Certain characteristics of diamonds from placers in northeastern Siberian Platform

In the northeast Yakutian placers, 20 to 46% of the diamond crystals examined were found to be whole and undamaged (the Syungude and Daldyn placers respectively; the other vary within this range). By districts, percentages of whole crystals are higher in the Middle Olenek and the Anabar than in the Lena or the Beyenchime-Udzha. Regionally, 70 to 88% of the crystals are rhombododecahedral and the remainder - octahedral or of the intermediate habits. The colors are generally brown or yellow; lilac or colorless crystals are not abundant. The photoluminescence is generally none, blue or vague, but may be yellow green or orange red (5 to 11% of the crystals; 23% in the Anabar district). – IGR Staff.     

Majoritic garnets in diamonds from placers of the Northeastern Siberian Platform

Doklady Earth Sciences -     

Genesis of the Dordogne (France) high-purity silica placers

This article describes the formation of the principal French high-purity silica placer (source for electrometallurgy of silicon and ferrosilicon), the Boudeau deposit in Dordogne, and of one of its subordinate deposits, the Pays Brûlé deposit. Boudeau has always been considered to be a colluvial deposit, formed in a trap produced by extensional tectonism. The present work suggests a new genetic interpretation, based on a combined study of the deposits and their underlying rocks. It shows that the quartz gravel deposits, laid down by stream flow within braided channels, were reworked by karstic progressive sinking, and that the mechanism responsible for the increase in the thickness of the economic formations is cryptokarstic corrosion. This undercovers weathering process, which involves dissolution of karstifiable rocks (oolitic and bioclastic limestones) at their interface with a permeable, non-karstifiable cover composed of chemically pure quartz gravels in a sandy-argillaceous matrix. A typological study of the gravels provides a basis for tackling the problem of their origin and their purity. They seem to be derived mainly from the synmetamorphic quartz mobilisates of the stripped metamorphic units (the lower and upper gneiss units forming the western edge of the Massif Central). Lastly, a dynamic model is suggested for the genesis of the high-purity silica deposits of Dordogne.     

Gold resource potential of the eastern Siberian Platform: Placers and their feeding sources

The data on typomorphism of placer gold and its localization in the eastern Siberian Platform have been integrated for the first time. The alluvial, pseudolode, and eolian morphology of gold determines the origin of placers, which is explained not only by hydrodynamic but also by eolian processes. The recent and older alluvial (Au-bearing reservoir rocks in the second case), as well as eolian (unconventional type), genetic types of placers are recognized in the given territory. Precambrian and Mesozoic stages of ore formation are distinguished by the set of typomorphic attributes of placer gold (chemical composition, microinclusions, internal structure, etc.). On the basis of distinguishing features of placer gold, Precambrian lode deposits of great depth spatially related to outcrops of the basement have been forecasted for the first time and classified into low-sulfide gold-quartz, Au-bearing banded iron formation, Au-Cu porphyry, and Au-PGE types. The inferred shallow-seated gold-silver and gold-sulfide-quartz disseminated deposits occur locally and are related to the Mesozoic tectonomagmatic reactivation. The elaborated methods and approaches to the study of placer gold typomorphism in the eastern Siberian Platform also could be helpful in providing insights into placer origin, and forecasting and prospecting gold deposits on the East European Platform, which is close to the Siberian Platform in geological evolution.     

Genesis of platiniferous massifs in the southeastern Siberian Platform

Data obtained on melt inclusions in Cr-spinel suggest a magmatic genesis of dunite in the Konder and Inagly placer-forming platiniferous massifs in the southeastern Siberian Platform. These data make it possible to evaluate the physicochemical parameters of the magmatic processes that produced these concentrically zoned alkaline-ultrabasic complexes. The comparative analysis of the composition of the Cr-spinel with inclusions highlights remarkable differences between this mineral in the Konder and Inagli massifs, on the one hand, and in ultramafic rocks in ophiolites and the modern oceanic crust, on the other. Minute clinopyroxene crystals included in Cr-spinel from the Konder Massif have a composition and configurations of their REE patterns contrastingly different from those of clinopyroxene in basite-hyperbasite complexes of ophiolite associations but are close to those of clinopyroxene in the Kytlym and Nizhnii Tagil platiniferous massifs in the Urals. The composition of the quenched melt inclusions suggests that the chromite crystallized predominantly from picrite alkaline magmas. The concentrations of most elements in the high-Mg inclusions are close to those in biotite-pyroxene alkaline picrites, a fact testifying to the significant contribution of ultrabasic (picrite) alkaline magmatic systems to the origin of the Konder and Inagli massifs. Ion-probe analyses of the inclusions suggest that the melts were rich in water (up to 0.6 wt %). Data on the distribution of REE and other trace elements in the inclusions provide evidence of the influence of a deep plume. Our simulations with the use of the composition of the melt inclusions suggest that dunite in the Konder and Inagli massifs were produced mainly by water-bearing magmas at temperatures of 1460–1300°C. As the melts evolved to less magnesian ones, olivine continued to crystallize from them until the temperature decreased to 1230°C.     

Mineralogical criteria for the diamond potential of Upper Triassic placers on the northeastern margin of the Siberian Platform

Representative sampling of a diamond-bearing basal horizon in the Carnian Stage (Upper Triassic) on the northeastern margin of the Siberian Platform revealed a wide spectrum of indicator minerals, first of all, garnets, whose compositions are the same as in the inclusions in the regional diamonds. Of special interest are garnets of potential eclogite paragenesis with an abnormally high impurity of MnO (0.5–3.2 wt.%), which was earlier detected in more than 20% of garnets present as inclusions in diamonds of northern Quaternary placers and recommended as a new mineralogical criterion for diamond presence. Subcalcic Cr-pyropes of dunite–harzburgite paragenesis were also found in variable amounts, from 0.7 to 3.9 rel.%, in the sample of 973 grains of pyropes of lherzolite and websterite parageneses. Three grains contain 11.9, 12.6, and 16 wt.% Cr₂O₃, which corresponds to the presence of 30–34% of Mg–Cr-knorringite component. Such pyropes have been revealed for the first time in the study region. Cr-spinels are a mixture of compositions typical of kimberlites and the regional alkali-ultrabasic rocks. All studied samples contain picroilmenites with a variable content of Cr₂O₃ impurity. Since Mg–Fe–Ca-garnets with Mg# < 35 can be partly hosted in metamorphic rocks of the Anabar Shield, the elevated content of Na₂O impurity (> 0.09 wt.%) was also taken into account. The different contents of indicator minerals in the samples might be due to the variable composition of the diamond orebodies. The Carnian placers call for new systematic sampling. Special attention should be given to estimation of the composition of garnets of presumably eclogite paragenesis with elevated contents of TiO₂, MnO, CaO, and Na₂O and to search for perovskite and Nb-containing rutile. These minerals, together with zircons, are of interest for determining the U–Pb isotopic age of probable diamond orebodies—kimberlites.     

Some geological-morphological features of the formation of gold-bearing placers in the Amur region

The intensity of placer formation is controlled by many factors, mainly by the erosion level of orebearing structures. Their deep erosion and long-term denudation resulted in the formation of numerous, often large placers with fine gold, which lost their relation with bedrocks and were derived mainly by rewashing of loose deposits from the depressions adjacent to the ore-bearing orogens. These placers are developed in many gold-bearing areas: Dambuki, Sutara, Erik, and others. Rich placers with coarse gold of high fineness were formed via erosion of gold mineralization that was previously metamorphosed by post-ore granitoids (Niman and Kerbi regions, Central Sikhote Alin).     

The age of predictable primary diamond sources in the northeastern Siberian Platform

The U–Pb (SHRIMP) age was determined for zircons collected from 26 observation and sampling sites of diamonds and index minerals in the northeastern Siberian Platform. This part of the region hosts 15 low-diamondiferous Paleozoic and Mesozoic kimberlite fields, excluding the near economic Triassic Malokuonapskaya pipe in the Kuranakh field. Four epochs of kimberlite formation (Silurian, Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous, Middle to Late Triassic, and Middle to Late Jurassic) of the Siberian Platform, including its northeastern part, are confirmed as a result of our studies. Most observation points, including economic Quaternary diamond placers, contain Middle to Late Triassic zircons, which confirms the abundant Late Triassic volcanism in this region. The positive correlation of diamonds and major index minerals of kimberlites (mostly, garnets) at some observation sites indicates the possible Triassic age of the predictable diamondiferous kimberlites.     

Native gold in Ti-bearing placers of the Ariadna cluster and its bedrock sources (Primorye region)

Centuries of intense mining of noble metals from placers of the southern Far East has exhausted their reserves. The prospects for increasing the raw material base of the region are connected with complex exogenic deposits, where noble metals play a subordinate role. The study of native gold from Ti-bearing placers spatially and genetically associated with the Ariadna mafic-ultramafic massif located on the right side of the Bol’shaya Ussurka River reveals the placer-forming role of polygenic and polychronous bedrock sources. Mafic-ultramafic rocks yielded cupriferous and mercuric gold; quartz veins with Au-As mineralization likely serve as another source of placers.     

Geochemistry of Brines in the Tunguska and Olenek Artesian Basins (Siberian Platform)

A comparative analysis of the chemical composition of underground brines in sections of the Tunguska and Olenek artesian basins is accomplished. The paper examines the equilibrium degree of brines with host rock minerals: carbonate (dolomite, calcite, magnesite, strontianite), sulfate (gypsum and celestine), chloride (halite, sylvite) and some aluminosilicates (anorthite, albite, illite, montmorillonites, kaolinite, muscovite, and others). Origin of brines is discussed based on results of the calculation of genetic coefficients. The paper presents a schematic generalization of data on the chemical composition, mineral concentration, genesis, and abundance of brines in the studied subjects.     

Early Paleozoic tectonics for the New Siberian Islands terrane (Eastern Arctic)

The New Siberian Islands archipelago is one of the few research objects accessible for direct study on the eastern Arctic shelf. There are several models that have different interpretations of the Paleozoic tectonic history and the structural affinity of the New Siberian Islands terrane. Some infer a direct relationship with the passive continental margin of the Siberian paleocontinent. Others connect it with the marginal basins of Baltica and Laurentia, or the Chukotka-Alaska microplate. Our paleomagnetic investigation led us to create an apparent polar wander path for the early Paleozoic interval of geological history. Based on it we can conclude that the New Siberian Islands terrane could not have been a part of these continental plates. This study considers the possible tectonic scenarios of the Paleozoic history of the Earth, presents and discusses the corresponding global reconstructions describing the paleogeography and probable mutual kinematics of the terranes of the Eastern Arctic.     

Morphology and Genesis of Washout-Like Structures in a Coal Seam (Eastern Donbas)

Doklady Earth Sciences - Based on study of the morphological features of a coal seam in a mine of the Eastern Donbas, the mineral and coal elements of the object studied were identified as a single...     

Basement topography of Siberian Platform

Geophysically-geologically indicated topographic features of the platform's crystalline base (map) suggest mobility of the base throughout Paleozoic time. - -A.G.I. Staff.     

Genesis of Zn-Cu deposits in the basic Ransko massif (Eastern Bohemia)

Watkinson et al. (1978) have reinterpreted the Zn-Cu deposits in the Ransko massif as xenoliths of volcanogenic ores enclosed in and contact-metamorphosed by a basic magma. A detailed reexamination of different xenoliths within the massif, and their comparison with the cordierite hornfelses carriers of Zn-Cu ores, has shown essential differences between them, and confirmed the previous opinions on the metasomatic origin of the deposits. The cordierite hornfels originated by selective magnesian metasomatism of intrusive rocks rich in feldspar (quartz diorite, troctolite), particularly by the replacement of feldspars by cordierite. Around the stocks of cordierite hornfels, a conspicuous concentric metasomatic zonation of rocks developed in mafic intrusives. The Zn-Cu deposits of the Ransko massif resemble sulfide deposits connected with magnesian metasomatism, especially those of the Hitachi area in Japan.     

Kerogen from the Cambrian deposits of the Kuonamka Formation (northeastern Siberian Platform)

Kerogens from the Lower and Middle Cambrian deposits of the Kuonamka Formation in the northeastern Siberian Platform have been analyzed by modern methods. We have determined the pyrolytic characteristics of insoluble organic matter and the contents of C, H, S, N, O, and the stable C isotope. The type and catagenesis of organic matter have been estimated, as well as the generating potential of oil source rocks. It has been found that the composition of kerogens taken from the Molodo River outcrops was affected by supergene processes and that the degree of their alteration is related to the organic content of rocks and their structure.     

The Baikalian and Vendian sequences in the Lower Angara area (southwestern Siberian Platform)

In the section of Agaleevskaya BH-4 drilled in the lower reaches of the Angara River, Vendian and Baikalian sediment sequences have been recognized within Neoproterozoic strata. The Vendian sequence is formed by terrigenous-carbonate deposits of the Tetere, Soba, and Katanga Formations of the Danilovo Horizon, referred to as the Upper Vendian Nemakit-Daldyn Stage, as well as by terrigenous deposits of the Taseeva Group. The Baikalian Horizon is composed of the Brus Formation, earlier recognized only on the Chadobets uplift, and is separated from the Vendian deposits by a stratigraphic gap. In the Brus Formation, a microfossil complex similar to earlier described biotas of the Siberian Baikalian strata was found. The underlying deposits of the Terina Formation contain microfossils lacking below the basement of the Lakhanda Horizon (Neoproterozoic).