| Project/Area Number |
22KK0246
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| Research Category |
Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research (A))
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 31020:Earth resource engineering, Energy sciences-related
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| Research Institution | Akita University |
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Principal Investigator |
Manalo Pearlyn 秋田大学, 国際資源学研究科, 助教 (50895480)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2023 – 2025
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| Project Status |
Granted (Fiscal Year 2023)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥15,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥11,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,570,000)
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| Keywords | fluid inclusions / opaque minerals / infrared microscopy / enargite / geochemistry / epithermal gold / laser ablation |
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| Outline of Research at the Start |
This research plans to see through opaque minerals and see the fluids that are trapped inside them. An infrared camera and laser ablation system would be used to access these fluids trapped millions of years ago. These fluids will give us information on how gold and copper deposits formed.
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
We conducted fieldworks to collect enargite samples from the Philippines. We have prepared specimens for petrography, mineral chemistry and fluid inclusion analysis. We observed the different textures of enargite crystals and their associated minerals. We measured the composition of enargite using electron probe microanalyzer and found how tellurium and antimony are distributed within this ore mineral. We conducted infrared fluid inclusion microthermometry under infrared light to measure the homogenization temperature and salinities of the fluids. We also observed how the iron content of enargite affects its transparency in infrared light. Within a sample, enargite shows variations in crystal sizes and morphology. Primary fluid inclusions show a negative-crystal shape and consists of liquid and vapor phases. Gas-rich fluid inclusions also occur. We also measured the volatile contents of the fluid inclusions, where we found that enargite contains elevated CO2 and H2S.
We also measured sulfur and lead isotopic ratios that could potentially give clues on the source of metals and hydrothermal fluid evolution. The recent results have been presented in domestic and international conferences.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
We have collected samples that we planned to collect. Furthermore, some samples that were taken from areas that are currently no longer accessible have been donated by collaborators. This would allow more detailed and systematic spatial constraints on our analyses. We have progressed in understanding the new equipment and we have been developing appropriate methodology in analyzing the samples. We added analyses of lead isotopes of enargite that could give us clues on the metal sources.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
We will continue analysis using the electron microprobe, laser ablation ICPMS and infrared fluid inclusion microthermometry to gather more reliable data and test the reproducibility of the results. We will continue to improve the methodology and report the results in international journals. Sulfur isotopes and lead isotopes of more samples will be added.
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