Thrust-controlled gold mineralisation at the Elandshoogte Mine,Sabie-Pilgrim's Rest goldfield,South Africa

Stratiform quartz-sulphide-gold veins, locally termed reefs are hosted within the Proterozoic Transvaal Sequence sedimentary succession, in the Sabie-Pilgrim's Rest goldfield, eastern Transvaal. These deposits have produced about 180 tonnes of gold and share many characteristics with those of Telfer, Western Australia. Detailed examination of the Elandshoogte Mine shows that gold deposition occurred in two stages, both linked to bedding-parallel thrust faulting within the sedimentary pile. Deformation being concentrated within incompetent shale beds, interlayered within more competent units. The majority of gold was introduced in the second stage of mineralisation and occurs within fractures in early-formed sulphide minerals. Deposition of competent quartz veins accompanying early sulphide and gold mineralisation resulted in a change in deformation style within the reef zone, from early shearing in shales to later duplex faulting of the quartz-reef. Fluids accompanying faulting are implied to have transported gold, and a magmatic source of mineralisation is suggested.     

Age and paragenesis of mineralisation at Coronation Hill uranium deposit,Northern Territory,Australia

Coronation Hill is a U?+?Au?+?platinum group elements deposit in the South Alligator Valley (SAV) field in northern Australia, south of the better known unconformity-style U East Alligator Rivers (EAR) field. The SAV field differs from the EAR by having a more complex basin-basement architecture. A volcanically active fault trough (Jawoyn Sub-basin) developed on older basement and then was disrupted by renewed faulting, before being buried beneath regional McArthur Basin sandstones that are also the main hanging wall to the EAR deposits. Primary mineralisation at Coronation Hill formed at 1607?±?26 Ma (rather than 600–900 Ma as previously thought), and so it is likely that the SAV was part of a single west McArthur Basin dilational event. Most ore is hosted in sub-vertical faults and breccias in the competent volcanic cover sequence. This favoured fluid mixing, acid buffering (forming illite) and oxidation of Fe²⁺ and reduced C-rich assemblages as important uranium depositional mechanisms. However, reduction of U in fractured older pyrite (Pb model age of 1833?±?67 Ma) is an important trap in diorite. Some primary ore was remobilised at 675?±?21 Ma to form coarse uraninite?+?Ni-Co pyrite networks containing radiogenic Pb. Coronation Hill is polymetallic, and in this respect resembles the ‘egress’-style U deposits in the Athabascan Basin (Canada). However, these are all cover-hosted. A hypothesis for further testing is that Coronation Hill is also egress-style, with ores formed by fluids rising through basement-hosted fault networks (U reduction by diorite pyrite and carbonaceous shale), and into veins and breccias in the overlying Jawoyn Sub-basin volcano-sedimentary succession.     

Proterozoic igneous activity in the Tennant Creek region,Northern Territory,Australia, and its relationship to Cu-Au-Bi mineralisation

Proterozoic silicic magmatic activity in the Tennant Creek area includes a suite of pre- to syn-orogenic granitoids (i.e. the Tennant Creek Granite and compositionally similar porphyries) predominantly intruded during the period 1870–1830 Ma, a group of silicic volcanics and volcaniclastics (Flynn Subgroup) erupted shortly after the main D₁ deformation, and apparently anorogenic silicic intrusives represented by the Warrego Granite. Chemical and petrographic data indicate that the majority of the pre- to syn-orogenic granitoids and porphyries are I-type or infracrustal-derived, whereas the peraluminous muscovite-rich Warrego Granite has many characteristics of supracrustal-derived (S-type) granitoids. The Warrego Granite also appears to be moderately fractionated with relatively low Ba, Sr, Zr, K/Rb, and high Th, Nb, Be, Bi, Rb/Sr compared with the associated I-type granitoids, porphyries and volcanics. Fractionation of feldspar and minor zircon has also resulted in substantial relative enrichment in LREE together with a pronounced negative Eu anomaly in the Warrego Granite. Previous studies suggest that the Cu-Au-Bi mineralisation at Tennant Creek post-dates formation of the host ironstones, but the absolute timing is imprecisely known. Mass-balance calculations utilising background Au concentrations for potential source rocks suggest it is feasible for the Au in some of the deposits to have been leached by relatively high-temperature (250 to 300 °C) deep basinal brines, and deposited by reaction with the ironstones. However, the inferred hydrothermal leaching cells would need to have been very large unless the leaching process was very effective. An alternative preferred model is that the mineralising fluids were exsolved from incompatible element-enriched, fractionated granitic magma, mixed with ground water, and reacted with the ironstones to deposit the base and precious metals. On the basis of chemical similarity to other granitoids closely associated with mineralisation, the Warrego Granite seems the most likely source of the fluids. However, problematic constraints imposed by the apparent age of the mineralisation (1810 Ma), and an emplacement age (Rb-Sr) of 1670 Ma for the Warrego Granite indicate a need for additional geochronological studies.     

Nature of gold mineralisation in the Walhalla Goldfield,southeast Australia

The Walhalla-Woods Point Goldfield in southeast Australia is characterised by large gold deposits associated with a Late Devonian dyke swarm. The setting of this goldfield is unique because unlike the major gold deposits in Victoria, it occurs close to the eastern margin of the Western Lachlan Orogen, and highlights the disparities between the evolving phases of orogenic gold mineralisation in the Western Lachlan Orogen, and the contrasts between sediment hosted, dyke-associated and dyke-hosted gold mineralisation. This study integrates existing and new data from renewed mapping of the geology and geochemistry of three gold deposits near the township of Walhalla, in the historically important yet under-explored and under-researched Walhalla-Woods Point Goldfield. The ten highest yielding deposits within the goldfield are either hosted within, or adjacent to, intrusions of the Woods Point Dyke Swarm. This is due to the greater chemical reactivity of the calc-alkaline dykes, and the greater rheological contrast between the dykes and surrounding low-grade metasedimentary units, which allowed for the formation of dyke-hosted quartz breccia veins that are consistently favourable sites for gold mineralisation in the Walhalla Goldfield. This is in contrast to historical production, which concentrated on visible gold within the shear zone-hosted laminated quartz veins. Gold and As assay results have highlighted the increased levels of invisible gold disseminated along dyke margins in proximity to shear zones and quartz reefs. The high-yielding gold deposits hosted wholly by the dyke intrusions of the Woods Point Dyke Swarm are orogenic gold deposits, as they are not associated with elevated levels of Bi, W, As, Mb, Te and Sb, typical of intrusion-related gold deposits.     

Relative timing of deformational,metamorphic and mineralisation events at the Mt. Todd (Yimuyn Manjerr) Mine,Pine Creek Inlier,Northern Territory,Australia

The Mt. Todd Mine (also known as the Yimuyn Manjerr Mine), located approximately 40 km northwest of the township of Katherine, in the Northern Territory, Australia, is host to several discrete ore bodies that strike NNE within a broad NE-trending corridor of gold mineralisation. The mine lies in the southern region of the Central Domain of the Pine Creek Inlier (PCI) and is hosted by a Palaeoproterozoic sequence of rocks termed the Burrell Creek Formation, which is dominated by greywacke, siltstone, sandstone and shale that exhibit sedimentary features akin to those of a river-dominant delta front to prodelta environment. The formation is conformably overlain by volcanoclastic and volcanolithic sedimentary rocks of the Tollis Formation (∼1890 Ma).Three deformation events are recognised in the Mt. Todd region, D1, D2 and D3. The earliest deformation, D1, is characterised by close to tight, NE to N to NW-trending asymmetric folds (F1), and a continuous axial–planar cleavage (S1). The deformation is associated with the development of conjugate buck–quartz veins and was preceded by the emplacement of the Yenberrie Leucogranite, which produced contact metamorphism of the sedimentary rocks of the Burrell Creek Formation to hornblende–hornfels facies (H1), with the development of cordierite porphyroblasts (type C1). D1 was coincident with peak regional metamorphism to greenschist facies.D2 is associated with westerly trending open folds (F2), and a spaced disjunctive to fracture cleavage (S2) in transection to the folds. It was preceded by the emplacement of the Tennysons Leucogranite of the Cullen Batholith (1835–1820 Ma), which produced contact metamorphism of the Yenberrie Leucogranite and the sedimentary rocks of the Burrell Creek and Tollis formations to hornblende–hornfels facies (H2), with the development of cordierite porphyroblasts (type C2).D3 is characterised by the reactivation of strike-slip faults (mostly sinistral), a steeply dipping Type S3-C type foliation, and mesoscopic en échelon folds (F3) that trend oblique to the faults in a left stepping (sinistral) array.The age of emplacement of the Tennysons Leucogranite, and the timing of D1 and D2 are broadly constrained by the age of emplacement of the Cullen Batholith at 1835–1800 Ma. D1 and D2 are correlated with deformation during the Maud Creek Event (∼1850 Ma), while D3 is correlated with deformation during the Shoobridge Event (∼1780 Ma). The age of the Yenberrie Leucogranite is constrained to the age of emplacement of granite batholiths at 1870–1860 Ma.A temporal and broad structural relationship exists between D2 structures, the Tennysons Leucogranite, and the several gold-bearing quartz–sulphide veins and lode systems of the Mt. Todd Mine. The systems appear to have formed after peak thermal metamorphism associated with the emplacement of the pluton at about 1825 Ma, and early in D2, prior to the development of the regional S2 fabric. W–Mo–Sn–Bi–Cu greisen-type mineralisation in the carapace of the Yenberrie Leucogranite of the Yenberrie Wolfram Field constitutes a discrete mineralising event that preceded the emplacement of the Tennysons Leucogranite.     

Episodic gold mineralisation correlated with discrete structural events at Ballarat East,southeast Australia

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological data suggest orogenic gold mineralisation at the Ballarat East deposit, southeast Australia, occurred in three main episodes at ca. 445–435 Ma, ca. 420–415 Ma and ca. 380–370 Ma. The gold mineralisation is localised in muscovite-bearing quartz and quartz-carbonate veins hosted in the steep faults (70–90°), on limbs of tight and isoclinal folds in an Ordovician turbidite sequence, and within west-dipping (≤45°) faults, historically known as leather jacket lodes. Initiation of the ≤45° faults that are confined to fold culminations, begins at ca. 445 Ma, with peak metamorphic conditions at 440 Ma. The earliest vein sets (V₁), were emplaced on limb thrusts at ca. 445–435 Ma and are characterised by arsenopyrite-dominated quartz veins. These V₁ veins parallel arsenopyrite-rich shale units, historically referred to as ‘indicator beds’. Both the steep and ≤45° faults were reactivated during fold amplification with deposition of the V₂ auriferous veins at ca. 420–415 Ma. A later set of auriferous veins (V₃–V₄) with ages of 380–370 Ma, dominated by pyrite-sphalerite-galena-white-mica quartz-(V₃) or carbonate-rich (V₄) veins are predominantly associated with reactivation of the ≤45° west-dipping faults. This new geochronological data constrains the local kinematic history of the Ballarat East deposit and has regional implications. The V₁–V₂ vein development appears to be synchronous across the entire western section of the Lachlan Orogen, where previous studies have suggested that initial gold mineralisation was linked to orogenesis at ∼440 Ma, as a result of metamorphic devolatilisation reactions in the lower crust. In contrast, a close spatial and temporal relationship exists between the felsic dykes and the mineralisation recognised in the V₃–V₄ veins. The deformation that accompanies V₃–V₄ vein development is attributed to small, localised events during east-west shortening, utilising pre-existing fold and fault structures. The origin of the fluids producing the V₃–V₄ veins may be metamorphic devolatilisation associated with widespread felsic magmatism that occurred at this time across central Victoria.     

Fluid inclusion and sulphur isotope evidence for syntectonic mineralisation at the Elura mine,southeastern Australia

Fluid inclusion and sulphur isotope data for the discordant, metasediment-hosted massive sulphide deposit at Elura are consistent with a syntectonic origin of the orebodies. Thermometric and laser Raman microprobe analyses indicate that two-phase, primary fluid inclusions are low salinity and H₂O-CO₂-CH₄ types. Inclusion fluids from quartz in ore yield homogenisation temperatures (T_h) ranging from 298 ° to 354 °C (mean 320 °C). They are likely to have been trapped close to the solvus of the H₂O-CO₂-(CH₄-NaCl) system and thus should give temperatures of the mineralising fluid. An additional, low T_h population of later fluid inclusions is recognised in quartz from ore and syntectonic extension veins in the adjacent wallrock. T_h's for these low CO₂bearing inclusions range from 150 to 231 °C (mean 190 °C), and should be considerably lower than true trapping temperatures. Sulphur isotopic composition (³⁴S) of pyrite, sphalerite, pyrrhotite and galena ranges from 4.7 to 12.6% and indicates a sulphur source from underlying Cobar Supergroup metasediments. An average temperature of 275 °C from the sphalerite-galena sulphur isotopic thermometer suggests isotopic re-equilibration below peak metamorphic temperatures.     

The Granites gold deposits, Northern Territory, Australia: evidence for an early syn-tectonic ore genesis

The ore deposits of The Granites goldfield are shear-hosted within Palaeoproterozoic amphibolite facies metasedimentary rocks in the Tanami Region, Northern Territory, Australia. The ore bodies are located within a 5- to 35-m thick sequence of steeply dipping unit of metamorphosed iron-rich metasedimentary rocks. Deformation at The Granites was complex and is characterized by five successive deformation phases (D_1–5). Shear veins (central and oblique) are the dominant type of vein geometry, with minor development of extensional veins and reverse-fault related veins. Four generations of syn-tectonic veins, corresponding to D₁, D₃, D₄, and D₅, have been recognized and are comprised of quartz, quartz-carbonate, calc-silicate, and calcite. In addition, two generations of disseminated sulfide–arsenide mineralization, dominated by pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, and loellingite, with minor pyrite, chalcopyrite and rare marcasite, formed syn-D₁ and syn- to post-D₃. Textural and structural evidence indicates deposition of gold was contemporaneous with the syn-D₁ veins and sulfide–arsenide mineralization. Four hydrothermal phases are proposed for the formation of the veins and disseminated sulfide–arsenide assemblages. The first phase (D₁) was responsible for transport and deposition of the majority of the gold. Minor remobilization and deposition of gold occurred during the D₃ and D₄ phases. Little is known about the nature of the D₁ ore fluid, although a relatively low sulfur content is indicated by the assemblage pyrrhotite–arsenopyrite–loellingite+rare pyrite. The growth of amphibolite facies metamorphic minerals andalusite and almandine garnet during D₁ indicates a high temperature for the fluid. The D₃ hydrothermal phase coincided with peak metamorphism. D₄ fluids were hypersaline, high temperature, CO₂-poor, and H₂S-poor. Editorial handling: L. Meinert     

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.     

Unusual nickel mineralisation at Nullagine,Western Australia

Nickel mineralisation occurs in shears in Archaean serpentinised peridotite near Nullagine, Western Australia. The principal nickel minerals are millerite, polydymite and pecoraite, which occur chiefly as concentrations of nodular grains, mostly between 1 and 5 mm in diameter. The polydymite represents a replacement of millerite, and is in turn partly replaced by gaspéite. The pecoraite grains generally contain several percent chromium, and are frequently rimmed by millerite‐containing magnetite. A similar type of nodule consists of nullaginite (Ni₂(OH)₂CO₃). Other major minerals in the shears include various types of serpentine and magnesite, coarse chlorite, and apatite. The assemblage is cut by late veinlets of gaspéite, pecoraite, otwayite (Ni₂(OH)₂CO₃.H₂O), and nullaginite. Trace amounts of barite, cinnabar, parkerite, shandite, breithauptite, and nickeloan greenockite are also present.

The bulk of the mineralisation is attributed to the effects of hydrothermal and/or metasomatic activity along shears in the serpentine. Concretionary magnesite in some of the shears is believed to be the result of Tertiary weathering. The late veinlets of nickel minerals and the replacement of millerite and polydymite are attributed to supergene effects.     

Primary diagenetic copper carbonate at the Malbunka copper deposit,Amadeus Basin,Northern Territory,Australia

The Malbunka copper deposit, located about 220 km west of Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory of Australia, may be a rare example of primary formation of copper carbonate mineralization. This deposit consists of unusual azurite disks up to 25 cm diameter, and lesser amounts of secondary azurite crystals and malachite. Carbon isotope values of the copper carbonate minerals are consistent with formation from groundwater-dissolved inorganic carbon. Oxygen isotope thermometry formation temperature estimates are 5–16 °C above ambient temperatures, suggesting the copper carbonates formed at a depth between 0.3 and 1.6 km in the Amadeus Basin. Azurite fluid inclusion waters are rich in boron, chlorine, and other elements suggestive of dilute oil basin formation fluids. In addition, presence of euhedral tourmaline with strong chemical zonation suggest that this was a low temperature diagenetic setting. The strong correlation of structures associated with hydraulic fracturing and rich copper carbonate mineralization suggest a strongly compartmentalized overpressure environment. It is proposed that copper carbonates of the Malbunka deposit formed when deep, copper-rich formation fluids were released upward by overpressure-induced failure of basin sediments, permitting mixing with carbonate-rich fluids above. This work bears directly upon exploration for a new type of primary copper deposit, through understanding of the conditions of genesis.     

The Wyoming gold deposits: volcanic-hosted lode-type gold mineralisation in the eastern Lachlan Orogen,Australia

The eastern Lachlan Orogen in southeastern Australia is noted for its major porphyry–epithermal–skarn copper–gold deposits of late Ordovician age. Whilst many small quartz vein-hosted or orogenic lode-type gold deposits are known in the region, the discovery of the Wyoming gold deposits has demonstrated the potential for significant lode-type mineralisation hosted within the same Ordovician volcanic stratigraphy. Outcrop in the Wyoming area is limited, with the Ordovician sequence largely obscured by clay-rich cover of probable Quaternary to Cretaceous age with depths up to 50 m. Regional aeromagnetic data define a north–south trending linear belt interpreted to represent the Ordovician andesitic volcanic rock sequence within probable Ordo-Silurian pelitic metasedimentary rocks. Drilling through the cover sequence in 2001 to follow up the trend of historically reported mineralisation discovered extensive alteration and gold mineralisation within an andesitic feldspar porphyry intrusion and adjacent volcaniclastic sandstones and siltstones. Subsequent detailed resource definition drilling has identified a substantial mineralised body associated with sericite–carbonate–albite–quartz–(±chlorite ± pyrite ± arsenopyrite) alteration. The Wyoming deposits appear to have formed as the result of a rheological contrast between the porphyry host and the surrounding volcaniclastic rocks, with the porphyry showing brittle fracture and the metasedimentary rocks ductile deformation. The mineralisation at Wyoming bears many petrological and structural similarities to orogenic lode-style gold deposits. Although the timing of alteration and mineralisation in the Wyoming deposits remain problematic, a relationship with possible early to middle Devonian deformation is considered likely.     

A geochronological framework for orogenic gold mineralisation in central Victoria, Australia

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological data support, and significantly expand upon, preliminary age data that were interpreted to suggest an episodic and diachronous emplacement of gold across the western Lachlan fold belt, Australia. These geochronological data indicate that mineralisation in the central Victorian gold province occurred in response to episodic, eastward progressing deformation, metamorphism and exhumation associated with the formation of the western Lachlan fold belt. Initial gold formation throughout the Stawell and the Bendigo structural zones can be constrained to a broad interval of time between 455 and 435 Ma, with remobilisation of metals into new structures and/or new pulses of mineralisation occurring between 420 and 400 Ma, and again between 380 and 370 Ma, linked to episodic variations in the regional stress-field and during intrusion of felsic dykes and plutons. This separation of ages is incompatible with the view that gold emplacement in the western Lachlan fold belt was the result of a single, orogen-wide event during the Devonian. A distinct phase of gold mineralisation, characterised by elevated Cu, Mo, Sb or W, is associated with both Late Silurian to Early Devonian (~420 to 400 Ma) and Middle to Late Devonian (~380 to 370 Ma) magmatism, when crustal thickening and shortening during the ongoing consolidation of the western Lachlan Fold Belt led to extensive melt development in the lower crust and resulted in widespread magmatism throughout central Victoria. These ~420 to 400 Ma and ~380 to 370 Ma occurrences, best exemplified by the Wonga deposit in the Stawell structural zone and many of the Woods Point deposits in the Melbourne structural zone, but also evidenced by occurrences at Fosterville and Maldon in the Bendigo structural zone, clearly formed synchronous with, or post-date, the emplacement of plutons and dykes, and thus are spatially (if not genetically) related to melt generation at depth. This later, magmatic-associated and polymetallic type of gold mineralisation is economically subordinate to the earlier, metamorphic-associated type of gold deposition in the Stawell and Bendigo structural zones, but tends to be the dominant style in the Melbourne Zone. These new geochronological constraints, together with zircon U-Pb data from felsic intrusive rocks of known relationship to gold mineralisation, demonstrate that initial hydrothermal alteration associated with gold emplacement in the western Lachlan fold belt was metamorphic-related, predating the emplacement of granite plutons by as much as 80 million years. This timing differs from other important orogenic gold districts where gold deposition is closely associated spatially with felsic magmatism. The early introduction of metamorphically derived fluids well before magmatism may reflect variations in the timing of peak metamorphic conditions at different crustal levels in an accretionary prism undergoing simultaneous deformation and erosion. Consequently, no genetic link exists between the main phase(s) of gold mineralisation and magmatism in the central Victorian gold province. With the exception of formation of a minor magmatism-related and geochemically-distinct mineralisation style at about 420 to 400 Ma, and again at about 380 to 370 Ma, the apparent spatial relationship between gold mineralisation and felsic intrusions is merely the result of melts and fluids being channelised along the same structures.     

Sediment-hosted disseminated gold mineralisation at Zarshuran, NW Iran

Mineralisation at the Zarshuran, NW Iran, occurs on the flank of an inlier of Precambrian rocks hosted in black silty calcareous and carbonaceous shale with interbedded dolomite and limestone varying in thickness from 5 to 60 m and extending along strike for approximately 5–6 km. Two major, steeply dipping sets of faults with distinct trends occur in the Zarshuran: (1) northwest (310–325) and (2) southwest (255–265). The main arsenic mineralisation occurs at the intersection of these faults. The mineral assemblage includes micron to angstrom-size gold, orpiment, realgar, stibnite, getchellite, cinnabar, thallium minerals, barite, Au-As-bearing pyrite, base metal sulphides and sulphosalts. Hydrothermal alteration features are developed in black shale and limestone around the mineralisation Types of alteration include: (1) decalcification, (2) silicification, (3) argillisation, (4) dolomitisation, (5) oxidation and acid leaching and (6) supergene alteration. The early stage of mineralisation involved removal of carbonates from the host rocks, followed by quartz precipitation. The main stage includes massive silicification associated with argillic alteration. In the late stage veining became more dominant and the main arsenic ore was deposited along fault cross cuts and gouge. These characteristics are typical of Carlin-type sediment-hosted disseminated gold deposits. The early stage of mineralisation contains only two-phase aqueous fluid inclusions. The main stage has two groups of three-phase CO₂-bearing inclusions with minor CH₄ ± N₂, associated with high temperature, two-phase aqueous inclusions. During the late stage, fluids exhibit a wide range in composition, salinity and temperature, and CH₄ becomes the dominant carbonic fluid with minor CO₂ associated with a variety of two-phase aqueous fluid inclusions. The characteristics of fluids at the Zarshuran imply the presence of at least two separate fluids during mineralisation. The intersections of coexisting carbonic and aqueous inclusion isochores, together with stratigraphic and mineral stability evidence, indicate that mineralisation occurred at 945 ± 445 bar and 243 ± 59 °C, implying a depth for mineralisation of at least 3.8 ± 1.8 km (assuming a lithostatic pressure gradient). Fluid density fluctuations and the inferred depth of formation suggest that the mineralisation occurred at the transition between overpressured and normally pressured regimes. Geochronologic studies utilising K/Ar and Ar/Ar techniques on hydrothermal argillic alteration (whole rock and separated clay size fractions) and on volcanic rocks, indicates that mineralisation at Zarshuran formed at 14.2 ± 0.4 Ma, and was contemporaneous with nearby Miocene volcanic activity, 13.7 ± 2.9 Ma. It is proposed that mineralisation was the result of the infiltration of hydrothermal fluids containing a magmatic gas component, and that it was localised in the Zarshuran Unit because of the redox boundary that it provided and/or because it lay between an overpressured region at depth and a zone of circulating, hydrostatically pressured fluids above. Received: 10 December 1997 / Accepted: 5 March 1999     

Groundwater regimes and isotopic studies,Ranger mine area,Northern Territory

Three types of groundwater occur in the area of the Ranger mine. Type A groundwater occurs in the loose sands and gravels occupying the present day stream channels, Type B in the weathering profile and Type C occurs in relatively fresh fractured bedrock occupying open fractures and other cavities. The three types of groundwater can be distinguished both chemically and isotopically. Light stable isotope data suggest that most early rains are lost by evapotranspiration and have no imprint on the groundwater. Later in the wet season, the ground is saturated and groundwater recharge occurs on a regional scale. This younger groundwater sits on the older waters. Mixing is probably minimal as before any large scale mixing could occur, most younger waters are lost by evapotranspiration. Stable isotope data suggest that Type B groundwater in certain areas has some connection with evaporated surface water bodies. Stable isotope measurements for the pollution monitoring bores around the tailings dam do not indicate any connection with the polluted pond waters at the time of sample collection.     

Structural setting, hydrothermal alteration, and gold mineralisation at the Archaean syenite-hosted Jupiter deposit, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

The Jupiter gold deposit in the northeastern Eastern Goldfields Province of the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia is hosted in greenschist facies metamorphosed tholeiitic basalt, quartz–alkali-feldspar syenite, and quartz–feldspar porphyry. Syenite intrudes basalt as irregularly shaped dykes which radiate from a larger stock, whereas at least three E–W and NE–SW striking quartz–feldspar porphyries intrude both syenite and basalt. Brittle–ductile shear zones are shallow-dipping, NW to NE striking, or are steep-dipping to the south and west. Quartz ± carbonate veins that host gold at Jupiter occur in all lithologies and are divided into: (1) veins that are restricted to the shear zones, (2) discrete veins that are subparallel to shear zone-hosted veins, and (3) stockwork veins that form a network of randomly oriented microfractures in syenite wallrock proximal to shallow-dipping shear zones. The gold-bearing veins comprise mainly quartz, calcite, ankerite, and albite, with minor sericite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, molybdenite, telluride minerals, and gold. Proximal hydrothermal alteration zones to the mineralised veins comprise quartz, calcite, ankerite, albite, and sericite. High gold grades (>2 g/t Au) occur mainly in syenite and in the hanging walls to shallow-dipping shear zones in syenite where there is a greater density of mineralised stockwork veins. The Jupiter deposit has structural and hydrothermal alteration styles that are similar to both granitoid-hosted, but post-magmatic Archaean lode-gold deposits in the Yilgarn Craton and intrusion-related, syn-magmatic, syenite-hosted gold deposits in the Superior Province of Canada. Based on field observations and petrologic data, the Jupiter deposit is considered to be a post-magmatic Archaean lode-gold deposit rather than a syn-intrusion deposit. Received: 5 January 1999 / Accepted: 24 December 1999     

Dolomitization and the genesis of the Woodcutters lead-zinc prospect,Northern Territory,Australia

Conclusion Roberts' mechanism of ore genesis in this paper is plausible and is worthy of consideration. It could well apply to situations such as the Missouri-type deposits, although Gerdemann and Myers (1972) might disagree. One cannot deny that dolomitization and diagenetic processes have occurred at Woodcutters, but in view of the folding and the time-relationships exhibited by the rocks, it would appear that these are not the ultimate ore-forming processes.It is possible that the mechanism of ore genesis proposed by Roberts might apply more fully to the Bulman deposits east of Woodcutters (Patterson, 1965) where the resemblance to a Missouritype situation is stronger.     

Dolomitization and the genesis of the Woodcutters lead-zinc prospect,Northern Territory,Australia

The Woodcutters L. 5 lead-zinc prospect in the Northern Territory, Australia, occurs in the Golden Dyke Formation, a sequence of carbonaceous siltstone, dolomite, and greywacke forming part of the Lower Proterozoic Goodparla Group, which was deposited on an Archaean granitic basement. An attempt has been made to show how those factors which are considered to have been significant in the formation of dolomite were also important in the genesis of the Woodcutters deposit. These factors are: 1. An evaporitic environment which favoured dolomite formation concentrated lead and zinc in the overlying solutions. 2. The base metals were further concentrated, and fixed in the sediments, by co-precipitation with the precursors of dolomite, Mg-calcite and/or aragonite. 3. The formation of dolomite during diagenesis resulted in either a structural change if the precursor was aragonite, or an ordering if the precursor was Mg-calcite. The dolomite could not accommodate the relatively large amount of base metal associated with its precursors, and as a consequence, during dolomitization these were released to the pore solutions. The metals in the pore solutions possibly complexed with organic materials such as those from the degradation of algal protein, and so remained in solution during lithification. During folding, the metal-enriched solutions were transported to fractures, and metal sulphides precipitated when the organic complexes became unstable. After lithification the carbonate-quartz-sulphide veins were zones of weakness along which shearing took place, probably over a considerable period of time. This shearing, as well as slight rise in temperature, resulted in fracturing, recrystallization, and reaction between the first-formed simple sulphides to produce the ore in its present form.

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Zusammenfassung Die Woodcutters L. 5 Blei-Zink-Lagerstätte im Northern Territory, Australien, tritt in der Golden Dyke Formation auf, die aus kohlenstoffhaltigem Siltstein, Dolomit und Grauwacke besteht. Dieselbe bildet einen Teil der Unter-Proterozoischen Sedimente der Goodparla group, welche auf einem Archaischen Granit-Untergrund abgelagert wurden. In dieser Arbeit ist der Versuch gemacht worden, zu zeigen, wie diese Faktoren, welche also wichtig in der Bildung von Dolomit betrachtet werden, auch bedeutend in der Genesis der Woodcutters Lagerstätte waren. Diese Faktoren sind: 1. Die evaporitische Umgebung, welche die Bildung von Dolomit begünstigt, konzentriert ebenfalls Blei-Zink in den darüberliegenden Lösungen. 2. Die Metalle wurden weiter angereichert und mit den Sedimenten durch Co-Precipitation mit den Vorläufern des Dolomits, Mg-Calcit oder Aragonit, verbunden. 3. Die Bildung von Dolomit während der Diagenese führte entweder zu einem strukturellen Wechsel, wenn Aragonit der Vorläufer war, oder zu einem Einbau im Falle von Mg-Calcit. Der gut geordnete Dolomit war nicht in der Lage, die verhältnismäßig große Menge von Blei-Zink, verbunden mit seinen Vorläufern, zu behalten und demzufolge wurden diese während der Dolomitisierung an die Porenlösungen abgegeben. Die Metalle in den Porenlösungen, möglicherweise zusammengesetzt mit organischem Material, wie diejenigen von der Degradation von Algen Protein, verblieben löslich während der Konsolidation. Während der Faltung wurden die mit Metall angereicherten Lösungen zu Spalten transportiert und als Metall-Sulphide niedergeschlagen, als die organischen Komplexe instabil wurden. Nach der Verfestigung wurden die Karbonat-Quarz-Sulphid-Gänge Schwächezonen, entlang denen Scherung stattfand, wahrscheinlich über eine große Zeitspanne hinweg. Sowohl diese Scherung als auch ein leichter Temperaturanstieg verursachten Brüche, Rekristallisationen und Reaktion zwischen den zuerst geformten einfachen Sulphiden, um das Erz in seiner jetzigen Form zu bilden.

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Published by permission of the Director, Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, Canberra, Australia.     

Pitchblende and galena ages in the Alligator Rivers region,Northern Territory,Australia

U-Pb and Pb isotopic studies have been made of pitchblendes and associated galenas from four major deposits in the Alligator Rivers region of the Northern Territory, Australia. These are compared with previously-published data on deposits in the South Alligator Valley and in the Westmoreland area on the Queensland border. In all, four different times of possible mineral formation have been detected (1880 ± m. y., 1700 ± m. y., 800–900 m. y., 400–500 m. y.) Some deposits reveal only one time, others two; no deposit shows evidence for all four. The associated galenas are in general highly radiogenic (206/204 ratios range from 2000 to 29, 000); some can be interpreted as reflecting development in two completely different generations of pitchblende. The clearest evidence for solid-state formation of galena from presently-existing pitchblende is to be found at Nabarlek, where the major time of pitchblende formation (920 m. y.) bears no relationship to any known Rb-Sr or K-Ar age.