This site is supported by Burlinson Geochemical Services Pty.
Ltd., Darwin, N.T., Australia and maintained by Kingsley
Burlinson, B.Sc.
Kingsley is the author of the information on baro-acoustic
decrepitation and carries out research and commercial analyses
using this method at the laboratory in Darwin, NT, Australia.
Kingsley is an exploration geochemist who has been involved with
mineral exploration throughout his career. He is a graduate from
Adelaide University. While active as an exploration geochemist, he
realised that there was potential to use the geochemistry of
ore-forming fluids as an exploration method. This requires the use
of fluid inclusions to understand the ore forming fluids. However,
traditional university courses focus only on the study of a few
fluid inclusions in thin sections, using microthermometry, with
the sole aim of understanding ore genesis rather than using fluid
inclusion data as an exploration method. He realised that a rapid
analytical method giving reproducible results was required, as the
slow and tedious microthermometric data was too subjective and
expensive to use in mineral exploration. Based on the pioneering
use of thermal decrepitation in Canada in the 1950's and
subsequently improved and used in the USSR in the 1970's, he
designed and built a fully automated, microprocessor controlled,
digital instrument to perform baro-acoustic decrepitation analyses
in 1980. A second, improved
model was designed in 1991. Several of these instruments
have been supplied to research laboratories around the world.
Another improved model was
designed in 2017 and further refined in 2018.
Using this instrument he has analysed some 5000 samples from
numerous ore deposits world-wide to establish a comprehensive and
consistent database. This work led to a much more thorough
understanding of the decrepitation of fluid inclusions and to the
realisation that the technique had particular value in detecting the presence of
gas rich fluid inclusions, the gas being predominantly CO2.
Such CO2 rich ore fluids are known to be closely
associated with many ore fluid systems. This work, together with
many advances in understanding the thermodynamics of ore fluids,
has led to the realisation that the early work using decrepitation
in Canada was seriously flawed and so its conclusions, which led
to the demise of the decrepitation method, are incorrect.
Kingsley has always had an active interest in electronics,
particularly digital electronics since the introduction of
microprocessors, and designs electronic equipment. In addition he
has been actively involved with computer programming and support.
He favours Unix and Linux systems which are used for all the data
processing and presentation of the decrepitation analyses and for
operation of this website. He also goes bicycle touring, usually
attending geological conferences and collecting rock samples while
on these tours.
Applied Mineral Exploration
Discussion and research relevant to mineral
exploration.