Distribution and dispersion of gold in point bar and pavement sediments of the Huai Hin Laep, Loei, northeastern Thailand

Gold anomalies in drainage sediments are often erratic, reflecting both the nugget effect and hydraulic effects whereby gold is concentrated at favorable sites along a stream. This study investigates these factors in a stream in northeastern Thailand.Bulk sediment samples, consisting of approximately 40 kg of −12 mm material, were collected from bar and pavement sites along an 8 km study reach. Samples were wet sieved into eight size fractions. The five fractions between 425 μm and 53 μm were then processed to obtain heavy mineral concentrates (SG > 3.3). Gold content of all size and density fractions finer than 425 μm was determined by fire assay-atomic absorption.Concentrations of Au in the heavy mineral concentrates typically range from 10,000 to 50,000 ppb (maximum 198,000 ppb), whereas the corresponding light mineral fractions and the −53 μm fraction generally contain <5 ppb gold. Within the heavy mineral fractions concentrations of Au generally increase downstream away from their supposed source and are higher at pavement than at point bar sites. Variations in abundance of gold between point bar sites can be related to stream characteristics (such as width, velocity and bed roughness) that are indicative of changing energy conditions and of the ability of the stream to winnow light minerals from its bed.The estimated median number of gold particles in the heavy mineral concentrates increase from less than one in the 212–425 μm fraction to about three in the 53–106 μm size range. However, because of dilution by the light mineral and −53 μm fractions, the probability of a 30 g analytical sub-sample containing a particle of gold is so low that in thirteen out of sixteen −149 μm sediment samples no gold was detected. Insofar as this results from dilution by large quantities of −53 μm sediment, failure of conventional sieved sediment samples to reliably detect the anomaly is probably a consequence of increased erosion caused by deforestation and land usage.Heavy mineral concentrates from pavement and other high energy sites are more reliable than conventional sediment samples for detecting gold anomalies of the Huai Hin Laep type. A low sample density is adequate but, because anomaly contrast may increase downstream, careful interpretation is required.