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LITHOEN

Deposit

Neves-Corvo

Also known as Castro Verde, Neves, Corvo, Graca, Zambujal, Lombador

A mineral deposit recorded by the USGS volcanogenic massive sulfide database, at Beja, Portugal. The compilation classifies it as a felsic volcanic host succession. Its reported host rocks are sandstone, shale, jasper, rhyolite-rhyodacite tuff. Minerals reported present include aikinite, alloclasite, ankerite, arsenopyrite, barite, berthierite, betekhtinite, bismuth.

Classification

recognition basis
authoritativeDatabase
realm
europe

What this record is, and who says so

Recognised on the basis of

Authoritative database

A curated deposit database published by a scientific institution, in which inclusion is itself a documented editorial decision with stated criteria.

A deposit is an occurrence of sufficient size and grade that it might, under the most favourable circumstances, be considered to have economic potential. Lithoen records that a named authority made that judgement. It is not a statement that anything here is recoverable, and it is not a resource or a reserve.

How it is interpreted

A deposit is not a mineral system. A source interprets it as an example of one, and interpretations change while the rock does not.

  • Interpreted as an example of Volcanogenic massive sulfide system

    By — Membership of the USGS volcanogenic massive sulfide database, which is a compilation of deposits of this class.

    Inclusion in a compilation of this deposit class is the compilation’s own interpretation of this deposit. It is not an independent genetic study.

Commodities documented here

  • Copper (commodity)documented association

    The compilation reports a grade for this metal at this deposit. Lithoen records the documented association and infers nothing about how it would be worked.

  • Lead (commodity)documented association

    The compilation reports a grade for this metal at this deposit. Lithoen records the documented association and infers nothing about how it would be worked.

  • Silver (commodity)documented association

    The compilation reports a grade for this metal at this deposit. Lithoen records the documented association and infers nothing about how it would be worked.

  • Zinc (commodity)documented association

    The compilation reports a grade for this metal at this deposit. Lithoen records the documented association and infers nothing about how it would be worked.

Reported figures, and what each one is

A sample assay, a deposit average, a compiler total and a reported reserve are different quantities. Each figure below carries which one it is; none of them is a current resource or reserve.

219 Mt

Compiler total, for modelling

A sum assembled by a database compiler from production plus reserves plus resources at the lowest available cut-off, so that deposits can be compared in a grade-and-tonnage model. It is not a resource, not a reserve and not production; it is a modelling quantity, and the USGS databases Lithoen reads define their tonnage exactly this way.

The usgs volcanogenic massive sulfide database reports an ore tonnage of 219.0 million tonnes for Neves-Corvo.

1.47 wt%m Copper

Deposit average

An average grade attributed to a whole deposit by a compiler, over a tonnage defined by that compiler at a stated cut-off. Not a measurement of anything: a summary of an estimate.

The usgs volcanogenic massive sulfide database reports a copper grade of 1.47 weight percent for Neves-Corvo.

0.27 wt%m Lead

Deposit average

An average grade attributed to a whole deposit by a compiler, over a tonnage defined by that compiler at a stated cut-off. Not a measurement of anything: a summary of an estimate.

The usgs volcanogenic massive sulfide database reports a lead grade of 0.27 weight percent for Neves-Corvo.

14 g/t Silver

Deposit average

An average grade attributed to a whole deposit by a compiler, over a tonnage defined by that compiler at a stated cut-off. Not a measurement of anything: a summary of an estimate.

The compilation reports a silver grade of 14.0 grams per tonne of ore for Neves-Corvo. The field is defined as the average grade of silver for the deposit, stated as grams per metric ton of ore.

1.66 wt%m Zinc

Deposit average

An average grade attributed to a whole deposit by a compiler, over a tonnage defined by that compiler at a stated cut-off. Not a measurement of anything: a summary of an estimate.

The usgs volcanogenic massive sulfide database reports a zinc grade of 1.66 weight percent for Neves-Corvo.

The source records behind this

What one row of a published dataset was taken to mean, and why. The original record stays traceable after reconciliation.

  • Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits of the world (USGS OFR 2009-1034), record 665

    Named there
    Neves-Corvo
    The source calls it
    deposit
    Lithoen reads it as
    deposit (stated)

    The usgs volcanogenic massive sulfide database states what one of its rows is, and this row is read as the deposit the compilers named. Its 500-metre rule means any separately named bodies within that distance are already combined here.

    Merged into this row by the compilers: Neves, Corvo, Graca, Zambujal, Lombador. Those names were combined under the dataset’s own two-kilometre rule before Lithoen read it.

    Read and refused

    • grade and tonnage columns with no value — The compilation writes "(no value)" or leaves the field empty where the information was not available. Reading an empty field as zero would publish a measurement nobody made.
    • deposits within 5 km and 10 km columns — Proximity of other deposits is a fact about the compilation’s spatial density, and Lithoen refuses to publish anything that could be read as prospectivity.

How this is mapped

One published representation of where Neves-Corvo is. Each is one interpretation, by one identified source, at one scale — not the shape of the thing itself.

  • Representative point

    Point · 1 positionspreferred for publication

    A single position standing for something that is not a point. It exists so a feature can be shown on a map or listed by location, and it asserts NOTHING about extent. A representative point for a 2,000 km province is a label anchor, not a location.

    A representative point for Neves-Corvo from the USGS volcanogenic massive sulfide database. It marks where the compilation places the deposit; it is not a boundary, not a shaft, and implies nothing about the body's extent.

    Boundary certainty
    ApproximateThe position is known only within a distance much larger than the line width on any map that shows it. Drawing it thinner does not make it better known.
    Status of this geometry
    inferredThe status of the geometry, which need not match the status of what the entity’s claims assert.
    Dataset
    Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits of the world (USGS OFR 2009-1034)Mosier, D.L., Berger, V.I., and Singer, D.A., 2009, Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits of the world: Database and grade and tonnage models: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2009-1034, doi:10.3133/ofr20091034.

    What was done to this geometry

    • By Lithoen — Rounded to 4 decimal places. The compilation computed its decimal degrees from authored degrees-minutes-seconds columns, and the further digits are conversion residue rather than knowledge.
    • Before it reached Lithoen — The compilation computed these decimal degrees from the degrees-minutes-seconds columns its compilers authored.

How this record is known

9
Settled consensus
Cited as the accepted position of the discipline.
1
Interpretation
Reached by reasoning from evidence, or produced by a named model.

10 of 10 claims on this page cite at least one registered source. Counts describe how each statement is known, not how likely it is to be true.

What Lithoen records

Each claim states how it is known and cites its evidence.

Establisheda felsic volcanic host succession

How a source classifies it

The usgs volcanogenic massive sulfide database classifies Neves-Corvo as a felsic volcanic host succession, a classification of the volcanic host succession rather than of the mineralisation.

  • definition basis: Deposit-type field of the USGS volcanogenic massive sulfide database, whose values are enumerated in the dataset itself.
  • assertion basis: SOURCE_CLASSIFICATION

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence 2 sources, single source

Evidence: D.L. 2009 Primary authority

Established1.47 wt%m Copper

Reported for this deposit

The usgs volcanogenic massive sulfide database reports a copper grade of 1.47 weight percent for Neves-Corvo.

  • scope: depositAverage
  • definition basis: Grade as the compilation reports it for this deposit.
  • assertion basis: SOURCE_REPORTED

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence 2 sources, single source

Evidence: D.L. 2009 Primary authority

Establishedsandstone; shale; jasper; rhyolite-rhyodacite tuff

Reported for this deposit

The rocks reported as hosting Neves-Corvo are sandstone, shale, jasper, rhyolite-rhyodacite tuff, as named for this deposit by the USGS volcanogenic massive sulfide database.

  • precision note: The host lithologies are those the compilation names for this deposit. They are not inferred from a class description and not from a point falling inside a mapped polygon.
  • assertion basis: SOURCE_REPORTED

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence 2 sources, single source

Evidence: D.L. 2009 Primary authority

InferredAssociated with submarine volcanic rocks in a volcanic-sedimentary sequence.

Derived by Lithoen

Neves-Corvo is carried by a compilation whose inclusion rule requires a deposit to be associated with submarine volcanic rocks in a sequence of volcanic and sedimentary rocks — lava flows, pyroclastics or volcaniclastic rocks, which need not be the deposit's only host. Its presence here is therefore a statement that it meets that test.

Not stated verbatim by the source — derived: inclusion rule of the compilation AND presence of this deposit as a row in it ⟹ this deposit satisfies the inclusion rule

The compilation states a test a deposit must meet to be carried, and it carries this deposit. The property is therefore not something the source reports of the deposit; it is what its inclusion implies. That step is Lithoen’s and it is a real one — a compiler can include a row in error, and a rule stated for a set is weaker evidence about any member than a statement made about that member. Recording it as a derivation is what keeps the claim from reading as an observation.

  • model: The inclusion rule of the USGS volcanogenic massive sulfide compilation.
  • precision note: This follows from membership of the compilation, not from a study of this deposit’s setting.
  • assertion basis: LITHOEN_DERIVED

Evidence support: Derived from the cited evidence 2 sources, single source

Evidence: D.L. 2009 Primary authority

Established0.27 wt%m Lead

Reported for this deposit

The usgs volcanogenic massive sulfide database reports a lead grade of 0.27 weight percent for Neves-Corvo.

  • scope: depositAverage
  • definition basis: Grade as the compilation reports it for this deposit.
  • assertion basis: SOURCE_REPORTED

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence 2 sources, single source

Evidence: D.L. 2009 Primary authority

Establishedaikinite; alloclasite; ankerite; arsenopyrite; barite; berthierite; betekhtinite; bismuth; bismuthinite; bornite; boulangerite; bournonite; carrollite; cassiterite; chalcopyrite; chlorite; clausthalite; cobaltite; coloradoite; colusite; cosalite; cubanite; donbassite; electrum; enargite; freibergite; galena; glaucodot; gudmundite; horobetsuite; ilmenite; kaolinite; kesterite; kobellite; krupkaite; laitakarite; magnetite; marcasite; mawsonite; meneghinite; miharaite; naumannite; nekrasovite; paraguanajuatite; pekoite; pyrite; pyrrhotite; roquesite; rutile; sericite; siderite; sphalerite; stannite; stannoidite; stromeyerite; tennantite; tetradymite; tetrahedrite; vinciennite; wittichinite

Reported for this deposit

The compilation reports 60 distinct minerals present at Neves-Corvo, of which the first twelve alphabetically are aikinite, alloclasite, ankerite, arsenopyrite, barite, berthierite, betekhtinite, bismuth, bismuthinite, bornite, boulangerite, bournonite. It records presence only: no abundance, no paragenesis and no assay follows from it.

  • precision note: The compilation's mineral table holds 63 entries for this row, 3 of which repeat a name already present; the claim counts 60 distinct minerals and the premise carries every entry as the source wrote it. The prose names 12 because a sentence of 60 mineral names is not readable; the count is stated so the list is never mistaken for the whole. Presence is not abundance, and the alphabetical order carries no paragenetic meaning.
  • source verbatim: The compilation writes “wittichinite” for this row. The IMA-approved species is wittichenite, Cu₃BiS₃. The difference is one letter and the intent is not in doubt, but the value carries what the source wrote.
  • assertion basis: SOURCE_REPORTED

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence 2 sources, single source

Evidence: D.L. 2009 Primary authority

EstablishedRecorded as a deposit by the USGS volcanogenic massive sulfide database, record 665.

How a source classifies it

Neves-Corvo is recorded as a deposit because the USGS volcanogenic massive sulfide database includes it, as record 665. The compilation combines all mineralised rock within 500 metres into one deposit, so that its rows correspond to geological bodies rather than to commercial projects.

  • source record: usgs-vms-deposits-of-the-world record 665
  • assertion basis: SOURCE_CLASSIFICATION

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence 2 sources, single source

Evidence: D.L. 2009 Primary authority

Established14 g/t Silver

Reported for this deposit

The compilation reports a silver grade of 14.0 grams per tonne of ore for Neves-Corvo. The field is defined as the average grade of silver for the deposit, stated as grams per metric ton of ore.

  • scope: depositAverage
  • definition basis: Grade as the compilation reports it for this deposit.
  • precision note: Unit corrected in Phase 9. An earlier version published this figure as 14.0 weight percent, because the bulk ingestion mapped every grade column to weight percent. The compilation defines aggrd as “average grade of silver for the deposit, as grams per metric ton of ore” — copper and molybdenum are percentages in these files, silver and gold are grams per tonne. The published number was overstated by four orders of magnitude, and for several deposits it exceeded 100 percent, which is not a grade any rock can have.
  • assertion basis: SOURCE_REPORTED

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence 2 sources, single source

Evidence: D.L. 2009 Primary authority

Established219 Mt

Reported for this deposit

The usgs volcanogenic massive sulfide database reports an ore tonnage of 219.0 million tonnes for Neves-Corvo.

  • tonnage category: compilerTotalForModelling
  • definition basis: Ore tonnage as the compilation reports it for this deposit, compiled for grade-and-tonnage modelling rather than as a resource statement under a reporting code.
  • assertion basis: SOURCE_REPORTED

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence 2 sources, single source

Evidence: D.L. 2009 Primary authority

Established1.66 wt%m Zinc

Reported for this deposit

The usgs volcanogenic massive sulfide database reports a zinc grade of 1.66 weight percent for Neves-Corvo.

  • scope: depositAverage
  • definition basis: Grade as the compilation reports it for this deposit.
  • assertion basis: SOURCE_REPORTED

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence 2 sources, single source

Evidence: D.L. 2009 Primary authority

In the knowledge graph

Record last updated 2026-09-07. Corrections follow the published corrections policy; superseded claims are retained, never silently edited.