Metal Flux from Dissolution of Iron Oxide Grain Coatings in Sandstones

Table 2

Metal availability from grain coatings relative to requirements for ore deposits.

Element	Median available (ppm)	Size most sandstone-hosted ore deposits	Available metal in 10^3 km^3	% of available metal in 10^3 km^3 needed for ore deposits	Aquifer volume needed for ore deposits
Cu	6.29	Mean 22 Mt; many 1 Mt	15.73 Mt	140% for 22 Mt; 6% for 1 Mt	1399 km^3 for 22 Mt; 64 km^3 for 1 Mt
U	0.28	0.1 to 10 kt	0.7 Mt	0.01 to 1.4%	0.1 to 14 km^3
V	10.07	1 to 100 kt	25.2 Mt	0.004 to 0.4%	0.04 to 4 km^3
Co	2.35	5 to 500 kt (all ores)	5.88 Mt	0.09 to 8.5%	0.9 to 85 km^3