Giant metallic deposits. Future sources of industrial metals / Гигантские месторождения металлических полезных ископаемых. Будущие источники промышленных металлов

As explained in Preface, this book is a selfcontained member of a broader knowledge system on the world's mineral deposits and their settings I have been developing and experimenting with for more than 40 years. It is a product of global firsthand information gathering in the field and "data mining" from the literature, followed by sorting and organization into interrelated sets searchable and accessible by the rapidly evolving techniques of modern information technology. From day one geological tangibles, rocks and ores, have been an important (in fact, fundamental) component of the knowledge system, because of their ability to preserve the "objective and permanent truth" that does not change with continuously mutating concepts. Miniaturization, unique organization and progress in electronic image transfer have made it possible for a reader to instantly move from reading printed information in a traditional book into highresolution displays of images of representative rock/ore sets and site photographs and graphics, all in bright color and continuously updated. If convinced, he or she can even visit and peruse the original material and perform non-destructive tests! This book, in particular, is closely related to three members of the "ore knowledge family" with which it shares the presentation philosophy and some materials such as figures. They are briefly reviewed below <...>