2014 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.
Economic Geology, v. 109, pp. 811
BOOK REVIEW
Ore Deposit Geology. John Ridley. 2013. Cambridge Uni-
versity Press. Cambridge. Pp. 409. ISBN 978-1-107-02222-
5. Hardcover. US$85.00.
There isnt a great choice of ore geology textbooks that are
suitable for an undergraduate to postgraduate audience, so
seeing this new book, Ore Deposit Geology, by John Ridley,
appear on the shelves has caused considerable interest. The
book is aimed at advanced undergraduate to postgraduate
students who already have a broad knowledge of the classic
geological subjects. It was written, as the author states in the
preface, due to the need for us as ore geologists to become
more sophisticated in our scientific approach as ore deposits
become more difficult to find. A worthy cause, but a state-
ment that creates high expectations.
First impressions of the book are goodit is nicely laid
out and has abundant, clearly drawn black-and-white fig-
ures, although there are no color figures or photographs.
The sequence of chapters is entirely logical, which in itself
is an improvement on a number of ore geology texts. After
an introductory chapter that deals with the classification of
ore deposits and the relationship between mineral deposits
and society, chapter 2 describes magmatic ore deposits, with
detailed descriptions of processes such as element partition-
ing and distribution in melts that serve as a foundation for
discussion in many of the later chapters. This books largest
chapteron hydrothermal ore deposits in magmatic and oro-
genic environmentsfollows, with an up-to-date overview of
magmatic hydrothermal systems, including those related to
porphyry, epithermal, skarn, and VMS deposits, and hydro-
thermal systems not spatially associated with magmatism,
including orogenic gold, Carlin-type, and iron oxide copper-
gold (IOCG) deposits. Ores in sedimentary environments are
covered next, followed by a chapter on supergene processes.
The chapters contain discussion boxes that focus on key
issues or give detail on important research techniques. These
are excellent and add depth to many topical areas, such as
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fluid inclusions and Cu transport in porphyry systems, the role
of the mantle on the metal content of magmas and magmatic
hydrothermal fluids, and how long it takes for hydrothermal
ore deposits to form. The author states that he has felt the
need to take a specific viewpoint rather than describe mul-
tiple interpretations for the genesis of some ore types. This
undoubtedly makes the book more concise, but can make
it frustratingly one-sided in places and means that supple-
mentary reading is needed for a complete overview of some
deposit types. The content is of course the prerogative of the
author, but some ore types are given considerably lighter cov-
erage. I would have liked, for example, greater content in the
orogenic gold deposits section, which is rather brief and defi-
nitely requires supplementary reading.
Whilst being aimed at the undergraduate/graduate student,
it is also written with the teacher in mind. The book comes
with an online resources website that provides copies of all
the figures and answers the end-of-chapter questions. It also
claims to have ore and mine photos, cross sections, and mine
maps, but these were not available at the time this review
was written. As a teacher of an ore geology graduate course,
I would definitely suggest that this book is an improvement
on what was previously available. I would say that, generally
speaking, it delivers in its aim to convey a systematic scientific
approach to understanding ore formation and I think, if used
as a course book, it will help develop a generation of students
with solid process-based knowledge of most ore types. The
book will dominantly be read by students and teachers, but
could also be useful for professional geologists wanting a mod-
ern overview of a wide range of ore deposits and ore-forming
processes.
Iain Pitcairn
Department of Geology
Stockholm University
Stockholm, Sweden
December 21, 2013