The Important Role of Grass-Roots Exploration in Expanding the Use of Geothermal Energy in the Great Basin, USA

摘要

The metal mining industry is full of examples of where grass-roots (green field) exploration has completely transformed and dramatically increased the known resource and reserve base. In most cases, these dramatic improvements have not been obtained simply by continued development of known resources, but instead have involved exploration for new metal districts and the use of new exploration models. One example is the huge increase in gold mining that the state of Nevada has seen over the last 50 years brought about by grass-roots exploration outside of known districts and the development of new gold deposit models (Carlin-type systems).