what might a goelogist from a mining company look for in rock masses to identify possible copper deposits?

Answer 1

Veins of copper, chalcopyrite, or oxidized copper streaks (green).

When a copper body is discovered, drilling is undertaken to determine the size and proportion of copper in the orebody zones (i.e. the grade). If the copper ore deposit is typical, it will be described in terms of the number of tonnes (and the grade) of ore in each of the oxide, secondary and primary zones. The tonnes and grade can be multipled together to determine the amount of copper in the deposit, and the processing costs for each zone can be used to determine mine profitability.