l J. Parnell It is widely documented that concentrations of metal may be associated with diverse organic materials, from living plants and animals through organic-rich sediments to crude oil, solid bitumen/pyrobitumen, and graphite. The signifi­ cance of organic matter in mineralizing processes has been the subject of several special publications, including the proceedings of symposia on Oil and Ore (Garrard 1977), Organics in Ore Deposits (Dean 1986), the Role of Organisms and Organic Matter in Ore Deposition (MacQueen 1985), and Organic Matter in Hydrothermal Systems (Simoneit 1990). Recent research has made notable advances in the use of organic geochemical/pyrolysis data to assess the thermal maturity of ore deposits (e. g. , MacQueen and Powell 1983), the transport of metals in fluids which contain organic compounds (e. g. , Manning 1986), the role of microbiota in fixing metals (e. g. , Morton and Changkakoti 1987) and the nature of sulphate reduction in sulphide ores associated with hydrocarbons (e. g. , Leventhal 1990). The roles of fluid hydro­ carbons in ore metal transport and solid hydrocarbons (bitumens) in ore metal deposition have been reviewed by Manning (1986) and Parnell (1988) respectively. This Volume places emphasis on bitumens; either bitumens which occur in ore deposits, or are enriched in or otherwise associated with metals. Inevitably some accounts describe cases where metals are associated with both bitumens and autochthonous organic matter (kerogen).

Nomenclature and Methodology.- Nomenclature, Classification, Characterization, and Genesis of Natural Solid Bitumen (Migrabitumen).- The Analysis of Organic Matter in Ore Deposits.- Transmission Electron Microscopy of Carbonaceous Matter in Precambrian Shungite from Karelia.- Interpretation of Thermal Mesophase in Vanadiferous Bitumens from Upper Proterozoic Lava Flows (Mïtov, Czechoslovakia).- Petroleum in Modern Hydrothermal Systems.- Hydrothermal Activity and its Effects on Sedimentary Organic Matter.- Hydrocarbons, Sulphides, and Carbonate Deposits Related to Sublacustrine Hydrothermal Seeps in the North Tanganyika Trough, East African Rift.- Bitumens in Precious Metal and Mercury Deposits.- Hydrocarbons and Gold Mineralization in the Hot-Spring Deposit at Cherry Hill, California.- Gold and Other Metals in Graphite.- Noble Metals Associated with Organic Matter, Kupferschiefer, Poland.- Bitumen and Dispersed Organic Matter Related to Mineralization in Stratabound Deposits, South China.- The Association of Cinnabar and Bitumen in Mercury Deposits of the California Coast Ranges.- Bitumens in Uranium/Thorium Deposits.- Bitumens in Uranium Deposits.- Nature and Role of Organic Matter in Sandstone Uranium Deposits, Grants Uranium Region, New Mexico, USA.- Uranium-Hydrocarbon Association in Francevillian Uranium Ore Deposits, Lower Proterozoic of Gabon.- Kerogens and Bitumens in Precambrian Uraniferous Ore Deposits: Witwatersrand, South Africa, Elliot Lake, Canada, and the Natural Fission Reactors, Oklo, Gabon.- Paragenetic Relationships of Vein Pyrobitumen in the Panel Mine, Elliot Lake Uranium District, Ontario, Canada.- Mineralogy of Thoriferous Bitumen Nodules, Northwest Irish Basin.- Organic Matter Associated with Mineralized Reduction Spots in Red Beds.- Bitumens inBase Metal/Manganese Deposits.- Organic Matter (Bitumen and Other Forms) as the Key to Localisation of Mississippi Valley-Type Ores.- Bitumen Associated with Precipitation of Sulphides in Carbonate-Hosted Vein Mineralization, North Greenland.- Geochemical Data for Organic Matter in Stratabound Sulphide and Other Ore Deposits in China.- Organic Matter and its Significance for the Genesis of the Copper-Bearing Shales (Kupferschiefer) from the Fore-Sudetic Monocline (Poland).- Occurrence of Anthraxolite (Bitumen) Spheroids in Xiangtan-Type Manganese Carbonate Deposits of South China.- Applications to Exploration for Metals and Hydrocarbons.- Occurrence and Significance of Metals in Solid Bitumens: An Organic Geochemical Approach.- Metal Enrichments in Bitumens from the Carboniferous of Ireland: Potential in Exploration for Ore Deposits.- Polymerisation of Hydrocarbons by Radioactive Minerals in Sedimentary Rocks: Diagenetic and Economic Significance.- Chemical Age Dating of Hydrocarbon Migration Using Uraniferous Bitumens, Czech-Polish Border Region.