, covering several greenstone belts within the Ivindo, Kelle-Mbomo, and Chaillu blocks...

Depuis 2016, un travail de fond est mené par le BRGM dans le cadre de ses actions d'appui aux politiques publiques afin de compléter, mettre à jour et valider les informations présentes dans la base de données "Gisements, gîtes et indices France". Créée dans les années 2000 à la demande du Conseil scientifique du BRGM, cette base de données avait p...

The Nabeba high-grade iron deposit (Republic of the Congo) is hosted by banded iron formation (BIF) in the Ivindo Basement Complex, which lies in the northwestern part of the Congo Craton. The Nabeba BIF is intercalated with chlorite-sericite-quartz schist and comprises two facies (oxide and a carbonate-oxide). In this study, whole-rock and LA-ICP-...

Coltan occurrences Guiana Shield and South America

article de vulgarisation en anglais

Palaeoarchaean cherts preserve the most ancient direct traces of life, but this palaeobiological testament is rarely assimilated into ecosystem or biome models. Trace and rare earth element plus yttrium (REE+Y) compositions reliably decode the palaeodepositional settings of these cherts, and thus constrain the environments within which early microb...

Investigation of gold metallogeny in the Paleozoic Meguma terrane (Canada) is conducted through LA-ICP-MS analysis of arsenopyrite collected from eight slate-belt style vein gold deposits using a novel approach integrating elemental distribution maps and their derived elemental paragenesis with multi-element binary plots. The data reveal two distin...

Lithium became a strategic metal in the last decade due to its widespread use in electromobility and green technologies. Consequently, demand has increased significantly reviving European interest in lithium mining and leading many countries to assess their own mineral resources/reserves to secure their own supplies. A compilation of European lithi...

In the EU, preliminary data show that there are 1167 registered occurrences, prospects or deposits of Li, Co and graphite, of these only 17 are active. This compilation is part of work package 5 of the FRAME project (Forecasting and Assessing Europe’s Strategic Raw Materials needs) a section within the framework of the GeoERA project. The data coll...

In the EU, preliminary data show that there are 1167 registered occurrences, prospects or deposits of Li, Co and graphite, of these only 17 are active. This compilation is part of work package 5 of the FRAME project (Forecasting and Assessing Europe's Strategic Raw Materials needs) a section within the framework of the GeoERA project. The data coll...

Lithium became a strategic metal in the last decade due to its widespread use in electromobility and green technologies. Consequently, demand has increased significantly reviving European interest in lithium mining and leading many countries to assess their own mineral resources/reserves to secure their own supplies. A compilation of European lithi...

Orogenic gold deposits span a spectrum in regards to setting and style of mineralization, nature of gold (e.g., invisible, coarse) and favourable host rock. In addition, deposit formation is often attributed to protracted multi-stage hydrothermal processes. That gold mineralization also depends on a variety of features, such as metal-source reservo...

Driven by a global move towards renewable energy through the last decade, lithium has become a strategic metal due to its physical and chemical properties (e.g., lightest solid element and excellent conductor of heat and electricity) making it an excellent candidate for electrification of transport and green technologies such as Li-ion batteries an...

Geological processes that lead to lithium-caesium-tantalum-rich pegmatites remains poorly constrained and understood. This type of rare-metal pegmatites, which sometimes constitutes economic Li±Sn±Ta±Be deposits, are generally encountered in the vicinity of large pegmatite fields frequently focused on migmatitic areas. Two distinct models for pegma...

Lithium, which is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, became a strategic metal in the past decade due to its widespread use in electromobility and green technologies. The resulting significant increase in demand has revived European interest in lithium mining, leading several countries to assess their own resources/reserves in order to...

Le rapport " Ressources métropolitaines en lithium et analyse du potentiel par méthodes de prédictivité" vient d’être publié. Ce rapport a été réalisé dans le cadre des opérations d'appui aux politiques publiques du BRGM avec le soutien de la direction de l’eau et de la biodiversité (DGALN/DEB) du ministère de la Transition écologique et solidaire....

Quantitative laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) element distribution maps combined with traverse mode analyses have been acquired on various sulfides (pyrite, pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite) from three Canadian Algoma-type BIF-hosted gold deposits (~4 Moz Au Meadowbank, ≥2.8 Moz Au Meliadine district, ~6 Moz Au Mussel...

In the last decade, lithium has become a strategic metal due to its physical and chemical properties making it an excellent candidate for electromobility (green technologies) such as Li-ion batteries and other storage energy devices. As a result, metal demand has increased significantly and a “lithium rush”, similar to the USA “gold-rush” in the 19...

Ore-deposit models, which are fundamental to mineral exploration, result from integrating robust field observations with high-quality mineral-chemical-isotopic data. New discoveries departing from current models demand explanation, and in some cases new deposit models result (e.g., IOCG). The recent (2009/2010) discovery of the Cote Gold Au(-Cu) de...

Hydrothermal ore deposits are the culmination of many processes, commencing with generation of fluids, metal transport and mineral precipitation. This process can involve mixing of fluids, in addition to metals sourced from different reservoirs. The convention of inferring elemental enrichment and associations using bulk methods is limited with suc...

L’Europe participe activement à la « course » au lithium, notamment par la découverte de nouveaux gisements et le développement de nouveaux projets miniers. Cet article présente un état des lieux des potentiels ressources européennes.

The time-space distribution of ore deposits in regards to the evolution of geological terranes is known as metallogeny. In the case of the Phanerozoic Meguma terrane of southern Nova Scotia, the origin of its classic slate-belt hosted orogenic gold systems (i.e., Meguma gold deposits) has been the focus of study for well over a century. Despite co...

Quantitative laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA ICP-MS) element distribution analysis represents a relatively new and powerful approach to assess gold mineralizing processes. Although there is a trend towards imaging in LA ICP-MS, this article demonstrates that the compilation of the individual time-slice datasets (TSD)...

Présentation d'applications et procédures de traitement des données issues de cartographies laser sur des sulfures aurifères dans la terrane de Meguma (Nouvelle Ecosse, Canada).

Quantitative laser ablation inductively coupled plasmamass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) element distribution maps represents a powerful means to investigate both the distribution and relative timing of trace elements capured during sulfide growth. Such data is relevant information for understanding gold mineralizing processes. Althrough there is a tren...

The Côté Gold deposit is a newly discovered (2009) low-grade (~1 g/t) and high-tonnage Au(-Cu) deposit (+8 Moz Au) related to a 2740 Ma diorite-tonalite intrusive complex near western margin of the gold-rich Abitibi Subprovince of northern Ontario (Canada). Based on our previous integrated field, petrological, lithogeochemical and geochronological...

Les formations de fer rubanées (FFR) de type Algoma sont des roches sédimentaires d’origine chimique, constituées d’une alternance de minéraux riches en fer et de chert stratigraphiquement associées à des roches volcaniques sous-marines et situées dans des ceintures de roches vertes archéennes. Ces roches sont parfois associées à des gisements auri...

The advent of LA ICP-MS analysis has provided a means to investigate both the distribution and relative timing of trace elements during the growth of sulfides in hydrothermal ore systems. This technological advance precludes the inherent problems associated with whole-rock analyses which dilute elemental abundances and mask their associations, both...

Algoma-type banded iron formations (BIFs), which represent chemical sedimentary rocks characterized by alternating layers of iron-rich minerals and chert intercalated with Eoarchean to late Paleoproterozoic volcano-sedimentary sequences, act as a favorable host rock for orogenic gold mineralization within several Archean cratons (i.e., Pilbara, Kaa...

The geochemistry of chert layers in Algoma-type banded iron formation (BIF) has been used to constrain the depositional setting of the BIFs, as rare earth element (REE) and yttrium (Y) systematics are a function of their chemical environment of formation. In contrast, the chemistry of the interbedded oxide-rich layers (i.e., magnetite) has not been...

The geochemistry of chert layers in Algoma-type banded iron formation (BIF) has been used to constrain the depositional setting of the BIFs, as rare earth element (REE) and yttrium (Y) systematics are a function of their chemical environment of formation. In contrast, the chemistry of the interbedded oxide-rich layers (i.e., magnetite) has not been...

Algoma-type Banded Iron Formations (BIFs) are chemical sedimentary rocks comprised of alternating layers of iron-rich minerals and chert that are generally interstratified with bimodal submarine volcanic rocks in Archean greenstone belts. However, the geologic setting for Algoma-type BIF deposition remains equivocal due to the overprinting effects...

Algoma-type Banded Iron Formations (BIFs) are chemical sedimentary rocks comprised of alternating layers of iron-rich minerals and chert that are generally interstratified with bimodal submarine volcanic rocks in Archean greenstone belts. However, the geologic setting for Algoma-type BIF deposition remains equivocal due to the overprinting effects...

Algoma-type Banded Iron Formations (BIFs) are chemical sedimentary rocks comprised of alternating layers of iron-rich minerals and chert interstratified with bimodal submarine volcanic rocks in Archean greenstone belts. However, the geologic setting for Algoma-type BIF deposition remains equivocal due to the overprinting effects of post- deposition...

Algoma-type banded Iron Formations (BIFs) are thinly bedded chemical sedimentary rocks comprising alternating layers of iron-rich minerals and chert, stratigraphically associated with volcano-sedimentary sequences of greenstone belts ranging from Eoarchaean to late Paleoproterozoic. Although much research has been done on Algoma-type BIF in several...

Among mineral deposits in Archean cratons, gold mineralization is important with >20 000 metric tons of gold produced from greenstone belts in 2001. Of the Archean-early Paleoproterozoic gold deposits, several different types of mineralization are known including Algoma-type Banded Iron Formation (BIF) where gold is associated with localized sulfid...

Among mineral deposits in Archean cratons, gold mineralization is important with >20 000 metric tons of gold produced from greenstone belts in 2001. Of the Archean-early Paleoproterozoic gold deposits, several different types of mineralization are known including Algoma-type Banded Iron Formation (BIF) where gold is associated with localized sulfid...