Much of my work has been related to hydrothermal alteration of sediments hosting ore deposits. A related research interest has been studies of the sulfide mineralization in sediment-hosted gold deposits. Since the work of Gilluly in the late 1920's, gold mineralization at the Mercur Mine has been assumed to be Tertiary in age and related to intrusion of a rhyolite in the district. However, current studies have shown that the deposit has a very complex thermal history that appears to consist of four events. Although a precise determination of the age of the gold deposit has not yet been achieved, it is clear that gold deposition occurred during the Mesozoic and that the Tertiary igneous activity did not cause mineralization.
Current work is underway to better determine the ages of each event.
Thermal History of the Oquirrh Basin. The research at Mercur has lead to the realization that the sediments of the Oquirrh Basin must have undergone several regional thermal events. Work in the Manning Canyon Shale suggests that at least one of these events may have been caused by tectonically driven hydrothermal alteration. Stable isotope, clay mineral, and structural work is currently being conducted to determine the relationships between hydrothermal clay formation, deformation, and fluid chemistry. Thallium Mineralization at the Mercur Mine Sediment-hosted disseminated gold deposits have long been known to commonly be enriched in thallium and several thallium minerals have been identified as new mineral species from these deposits.