Risk reduction is the primary value Magmachem brings to the exploration and economic
evaluation of HEMA’s Zonguldak properties. This is accomplished through the application of
MagmaChem technologies which include economic appraisal of resources, strato-tectonic
analysis and targeting by geochemiccal vectoring and kinematic analysis.
MagmaChem is a research and exploration consulting company built around the MagmaChem
Classification of Igneous Rocks and Mineral. The relationship between igneous rocks and
mineral deposits, on which the classification is based, was first recognized by Stan Keith in 1976
during field mapping in Arizona. Plate tectonic implications of the relationship was published in
a 1978 paper in Geology Magazine. In 1983 Stan Keith and Monte Swan co-founded
MagmaChem as a vehicle to further develop and apply the classification to mineral exploration.
This work was funded at the $100 million level and resulted in the discovery of 21 metal
deposits and 1 geothermal system on 3 continents totaling more than $65 billion worth of
copper, gold, and silver from 1988 to the present. The ratio of funds invested to the value of
economic resources discovered is 1:2000. The entire spectrum of metals as well as
hydrocarbons is included in the MagmaChem classification. As economic interest shifts to
elements such as lithium or gallium for example, or to gold or copper, or even trona or
hydrocarbons, the classification provides turn-key acquisition and exploration technology that
has been proven to dramatically lower risk, cost, and evaluation time.
MagmaChem is based on a tiered, logical classification framework that empirically describes the
geologic process of fractional differentiation of chemical mass by relating the composition of
igneous rocks to the composition of mineral deposits. The classification groups igneous rocks
into magma-metal series families that integrate to a global geotectonic, layered earth model.
This provides a structural and chemical layered-earth reference frame for geologic systems.
Kinematic and dynamic mechanical analysis of structures can be related to fluid flow through
mapping of elemental dispersal patterns in hydrothermal plumes and used as an exploration
tool in the search for metal and petroleum resources. The classification has been used to
appraise the resource endowment of regions and countries and to establish a natural baseline
and recognize anomalous geochemical environmental patterns.
Development of the MagmaChem technologies has been funded primarily by the private sector
(e.g., the mineral and oil and gas industries) with secondary funding from the public sector (e.g.,
United State Geological Survey). More that $110 million has been contributed between 1983
and 2010. This has led to the discovery of $65 billion worth of metal on three continents. More
than 160 published and 200 unpublished works have been written.
Beginning in 1985, the Magma-Metal Series classification was applied to oil and gas research
and exploration, initially focusing on strato-tectonic analysis and dynamic basin modeling. But it
wasn't until 2001, after presenting a paper at AAPG in Denver, that MagmaChem co-founders
Stan and Monte began to look seriously at the origin of hydrocarbons. This was when geologists
from several major companies said that when they modeled super-giant oil and gas
accumulations–when they do the accounting–the "books don’t balance." Their geodynamic
calculations indicated they were missing an important parameter and they suspected that
something was going on beneath the basins that contributed heat, fluid, metals, hydrogen,
diamondoids and particularly magnesiam. Subsequently, MagmaChem recognized the
importance of serpentinization of peridotites beneath basins, which they believe is the missing
parameter that "balances the books.” Fluids released during serpentinization contain all the
elements and compounds and heat needed to “balance the books”, plus potentially occurs
beneath any oil accumulation on earth. Serpentinization is a first-order earth process. The
volume of serpentinites to the volume of sedimentary rock on earth is 10 to 1.
Geochemical vectoring of hydrocarbon accumulations identifies patterns in trace-element
geochemistry of soils and in drill core and cuttings above and lateral to hydrocarbon
accumulations, including CBM, reflecting both the hydrocarbon and the brine component of the
fluid. To delineate these patterns, geochemical vectoring uses a highly-optimized procedure of
sample collection and processing and factor analysis. Surface soil samples are carefully
collected for consistency, sieved at the lab to separate the clay fraction (<63 microns) which is
then analyzed for 64 elements using high-resolution, ultra-trace analytical techniques. If drill
cuttings or core are available, the entire sample is analyzed without sieving, providing a third
dimension to the survey. Through cluster analysis, element assemblages are determined groups of elements that travel together in the fluid plume and are well-correlated such that
their compositional gradients can be “scored”. Scores quantify how well the sample fits its
assigned assemblage. The scores are computed using an algorithm that renders a normalized
value between -10 and 10 for each sample point representing scores that are then plotted on
maps and integrated with contoured single element, geologic and geophysical data. From
these maps vectors are identified between and within assemblages, a structural kinematic fluid
migration/deposition model is constructed, and prospects are risked.
Geochemical vectoring integrates with a number of other geologic disciplines and exploration
tools. Although it integrates well with conventional exploration tools in conventional settings,
it is especially useful when applied to unconventional shale, CBM, fracture, HTD, and possibly
off-shore plays and in situations where seismic does not work well.
During its initial application to oil and gas exploration geochemical vectoring identified both
hydrocarbon accumulations and uneconomic “dry” prospects. It has been successfully applied
to four on-shore oil and gas fields and four on-shore oil and gas exploration plays and was also
instrumental in the development and step-out discovery of an economic geothermal system.
Data for these case histories has been acquired and preliminary synthesis has revealed geochemical vectoring patterns reminiscent of mineral system patterns that led to multiple
economic metal discoveries. Analysis of these case histories suggests that geochemical
vectoring is a tool that will significantly enhance petroleum exploration. All predictions made by
the geochemical vectoring technique were correct, i.e., a positive geochemical signal for
hydrocarbons was identified for the wells encountering oil or gas, whereas no geochemical
hydrocarbon signal was observed for the dry prospects. Two oil prospects have yet to be
drilled, save for two pre-geochemical vectoring holes in each, all of which had shows on the
flanks of the prospect’s geochemical vectored anomalies. Drill targeting based solely on the
geochemistry would have discovered all of the oil and gas fields in the case histories, but is
ideally used in conjunction with other exploration tools to maximize risk reduction.
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