Editorial

Welcome to the second issue of Volume 131 of Applied Earth Science. This issue contains papers focused on a range of different aspects of mineral exploration, the distribution of metals within mineralizing systems, and the processes involved in the formation of mineral deposits. The first of these papers is by Mulja (2022) who focuses on stream sediment geochemical data for the central Aceh area of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, as part of efforts to generate mineral potential maps for this region for hydrothermal Cu–Au mineralisation. The paper by de Oliveira et al. (2022) focuses on the 3D distribution of Cu, Zn, and Pb within the Palmeirópolis volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit, located in Tocantins state, central Brazil. This research links the distribution of metals within this VMS system with the distribution of hosting lithologies and deformation as well as the original mineralising processes, and compares this distribution with other VMS deposits globally. The paper by Raphalalani et al. (2022) focuses on industrial mineralogy, specifically the formation and potential uses of kaolin deposits of the Limpopo province of South Africa. These kaolins formed in a supergene environment and this research determined that they are suitable for use in the manufacturing of thin-walled hollow bricks. The final paper in this issue is by Phelps-Barber et al. (2022), who outline recent pegmatite-hosted spodumene lithium mineralisation in Western Australia. These discoveries have a number of similarities that provide useful exploration criteria as well as outlining the potential for further Archaean pegmatite-hosted lithium discoveries in this region. I’d also just like to highlight current and upcoming editorial opportunities with Applied Earth Science. As I mentioned in my previous editorial we are actively in the process of filling a co-Editor position within the journal and are still accepting applications for this role. More details on the Editor position within Applied Earth Science will be made available later in 2022 – watch this space for more and see you in issue three.