Metallogeny of tin / Металлогения олова

Ore deposits are distributed unevenly on Earth and tend to cluster in specific large-scale zones for which de Launay (1913) introduced the term "metallogenic province". The observational background for this situation has been known since the earliest days of mining. Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79) states with reference to silver-bearing veins: "...ubicumque una inventa vena est, non procul invenitur alia". (Where a vein is found, there will be another one not far away). 
Cotta (1859:236) establishes in one of the first textbooks on ore geology the principle: "Wo einmal eine Erzlagerst&tte gefunden wurde, da kann man erwarten, unter analogen Verh&ltnissen auch mehrere derselben oder &hnlicher Art zu finden, denn die meisten von ihnen pflegen gesellig aufzutreten". (Where an ore deposit has been found, it can be expected to find others of similar type under analogous conditions, because most ore deposits tend to occur gregariously). This simple rule is of fundamental importance in exploration geology, condensed in the familiar saying "If you are hunting elephants, go to elephant country". 
A further accentuation of the concept of "metaltogenic provinces" is derived from the fact that the province-specific metals are sometimes repeatedly concentrated in the same area by different geological processes and at different times, a situation which has been characterized by Routhier (1967) by the notion of "6tagement temporel" (temporal superposition). Examples for such situations are given in Routhier (1980).  <...>