Metals in the earth's crust are very unevenly distributed and traditionally a small number of
ore deposits districts or countries have dominated the world supply and have influenced
commodity prices. The importance of exceptionally large or rich deposits has greatly
increased in the age of globalization when a small number of international corporations
dominate the metals market based on few very large ore deposits practically anywhere in the
world. Search for giant orebodies thus drives the exploration industry: not only the in-house
teams of large internationals but also hundreds of junior companies hoping to sell their
significant discoveries to the big boys. Geological characteristics of giant metallic deposits
and their setting and the politico-economic constraints of access to and exploitation in
prospective areas have been a hot topic in the past fifteen years but the knowledge generated
and published has been one-sided scattered and fragmented. This is the first comprehensive
book on the subject that provides body of solid facts rather than rapidly changing theories
written by author of the Empirical Metallogeny book series and founder of the Data
Metallogenica visual knowledge system on mineral deposits of the world who has had an almost
40 years long international academic and industrial experience. The book will provide abundant
material for comparative research in metallogeny practical information for the explorationists
as to where to look for the elephants and some inspiration for commodity investors.
