典型红土型金矿的构造控矿特征及其动力学机制

以湖北蛇屋山、云南北衙、湖南龙形寨三个红土型金矿为例,本文分析了矿床构造特征和构造在红土型金矿成矿过程中的控制作用。红土型金矿的形成与构造也有密切的关系,区域构造和矿区构造通过控制区域成矿带、原生金矿床(矿体)或高含金地质体的风化母岩的形成、风化母岩的抬升、出露与风化作用、古地理及古构造地貌、古水文地质条件等方面而对红土型金矿的形成产生间接或直接的影响。动力学模拟表明,断裂构造可以显著增高岩石渗透率、促进地下水的流动,从而有利于岩石的化学风化与红土化作用、促进金的溶解、迁移、富集与红土型金矿的形成,并导致断裂部位的风化壳与金矿体厚度显著增大。     

红土型金矿床综述(英文)

近二十年来 ,热带地区普遍存在的红土型风化作用及其对矿床与矿化带的影响引起了普遍的关注。红土型风化壳的主要矿物成分是以铁铝的氧化物及氢氧化物和粘土矿物为主 ,如针铁矿、赤铁矿、铝土矿、高岭石及石英等 ,与其未风化的母岩相比 ,含有相当高的铁和铝。红土型风化过程中 ,易溶元素均不同程度地被淋滤 ,而难溶元素则相对富集。红土型金矿床就是在这样强烈的风化作用中由原生的金矿化带进一步富集而成 ,并可形成极富的矿体。金矿体常常赋存于风化壳的上部 ,易于露天开采。目前 ,在澳大利亚、巴西、巴布亚新几内亚、印度以及非洲的一些国家均发现了红土型金矿床。红土型风化剖面一般可分为 5个特征带 ,由上而下为 :表土带、铁质带、斑点带、浅色带、腐岩带 ,下面即为未风化的母岩 ,金矿体主要赋存于铁质带和斑点带中。红土型风化壳厚度变化很大 ,薄则几米 ,厚可达数百米。金在风化过程中往往向矿化带两侧运移 ,矿体常呈上宽下窄状。次生金常呈自形晶、树枝晶、浑圆状及不规则状产出 ,并常常与铁质结核共生。一般地说 ,次生金的成色很高 ,因为红土型风化作用常常是在氧化并且酸性的地球化学环境中进行 ,金和银主要以氯化物的形式运移 ,局部地球化学环境的变化可导致金的沉淀 ,而银的氯化物则较稳定 ,?     

The use of ground rocks in laterite systems: An improvement to the use of conventional soluble fertilizers?

The geochemistry of lateritic terrains is discussed in terms of nutrient demand in agriculture. The data presented show a dramatic depletion of virtually all nutrients when compared to crustal levels and other soil systems. Increasing world demand for food production, particularly in tropical countries where alcohol production is also needed, has forced the agriculture frontier deep into lateritic areas. As cultivation is intensified the laterite becomes more barren and a neutral recipient for the massive doses of nutrients that are to be constantly added if production is to continue. Conventional soluble fertilizers such as NPK do not answer basic requirements. Designed for the high-nutrient and high-exchange-capacity soils of the northern hemisphere they are not held by the Fe₂O₃---Al₂O₃---SiO₂---H₂O laterite systems and, under condition of excess rain, they can be wasted and consequently polluting. Furthermore, they do not supply a variety of both macro- and micronutrient elements that are normally present in soils in equilibrium with rock debris, but that are lacking in laterites. The replenishment of the laterite to the nutrient levels of natural fertile soils can be basically attained by adding into the system ground rocks of varied composition. The thermodynamical and geochemical background of this proposition is discussed and the state of the art is presented.     

中国南方红土型金成矿系列研究综述

红土型金矿床是原生金矿化遭受红土化作用改造所形成的一种表生金矿床,包括"红色粘土型"和"铁帽型"金矿床.中国红土型金矿以风化再造型为主,受气候影响而主要分布在南方,并与岩金成矿系列分布基本一致.风化壳常量元素、稀土元素、粘土矿物系统研究表明,成矿作用环境时空变化整体受风化强度控制,其风化作用早期呈中碱性、晚期呈酸性,风化壳下部偏碱性、还原,项部偏酸性、氧化的特点.典型矿床因子分析揭示,红土型金成矿作用可分为氧化和水解两个阶段.氧化阶段风化较弱,基岩释放大量碱性离子,使成矿流体保持中性,金溶解并主要以Au(S2O3)23-形式迁移;水解阶段风化较强,硅酸盐矿物发生脱碱去硅作用,随着大气降水不断参与,成矿流体性质由中碱性缓慢过渡到中-酸性条件,金以胶体或氯化物络合物形式迁移.金一般在风化壳下部富集,表生矿物吸附、氧化还原界面处被Fe2 、Mn2 还原以及不同性质流体混合都能促使金的沉淀.     

贵州老万场金矿成矿物质来源的研究

硅酸盐成分研究表明老万场红土化过程经历了粘土化、铝土矿化、铁化三种化学风化作用;风化中化学蚀变较强，K2O、Na2O、CaO相对于Al2O3的淋失量很高。在红土剖面上成矿元素的含量变化很大。相关性分析表明，红土化过程中，Au、As的富集与脱硅富铝化程度关系不大，而与铁的富集有明显的关系；Au、As的富集与相对还原的环境有关，而Sb则在相对氧化的环境中易于聚集。可能反映了红土剖面中潜水面下部附近相对还原的环境Au、As易于富集。大厂层样品和老万场红土剖面样品在成矿元素(Au、As、Sb)含量、稀土元素含量、轻重稀土比值、配分曲线上以及微量元素特征包括大离子亲石元素、不相容元素上的较大差异，显示了红土层的发育与大厂层岩石有较大的差别，暗示它们物质来源上的一定差异性。     

Present weathering rates in a humid tropical watershed: Nsimi, South Cameroon

The study of biogeochemical and hydrological cycles in small experimental watersheds on silicate rocks, common for the Temperate Zone, has not yet been widely applied to the tropics, especially humid areas. This paper presents an updated database for a six-year period for the small experimental watershed of the Mengong brook in the humid tropics (Nsimi, South Cameroon). This watershed is developed on Precambrian granitoids (North Congo shield) and consists of two convexo-concave lateritic hills surrounding a large flat swamp covered by hydromorphic soils rich in upward organic matter. Mineralogical and geochemical investigations were carried out in the protolith, the saprolite, the hillside lateritic soils, and the swamp hydromorphic soils. Biomass chemical analyses were done for the representative species of the swamp vegetation. The groundwater was analysed from the parent rock/saprolite weathering front to the upper fringe in the hillside and swamp system. The chemistry of the wet atmospheric and throughfall deposits and the Mengong waters was monitored.In the Nsimi watershed the carbon transfer occurs primarily in an organic form and essentially as colloids produced by the slow biodegradation of the swamp organic matter. These organic colloids contribute significantly to the mobilization and transfer of Fe, Al, Zr, Ti, and Th in the uppermost first meter of the swamp regolith. When the organic colloid content is low (i.e., in the hillside groundwater), Th and Zr concentrations are extremely low (<3 pmol/L, ICP-MS detection limits). Strongly insoluble secondary thorianite (ThO₂) and primary zircon (ZrSiO₄) crystals control their mobilization, respectively. This finding thus justifies the potential use of both these elements as inert elements for isoelement mass balance calculations pertaining to the hillside regolith.Chloride can not be used as a conservative tracer of hydrological processes and chemical weathering in this watershed. Biogenic recycling significantly influences the low-Cl input fluxes. Sodium is a good tracer of chemical weathering in the watershed. The sodium solute flux corrected from cyclic salt input was used to assess the chemical weathering rate. Even though low (2.8 mm/kyr), the chemical weathering rate predominates over the mechanical weathering rate (1.9 mm/kyr). Compared to the Rio Icacos watershed, the most studied tropical site, the chemical weathering fluxes of silica and sodium in the Mengong are 16 and 40 times lower, respectively. This is not only related to the protective role of the regolith, thick in both cases, but also to differences in the hydrological functioning. This is to be taken into account in the calculations of the carbon cycle balance for large surfaces like that of the tropical forest ecosystems on a stable shield at the global level.     

Significance of weathering and regolith/landscape evolution for mineral exploration in the NE Albany-Fraser Orogen,Western Australia

The Albany-Fraser Orogen (AFO), southeast Western Australia, is an underexplored, deeply weathered regolith-dominated terrain that has undergone complex weathering associated with various superimposed climatic events. For effective geochemical exploration in the AFO, integrating landscape evolution with mineralogical and geochemical variations of regolith and bedrock provides fundamental understanding of mechanical and hydromorphic dispersion of ore and pathfinder elements associated with the different weathering processes.In the Neale tenement, northeast of the AFO, a residual weathering profile that is 20-55 m thick was developed under warm and humid climatic conditions over undulating Proterozoic sheared granitoids, gneisses, schists and Au-bearing mafic rocks. From the base, the typical weathering profile consists of saprock, lower ferruginous saprolite, upper kaolinitic saprolite and discontinuous silcrete duricrust or its laterally coeval lateritic residuum. These types of duricrusts change laterally into areas of poorly-cemented kaolinitic grits or loose lateritic pisoliths and nodules.Lateritic residuum probably formed on remnant plateaus and was transported mechanically under arid climatic conditions over short distances, filling valleys to the southeast. Erosion of lateritic residuum exposes the underlying saprolite and, together with dilution by aeolian sands, constitutes the transported overburden (2-25 m thick). The reworked lateritic materials cover the preserved silcrete duricrusts in valleys. The lower ferruginous saprolite and lateritic residuum are well developed over mafic and sulphide-bearing bedrocks, where weathering of ferromagnesian minerals and sulphides led to enrichment of Fe, Cu, Ni, Cr, Co, V and Zn in these units. Kaolinitic saprolite and the overlying pedogenic silcrete are best developed over alkali granites and quartzofeldspathic gneisses, which are barren in Au and transition elements, and enriched in silica, alumina, rare earth and high field strength elements.A residual Au anomaly is formed in the lower ferruginous saprolite above a Au -bearing mafic intrusion at the Hercules prospect, south of the Neale tenement, without any expression in the overlying soil (< 20 cm). Conversely, a Au anomaly is recorded in the transported cover, particularly in the uppermost 3 m at the Atlantis prospect, 5 km southwest of the Hercules prospect. No anomalies have been detected in soils using five different size fractions (> 2,000 μm, 2,000-250 μm, 250-53 μm, 53-2 μm and < 2 μm). Therefore, soil cannot be efficiently applied as a reliable sampling medium to target mineralization at the Neale tenement. This is because mechanical weathering was interrupted by seasonal periods of intensive leaching under the present-day surface conditions and/or dilution by recently deposited aeolian sediments which obscure any signature of a potential Au anomaly in soils. Therefore, surface soil sampling should extend deeper than 20 cm to avoid dilution by aeolian sands and seasonal leaching processes. Regolith mapping and the distinction between the residual and transported weathering products are extremely significant to follow the distal or proximal mineralization.     

红土型金矿的成矿机理与成矿模式

对红土型金矿的地质特征，主要控矿因素，金的溶解迁移与沉淀富集机理进行了分析。红土型金矿风化壳剖面具有分带性，金矿体主要呈层状，似层状产于铁（硅铝）质硬壳层，杂色粘土层中。金以自然金为主，主要呈显微，次显微状被褐铁矿，蒙脱石，高岭石及伊利石等矿物所吸附，金的成色较高。红土型金矿的形成受干，湿交替的热带，亚热带气候控制，并与基底构造（特别是断裂构造0密切相关。金主要以AuCl4^-,Au(S2O3)2^3-等络合的溶解和迁移,还原作用是金沉淀富集的重要因素。建立了红土型金矿的综合成矿模式。     

Gold dispersion in a tropical rainforest weathering profile at Dondo Mobi, Gabon

At Dondo Mobi in the gold district of Eteke, south Gabon, gold mineralization was studied in a tropical forest setting. The mineralization occurs in quartz veins within amphibolites of an Archaean gneiss-amphibolite series. Gold distribution patterns were studied in the different horizons of the weathering profile and in the different grain-size fractions of the materials sampled from three pits sunk in the weathered zone: upslope (pit P1), directly overlying (pit P2) and downslope (pit P3) of the mineralization.The weathering profile consists of an upper, thick, loose sandy argillaceous horizon (H1), an irregular nodular horizon with laterite nodules or blocks (H2) and a saprolite layer (H3) up to 70 m thick. In each pit, the specific geochemical signature of the bedrock is recognized in the three horizons of the weathering profile. Some groups of elements, e.g., Cr-Ni or Ba-V-P₂O₃, characterize amphibolite or black shale, respectively. Signal attenuations in the upper horizon can be explained by a homogenization effect. That can be related to a mushroom supergene dispersion, simultaneously inducing vertical decrease and lateral enrichment in element contents. Gold also mushrooms extensively in the different horizons of the weathering profile. The dispersion pattern is somewhat anisotropic, a strong enlargement being observed in the upper (H1) and intermediate nodular (H2) horizons alike. However, the evolution of Au distribution is not the same for all grain-size fractions: (a) in the finest fraction, Au is regularly distributed in the weathering profile at the anomalous top and tends to preserve an equivalent level of concentration laterally; (b) in the coarsest fraction, the maximum Au content is found in the upper horizon just above the mineralized structure; it is rapidly decreases laterally, in the surface halo.The Au geochemical dispersion halo consists mainly of fine-grained gold developed from rather coarse-grained mineralization. Its characteristics suggest that Au dispersion was produced as a result of Au dissolution together with collapse of the weathering profile causing gold migration over short distances.The minimal volumetric reduction of saprolite in the upper horizon can be estimated to be in the range of 60%, on the basis of the content of the different grain-size fractions and the density variations in the various horizons.In exploration, geochemical techniques, even using wide sample spacing, are proving quite adequate to prospect for Au in tropical rainforest weathering environment. Indeed, significant, well-contrasted dispersion haloes facilitate detection of rather confined mineralization.     

Strength and structure of laterites and lateritic soils

Ten soils from Puerto Rico representing various states of weathering were subjected to engineering index tests, strength and density measurement, mineralogic analyses, and scanning electron microscopy.Engineering classification systems used for temperate soils tend to underestimate the engineering behavior of these undisturbed lateritic soils and in the undisturbed state the soils exhibit low densities and high strengths.The engineering properties of the undisturbed soils show systematic trends in relation to the degree of weathering and the parent rock. For a given rock, the void ratio is decreased and cohesion increased as weathering proceeds. This is the result of increasing crystallization and cementation by the sesquioxides.The specific gravity of the solid particles is a promising index property to characterize these lateritic soils insofar as it reflects iron oxide content. The decrease in void ratio and increase in cohesion with increasing specific gravity suggests a model for the engineering classification of tropical soils.     

Geochemical behavior under tropical weathering of the Barama–Mazaruni greenstone belt at Omai gold mine,Guiana Shield

Mineralogical, petrographical, and geochemical studies of the weathering profile have been carried out at Omai Au mine, Guyana. The area is underlain by felsic to mafic volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Barama-Mazaruni Supergroup, part of the Paleoproterozoic greenstone belts of the Guiana Shield. Tropical rainy climate has favoured extensive lateritization processes and formation of a deeply weathered regolith. The top of the weathering profile consists of lateritic gravel or is masked by the Pleistocene continental-deltaic Berbice Formation. Mineralogical composition of regolith consists mainly of kaolinite, goethite and quartz, and subordinately sericite, feldspar, hematite, pyrite, smectite, heavy minerals, and uncommon mineral phases (nacrite, ephesite, corrensite, guyanaite). A specific feature of the weathering profile at Omai is the preservation of fresh hydrothermal pyrite in the saprolith horizon. Chemical changes during the weathering processes depend on various physicochemical and structural parameters. Consequently, the depth should not be the principal criterion for comparison purposes of the geochemical behavior within the weathering profile, but rather an index that measures the degree of supergene alteration that has affected each analyzed sample, independently of the depth of sampling. Thus, the mineralogical index of alteration (MIA) can provide more accurate information about the behavior of major and trace elements in regolith as opposed to unweathered bedrock. It can also aid in establishing a quantitative relationship between intensity of weathering and mobility (leaching or accumulation) of each element in each analyzed sample. At Omai, some major and trace elements that are commonly considered as immobile (ex: TiO₂, Zr, etc.) during weathering could become mobile in several rock types and cannot be used to calculate the mass and volume balance. In addition, due to higher “immobile element” ratios, the weathered felsic volcanic rocks plotted in identification diagrams are shifted towards more mafic rock types and a negative adjustment of ∼20 units is necessary for correct classification. In contrast, these elements could aid in defining the material source in sedimentary rocks affected by weathering. Generally, the rare-earth element (REE) patterns of the bedrock are preserved in the saprolith horizon. This can represent a potentially useful tool for geochemical exploration in tropical terrains. Strong negative Ce and Tb anomalies are displayed by weathered pillowed andesites, which are explained by the influence of the water/rock ratio.     

Age of river basins in Guadeloupe impacting chemical weathering rates and land use

The Lesser Antilles have very high chemical weathering rates, with values that can reach 1290 t/km²/a. The tropical environment induces high precipitation rates, high temperature, dense vegetation, with sharp relief and thick soils. Because of volcanic activity, frequent pyroclastic flows produce very erodible and porous materials. In addition, agriculture induces important land use changes which replace existing native forest cover with banana and sugar cane plantations. Their surface can cover as much as 40% of the total area of a river basin. The aim of this study is to identify key parameters, either natural or anthropogenic, that control chemical weathering rates. Among the combined impact of all parameters (climate, runoff, slopes, vegetation etc.), basin age seems to be the control parameter: the younger the basin, the higher the weathering rate. A correlation between the chemical weathering rate and the basin age suggests that young volcanic rocks are more easily weathered than old ones: young fresh material is easily mobilized by erosion, while for older rocks with thick soil covers, chemical rates are much lower. A combined effect between the higher erodibility and a higher climate erosivity of the younger relief could be observed. Moreover, a correlation between banana plantations and the chemical weathering rates that can be explained by an increase of infiltration, due to stem flow processes is shown here. Banana plantations also have a correlation with the basin age, older basins being more favorable terrains for cultivation.     

The effect of organic matter on chemical weathering: study of a small tropical watershed: nsimi-zoétélé site,cameroon

The effect of organic matter during soil/water interaction is still a debated issue on the controls of chemical weathering in a tropical environment. In order to study this effect in detail, we focused on the weathering processes occurring in a small tropical watershed (Nsimi-Zoetélé, South Cameroon). This site offers an unique opportunity to study weathering mechanisms in a lateritic system within a small basin by coupling soil and water chemistry.The lateritic cover in this site can reach up to 40 m in depth and show two pedological distinct zones: unsaturated slope soils on the hills and/or elevated areas; and water-saturated soils in the swamp zone which represent 20% of the basin surface. The study present chemical analysis performed on water samples collected monthly from different localities between 1994–1997 and on soil samples taken during a well drilling in December 1997. The results suggest the existence of chemical and spatial heterogeneities of waters in the basin: colored waters flooding the swamp zone have much higher concentrations of both organic matter (i.e., DOC) and inorganic ions (e.g., Ca, Mg, Al, Fe, Th, Zr) than those from springs and groundwater from the hills. Nevertheless, these organic-rich waters present cation concentrations (Na, Ca, Mg, K) which are among the lowest compared to that of most world rivers. The main minerals in the soils are secondary kaolinite, iron oxi-hydroxides, quartz, and accessory minerals (e.g., zircon, rutile). We mainly focused on the mineralogical and geochemical study of the swamp zone soils and showed through SEM observations the textural characterization of weathered minerals such as kaolinite, zircon, rutile, and the secondary recrystallization of kaolinite microcrystals within the soil profile. Water chemistry and mineralogical observations suggest that hydromorphic soils of the swamp zone are responsible for almost all chemical weathering in the basin. Thus, in order to explain the increase of element concentration in the organic-rich waters, we suggest that organic acids enhance dissolution of minerals such as kaolinite, goethite, and zircon and also favors the transport of insoluble elements such as Al, Fe, Ti, Zr, and REE by chemical complexation. SiO₂(aq) concentrations in these waters are above saturation with respect to quartz. Dissolution of phytholithes (amorphous silica) may be responsible for this relatively high SiO₂(aq.) concentration. Al/Mg ratios obtained for the soil and the Mengong river waters show that a significant amount of Al does not leave the system due to kaolinite recrystallisation in the swamp zone soils. Geochemical data obtained for this watershed show the important contribution of vegetation and organic matter on chemical weathering in the swamp zone. Quantitatively we propose that the increasing amount in total dissolved solid (TDS) due to organic matter and vegetation effect is about 35%. In summary, this interaction between soils and waters occurs mostly in soils that are very depleted in soluble elements. Thus, the low concentration of major elements in these water is a direct consequence of the depleted nature of the soils.     

Sulfide Oxidation and Production of Gossans,Ashanti Mine,Ghana

At the Justice mine, in the Ashanti goldfields of southwestern Ghana, chemical weathering of gold- bearing sulfide-rich lodes has produced a series of characteristic mineralogical and geochemical features that are diagnostic. In this type of gold mineralization, the most abundant sulfides are arsenopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, and chalcopyrite with minor bornite and sphalerite. Gold occurs predominantly as native gold, spatially associated and chemically bound with arsenopyrite. Elsewhere gold-silver tellurides are present in quartz veins. During sulfide oxidation, arsenopyrite is replaced by amorphous and crystalline Fe-Mn arsenates, goethite, hematite, and arsenolite in box- and ladderwork textures. In the extremely weathered gossans exposed at surface or in exploration pits, goethite, hematite, and scorodite are present as pseudomorphs of oxidized arsenopyrite, which can be used as a visual pathfinder for gold-arsenic mineralization. As with arsenopyrite, pyrite and pyrrhotite alteration produces boxwork and ladderwork textures with the sulfide replaced by goethite, hematite, and a complex limonite. Copper sulfides and goethite replace bornite and chalcopyrite in ladder-type textures. With more intensive weathering, this assemblage is replaced by cuprite, goethite, and hematite. Gold mineralogy in the gossan is complex, with evidence of in situ precipitation of supergene gold as well as alteration of hypogene native gold. The concentration of pathfinder elements decreases in the gossan as a result of supergene leaching. Mass- balance calculations confirm that gossan production largely is in situ and, consequently, the hypogene geochemical dispersion patterns are preserved even though the proportion of many elements decreases as intensity of weathering increases.

The problem remains of discriminating between auriferous and non-auriferous gossans, or those produced by pedological concentration of iron. Although mineral textures such as box-and ladderwork replacement and mineral pseudomorphs are useful field criteria, the most reliable guide for evaluation still is trace-element geochemistry. By use of multi-element discriminant analysis, gossans of different origins can be distinguished (along with their surface expression) from ironstones and barren lateritic soils. In regional reconnaissance studies, the evaluation of trace-element geochemistry as a discriminant along with field mapping may indicate gold potential of even extremely altered products of mineralization and, in so doing, provide a basis for the classification of weathered samples.     

干旱荒漠覆盖区隐伏金矿上方覆盖层三维地球化学分布模式

深穿透地球化学已被证明是干旱荒漠区寻找隐伏矿的有效方法,但其对元素在覆盖层中的分布模式的探知还较少。为此,在新疆金窝子金矿运用了空气动力反循环钻探技术,以揭示元素三维分布模式,并了解元素迁移轨迹和迁移机理。形成的元素三维分布图表明：(1）元素异常在矿体上方不同深度覆盖层中具有继承性;(2）在覆盖层垂向剖面上,Au趋向于在顶层和底层富集,中间层含量较低;(3）底部异常主要分布在覆盖层和基岩接触部位的低洼位置;(4）底部异常横向延伸,范围较窄,仅数十米宽,而地表异常分布范围广,可扩展至数千米。     

老万场红土型金矿成矿过程的地球化学作用

根据地质地球化学研究所揭示的与成矿地球化学作用有关的宏观和微观特征,对老万场金矿的物质来源和成矿过程的地球化学作用进行了讨论,阐述了成矿（成土）过程中Ａｕ和相关元素的地球化学行为以及本类红土型放形成的地球化学机理。指出了喀斯特红土化作用在原始卡林型金矿风化成土过程中对红土型金矿形成的影响。     

贵州砂锅厂玄武岩-红土型金矿成矿作用研究

通过对砂锅厂红土型金矿床化学组成（常量元素、微量元素、稀土元素）的研究,根据矿床地球化学特征,探讨了矿床的物质来源,推断其矿源体为浅成低温热液金矿床（体）属微细侵染型金矿其矿石系黄铁矿化、毒砂化富金玄武质凝灰岩类风化的产物,初步分析了此类矿床的成矿作用机理。     

Regolith-landform processes and geochemical exploration for base metal deposits in regolith-dominated terrains of the Mt Isa region,northwest Queensland,Australia

The regolith in the Mt Isa region of Queensland consists of a variety of saprolites and duricrusts developed on Proterozoic basement rocks and fresh to weathered Mesozoic, Tertiary and Quaternary cover, all of which has impeded base metals exploration. This paper presents an overview of some of the regolith-geochemical work conducted in the Mt Isa region as part of an industry-supported three year CRC LEME/AMIRA Project. A complex weathering and landscape history has produced a landscape of (a) continuously exposed and exhumed basement rocks that have undergone varying intensities of weathering and partial stripping; (b) weathered and locally eroded Mesozoic cover sequences and (c) areas with younger transported cover concealing basement and Mesozoic cover. Various regolith sample media have been evaluated at a number of prospects and deposits which represent different regolith-landform terrains and landscape history. Geochemical dispersion processes and models are presented and false anomalies explained.Where ferruginous duricrust or ferruginous nodular gravel are preserved on weathered bedrock on an eroded plateau, they exhibit large (> 500 m) multi-element (As, Pb, Sb) dispersion haloes and are useful sampling media. Dispersion haloes in truncated profiles on weathered bedrock covered with colluvium are restricted, are limited to tens of metres from subcrop of the source, and contrast to the extensive anomalies in ferruginous duricrust and nodules. Geochemical exploration in covered areas depends on the possible presence of dispersion through the sediments or leakage along faults or fractures, but may be complicated by high metal backgrounds in the sediments themselves. Some of the most prominent anomalies occur in ferruginous materials and soils representing emergent residual terrain developed on Mesozoic sediments. These are largely due to weathering of sulfide mineralization that continued during submergence in a marine environment, with hydromorphic dispersion into the sediments as they accumulated. Multi-element (Cu, As, Zn, Sb, Au) anomalies occur in basal sediments and at the unconformity, due to a combination of clastic and hydromorphic dispersion and represent a useful sample target. Metal-rich horizons in weathered sediments, higher in the sequence, can also be targeted, particularly by specifically sampling ferruginous units and fragments. However, these are less certainly related to mineralization. Zinc and Cu, concentrated in Fe (and Mn) oxides at redox fronts, may be derived by leaching from the sediments with concentration in the sesquioxides, and be unrelated to any proximal basement mineralization. In all these regolith-dominated terrains, a clear understanding of local geomorphology, regolith framework, topography of unconformities and the origins of ferruginous materials is essential to sample medium selection and data interpretation.     

A model for assessing,quantifying, and correcting for index element mobility in weathering studies

Evidence shows that high field strength (HFS) elements commonly used to index chemical weathering are variably mobile. This mobility may be linked to redistribution of suspended solids. A mass-balance model is presented that can quantify such redistribution without assuming immobility for any single element. Two tropical weathering profiles on quartz diorite and basalt are examined and redistribution of the HFS elements Zr and Ti is documented, along with potential corrections for the resulting changes in measured concentrations.     

中国红土型金矿床研究综述

对红土型含矿床的勘查现状,矿化特征及成矿规律进行了探讨和总结,认为它形成于第三系－第四系红土风化壳内,可包括狭义的铁帽型金矿床,;概述了红土型金矿床的有效勘查方法和具体勘查方案。