Analysis of a weathered profile on sulfide mineralization at Mugga Mugga, Western Australia

The mineralogy and geochemistry of the massive pyrite-pyrrhotite mineralization, which contains minor magnetite, sphalerite and galena, the weathered profile and surface gossan at Mugga Mugga in Western Australia have been examined. Reactions between amphibolite wall rocks and acid waters from the oxidation of the iron sulfides have resulted in distinct mineralogical zonation of the weathered profile which is further modified near the surface by lateritization. At the base of the weathered zone an opaline chert (Opal-CT) has been precipitated from fluctuations of the water table. A gossanous zone from 25.14–68.80 m with boxworks after massive pyrite is modified by abundant kaolinite, dickite and an alunite-type mineral derived from amphibolite wall rocks, while above 25.14 m both plinthite and mottled clay zones of a laterite profile are evident. Some characteristics of a mature gossan profile – sulfate-phosphate-arsenate near the base, a carbonate zone higher in the profile, and an oxide zone near the surface – overprint the gross zonation.At the interface between sulfide and weathered rock Mg, Ca, K, S, Zn, Cd, Hg, Ba are depleted, As, Sb, Mo, Cr and V contents increase and in the weathered zone, SiO₂, TiO₂, P₂O₅, SO₃, Pb, Zn, Hg, Sb, Co, Ni, W, Ba, Sr and Zr decrease up the profile whilst Al₂O₃, Fe₂O₃, CO₂, Cu and As increase. Of the elements associated with the massive pyrite (Pb, Zn, Cu, Ag, As, Cd, Hg, Sb, Co, Ni) anomalous concentrations of Pb, Cu, Ag, As and Sb occur in the surface gossan despite the possibility of complete leaching by highly acidic solutions. These anomalies are similar to those found in gossans over pyrite mineralization elsewhere in the Yilgarn Block.     

The relationship between Archaean gold mineralization and spatially associated minor intrusions at the Kambalda and Norseman gold camps,western Australia: Lead isotope evidence

Many Archaean mesothermal gold deposits are spatially associated with felsic to lamprophyric minor intrusions and it has been suggested that magmatic processes related to such intrusions may be important in the genesis of these deposits. A comparison of the Pb-isotopic signature of gold-related galenas from Kambalda and Norseman with that of spatially associated minor intrusions (at the time of mineralization) indicates that the ore-fluid Pb cannot have been derived solely from the intrusions or their source regions. For both study areas, the galena Pb-isotopic compositions are bracketed by those of local volcanic (mafic) and intrusive (largely felsic) rock types. This is consistent with the ore fluid having derived metallic components from the crust (or crustally derived granitic rocks) and the mantle (or mantle-derived rocks of the greenstone succession) via metamorphic dewatering or mantle/crustal degassing. Interaction of granite-derived magmatic fluids with greenstone lithologies could plausibly produce a similar array of Pb-isotopic signatures. The Norseman data, as a whole, are more radiogenic than the Kambalda data for broadly synchronous mineralization, reflecting the greater abundance of older granitic rocks with respect to mafic/ultramafic rocks in the Norseman district. The provinciality exhibited by the Pb-isotopic composition of the ore fluid indicates that the gold-mineralizing process formed galena whose Pb-isotopic composition was very sensitive to local variations in crustal Pb-isotopic composition, either within the source region of the fluid or along fluid conduits.     

Archaean gold mineralisation in a normal-motion shear zone at Harbour Lights,Leonora, Western Australia

Although many Archaean greenstone-hosted mesothermal gold deposits are in steep, reverse-motion fault zones, other fault geometries are prospective for mineralization. Harbour Lights is one of a number of deposits at Leonora hosted in a normal-motion shear zone, probably related to movement off the adjacent domal granitoid. The deposit is also atypical in that mineralization predates the last deformation to affect the mine sequence, but formed by similar processes to other mesothermal deposits in all respects other than the detail of shear zone geometry, kinematics and timing. Gold mineralization at Harbour Lights is related to D1 quartz veins parallel to a well-developed gently NE- to E-dipping D1 cleavage, both of which are deformed in steeply dipping and later extensional shear bands (D2). Gently dipping quartz veins, as at Harbour Lights, must have formed at extremely high fluid pressures, capable of holding the weight of the overlying crust. In the gently dipping normal-motion shear zone continued reactivation and veining was possible only with extremely high fluid pressures, and steeply dipping structures, such as the D2 extensional shear bands, were initiated as the fluid pressure dropped after the mineralizing event. The rarity of gold mineralization hosted in normal-motion shear zones is due to their being linked to steep structures which pump fluid upwards and prevents the build-up of extremely high fluid pressures. At Harbour Lights it appears that these links were (atypically) absent, probably because deformation was a result of granitoid doming, and was subparallel to strata.     

Age of granite emplacement in the Norseman region of Western Australia

Ion probe U‐Th‐Pb dating of zircons from the Late Archaean granites of the Norseman region of the southeastern Yilgarn shows the existence of two distinct magmatic episodes. Large regional tonalite and granodiorite plutons were emplaced between 2685 and 2690 Ma, whereas large regional granite, and small tonalite and leucogranite plutons that intrude the greenstones have ages of 2660–2665 Ma. A small body of granite that intrudes the western edge of the greenstones has an inferred emplacement of 2672 ± 7Ma, and contains inherited zircon that is ～2800 Ma. The monzogranite core from a second pluton in a similar structural position also contains ～2800 Ma zircon; this age is similar to published Sm‐Nd and Rb‐Sr whole rock ages for banded gneisses associated with other members of this suite of domal plutons and is interpreted as representing the age of a significant component within the source region for these distinctive rocks.

Available geochemical and isotopic data are interpreted as indicating derivation of both the older granodiorite and younger granite suites through anatexis of pre‐existing crust of broadly andesitic composition, whereas both the domal granites and the small, late tonalite plutons could have been derived by anatexis of heterogeneous material similar to that represented by the banded gneisses.

If regional metamorphism was related to the emplacement of large volumes of felsic magma within the upper crust, as suggested by Binns et al. (1976), then the Norseman area has probably undergone two periods of regional metamorphism of comparable intensity at approximately 2660 and 2685 Ma.     

An indirect lead isotope age determination of gold mineralization at the Corinthia mine,Yilgarn Block,Western Australia

The Corinthia lode‐gold deposit in amphibolite‐facies greenstone belt rocks in the Southern Cross Province of the Archaean Yilgarn Block contains a largely undeformed pegmatite dyke emplaced during the last phases of movement along the Fraser's‐Corinthia shear zone. Gold mineralization and shear zone development were synchronous, and a Pb‐Pb isochron age of 2620 ±6 Ma for pegmatite emplacement either indirectly dates mineralization, or places a minimum age constraint on the timing of mineralization. This age is in accord with a broadly synchronous dominant episode of Archaean lode‐gold mineralization throughout the Yilgarn Block.     

Granite-hosted gold mineralization at Timbarra, northern New South Wales, Australia

The Timbarra gold deposits, located in the southern New England Fold Belt of New South Wales, Australia, represent an economically significant and distinctive member of the intrusion-related class of gold deposits. The five known deposits possess a total identified mineral resource of 16.8 Mt at 0.73 g/t gold, for a total of 396,800 contained ounces. The granites in the Timbarra region form a texturally complex, zoned pluton. The gold deposits are found within the Stanthorpe leucomonzogranite (242 to 238 Ma), which intrudes and forms a core to the more mafic, barren, Bungulla monzogranite (248 to 243 Ma). Gold is disseminated in the roof zone (upper 240 m) of a fractionated, magnetite- and ilmenite-bearing, I-type leucomonzogranite phase of the Stanthorpe body. The entire gold resource occurs in the areally extensive main leucomonzogranite pluton and is hosted by a medium- to coarse-grained granite. Disseminated ore is present in all five deposits, comprises >95% of the overall resource at Timbarra, and occurs predominantly as gently dipping, tabular to lenticular bodies that are conformably constrained beneath a fine-grained aplite carapace and internal aplite layers. The disseminated ore consists of gold-bearing muscovite-chlorite-carbonate alteration and infill of primary miarolitic cavities within massive leucomonzogranite or microgranite, and contains no discernable vein, joint, or fracture control at the outcrop or hand specimen scale. Structurally controlled mineralization forms the remaining 5% of the Timbarra resource, and comprises minor, low-density (0.02 to 0.25 per meter), vein-dikes and quartz-molybdenite veins emplaced along steeply dipping east-southeast, east-northeast, and north-northeast striking cooling joints. Both mineralization styles and alteration share a common paragenetic sequence of mineral precipitation. Quartz, perthitic K-feldspar, minor biotite, and albite are the earliest and most abundant infill minerals and commonly line primary cavities and vein-dikes. Subsequent minerals include coeval arsenopyrite, pyrite, fluorite, and molybdenite. The latest minerals include muscovite, chlorite, gold, calcite, silver-bismuth telluride, lead-bismuth telluride, and rare galena and chalcopyrite. The gold ore has a low total sulfide mineral concentration (Б%). Ore contains elevated concentrations of Bi, Ag, Te, As, Mo, and Sb; gold is strongly correlated with Bi, Ag, and Te, but only weakly with Mo, As, and Sb. Gold grains are generally <1 to 50 µm in size, but rarer grains as large as 1 mm in diameter have been observed. Gold fineness ranges from 950 to 600, and varies both within and between individual grains for a given deposit. The moderately oxidized I-type host granite, low-sulfide (Б%) ores, Au-Bi-Ag-Te geochemical signature, muscovite-chlorite-carbonate alteration assemblage, and low-salinity aqueous and carbonic fluids suggest that Timbarra is part of the newly recognized intrusion-related gold deposit class. Timbarra is distinguished from other intrusion-related gold deposits by the disseminated mineralization style within pervasively altered granite, forming gently dipping, tabular to lenticular ore zones.     

Crustal-scale shear zones and their significance to Archaean gold mineralization in Western Australia

Many large Archaean epigenetic gold deposits show a broad spatial relationship to regional lineaments in greenstone belts, although in detail they are sited in subsidiary brittle-ductile fault structures. Fluids, originating from a deep source, follow a complex path and re-equilibrate with different lithologies and with metamorphic fluid during migration to higher crustal levels. Temperature and pressure conditions at or below the amphibolite/greenschist metamorphic boundary, where most gold deposits are located, favour the establishment of brittle-ductile and brittle subsidiary structures, the preferred structural setting of gold deposits. Physical gradients between the regional ductile structures and more brittle subsidiary structures ensure transient, strongly localized, fluid flow into the latter, where lower temperatures and suitable host rocks with high Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios favour gold-deposition. The multi-source origin and continuous re-equilibration of the fluid with crustal rock, which includes granitoid and greenstone-belt lithologies of different ages, is reflected in the diverse isotopic and geochemical signature of the gold deposits.     

Crystal features of supergene gold at Hannan South,Western Australia

Deep weathering of basalt-hosted sulphidic gold mineralisation has resulted in remobilisation of the gold and the formation of a supergene deposit. The deposit occurs beneath an ephemeral lake system and is at least partially saturated by highly saline groundwater. A general downward movement of an iron redox front associated with the weathering has controlled the distribution of the gold and its morphology. It is unusual in that the high fineness gold crystals formed are coarse and well-preserved. Small octahedra, up to 50 μm, are the most abundant form of gold crystals but large, up to 3 mm, octahedral plates are common. Crystal morphology variations described here suggest that the gold is initially precipitated as euhedral octahedra and plates. Subsequent dissolution and recrystallisation associated with fluctuations in the chemical environment above the redox front has led to the development of the more common irregular dendritic or wire gold forms observed in other supergene deposits.     

Structural geochemistry of gold mineralization in the Linglong-Jiaojia district, Shandong Province, China

The Linglong-Jiaojia district is one of the most important regions containing gold deposits in China. These gold deposits can be divided into: a) the pyrite-gold-quartz vein type (Linglong type), which is controlled by brittle-ductile to ductile deformation structures, and b) the alteration-zone type (Jiaojia type), characterized by small veinlets, or the disseminated type recognized in brittle shear zones. Lode gold deposits in the Jiaojia area occur in NE brittle fracture zones, formed in a dominantly simple shear deformation regime, mainly in thrust attitude with a minor sinistral strike slip component. In the Linglong area, the lode gold deposits are located at the intersection of three types of structures: NNE and NE brittle-ductile fault zones and the ENE ductile reverse shear zone in the south of the area. The structural characteristics of these brittle shear zones are consistent with a tectonic NNW-SSE principal stress field orientation. Similar stresses explain the ENE Qixia fold axes, the Potouqing and several other ENE reverse ductile shear zones elsewhere in the region, the Tancheng-Lujiang fault zone and its subsidiaries in the vicinity of the Linglong-Jiaojia district, as well as the southern ENE suture zone north of Qingdao. Therefore these structural systems occurred as part of different major tectonic events under NNW-SSE compression principal stress fields in the area. Gold deposits are hosted in smaller-scale structures within the brittle fault zones and brittle-ductile shear zones. Although ore bodies and, on a smaller scale, quartz ore veins often seem to be randomly oriented, it is possible to explain their distribution and orientation in terms of the simple shear deformation process under which they were developed. The progressive simple shear failure is characterized by various fracture modes (tension and shear) that intervene in sequence. The tension and shear fractures are influenced by the stress level (depth of burial beneath the paleosurface) in their structural behavior, show variable dilatancy (void openings) and extend on all scales. By making use of these characteristics, a progressive failure analysis can be applied to predicting the shape and extent of ore bodies as well as the styles of mineralization at any given location.     

Geochemical patterns in the laterite profile at the Boddington gold deposit,Western Australia

Mineralogical and multi-element chemical analyses of drill-cuttings and surface samples have been used to determine element patterns in residual bauxitic laterite, in southwest Western Australia, as an aid in prospecting for base-metal and gold mineralization. In the profiles studied, components can be divided into those which are generally leached (Ba, Co, La, Mn, Ni, Rb, Sr, Ta, Y, Zn, CaO, K₂O, MgO and Na₂O); those which are mobilized and reprecipitated within the profile (Au, Ce, Cr, Cu, Mo and Fe₂O₃) and those which are essentially residual (Nb, Sn, Th, V, W, Zr, Al₂O₃ and TiO₂). Their mobility depends on rock type, minerals present, Eh/pH fluctuations and degree of mechanical movement in the upper parts of the laterite profile. “Residual” components have been mobilized in the profile but have not been transported any great distance. Anomalous concentrations of As, Au, Cr, Cu, Mo, Nb, Sn, Th, V and W, retained at the surface within recognizable lateral distance (100–150 m) of their bedrock sources, appear suitable as either direct or indirect indicators of bedrock mineralization.Significant concentration of gold occurs within the lower part of the lateritic hardcap and upper part of the underlying nodular “B-zone”. Local concentrations of gold lower in the profile are attributed to still-stands of the water table during periods of generally increasing aridity over the last 30 million years.     

秦岭卡林型金矿床金、砷地球化学探讨

讨论了秦岭卡林型金矿床中Ａｕ 、Ａｓ 的元素地球化学、矿物学特征。在含矿岩系中获得的Ａｕ、Ａｓ 等成矿元素初始含量较高,且主要集中在成岩黄铁矿中。在矿石样品中对含砷硫化物矿物的研究表明,Ａｕ 、Ａｓ 在矿物显微结构中具有强的正相关性。在大量金进入到硫化物结构之前,就已有［ＡｓＳ］３ － 的存在。在含砷硫化物矿物中,金多半以一种带电类型（Ａｕ３ ＋） 存在, 它很可能替代铁位置上的过剩砷, 以固溶体方式沉淀于硫化物矿物中。此时, 黄铁矿构成（Ａｕ３ ＋ ,Ｆｅ２ ＋）（［ＡｓＳ］３ － ［Ｓ２］２ － ）,毒砂构成（Ａｕ３ ＋ ,Ｆｅ２ ＋）（［ＡｓＳ］３ － ［ＡｓＳ］３ －） 。通过电子探针（ＥＭＰ） 和透射电镜（ＴＥＭ） 对秦岭卡林型金矿含砷硫化物矿物中金的赋存状态的研究表明,在金的成矿作用早期阶段, 金主要以固溶体形式优先富集于含砷黄铁矿和毒砂及砷黝铜矿之中,并且认为是以金的氧化和砷的还原的共沉淀方式发生的。在此之后的金成矿作用晚期阶段,由于热液蚀变和结晶作用程度的增高,寄主矿物耐熔性质相对降低,加之金本身的聚集能力,和因过量砷加入而造成的含砷硫化物矿物的晶格缺陷,致使已形成的固溶体金以“出溶”形式发生再分布,赋存于硫化物矿物晶粒     

湖南苗儿山韧性剪切带与金矿化

湖南雪峰弧形构造带中的苗儿山韧性剪切带存在糜棱岩和片理化岩石两大构造岩类,各具不同的变形特征,根据金矿的产出规律,认为该地区金矿化受韧性剪切带,老地层,后期脆性断裂等多重因素控制,发育于老地层中的片理化带提供了成矿流体的运移通道和容矿空间,加强片理化带的研究对于在雪峰弧形构造带上找金具有重要意义。     

The geology,mineralogy and geochemistry of the broomstock gold deposit,Kwekwe Greenstone Belt,Zimbabwe; Some implications for gold mineralization in jaspilite iron formations

Summary At Broomstock Mine, three types of gold mineralization have been identified: (i) jaspilite-hosted ore, (ii) ore confined to shear zones within meta-basalts, and (iii) supergene ore. The present study, which is focused on the jaspilite-hosted ore, revealed that areas carrying economic gold grades are characterized by fracturing, brecciation and abundant arsenopyrite-pyrite mineralization. The mineralization was introduced by hydrothermal fluids which used dilatant fractures in the jaspilites as channelways. Deposition of gold and sulfides occurred in response to changing P-T conditions and through chemical reactions of the fluids with the iron-rich jaspilites. Gold and accompanying elements may either originate from processes of intraformational remobilization, or they were derived from external, distant sources.

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Geologie, Mineralogie und Geochemie der Goldlagerstätte Broomstock im Kwekwe Greenstone Belt, Zimbabwe: Bedeutung für Goldvererzung in jaspitischen Eisenformationen

Zusammenfassung In der Broomstock Mine treten drei Typen von Goldmineralisationen auf: (i) Vererzungen in Jaspiliten, (ii) Vererzungen in Scherzonen, die Metabasalte durchsetzen, und (iii) supergene Vererzungen.Die vorliegende Untersuchung befaßt sich vornehmlich mit den Vererzungen der Jaspilite. Kartierungen und Beprobungen zeigten, daß ökonomische Goldgehalte an Be-reiche der Jaspilite gebunden sind, die tektonisch zerbrochen und brekziiert sind. Zudem treten in diesen Bereichen Arsenkies und Pyrit in hohen Konzentrationen auf. Die Mineralisation stellt den Absatz hydrothermaler Lösungen dar, die dilatante Bruchzonen innerhalb der Jaspilite als Zufuhrkanäle benutzten. Der Absatz der Sulfide und des Goldes erfolgte aufgrund sich ändernder P-T-Bedingungen und durch chemische Reaktionen zwischen den Lösungen und den eisenreichen Jaspiliten. Als Modell zur Herkunft des Goldes und der begleitenden Elemente wird entweder eine intraformationale Umlagerung, oder eine Zufuhr aus externen, entfernteren Quellen angenommen.

     

Multivariate statistical techniques applied to pisolitic laterite geochemistry at Golden Grove, Western Australia

Multivariate statistical procedures are applied to pisolitic laterite geochemistry in a study of the Golden Grove massive sulphide district. The objective is to optimize identification of geochemical anomalies caused by base metal mineral deposits.The statistical approach used in this paper depends upon geochemical data for appropriate reference groups (or training sets) being available. The target group consists of orientation data from pisolitic laterite about the Gossan Hill Cu-Zn massive sulphide deposit. A group representing background sequence was selected by combining three subareas in a geochemically quiet part of the prospective acid volcano-sedimentary sequence.A multi-element allocation procedure was set up using data from the reference groups. The exploration samples are then allocated, one sample at a time, to either one of the reference group categories, using the probability of group membership. A map showing the relative probability values for each sample site is the final product for interpretation, aided by ancillary use of an index of typicality.The allocation procedures were carried out using different element combinations, these being based on a procedure for subset selection to give maximum separation of reference groups, and on geochemical insight. Whilst many versions of the allocation procedure gave positive identification of the anomaly related to the blind Scuddles Cu-Zn deposit, allocation using only Cu, Pb, Zn and Ag did not. The results emphasize the importance of pathfinder elements in geochemical studies in weathered terrain.The allocation procedure using the most appropriate element combinations provided more positive identification of the main areas of known mineralization than had the previously used empirically derived methods of Smith and Perdrix (1983). The formal allocation procedure has the following additional advantages: results are not markedly affected by a very high value for any single element since robust procedures are incorporated into the analysis; better discrimination appears to be possible for weaker anomalies; separation of target from background can be optimized by formal calculations instead of by trial and error; and better suppression of background variation results.     

A weathered skarn-type mineralization in Ivory Coast: The Ity gold deposit

Although the Ity deposit is the oldest operating mine in Ivory Coast, very few studies exist on this deposit. It is situated in Western Ivory Coast, some 700 km northwest of Abidjan. The mine is presently operated and mined by SMI (Société des mines d'Ity — Society of Ity Mines), and has produced one million ounces of gold since its opening in 1991. All mined ore bodies are hosted in laterite and clay formations. The gold deposits in the Ity area form a cluster of mining operations of various sizes (Flotouo, Zia, Mont Ity), hosted in a Birimian volcano-sedimentary belt. The mineralization is mostly located at the contact between a granodiorite–tonalite intrusive body and sediments. Primary gold mineralization occurs in the form of veinlets and, mostly, skarn at the contact between the granitic intrusion and limestone. Calc-silicate minerals such as diopside and andradite dominate the skarn. However, the economic gold mineralization at Ity is associated with the saprolitic zone (50–120 m thick), and consists of several mineralized lenses of clayey and ferruginous material (“Terres noires”), and of sedimentary breccia layers. A thick laterite horizon (a minimum of 10 m) overlies the saprolite and covers the land throughout the region; it is mineralized in the deposit area. This contribution provides a summary of the geological and mineralogical relationships at the Ity deposit, presents new data on skarn-type gold mineralization, and summarizes its history, from the first findings, through exploration and mining assessment.     

Structural control on gold mineralization at Walhalla,Victoria

Gold mineralization associated with quartz reefs is related to the structural history of the Early Devonian, Walhalla Group. These reefs are situated in the Walhalla Synclinorium, developed during the Middle to Late Devonian Tabberabberan Orogeny. A pervasive north‐south‐trending axial planar cleavage and two styles of folding were produced during regional east‐west compression. The first are upright, open to close folds with sub‐horizontal fold axes. The second are plunging inclined, close to tight folds with fold axes that plunge steeply to the north and south. An extensional event is associated with the emplacement of the Woods Point Dyke swarm and a set of normal faults that offset all earlier structures. High‐angle reverse faults, which post‐date the folding and the emplacement of the dykes, were utilized as conduits for hydrothermal fluids and preferentially localize mineralization to laminated quartz veins. En echelon vein arrays formed during initial stages of reverse faulting became deformed during prolonged shearing to produce ptygmatic veins. Laminated quartz veins within high‐angle reverse faults contain arsenopyrite and pyrite in vein margins and gold in fractures that cross‐cut continuous quartz crystals. Gold, galena, chalcopyrite and sphalerite may also be deposited adjacent to and within fractured arsenopyrite and pyrite. Late‐stage, cross faults developed in a regime of north‐south compression and post‐date the laminated quartz veins and mineralization.     

Exploration rock geochemistry for Pinnacles-type mineralization at Broken Hill, N.S.W., Australia

Geochemical responses in weathered and oxidized surface metasedimentary rocks associated with stratiform lead-zinc mineralization at Stirling Hill (6 km west of Broken Hill) are compared with the geochemical responses in fresh drill core from an equivalent lithostratigraphic section with stratiform lead-zinc mineralization at the Pinnacles Mine (8 km south of Stirling Hill). Mineralization is interpreted as being volcanic exhalative and it lies within highly metamorphosed (sillimanite grade) rocks of the Willyama Supergroup.Surface rocks were classified into groups by discriminant analysis using drill core data from the Pinnacles Mine as the initial training set. The behaviour of elements in surface rocks varies with the rock group but Zn, Pb, Mn, Fe, and Co are leached from all surface rocks relative to fresh drill core.Nothwithstanding the leaching effects of weathering, common geochemical responses to mineralization have been identified in drill core and surface rocks. Coincident positive anomalies for Zn/Ba and Fe/(Na × Ba) ratios and negative anomalies for Na/(Mn × Ca) ratios uniquely define mineralization in both weathered surface rocks and in fresh drill core.The results demonstrate that the pattern of geochemical responses to Pinnacles-type stratiform volcanic-exhalative mineralization in surface rocks has survived the intensive weathering regime in the Broken Hill region.     

新疆西准噶尔包古图金矿微量元素地球化学研究

包古图金矿由石英脉型和蚀变岩型矿体组成,该矿的热液成矿期可以划分为4个阶段:粗粒石英脉阶段(Ⅰ)、含金细粒硫化物-石英脉阶段(Ⅱ)、含金粗粒自然砷-辉锑矿-石英脉阶段(Ⅲ)以及方解石脉阶段(Ⅳ),其中阶段Ⅱ和Ⅲ是主要的金矿化阶段,形成自然金赋存于毒砂、含砷黄铁矿中,银金矿被自然砷、辉锑矿包裹。阶段Ⅰ石英脉的稀土元素总量(0.83×10-6~3.67×10-6)明显低于阶段Ⅱ(11.01×10-6~30.18×10-6),轻重稀土元素分馏[(La/Yb)N=8.53~21.89]较阶段Ⅱ[(La/Yb)N=6.90~10.40]明显,但总体具有与区内中酸性侵入岩相似的稀土元素配分模式;阶段Ⅰ石英脉具有弱Eu正异常(δEu=1.09~1.80),阶段ⅡδEu主要集中于1.36~0.67之间;所有样品显示弱Ce负异常或无Ce异常(δCe=0.87~1.01)。矿化围岩和含矿石英脉中的黄铁矿均显示右倾型稀土元素配分模式,但石英脉中黄铁矿轻重稀土元素分馏更明显[(La/Yb)N=24.0~36.1],所有黄铁矿均具有明显Eu负异常(δEu=0.50~0.64)。不同阶段石英脉和黄铁矿中Ce、Eu异常表明成矿流体逐渐向较还原的状态演化。黄铁矿的Co/Ni比值(1.60~10.50)指示初始成矿流体为中温。包古图金矿含矿石英脉与区内广泛发育的中酸性斑岩体、岩脉在时间和空间上密切相关,具有相似的稀土元素配分模式,以上特征指示包古图金矿成矿作用与区内晚石炭世中酸性岩浆活动有关。