Lithogeochemical localisation of disseminated gold in the White River area, Yukon, Canada

Gold mineralisation in the White River area, 80 km south of the highly productive Klondike alluvial goldfield, is hosted in amphibolite facies gneisses in the same Permian metamorphic pile as the basement for the Klondike goldfield. Hydrothermal fluid which introduced the gold was controlled by fracture systems associated with middle Cretaceous to early Tertiary extensional faults. Gold deposition occurred where highly fractured and chemically reactive rocks allowed intense water–rock interaction and hydrothermal alteration, with only minor development of quartz veins. Felsic gneisses were sericitised with recrystallisation of hematite and minor arsenic mobility, and extensively pyritised zones contain gold and minor arsenic (ca 10 ppm). Graphitic quartzites (up to 5 wt.% carbon) caused chemical reduction of mineralising fluids, with associated recrystallisation of metamorphic minerals (graphite, pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite) in host rocks and veins, and introduction of arsenic (up to 1 wt.%) to form arsenopyrite in veins and disseminated through host rock. Veins have little or no hydrothermal quartz, and up to 19 wt.% carbon as graphite. Late-stage oxidation of arsenopyrite in some graphitic veins has formed pharmacosiderite. Gold is closely associated with disseminated and vein sulphides in these two rock types, with grades of up to 3 ppm on the metre scale. Other rock types in the White River basement rocks, including biotite gneiss, hornblende gneiss, pyroxenite, and serpentinite, have not developed through-going fracture systems because of their individual mineralogical and rheological characteristics, and hence have been little hydrothermally altered themselves, have little hydrothermal gold, and have restricted flow of fluids through the rock mass. Some small post-metamorphic quartz veins (metre scale) have been intensely fractured and contain abundant gold on fractures (up to 40 ppm), but these are volumetrically minor. The style of gold mineralisation in the White River area is younger than, and distinctly different from, that of the Klondike area. Some of the mineralised zones in the White River area resemble, mineralogically and geochemically, nearby coeval igneous-hosted gold deposits, but this resemblance is superficial only. The White River mineralisation is an entirely new style of Yukon gold deposit, in which host rocks control the mineralogy and geochemistry of disseminated gold, without quartz veins.     

Fluid generation and evolution during exhumation of deeply subducted UHP continental crust: Petrogenesis of composite granite–quartz veins in the Sulu belt,China

Composite granite–quartz veins occur in retrogressed ultrahigh pressure (UHP) eclogite enclosed in gneiss at General's Hill in the central Sulu belt, eastern China. The granite in the veins has a high‐pressure (HP) mineral assemblage of dominantly quartz+phengite+allanite/epidote+garnet that yields pressures of 2.5–2.1 GPa (Si‐in‐phengite barometry) and temperatures of 850–780°C (Ti‐in‐zircon thermometry) at 2.5 GPa (~20°C lower at 2.1 GPa). Zircon overgrowths on inherited cores and new grains of zircon from both components of the composite veins crystallized at c. 221 Ma. This age overlaps the timing of HP retrograde recrystallization dated at 225–215 Ma from multiple localities in the Sulu belt, consistent with the HP conditions retrieved from the granite. The ε_Hf(t) values of new zircon from both components of the composite veins and the Sr–Nd isotope compositions of the granite consistently lie between values for gneiss and eclogite, whereas δ¹⁸O values of new zircon are similar in the veins and the crustal rocks. These data are consistent with zircon growth from a blended fluid generated internally within the gneiss and the eclogite, without any ingress of fluid from an external source. However, at the peak metamorphic pressure, which could have reached 7 GPa, the rocks were likely fluid absent. During initial exhumation under UHP conditions, exsolution of H₂O from nominally anhydrous minerals generated a grain boundary supercritical fluid in both gneiss and eclogite. As exhumation progressed, the volume of fluid increased allowing it to migrate by diffusing porous flow from grain boundaries into channels and drain from the dominant gneiss through the subordinate eclogite. This produced a blended fluid intermediate in its isotope composition between the two end‐members, as recorded by the composite veins. During exhumation from UHP (coesite) eclogite to HP (quartz) eclogite facies conditions, the supercritical fluid evolved by dissolution of the silicate mineral matrix, becoming increasingly solute‐rich, more ‘granitic’ and more viscous until it became trapped. As crystallization began by diffusive loss of H₂O to the host eclogite concomitant with ongoing exhumation of the crust, the trapped supercritical fluid intersected the solvus for the granite–H₂O system, allowing phase separation and formation of the composite granite–quartz veins. Subsequently, during the transition from HP eclogite to amphibolite facies conditions, minor phengite breakdown melting is recorded in both the granite and the gneiss by K‐feldspar+plagioclase+biotite aggregates located around phengite and by K‐feldspar veinlets along grain boundaries. Phase equilibria modelling of the granite indicates that this late‐stage melting records P–T conditions towards the end of the exhumation, with the subsolidus assemblage yielding 0.7–1.1 GPa at <670°C. Thus, the composite granite–quartz veins represent a rare example of a natural system recording how the fluid phase evolved during exhumation of continental crust. The successive availability of different fluid phases attending retrograde metamorphism from UHP eclogite to amphibolite facies conditions will affect the transport of trace elements through the continental crust and the role of these fluids as metasomatic agents interacting with the mantle wedge in the subduction channel.     

Melting-induced fluid flow during exhumation of gneisses of the Sulu ultrahigh-pressure terrane

Hydrothermally altered rocks are products of fluid–rock interactions, and typically preserve numerous quartz veins that formed as chemical precipitates from fluids that fill up cracks. Thus, quartz veins are the record of the fluid system that involved fracture flow in the direction of changing temperature or pressure. In order to decipher the fluid activity in the Sulu ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane in eastern China, quartz veins together with an adjacent eclogite lens and the host gneiss were studied. In one location a deformed quartz vein is located at the boundary between the host gneiss and the eclogite lens. The amphibolite-facies overprinting of the eclogite lens decreases from the rim to the core of the lens, with fresh eclogite preserved in the core. The foliated biotite gneiss contains felsic veins and residual phengites. Zircon rims from the gneiss are characterized by melt-related signatures with steep HREE patterns, high Hf contents and negative Eu anomalies, and a pool of weighted average ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U analyses reveal an age of 219 ± 3 Ma (2σ), which is younger than the UHP metamorphic age (236 ± 2 Ma, 2σ) recorded by zircons from the eclogite lens. This suggests that the gneiss in the Sulu UHP terrane could have suffered from partial melting due to phengite dehydration during the “hot” exhumation stage.The formation age of the quartz vein (219 ± 2 Ma, 2σ) defined by zircon rims agrees well with the partial melting time (219 ± 3 Ma, 2σ) of the host gneiss. The initial ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf ratios of zircon rims from the quartz vein are obviously lower than zircons from the eclogite lens, but overlap with the coeval zircon domains from the nearby granite dikes produced by partial melting of orthogneiss. These observations suggest that the quartz vein and corresponding fluid flow could be associated with partial melting of the host gneiss. On the other hand, amphibole-bearing and HREE-rich zircon rims from the amphibolite pool an amphibolite-facies metamorphic age of 217 ± 5 Ma (2σ), overlap with the formation age of the quartz vein. This implies that retrogression of the eclogite lens could have been caused by melting-induced fluid flow. Based on the above observations, we speculate that partial melting of the gneiss in the continental subduction-related UHP belt could have induced a significant fluid flow during the exhumation stage, and thus contributed significantly to the extensive retrogression of eclogites in the Sulu UHP terrane.     

Mineral chemistry of tourmaline from Mashak Pahar,South Purulia Shear Zone (SPSZ), eastern Indian Shield

The area of investigation at and around Mashak Pahar, Bankura district, West Bengal, India comprises a number of rock types namely: granite gneiss, migmatized quartz tourmaline gneiss, quartz pebble conglomerate, ferruginous quartzite, quartz tourmaline veins (as veins) and graphite schists. Interestingly, the study area lies in the region extending South Purulia Shear Zone (～Tamar–Porapahar Shear Zone) which marks the boundary between two contrasting tectonic blocks of eastern India, namely, the Chhotanagpur Gneissic Terrane (CGC) to the north and Singhbhum Group of rocks to the south. The rocks of the study area are poly-phasedly deformed by three phases of folding, namely, F₁, F₂ and F₃. All the tourmalines are classified to be of ‘Alkali Group’. Chemistry of tourmalines from migmatized quartz tourmaline gneiss and those from quartz tourmaline veins are in conformity with their relation to (earthquake induced) shear system evolution in this terrain. In general, the compositional evolution of tourmaline during prograde metamorphism (～400°–730°C) has been supported by both petrographic and chemical evidences. Assessment of mineral–chemical data of constituent tourmaline grains clearly suggests compositional variations across zonal boundaries within tourmaline that was controlled by changing metamorphic milieu in this terrane. Field and petrographic evidences clearly indicate activation of earlier and later shears in this region accompanied by infiltration of boron and formation of zoned tourmaline crystals.     

The Commonwealth, ‘development’ and post-colonial responsibility

One important (though often neglected) part of the ‘development business’ committed to principles of partnership is the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 54 independent countries, almost all of which were formerly under British rule. This paper focuses on the Commonwealth’s contemporary sense of ‘responsibility’ for shaping African development through ‘partnership’ and by promoting ‘good governance’ and examines the particular example of Mozambique, which joined the Commonwealth in 1995. In exploring exactly what membership of this post-colonial ‘family’ has meant for Mozambique the paper explores the neocolonial paternalism and sense of trusteeship that the Commonwealth has articulated in its often very apolitical vision of African development which seems to lock the continent into a permanent stage of tutelage and to repetitively reduce Africa to a set of core deficiencies for which externally generated ‘solutions’ must be devised. More generally, the paper also examines the wider context of the Commonwealth’s involvement in Africa by looking at the connections it has made to British industry, British charities and the British Department for International Development (DFID). The paper concludes with an assessment of the ‘showcase’ potential of Mozambique and its importance to Commonwealth and DFID narrations of an African ‘success’ story of peace, stability and growth since the end of the country’s devastating civil war in 1992.     

New aspects and perspectives on tsavorite deposits

Tsavorite, the vanadian variety of green grossular, is a high value economic gemstone. It is hosted exclusively in the metasedimentary formations from the Neoproterozoic Metamorphic Mozambique Belt. The deposits are mined in Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar and other occurrences are located in Pakistan and East Antarctica. They are located within metasomatized graphitic rocks such as graphitic gneiss and calc-silicates, intercalated with meta-evaporites. Tsavorite is found as primary deposits either in nodule (type I) or in quartz vein (type II), and in placers (type III). The primary mineralizations (types I and II) are controlled by lithostratigraphy and/or structure. For the African occurrences, the protoliths of the host-rocks were deposited at the beginning of the Neoproterozoic within a marine coastal sabkha environment, located at the margin of the Congo–Kalahari cratons in the Mozambique Ocean. During the East African–Antarctican Orogeny, the rocks underwent high amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism and the formation of tsavorite deposits occurred between 650 and 550 Ma. The nodules of tsavorite were formed during prograde metamorphism, calcium coming from sulphates and carbonates, whereas alumina, silicates, vanadium and chromium probably came from clays and chlorite. The veins were formed during the deformation of the metasedimentary platform units which experienced shearing, leading to the formation of fault-filled veins. Metasomatism developed during retrograde metamorphism. The metasedimentary sequences are characterized by the presence of evaporitic minerals such as gypsum and anhydrite, and scapolite. Evaporites are essential as they provide calcium and permit the mobilization of all the chemical elements for tsavorite formation. The H₂S–S₈ metamorphic fluids characterized in primary fluid inclusions of tsavorites and the δ¹¹B values of coeval dravite confirm the evaporitic origin of the fluids. The V₂O₃ and Cr₂O₃ contents of tsavorite range respectively from 0.05 to 7.5 wt.%, while their δ¹⁸O values are in the range of 9.5–21.1‰. The genetic model proposed for tsavorite is metamorphic, based on chemical reactions developed between an initial assemblage composed of gypsum and anhydrite, carbonates and organic matter deposited in a sabkha-like sedimentary basin.     

Investigating high zircon concentrations in the fine fraction of stream sediments draining the Pan-African Dahomeyan Terrane in Nigeria

Sixteen hundred stream sediments (<150 μm fraction) collected during regional geochemical surveys in central and SW Nigeria have high median and maximum concentrations of Zr that exceed corresponding Zr concentrations found in stream sediments collected from elsewhere in the World with similar bedrock geology. X-ray diffraction studies on a sub-set of the analysed stream sediments showed that Zr is predominantly found in detrital zircon grains. However, the main proximal source rocks (Pan-African ‘Older Granites’ of Nigeria and their Proterozoic migmatitic gneiss country rocks) are not enriched in zircon (or Zr). Nevertheless, U–Pb LA-ICP-MS dating with cathodoluminescence imaging on detrital zircons, both from stream sediment samples and underlying Pan-African ‘Older Granites’ confirms a local bedrock source for the stream sediment zircons. A combination of tropical/chemical weathering and continuous physical weathering, both by ‘wet season’ flash flooding and ‘dry season’ unidirectional winds are interpreted to have effectively broken down bedrock silicate minerals and removed much of the resultant clay phases, thereby increasing the Zr contents in stream sediments. The strong correlation between winnowing index (Th/Al) and Zr concentration across the study area support this interpretation. Therefore, ‘anomalous’ high values of Zr, as well as other elements concentrated in resistant ‘heavy’ minerals in Nigeria’s streams may not reflect proximal bedrock concentrations of these elements. This conclusion has important implications for using stream sediment chemistry as an exploration tool in Nigeria for primary metal deposits associated with heavy minerals.     

Paleoproterozoic gold deposits in the Bald Hill and Coyote areas, Western Tanami, Western Australia

Significant gold deposits in the western Tanami region of Western Australia include deposits in the Bald Hill and Coyote areas. The ca. 1,864 Ma Bald Hill sequence of turbiditic and mafic volcanic rocks hosts the Kookaburra and Sandpiper deposits and a number of smaller prospects. The ca. 1,835 Ma turbiditic Killi Killi Formation hosts the Coyote deposit and several nearby prospects. The Kookaburra deposit forms as a saddle reef within a syncline, and the Sandpiper deposit is localized within graphitic metasedimentary rocks along a limb of an anticline. Gold in these deposits is hosted by anastomosing quartz–(–pyrite–arsenopyrite) veins within quartz–sericite schist with disseminated arsenopyrite, pyrite, and marcasite (after pyrrhotite). Based on relative timing relationships with structural elements, the auriferous veins are interpreted to have been emplaced before or during the ca. 1,835–1,825 Ma Tanami Orogeny (regional D₁). Gold deposition is thought to have been caused by pressure drops associated with saddle reef formation (Kookaburra) and chemical reactions with graphitic rocks (Sandpiper). The Coyote deposit, the largest in the western Tanami region, consists of a number of ore lenses localized along the limbs of the Coyote Anticline, which formed during the Tanami Orogeny. The largest lenses are associated with the Gonzalez Fault, which is located along the steeply dipping southern limb of this fold. Gold was introduced at ca. 1,790 Ma into dilatant zones that formed in local perturbations along this fault during later reactivation (regional D₅) towards the end of a period of granite emplacement. Gold is associated with quartz–chlorite–pyrite–(arsenopyrite–galena–sphalerite) veins with narrow (<?5 mm) chloritic selvages. A quartz–muscovite–biotite–K–feldspar–(tourmaline–actinolite–arsenopyrite) assemblage, which is interpreted to relate to granite emplacement, overprints the regional greenschist facies metamorphic assemblage. The mineralogical similarity between this overprinting assemblage and the vein assemblage suggests that the auriferous veins at the Coyote deposit are associated with the granite-related metamorphic–metasomatic assemblage. Gold deposition is thought to have been caused by pressure drops within dilatant zones.     

Synmetamorphic carbon mobility and graphite enrichment in metaturbidites as a precursor to orogenic gold mineralisation, Otago Schist, New Zealand

The Macraes orogenic gold deposit is hosted by a graphitic micaceous schist containing auriferous porphyroblastic sulphides. The host rock resembles zones of unmineralised micaceous graphitic pyritic schists, derived from argillaceous protoliths, that occur locally in background pelitic Otago Schist metasediments. This study was aimed at determining the relationship between these similar rock types, and whether the relationship had implications for ore formation. Argillites in the protolith turbidites of the Otago Schist metamorphic belt contain minor amounts of detrital organic matter (<0.1 wt.%) and diagenetic pyrite (<0.3 wt.% S). The detrital organic carbon was mobilised by metamorphic–hydrothermal fluids and redeposited as graphite in low-grade metaturbidites (pumpellyite–actinolite and greenschist facies). This carbon mobility occurred through >50 million years of evolution of the metamorphic belt, from development of sheared argillite in the Jurassic, to postmetamorphic ductile extension in the Cretaceous. Introduced graphite is structurally controlled and occurs with metamorphic muscovite and chlorite as veins and slicken-sided shears, with some veins having >50% noncarbonate carbon. Graphitic foliation seams in low-grade micaceous schist and metamorphic quartz veins contain equant graphite porphyroblasts up to 2 mm across that are composed of crystallographically homogeneous graphite crystals. Graphite reflectance is anisotropic and ranges from ~1% to ~8% (green light). Texturally similar porphyroblastic pyrite has grown in micaceous schist (up to 10 wt.% S), metamorphic quartz veins and associated muscovite-rich shears. These pyritic schists are weakly enriched in arsenic (up to 60 ppm). The low-grade metamorphic mobility and concentration of graphite in micaceous schists is interpreted to be a precursor process that structurally and geochemically prepared parts of the Otago Schist belt for later (more restricted) gold mineralisation. Economic amounts of gold, and associated arsenic, were subsequently introduced to carbonaceous sulphidic schists in the Macraes gold deposit by a separate metamorphic fluid derived from high-grade metaturbidites. Fluid flow at all stages in these processes occurred at metamorphic rates (mm/year), and fluids were broadly in equilibrium with the rocks through which they were passing.     

The role of decarbonization and structure in the Callie gold deposit, Tanami Region of northern Australia

The Callie deposit is the largest (6.0 Moz Au) of several gold deposits in the Dead Bullock Soak goldfield of the Northern Territory’s Tanami Region, 550 km northwest of Alice Springs. The Callie ore lies within corridors, up to 180 m wide, of sheeted en echelon quartz veins where they intersect the 500-m-wide hinge of an ESE-plunging F₁ anticlinorium. The host rocks are the Blake beds, of the Paleoproterozoic Dead Bullock Formation, which consist of a > 350-m-thick sequence of lower greenschist facies graphitic turbidites and mudstones overlying in excess of 100 m of thickly bedded siltstones and fine sandstones. The rocks are Fe-rich and dominated by assemblages of chlorite and biotite, both of which are of hydrothermal and metamorphic origin. A fundamental characteristic of the hydrothermal alteration is the removal of graphite, a process which is associated with bleaching and the development of bedding-parallel bands of coarse biotite augen. Gold is found only in quartz veins and only where they cut decarbonized chloritic rock with abundant biotite augen and no sulfide minerals. Auriferous quartz veins differ from barren quartz veins by the presence of ilmenite, apatite, xenotime, and gold and the absence of sulfide minerals. The assemblage of gold–ilmenite–apatite–xenotime indicates a linked genesis and mobility of Ti, P, and Y in the mineralizing fluids. Geochemical analysis of samples throughout the deposit shows that gold only occurs in sedimentary rocks with high FeO/(FeO+Fe₂O₃) and low C/(C+CO₂) ratios (> 0.8 and < 0.2, respectively). This association can be explained by reactions that convert C from reduced graphitic host rocks into CO₂ and reduce ferric iron in the host rocks to ferrous iron in biotite and chlorite. These reactions would increase the CO₂ content of the fluid, facilitating the transport of Ti, P, and Y from the host rocks into the veins. Both CO₂ and CH₄ produced by reaction of H₂O with graphite, effervesced under the lower confining pressures in the veins. This would have partitioned H₂S into the vapor phase, destabilizing Au–bisulfide complexes; the loss of CO₂ and H₂S from the aqueous phase caused precipitation of gold, ilmenite, apatite, and xenotime. It is proposed that this process was the main control on gold precipitation. Oxidization of iron in the very reduced wall rocks, resulting in reduction of the fluid, provided a second mechanism of gold precipitation in previously decarbonized rocks, contributing to the high grades in some samples. Although sulfide minerals, especially arsenopyrite, did form during the hydrothermal event, host rock sulfidation reactions did not play a role in gold precipitation because gold is absent near rocks or veins containing sulfide minerals. Sulfide minerals likely formed by different mechanisms from those associated with gold deposition. Both the fold architecture and subsequent spatially coincident sinistral semibrittle shearing ensured that the ore fluids were strongly focused into the hinges of the anticlines. Within the anticlines, a reactive cap of fine-grained, graphitic, reduced Fe-rich turbidites above more permeable siltstones and fine sandstones impeded fluid flow ensuring efficient removal of graphite, and the associated effervescence of CO₂ from the fluid caused the precipitation of gold. Exploration for similar deposits should focus on the intersection of east–west shear zones with folds and Fe-rich graphitic host rocks.     

40^Ar／39^Ar Ages of Auriferous Quartz Veins from the Fengyang and Zhangbaling Regions and Their Geological Significance

Geotectonically the Fengyang and Zhangbaling regions belong to the North China craton and the Dabie-Sulu oragene, respectively. Neo-Archean gneiss and amphibolite and metamor-phosed sea-facies sodic volcanic rocks axe the main outcrops in the two regions, respectively. The Zhangbaling terrane strike-skipped along the Tancheng-Lujiang fault zone in Mesozoic and Cenozo-ic eras and got close to the Fengyang terrane. Mesozoic Yanshanian intrusions occur broadly in thetwo regions. Gold-beating quartz veins occur in the metamorphic rocks in the Fengyang region and in the granodiorite and metamorphosed sea-facies sodic volcanic rocks in the Zhanghaling region.Generally, the formation of the auriferous quartz veins involved three stages. At the first stage,gold-poor sulfide quartz veins were formed; at the second stage gold-rich quartz sulfide veins wereformed; and at the third stage gold-poor barite and/or carbonate veins were formed. The 40^Ar/29^Ar step-heating plateau ages of the first-stage and the second-stage quartz aggregates from the Zhuding, Maoshan and Shangeheng gold deposits range between 116.1 0.6 Ma and 118.3 0.5 Ma and are pretty close to their least apparent ages and isoehronal ages, respectively. All plat-eau, least apparent and isoehronal ages range between 113.4 0.4 Ma and 118.3 0.5 Ma,which are considered as the formation age range of the quartz. It is reasonable and reliable to takethe 40^Ar/39^Ar age range of the quartz as the formation age range of gold-bearing quartz veins onthe basis of spatial relationship between gold-bearing quartz veins and their country rocks. Thegold deposits in the two regions were formed in Aptian, Cretaceous, when the Tancheng-Lujiangfault zone moved as a normal fault with slightly right-lateral strike-skip, was extensional and expe-rienced very strong magnmtic process. It is shown that the magnmtic hydrothermal fluid is a veryimportant part of the gold ore-forming hydrothermal fluid in the Fengyang and Zhanghaling re-gions. The formation of the gold ore deposits in the Fengyang and Zhanghaling regions had genetic relations with the extensional movement of the Tancheng-Lujiang fault zone and magmatic activities and took place under the extensional dynamic condition in Late Cretaceous. Therefore, the exten-sional movement of the Tancheng-Lujiang fault zone presented the energy and space for magmatic and gold ore-forming processes.     

The geology of the Taparko gold deposit, Birimian greenstone belt, Burkina Faso, West Africa

The Taparko gold deposit, located in the eastern branch of the Proterozoic Birimian Bouroum-Yalogo greenstone belt (Burkina Faso) consists of a network of quartz veins developed in a N 170° trending shear zone (250 m wide, 4 km long) superimposed on the regional Birimian structural pattern. The quartz vein network is composed of: (a) a dominant array of quartz veins (type 1), parallel to the shear zone and comprising strongly deformed dark quartz exhibiting foliation, layering, ribbon, tension gashes, etc.; (b) oblique and subparallel related veins (type 2) of gray to white weakly deformed quartz crosscutting the dominant quartz veins resulting in breccia structures; and (c) shallow dipping veins (type 3), cross-cutting veins types 1 and 2 and filled by undeformed white buck structure quartz. Cross-cutting relationships and different quartz types in different veins and within individual veins imply a concomitant filling of the veins during the progressive deformation. Initial sinistral transcurrent shearing evolved with time to sinistral reverse shearing. Metallic minerals occur only in type 1 and 2 veins and were deposited in two stages, with native gold being related to second stage sulfides. Gold (and chalcopyrite) precipitated preferentially upon the surfaces of fractured pyrite grains in low-pressure sites (pressure shadow zones) around and/or within the sulfide grains (along subsequently annealed fractures). The formation of the South Taparko deposit can be divided into a succession of events: (a) during the first event, N 170°-directed sinistral transcurrent shearing resulted in a N 20° mylonitic foliation and fractured rock which allowed H₂O-, CO₂- and SiO₂-rich fluids to circulate and deposit quartz with buck texture; (b) during the second event, type 1 quartz was strongly deformed and type 2 veins formed with sigmoidal shapes as viewed on a horizontal plane; and (c) during the third event, the sinistral transcurrent shearing evolved to sinistral reverse shearing and the deformation style evolved correspondingly from ductile to brittle-ductile. During the last phase of deformation gold nucleated and deposited in low-pressure zones. Received: 9 July 1997 / Accepted: 23 March 1998     

Geology and Gold Mineralization in the Pan-African Rocks of the Adola Area, Southern Ethiopia

Primary and placer gold deposits are mined from the Pan-African Adola volcano-sedimentary sequence, in southern Ethiopia. Two major mineralized belts can be recognized: the Megado (‘Gold Belt’) and the Kenticha Belts. The Kenticha Belt is also known for its rare metal mineralization. Extensive exploration of the area resulted in two most important primary gold deposits of Lega Dembi and Sakaro. The primary gold deposits are classified into four classes based on their geological setting:

- auriferous veins, lodes, stockworks and silicified zones disseminated in schistose rocks

- gold associated with quartzite

- gold mineralization confined to conglomerates and meta-arkoses

- auriferous quartz veins in high grade gneiss rocks

This classification provides a useful guide for future exploration programme     

Trace element partitioning during high-P partial melting and melt-rock interaction; an example from northern Fiordland, New Zealand

Pods of granulite facies dioritic gneiss in the Pembroke Valley, Milford Sound, New Zealand, preserve peritectic garnet surrounded by trondhjemitic leucosome and vein networks, that are evidence of high‐P partial melting. Garnet‐bearing trondhjemitic veins extend into host gabbroic gneiss, where they are spatially linked with the recrystallization of comparatively low‐P two‐pyroxene‐hornblende granulite to fine‐grained high‐P garnet granulite assemblages in garnet reaction zones. New data acquired using a Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (LA‐ICPMS) for minerals in various textural settings indicate differences in the partitioning of trace elements in the transition of the two rock types to garnet granulite, mostly due to the presence or absence of clinozoisite. Garnet in the garnet reaction zone (gabbroic gneiss) has a distinct trace element pattern, inherited from reactant gabbroic gneiss hornblende. Peritectic garnet in the dioritic gneiss and garnet in trondhjemitic veins from the Pembroke Granulite have trace element patterns inherited from the melt‐producing reaction in the dioritic gneiss. The distinct trace element patterns of garnet link the trondhjemitic veins geochemically to sites of partial melting in the dioritic gneiss.     

Mesothermal gold vein mineralization of the Samdong mine,Youngdong mining district,Republic of Korea

Mesothermal gold mineralization at the Samdong mine (5.5–13.5 g/ton Au), Youngdong mining district, is situated in massive quartz veins up to 1.2 m wide which fill fault fractures within upper amphibolite to epidote-amphibolite facies, Precambrian-banded biotite gneiss. The veins are mineralogically simple, consisting of iron- and base-metal sulfides and electrum, and are associated with weak hydrothermal alteration zones (<0.5 m wide) characterized by silicification and sericitization. Fluid inclusion data and equilibrium thermodynamic interpretation of mineral assemblages indicate that the quartz veins were formed at temperatures between 425 and 190°C from relatively dilute aqueous fluids (4.5–13.8 wt. % equiv NaCl) containing variable amounts of CO₂ and CH₄. Evidence of fluid unmixing (CO₂ effervescence) during the early vein formation indicates approximate pressures of 1.3–1.9 kbars, corresponding to minimum depths of 5–7 km under a purely lithostatic pressure regime. Gold deposition occurred mainly at temperatures between 345 and 240 °C, likely due to decreases in sulfur activity accompanying fluid unmixing. The ³⁴S values of sulfide minerals (-3.0 to 5.3 ), and the measured and calculated O-H isotope compositions of ore fluids (¹⁸O = 5.7 to 7.6; = –74 to –80) indicate that mesothermal gold mineralization at the Samdong mine may have formed from dominantly magmatic hydrothermal fluids, possibly related to intrusion of the nearby ilmenite-series, Kimcheon Granite of Late Jurassic age.     

Infiltration-driven dehydration and anatexis in granulite facies metagabbro, Grenville Province, Ontario, Canada

Dark hornblende + garnet-rich, quartz-absent metagabbro boudins from the Seguin subdomain, Ontario Grenville Province, are transected by anastomosing light-coloured veins rich in orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, plagioclase and sometimes quartz. The veins vary in texture from fine-grained diffuse veins and patches that overprint the metagabbro, to coarse tonalitic leucosomes with sharp borders. The diffuse veins and patches are suggestive of channellized subsolidus dehydration of the metagabbro, while the tonalitic leucosomes are suggestive of local internally-derived anatexis. All vein types grade smoothly into each other, with the tonalitic leucosomes being the latest.
Relative to the host metagabbro, the veins have higher Si, Na, Ba & Sr, lower Fe, Mg, Ca & Ti, and similar Al. The coarser veins are enriched in K. Plagioclase becomes steadily enriched in Na in the transition from host metagabbro (An₄₇) to the veins (An₃₅), and in the coarsest veins it is antiperthitic. Differences in composition of the other minerals between host metagabbro and vein are minor. Pressure–temperature estimates are scattered, but indicate a minimum temperature during vein formation of 700°C at about 8 kbar.
Mass balance constraints indicate that the veins formed from the metagabbro in an open system. The transecting veins are interpreted to represent pathways of Si + Na + Ba + Sr ± K ± Al-enriched, low a _H2O fluids that metasomatized the host metagabbro to form the anhydrous veins. An initial period of localized solid-state dehydration of the metagabbro, represented by the diffuse veins, was followed by a transition to localized anatexis, represented by the tonalitic leucosomes. The change to anatexis may have been due to the addition of K to the infiltrating fluid. The source and delivery mechanism of the fluids is unknown.     

Geological Evolution of Selected Granitic Pegmatites in Myanmar (Burma): Constraints from Regional Setting,Lithology, and Fluid-Inclusion Studies

Pegmatite deposits commonly occur in the 1500 km long, N-S-trending, tungstentin-bearing granitoid belt in Myanmar. Pegmatites are emplaced as veins and dikes that cut granitoid, migmatite, granitoid gneiss, gneiss, and schist. The pegmatite veins and dikes are mostly 2 to 5 meters wide and 30 to 150 meters long, and some are traceable over a distance of 300 meters.

The pegmatites are composed of quartz, orthoclase, albite, microcline microperthite, and muscovite, with minor biotite, tourmaline, beryl, garnet, topaz, lepidolite, magnetite, wolframite, cassiterite, and rare columbite. They are commonly zoned, feldspars and muscovite being more abundant in the center and quartz more common at the margin. The zoning pattern is rather distinct in the pegmatite body, where tourmaline is present. The light-colored felsic minerals are confined to the core zone and the dark-colored tourmaline crystals to the outer zone.

Numerous fluid inclusions have been found in quartz, topaz, and beryl. Most of the inclusions are rounded to elliptical, with a variable degree of liquid filling. All inclusions are aqueous, two-phase (liquid and vapor) inclusions with no daughter minerals. Homogenization temperatures of 173 fluid inclusions were measured in this study.

Geothermometric studies indicate that the pegmatites were formed over a homogeniza-tion temperature range of 230° to 410°C. Salinities of fluid inclusions in pegmatite minerals yielded from 1.0 to 10.8 NaCl equiv. wt‰. Topaz and quartz single crystals (several cm across) from the Sakangyi pegmatite provide an opportunity to extract the fluids trapped in these minerals. The Na/K ratios of the fluid inclusions in two topaz samples were 3.0 to 4.9, and those of two quartz samples were 2.9 to 10.5, suggesting the presence of substantial potassium in the pegmatite-forming fluids. In this study, evidence for phase separation of the pegmatite-forming fluids was not observed. The post-magmatic, hydrothermal fluids responsible for the pegmatite veins evidently emanated from cooling S-type granitoids, with which they are spatially associated.     

Characteristic Features of REE and Pb–Zn–Ag Mineralizations in the Na Son Deposit,Northeastern Vietnam

The Na Son deposit is a small‐scale Pb–ZnPb–Zn–Ag deposit in northeast Vietnam and consists of biotite–chlorite schist, reddish altered rocks, quartz veins and syenite. The biotite–chlorite schist is intruded by syenite. Reddish altered rocks occur as an alteration halo between the biotite–allanite‐bearing quartz veins and the biotite–chlorite schist. Allanite occurs in the biotite–allanite‐bearing quartz veins and in the proximal reddish altered rocks. Rare earth element (REE) fluorocarbonate minerals occur along fractures or at rim of allanite crystals. The later horizontal aggregates of sulfide veins and veinlets cut the earlier reddish altered rocks. The earlier Pb–Zn veins consist of a large amount of galena and lesser amounts of sphalerite, pyrite and molybdenite. The later Cu veins cutting the Pb–Zn veins include chalcopyrite and lesser amounts of tetrahedrite and pyrite. The occurrences of two‐phase H₂O–CO₂ fluid inclusions in quartz from biotite–allanite‐bearing quartz veins and REE‐bearing fluorocarbonate minerals in allanite suggest the presence of CO₂ and F in the hydrothermal fluid. The oxygen isotopic ratios of the reddish altered rocks, biotite–chlorite schist, and syenite range from +13.9 to +14.9 ‰, +11.5 to +13.3 ‰, and +10.1 to +11.6 ‰, respectively. Assuming an isotopic equilibrium between quartz (+14.6 to +15.8 ‰) and biotite (+8.6 ‰) in the biotite–allanite‐bearing quartz vein, formation temperature was estimated to be 400°C. At 400°C, δ¹⁸O values of the hydrothermal fluid in equilibrium with quartz and biotite range from +10.5 to +11.7 ‰. These δ¹⁸O values are consistent with fluid that is derived from metamorphism. Assuming an isotopic equilibrium between galena (+1.5 to +1.7 ‰) and chalcopyrite (+3.4 ‰), the formation temperature was estimated to be approximately 300°C. The formation temperature of the Na Son deposit decreased with the progress of mineralization. Based on the geological data, occurrence of REE‐bearing minerals and oxygen isotopic ratios, the REE mineralization is thought to result from interaction between biotite–chlorite schist and REE‐, CO₂‐ and F‐bearing metamorphic fluid at 400°C under a rock‐dominant condition.     

河南省洛宁县金家湾金矿简介

河南省洛宁县金家湾金矿床产于华北地台南缘太华群石板沟组内。片麻岩蚀变后呈黄褐色块体。矿石主要为蚀变浸染网脉和少量含硫化物石英脉组成。矿床属绿岩带构造蚀变岩浸染型。按矿石类型拣块采样九个,含金品位1.5-108.93g/t。采掘揭露矿化带长千余米,含矿脉和矿化蚀变带宽20-30m。     

Origin and deposition of a graphitic schist-hosted metamorphogenic Au-W deposit,Macraes, East Otago,New Zealand

The Macraes gold-tungsten deposit occurs in a low-angle thrust system in biotite grade Otago Schist. Native gold, scheelite, pyrite and arsenopyrite are found in and adjacent to quartz veins and silicified schist of lenticular reef zones, where the thrust system cuts through graphitic pelitic schist. Mineralization is confined to a shear zone, up to 80 m thick, which is closely sub-parallel to the regional schistosity. Chemical alteration is dominated by silicification, with some addition of Cr and depletion of Sr and Ba. Alteration extends only about 5 m from major veins. Oxygen becomes isotopically heavier away from veins due to temperature decrease as hot fluids penetrated into cooler (250°C?) rock. Graphite within the shear zone rocks has reflectance of 6–7% (in oil), similar to graphite in medium-high grade Otago Schist, and is presumed to be metamorphic in origin. This graphite has acted as a reducing agent to cause precipitation of gold where the thrust system, acting as a conduit for metamorphic fluids, intersects the graphitic schist. The metals were derived from the underlying schist pile which may include an over-thrust oceanic assemblage containing metal-enriched horizons.