Geochemical exploration in low sulfidation epithermal systems with Simon Griffiths

Geochemical exploration in low sulfidation epithermal systems with Simon Griffiths

From GeOCHemISTea by Sam Scher

September 10, 2025 · 56 min · Season 4 · Episode 9

About this episode

Simon Griffiths discusses geochemical exploration strategies for low-sulfidation epithermal systems.

This month on GeOCHemISTea, we welcome back Simon Griffiths, Principal Consultant at Third Planet Exploration Services, to unpack the geochemical exploration strategies for low-sulfidation epithermal systems. From vein textures to vanadium-rich roscoelite halos, Simon walks us through practical strategies for geochemical targeting and alteration mapping. He shares insights into sampling, spectral workflows, and how roscoelite at Porgera became one of the most reliable vectors to high-grade gold. Plus a wild tale about how an ICP machine was used to crack down on gold theft in the mine lab. For this episode we read: Geology of the Porgera Gold Deposit, Papua New Guinea (Hay et al., 2020)

People in this episode

Host: Sam Scher

Guest: Simon Griffiths

Topics covered

  • geochemical exploration
  • low-sulfidation epithermal systems
  • geochemical targeting
  • alteration mapping
  • gold mining
  • sampling strategies

Keywords

  • geochemical exploration
  • low-sulfidation
  • epithermal systems
  • roscoelite
  • gold theft
  • ICP machine
  • sampling
  • spectral workflows

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Third Planet Exploration Services

Books & works: Geology of the Porgera Gold Deposit, Papua New Guinea

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