Applied mineral exploration methods, hydrothermal fluids, baro-acoustic decrepitation, CO2 rich fluids
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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.