Character of gold mineralization in the late Cenozoic alluvium of the Bauntov area (Vitim highland, Transbaikal region)

Study of gold potential of the Late Cenozoic alluvium in the Bauntov area is based on the Taloi basin and Sivo sector (China River basin). Primary placer-forming gold is mainly represented by endogenous varieties. In contrast to alluvium of streams in the Taloi basin, Middle-Upper Quaternary alluvium of the Sivo sector (China River basin) is enriched in fine and tiny gold (smaller than 0.25 mm). The paper presents data testifying to a low Au content in the silt fraction of slimes from boreholes drilled in the Cenozoic alluvium (alluvium-deluvium) from transverse valleys in the Taloi basin and, hence, to an significant manifestation of the chemogenic concentration of this metal therein. Issue of the existence of specific conditions favorable for the formation of hydrogenic gold in the northern high-latitude zones requires further studies. The results show that lithochemical gold aureoles have an important prospecting significance. They also suggest the practical significance of accumulations of fine and tiny gold in the syn-stratal alluvium and alluvium-deluvium of large ore placer areas.     

Experimental and petrological constraints on local-scale interaction of biotite-amphibole gneiss with H2O-CO2-（K, Na）Cl fluids at middle-crustal conditions： Example from the Limpopo Complex, South Africa

Reaction textures and fluid inclusions in the～2.0 Ga pyroxene-bearing dehydration zones within the Sand River biotite-hornblende orthogneisses（Central Zone of the Limpopo Complex） suggest that the formation of these zones is a result of close interplay between dehydration process along ductile shear zones triggered by H₂O-CO₂-salt fluids at 750—800℃and 5.5—6.2 kbar.partial melting,and later exsolution of residual brine and H₂O-CO₂ fluids during melt crystallization at 650—700℃.These processes caused local variations of water and alkali activity in the fluids,resulting in various mineral assemblages within the dehydration zone.The petrological observations are substantiated by experiments on the interaction of the Sand River gneiss with the H₂O-CO-2-（K,Na）Cl fluids at 750 and 800℃and 5.5 kbar.It follows that the interaction of biotite-amphibole gneiss with H₂O-CO₂-（K.Na）Cl fluids is accompanied by partial melting at 750—800℃.Orthopyroxene-bearing assemblages are characteristic for temperature 800℃and are stable in equilibrium with fluids with low salt concentrations,while salt-rich fluids produce clinopyroxene-bearing assemblages.These observations arc in good agreement with the petrological data on the dehydration zones within the Sand River orthoeneisses.     

Hypotheses of the brown loam formation in the Primorye region (Russian Far East): Hindsight and the new view

This paper addresses the hypotheses of the formation of the brown loams widely spread in the zone with hummocky relief within the intermontane Razdol’noe-Khanka Depression. These hypotheses were proposed in the 1970s–1980s. The accumulation of information on the loess formation in southern East Siberia, as well as obtaining new analytical data on the microtextural, mineralogy, and major and trace-element composition of the brown loams, and the comparative analysis of these deposits provided for the formulation of a more substantiated view concerning the place of the brown loams in the group of loess-type rocks.     

Unconventional gold placers of the China tectonic depression (Vitim Plateau,East Siberia)

Holocene shallow (0.5–4.5 m, rarely more) and Pliocene–Pleistocene deep (> 25 m) placers occur within the China tectonic depression. The shallow placers are associated with the formation of the present-day drainage valleys of the China River under permafrost conditions, and the deep ones are localized within the preglacial paleovalleys of the river basin. An integrated geological and geochemical study was carried out at ten shallow commercial placers, eight of which are classified as poorly studied and “unconventional.” Placers are considered “unconventional” based on their technological characteristics (commercial gold is small (? 0.25 to + 0.1 mm), thin (? 0.1 mm), and micron-sized or “bound” (invisible)), geomorphologic conditions of formation, confinement to the oxidized zone of active permafrost, significant portion of fine hydrogenic gold, and several other minor features.The formation of shallow “unconventional” placers is controlled by the conditions of active permafrost. Under aerobic conditions, suprapermafrost waters form an oxidized zone, in which iron hydroxides impart a yellowish reddish color to water-bearing rocks. Long-lived geochemical barriers (biogenic, reduction, electrochemical, sorption, and others), including gravitational differentiation, play an important role in the concentration of small and thin gold.Alluvial deposits in Meso-Cenozoic tectonic depressions, such as the China basin, are the most promising in terms of “unconventional” placers. The main factors favoring the formation of these localities and the criteria for their assessment are large feeding sources of gold (mainly carbonaceous and sulfide) mineralization, endogenic and exogenic dispersion aureoles with thin and invisible gold; increased thickness of the suprapermafrost active layer and its temporal and spatial stability, contributing to the formation and functioning of oxidized horizons with the accumulation of ferric hydroxide and hydrogenic gold; specific morphologic varieties of hydrogenic gold, which are the fundamental criterion for primary gold mineralization with migratable metal; fine-clastic clay-rich composition of recent alluvial or alluvial-talus sediments, produced by water reworking of ancient gold-bearing weathering crusts; and development of broad floodplains filled with Holocene sediments and their junction with talus-solifluction erosional slopes.     

The Time of Rock Formation in the Talakhtakh Diatreme (Arctic Siberia) according to Laser 40Ar/39Ar Dates

Doklady Earth Sciences - As a result of comprehensive study and laser 40Ar/39Ar dating of sanidines from the rocks of the Talakhtakh diatreme (TD) (Arctic Siberia), it has been found that the...     

Nanoparticles of noble metals in the supergene zone

Formation of noble metal nanoparticles is related to various geological processes in the supergene zone. Dispersed mineral phases appear during weathering of rocks with active participation of microorganisms, formation of soil, in aqueous medium and atmosphere. Invisible gold and other noble metals are incorporated into oxides, hydroxides, and sulfides, as well as in dispersed organic and inorganic carbonic matter. Sulfide minerals that occur in bedrocks and ores unaltered by exogenic processes and in cementation zone are among the main concentrators of noble metal nanoparticles. The ability of gold particles to disaggregate is well-known and creates problems in technological and analytical practice. When Au and PGE nanoparticles and clusters occur, these problems are augmented because of their unusual reactions and physicochemical properties. The studied gold, magnetite, titanomagnetite and pyrite microspherules from cementation zone and clay minerals of laterites in Republic of Guinea widen the knowledge of their abundance and inferred formation conditions, in particular, in the contemporary supergene zone. Morphology and composition of micrometer-sized Au mineral spherules were studied with SEM and laser microprobe. The newly formed segregations of secondary gold on the surface of its residual grains were also an object of investigation. The character of such overgrowths is the most indicative for nanoparticles. The newly formed Au particles provide evidence for redistribution of ultradispersed gold during weathering. There are serious prerequisites to state that microorganisms substantially control unusual nano-sized microspherical morphology of gold particles in the supergene zone. This is supported by experiments indicating active absorption of gold by microorganisms and direct evidence for participation of Ralstonia metallidurans bacteria in the formation of peculiar corroded bacteriomorphic surface of gold grains. In addition, the areas enriched in carbon and nitrogen have been detected with SEM on the surface of gold spherules from Guinea. Such organic compounds as serine, alanine, and glycine are identified on their surface with Raman spectroscopy. The experiments have been carried out and new data have been obtained indicating the role of micromycetes in concentration and distribution of noble metals in ferromanganese nodules of the World Ocean. Au and Pt were detected in the system with radioisotopes. It has been established that two forms of gold distribution develop within pseudomorphs of fungi colonies: (1) as pseudomorphic concentrates and (2) dispersed form unrelated to the colony structure. Inhomogeneities in distribution of dispersed platinum are manifested in the form of linear anomalies with elevated concentrations at the margins of the colonies.     

Structure of volcanic landscape in the equatorial belt (A case study of the Kerinci Volcano,Sumatra Island)

An analysis is made of the volcanic landscape structure of Mount Kerinci, the highest volcano in South-East Asia. Field observations, remote sensing methods, and also cartographic material were used in obtaining new evidence to gain a more penetrating insight into the characteristics of structure and altitudinal zonation of the landscapes along the equatorial belt that have shaped themselves and are evolving in conditions of intense volcanic activity, equatorial climate and heavy anthropogenic load. The analysis revealed natural and anthropogenic landscape-forming factors that determined the present-day landscape appearance of the Kerinci volcano. Within the boundaries of the volcanic structure, landscapes of the mountain class show the highest diversity of landscape taxa. They are represented largely by slope units. With an increase in altitude, there is an increase in the proportion of landscapes of steep and vertical slopes as well as moderately steep slopes, along with the disappearance of landscapes of smart slopes and valley bottoms. A less diverse landscape structure is characteristic for subclasses of aggraded-denudation plains where there occur only landscapes with bogs and waterlogged meadows predominating. Anthropogenic modifications of landscapes occur mostly within subclasses of smart slopes and aggraded-denudation plains. They are characterized by a predominance of agricultural plants.