The Hishikari epithermal gold-silver deposit consists of three deposits, the Main, Sanjin and Yamada deposit. After the statistical analysis of Au/Ag ratio and clay content using assay data from major veins in each deposit, the feature of gold-silver mineralization in the district was divided into 5 types: (1) moderate Au/Ag ratio accompanied with some clay mineralization, (2) low Au/Ag ratio with rare clay mineralization, (3) relatively high Au/Ag with intense clay mineralization, (4) extremely high Au/Ag with some clay mineralization and (5) low Au/Ag ratio with probably intense clay mineralization. The distribution of each mineralization types that applied a threshold of Au/Ag ratio and clay content on whole assay data shows certain structure which possibly reflects the history of mineralization. Similarity of Ar-Ar age (reported in previous works) was also recognized in some sample which belongs to same mineralization type. Type 1 mineralization were widely spread through the deposit, whereas other types of mineralization showed a biased distribution since they were concentrated in certain veins. Type 4 mineralization is assumed to be the earliest mineralization among the deposit, taking place at the center of the Yamada deposit as forming an echelon structure. The Yamada deposit differs from the Honko-Sanjin deposit by the lower average of clay mineral content. However, high clay content mineralization (Type3) was observed in both northeast of the Yamada deposit and southwest of the Honko deposit, suggesting that same mineralization occurred in both deposit at certain stage. Au/Ag ratio and clay content data may be useful for understanding vein structures and the nature of mineralization.

The Mt. Boyce project area covers a part of the Kurnalpi greenstone belt in the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane (EGS) in the Yilgarn craton in Western Australia. The EGS is known as one of the most prospective areas of orogenic-type gold mineralization in the world. A total of 71,462 m of Aircore drillings and five diamond drillings have been completed since the Mt. Boyce tenements were granted in November 2015. Greater than 14 km-long gold anomalous zone was identified in the Mt. Remarkable prospect, northern part of the tenement area. The structural interpretation by using core samples of Aircore holes aided in targeting diamond holes. The diamond drilling successfully intersected gold mineralization and revealed valuable geological information under cover, which improved geology model in the Mt. Remarkable area. Further scout drilling program is now ongoing and the results to date well support the model.

The Frotet property, which has been jointly explored by Kenorland Minerals Ltd. and Sumitomo Metal Mining Canada Ltd., is located in the Frotet-Troilus sector of the Frotet-Evans greenstone belt approximately 120 kilometres north of Chibougamau, Quebec. Frotet-Evans greenstone belt, composed of Archean metamorphic rocks and intrusives, is known to host some gold and base metal deposits. One of the known deposits is Troilus gold deposit located at 5 kilometres north of Frotet property, which produced approximately 2 million ounces of gold in total between 1996 and 2010. A property-wide till and rock geochemical sampling program conducted in 2018 revealed the existence of 13 prospect areas , 4 of which were considered to have excellent potential for gold mineralization: i) Regnault, ii) Chantillon, iii) Cressida and iv) La Fourche. In 2019 field exploration work was focused on in-fill geochemical sampling and follow-up work in these prospects, which revealed that a prospective zone extends NE-SW for over 2.5 kilometres in Regnault prospect. In addition, observations of the boulder samples confirmed silicified alteration of the host rock accompanied by quartz veins and sulfide dissemination with diorite as the host rock, accompanied by Au mineralization. This occurrence is similar to Troilus deposit. Assuming a paleo ice direction towards the south-west, as indicated by glacial landforms, the north-eastern most limit of the gold in till geochemical anomaly represents target for follow-up exploration. A high-resolution drone aerial magnetic survey and ground IP survey that cover the extent of the boulder/till anomaly will be conducted to determine the bedrock source of gold.

In this study, a three-dimensional（3-D） SIP measurement test and a borehole SIP measurement test were performed at a waste disposal site.

In the first test, a 3-D SIP survey and 18 core borings were carried out. We compared the Cole-Cole parameters obtained by the 3D complex resistivity inversion with the metal element analysis of the boring cores. In addition, we tried to create a cross plot using two Cole-Cole parameters, chargeability and time constant, to evaluate the effectiveness of the SIP method in metal resource exploration. As a result, it was confirmed that the type and concentration of the metal elements contained in the underground may be estimated from the characteristics of the Cole-Cole parameter.

In the second test, we installed electrodes in the five boring holes and tried borehole SIP measurements. The complex resistivity structure analyzed from the borehole SIP data was more detailed than the structure from the surface SIP data.It seems that the distribution of the Cole-Cole parameters from a shallow part to a deep part is obtained by analyzing a combination of the surface SIP and the borehole SIP data.

If some boreholes or exploration tunnels to use SIP measurements exist in the exploration area, combining the surface SIP and the borehole SIP method will be able to discover metal ore deposits with higher probability than the conventional IP method.

The mode of occurrences and chemical compositions of spherical copper alloys in the ancient copper smelting

slags from the Naganobori copper mine, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan at lake Asuka, early Nara, middle Nara, late Nara to

early Heian and early Heian periods have been investigated.

Copper alloys in slags of the late Asuka period did not include sulfide, and the chemical compositions of copper alloys

were unform compared with other samples. This may be considered that Cu oxides in supergene sulfide enrichment zone

were used as Cu crude ore at the late Asuka period. In contrast, Cu sulfide was always observed in the rim of Cu alloys,

and copper alloys were composed of Cu-As-Sn, As-Fe bearing Cu and Cu-As-Sb. This indicates clearly that copper sulfides

were used as Cu crude ore after the Asuka period. Furthermore, the chemical composition of copper alloys at early Heian

period was clearly different from samples at Nara period, indicating possibility of the use of Cu sulfides from different Cu

ore deposits.

Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) reported ore reserves calculation results for two seafloor hydrothermal deposits in addition to discoveries of seven new deposits and evaluation results for rare earth elements (REE) contained in seafloor mud since 2014.

As to seafloor hydrothermal deposits consisting of sulfide minerals, footwall of the ore bodies are altered pyroclastic rocks and siltstone accompanied by clay minerals of chlorite, illite, kaolinite, smectite and sulfate minerals. The assay results of vertical drill holes penetrating ore bodies indicate that copper is rich in the lower part, whereas lead, zinc, gold and silver are rich in the upper part. There are differences between the Hakurei site with pyrrhotite in back-arc basin and the Gondou site without pyrrhotite in volcanic front. For example, sulfur fugacity of the formation environment of the Gondou site is similar to a known kuroko deposit, but the fugacity of the Hakurei site is relatively lower.

As to REE in other types of marine deposits such as manganese nodule, cobalt-rich crust and REE-bearing mud, REE contents normalized by seawater show positive anomalies of cerium in common. However, there are differences among them as follows. Positive correlations between the contents of P₂O₅ and total REE exist for REE-bearing mud and manganese nodule, but the correlation is not present for cobalt-rich crust and trend of the positive correlations are different between REE-bearing mud and manganese nodule.