This volume covers the occurrence, interpretation and significance of bitumens (hydrocarbon residues) in ore deposits. Bitumens occur with a wide variety of ores, including deposits of base metals, mercury, uranium, gold and other precious metals. The papers included reflect this variety of bitumen occurrences and the potential for obtaining useful data from them. The contributions are written by acknowledged experts in this field, who cover analytical techniques and case studies using diverse petrographic and geochemical approaches which will give ore geologists and geochemists an excellent insight into the interpretation of bitumens during mineral exploration. The large number of plates in particular will help the non-specialist to make good use of the volume through the application to new deposits. This is the most comprehensive set of contributions published on a subject of growing interest; at a time when explorationists are increasingly recognising the occurrence of bitumens in ore deposits and the fact that the evolution of mineralising fluids and hydrocarbon fluids may be closely interlinked.

The Joint 6th Biennial SGA-SEG Meeting was held in Krakow in August 2001. This volume contains 274 extended abstracts, grouped thematically under 18 session titles covering topics such as lead-zinc deposits; metamorphism affecting mineral deposits; and the environmental aspects of mining.

This publication consists of papers delivered at an International Symposium of the International Association of Sedimentologists held at Beijing, Peoples' Republic of China in August, 1988. The theme of the symposium was sedimentology related to mineral deposits and incorporated meetings of three International Geological Correlation Programmes (IGCP) Projects; IGCP 219 on Comparative Lacustrine Sedimentology in Space and Time, IGCP 226 on Manganese Deposits, and IGCP 254 on Metalliferous Black Shales. This book is intended for earth scientists and advanced students studying/working in the areas of sedimentology, petroleum geology, ore geology and economic geology.

This book demonstrates the direct link between petroleum, the derivative of organic materials, and ore bodies. The studies reported here highlight the common factors between hydrocarbons and mineral concentrations, such as heat sources, migration routes and likely traps. It emphasizes the role that hydrothermal processes play in the genesis of both petroleum generation and ore-grade mineralization. The presence of oil residue in the form of bitumen and pyrobitumen in all sediment-hosted ore bodies throughout the geological record is a testimony to their common diagenetic history. Studies of active hydrothermal systems reported in this book describe the processes and derivatives in these environments, linking hydrocarbon generation and mineral precipitation. A comparison with residual oil in many ore bodies and mineralization occurrences in the geological record, as depicted in this book, can be explained in terms of processes in active hydrothermal systems. One of the most interesting and challenging recent discoveries, that of living nano-bacteria, is reported in this book. The `nanobes', as they have recently been dubbed, have been suggested as the link between the living and non-living matter. The resemblance of these nano-organisms to fossil forms observed in a Martian meteorite have been reported recently in the media. Likewise the similarity to nano-bacteria in Archaean sediments is highlighted in two chapters of the book.