Hunting high and low: mapping ancient topography to find copper

过渡到无碳社会需要大量的铜；然而，由于缺乏地球表面演化的一阶数据集，即所谓的古地理，阻碍了基于系统的铜勘探方法。该项目旨在通过开发创新的全球古地理重建，通过深部挖掘斑岩铜矿的潜在区域。该项目的预期成果包括新的定量古地理重建，以及第一次严格限制的铜保存潜力重建。这应该会带来一些好处，如更好地了解斑岩铜的生命周期，对资源勘探和脱碳努力产生重大影响。

Transitioning to a decarbonised society requires significant amounts of copper; however, preventing a systems-based exploration approach for copper is the lack of a first-order dataset of the Earth’s surface evolution, known as palaeogeography. This project aims to unearth potential areas of porphyry copper through deep time by developing innovative global palaeogeography reconstructions. Expected outcomes of this project include new quantitative palaeogeography reconstructions, as well as the first well-constrained reconstructions of copper preservation potential. This should provide benefits such as an improved understanding of the porphyry copper lifecycle, with significant impacts for resource exploration and decarbonisation efforts.