• 标题：Tectonic Diffusion Estimates of Global Porphyry Molybdenum Resources
• 关键词：
• 作者：Lei Luo;Guoxiong Chen;Qinglin Xia

全文下载

Because of the decreasing discovery rate of outcropping mineral deposits, quantitative estimates of undiscovered deep mineral resources are of great interest to many stakeholders, including governments, businesses, and researchers. Molybdenum (Mo) plays a crucial role in modern societies worldwide by contributing to infrastructure, technology, and lifestyles. In this paper, we present an up-to-date age–frequency compilation of globally reported porphyry Mo resources and we used the tectonic diffusion model to estimate the potential Mo resources at different depths in continental crust and according to different tectonic settings. Our modeling indicated that, between 300 Ma and the present, about 5,600 porphyry Mo deposits and Mo-rich porphyry copper deposits were formed worldwide. About 70% of those with 1.1 9 109 tons (t) of Mo resources remain, buried and at the surface, whereas 30% have been destroyed through uplift and erosion. In detail, the results suggest that 2.9 9 108 t of Mo resources exist within the continental crust above 3 km.Exposed deposits currently compose only 7% of the endowment of porphyry Mo resources during the Phanerozoic.