[en] The thermoluminescence of carbonate host rock in the vicinity of known lead-zinc and lead-zinc-fluorite mineralization was reexamined for possible development as an exploration technique. The measurements were made with equipment for determining the thermoluminescence spectrum at closely spaced temperature intervals. Radiation-induced thermoluminescence was also measured. Samples were studied from five localities in Mexico, Southwest Africa, and the United States. Four thermoluminescence properties were found to vary with ''distance-from-ore'' in a systematic manner. These include the glow peak intensity and temperature and the emission spectrum peak energy and full width at half-maximum. For example, in both limestone and dolomite, the high-temperature glow peak intensities are low or negligible within the ore and as the distance from the contact increases the intensity rises rapidly to a maximum, or maxima, and then decreases irregularly to constant value slightly above that in the ore. Depending on the thickness of the ore, the thermoluminescence characteristics associated with the mineralization extended from ten to a hundred or so meters from the ore host rock contact. 5 figures