The Goldstrike property, located in the Carlin Trend in Nevada, contains a diverse group of Carlin deposits, including some of the largest and highest grade examples known. The largest deposit, Betze-Post, has a gold endowment of approximately 1,250 metric tons (t) Au, and the Meikle deposit, which contains 220 t Au, has a grade of 24.7 g/t Au. Goldstrike is part of the larger Blue Star-Goldstrike subdistrict, which has an areal extent of 58.5 by 2 km and a total gold endowment of 1,970 t. The first discovery of gold at Goldstrike was in 1962. Subsequent exploration culminated in the discovery in 1986 of large high-grade orebodies beneath smaller, lower grade orebodies. Exploration over a 40-yr period has relied on the evolution in understanding of geology and ore controls, supported by the application of geochemical and geophysical exploration techniques.

The mineral exploration community has, in recent decades, suffered its fair share of cyclical times. However, the latest cycle is unprecedented in the large swing from the successive boom years of 2005-2008 to the sharp decline in late 2008 caused by the global financial crisis. The last three cycles have one distinct common factor, which is the ongoing increase in demand for mineral resources as a result of global population growth and the emergence of less-developed countries. Even in the current economical turmoil, most will agree that the mid- to longterm outlook favours continued increased demand for mineral commodities, and pressure on exploration drilling programmes. <...>

The major Iron Oxide Copper-Gold (IOCG) deposits in Australia (Olympic Dam, Ernest Henry) are 'blind' deposits that were discovered under younger cover. Exploration for this style of mineralisation presents a new set of problems to the explorationist, and involves target definition applying criteria gleaned from work in known areas and extrapolating into new target areas.

Equinox applies a model for IOCG mineralisation principally derived from studies of known mineralisation in the Cloncurry region and the Stuart Shelf/Gawler Craton of South Australia. This model was initially applied in Australia, and was later extrapolated to Zambia in Central Africa and the Norrbotten region in Sweden.

Ggeochemistry of platinum-group elements

1. Magmatic Geochemistry of the PGE

2. The Aqueous Geochemistry of the Platinum Group Elements (PGE) in Surficial, Low-T Hydrothermal and High-T Magmatic-Hydrothermal Environments 

Descriptive platinum-group element ore deposit models – precious-metaldominant

3. Stratiform PGE Deposits in Layered Intrusions