Copper Basins Exploration Science (CuBES) - A Mineral Systems Approach

铜、钴（+/- V）在电池技术和电力传输中的关键性使其成为无碳能源转型的关键组成部分。这些元素的主要部分来自沉积盆地托管的矿床，形成于大规模的流体流动系统。最近的研究表明，不同的盆地结构和过程是其成因的原因，但我们仍然不明白为什么这么少的盆地成为高度赋予金属。鉴于其稀缺性，此类盆地的地质演化需要以下独特条件并置：（1）产生大量含金属流体;（2）提供足够的硫;（3）创建还原圈闭部位;（4）集中流体流入这些部位[5]。了解大型矿床尤为重要，因为它们能够高效开采并提供最大的社会效益。我们特别关注的是开发和整合矿物和石油系统方法，为该领域的科学和工业应用提供颠覆性创新机会。我们的目标是确定的过程，在一系列的规模，导致形成大型铜钴（V）矿床，并获得新的和实用的勘探工具。考虑到目前学术界对这些矿石系统的兴趣，以及工业界和学术界为开发可降低勘探成本、风险和环境影响的复杂方法而加强的合作，这一机会是及时的。为了应对这些挑战，我们组建了一个多机构学术联盟，拥有国际公认的地球科学专业知识。我们还与以下公司建立了战略研究联盟：（1）英国主要矿业公司，力拓和英美资源集团，以及必和必拓和第一量子矿业公司，所有这些公司都在全球范围内对沉积物铜矿化感兴趣;（2）能源部门（Scheupbach Energy）;以及（3）国际学术合作伙伴（CSIRO，休斯顿大学，GFZ波茨坦，国立大学，布宜诺斯艾利斯）。PI，PDRAs，资助的附属博士生，行业和国际合作伙伴之间的合作将提供高影响力的科学出版物，新的数据和工具，以支持低风险矿产勘探战略的发展，并突出英国作为世界领先的盆地托管矿产系统研究社区。

The criticality of Cu, Co (+/- V) in battery technology and electricity transmission has established them as key components of the carbon-free energy transition. A major proportion of these elements are sourced from sedimentary basin-hosted deposits, formed from large-scale fluid flow systems. Recent work has shown that diverse basin architectures and processes were responsible for their genesis, yet we still do not understand why so few basins become highly endowed with metals. Given their paucity, the geological evolution of such basins demands the juxtaposition of unique conditions that: (1) generated large volumes of metal-bearing fluid; (2) provided sufficient sulfur; (3) created reducing trap sites; and (4) focused fluid flow into these sites [5]. Understanding large deposits is particularly significant because they are efficient to mine and offer the greatest societal benefits.Our particular focus is to develop and integrate mineral and petroleum systems approaches to provide a disruptive innovation opportunity in the science and industrial applications in this field. Our objectives are to identify the processes, operating over a range of scales, that lead to the formation of large Cu-Co-(V) deposits and derive new and practical exploration tools. The opportunity is timely, given the current wave of academic interest in these ore systems, and the increased collaboration between industry and academia to develop sophisticated methods that can reduce exploration costs, risk and environmental impact. To tackle these challenges, we have assembled a multi-institute academic consortium with internationally-recognised expertise across the geosciences. We have also built strategic research alliances with: (1) the UK's major mining houses, Rio Tinto and Anglo American, and with BHP and First Quantum Minerals, all with global interests in sediment-hosted copper mineralisation; (2) the energy sector (Scheupbach Energy); and (3) international academic partners (CSIRO, Univ. Houston, GFZ Potsdam, Universidad Nacional, Buenos Aires. The collaboration between PIs, PDRAs, affiliated PhD students funded outside the grant, industry and international partners will deliver high impact scientific publications, new data and tools to support the development of lower risk mineral exploration strategies, and highlight the UK as a world-leading community for research in basin-hosted mineral systems.