Metals in the earth's crust are very unevenly distributed and, traditionally, a small number of ore deposits, districts or countries have dominated the world supply and have influenced commodity prices. The importance of exceptionally large, or rich, deposits has greatly increased in the age of globalization when a small number of international corporations dominate the metals market, based on few very large ore deposits, practically anywhere in the world. Search for giant orebodies thus drives the exploration industry: not only the in-house teams of large internationals, but also hundreds of junior companies hoping to sell their significant discoveries to the "big boys". Geological characteristics of giant metallic deposits and their setting and the politico-economic constraints of access to and exploitation in prospective areas have been a "hot topic" in the past fifteen years, but the knowledge generated and published has been one-sided, scattered and fragmented. This is the first comprehensive book on the subject that provides body of solid facts rather than rapidly changing theories, written by author of the Empirical Metallogeny book series and founder of the Data Metallogenica visual knowledge system on mineral deposits of the world, who has had an almost 40 years long international academic and industrial experience. The book will provide abundant material for comparative research in metallogeny, practical information for the explorationists as to where to look for the "elephants", and some inspiration for commodity investors.

Nickel Sulfide Ores and Impact Melts: Origin of the Sudbury Igneous Complex presents a current state of understanding on the geology and ore deposits of the Sudbury Igneous Complex in Ontario, Canada. As the first complete reference on the subject, this book explores the linkage between the processes of meteorite impact, melt sheet formation, differentiation, sulfide immiscibility and metal collection, and the localization of ores by magmatic and post-magmatic processes. The discovery of new ore deposits requires industry and government scientists and academic scholars to have access to the latest understanding of ore formation process models that link to the mineralization of their host rocks. The ore deposits at Sudbury are one of the world's largest ore systems, representing a classic case study that brings together very diverse datasets and ways of thinking. This book is designed to emphasize concepts that can be applied across a broad range of ore deposit types beyond Sudbury and nickel deposit geology. It is an essential resource for exploration geologists, university researchers, and government scientists, and can be used in rock and mineral analysis, remote sensing, and geophysical applications. - Provides the only reference book to focus entirely on the Sudbury Igneous Complex - Brings together an understanding of ore deposit and impact melts as a basis for future exploration - Authored by a leading expert on the geology of the Sudbury Igneous Complex with 35 years of experience working on nickel sulfide ore deposits