Supergene Alteration of Primary Ore Assemblages from Low-Sulfidation Au-Ag Epithermal Deposits at Pongkor, Indonesia, and Nazareno, Peru

2002 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 561-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Greffie
Keyword(s):  
Epithermal Deposits ◽  
Low Sulfidation

scholarly journals Textural Characteristics of Noncrystalline Silica in Sinters and Quartz Veins: Implications for the Formation of Bonanza Veins in Low-Sulfidation Epithermal Deposits

Minerals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadsuda Taksavasu ◽  
Thomas Monecke ◽  
T. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Precious Metal ◽  
Precious Metals ◽  
Fused Silica ◽  
Silica Microspheres ◽  
Textural Characteristics ◽  
Epithermal Deposits ◽  
Ore Minerals ◽  
Low Sulfidation ◽  
Ore Deposition

Silica sinters forming at the Wairakei geothermal power plant in New Zealand are composed of noncrystalline opal-A that deposited rapidly from cooling geothermal liquids flashed to atmosphere. The sinter is laminated with alternating layers of variably compacted silicified filamentous microbes encased by chains of fused silica microspheres. Microscopic inspection of bonanza quartz vein samples from the Buckskin National low-sulfidation epithermal precious metal deposit in Nevada showed that colloform bands in these veins exhibit relic microsphere textures similar to those observed in the silica sinters from the Wairakei power plant. The textural similarity suggests that the colloform bands were originally composed of noncrystalline opal-A that subsequently recrystallized to quartz. The colloform bands contain dendrites of electrum and naumannite that must have grown in a yielding matrix of silica microspheres deposited at the same time as the ore minerals, implying that the noncrystalline silica exhibited a gel-like behavior. Quartz bands having other textural characteristics in the crustiform veins lack ore minerals. This suggests that ore deposition and the formation of the colloform bands originally composed of compacted microspheres of noncrystalline silica are genetically linked and that ore deposition within the bonanza veins was only episodic. Supersaturation of silica and precious metals leading to the formation of the colloform bands may have occurred in response to transient flashing of the hydrothermal liquids. Flashing of geothermal liquids may thus represent a key mechanism in the formation of bonanza precious metal grades in low-sulfidation epithermal deposits.

Textural Characteristics of Barren and Mineralized Colloform Quartz Bands at the Low-Sulfidation Epithermal Deposits of the Omu Camp in Hokkaido, Japan: Implications for Processes Resulting in Bonanza-Grade Precious Metal Enrichment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren R. Zeeck ◽  
Thomas Monecke ◽  
T. James Reynolds ◽  
Erik R. Tharalson ◽  
Katharina Pfaff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Precious Metal ◽  
Precious Metals ◽  
High Grade ◽  
Metal Enrichment ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Epithermal Deposits ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Precursor Phase ◽  
Ore Minerals ◽  
Low Sulfidation

Abstract The Miocene low-sulfidation epithermal deposits of the Omu camp in northeastern Hokkaido, Japan, are small past-producers of precious metals and represent significant exploration targets for high-grade Au and Ag ores. The quartz textures of ore samples and the distribution of ore minerals within quartz veins were studied to identify the processes that resulted in the bonanza-grade precious metal enrichment in these deposits. In the high-grade vein samples, which are crustiform or brecciated in hand specimen, ore minerals exclusively occur within colloform quartz bands. High-magnification microscopy reveals that ore-bearing colloform bands consist of fine-grained quartz exhibiting relic microsphere textures and quartz having a mosaic texture that formed through recrystallization of the microspheres. The presence of relic microspheres is evidence that the microcrystalline quartz hosting the ore minerals formed through recrystallization of a noncrystalline silica precursor phase. The ore-hosting colloform bands composed of agglomerated microspheres alternate with barren colloform quartz bands that are composed of fibrous chalcedonic quartz and mosaic quartz formed through recrystallization of the chalcedony. The findings of this study are consistent with previous models linking bonanza-grade precious metal enrichment and the formation of bands of noncrystalline silica in low-sulfidation epithermal veins to episodic vigorous boiling or flashing of the hydrothermal system in the near-surface environment.

Sm–Nd fluorite dating of Proterozoic low-sulfidation epithermal Au–Ag deposits and U–Pb zircon dating of host rocks at Mallery Lake, Nunavut, Canada

2003 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. 1789-1804 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A Turner ◽  
Larry M Heaman ◽  
Robert A Creaser
Keyword(s):  
Linear Trend ◽  
Lake Basin ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Epithermal Deposits ◽  
Intimate Association ◽  
Baker Lake ◽  
End Members ◽  
Host Rocks ◽  
Low Sulfidation

The Mallery Lake area contains precious metal-bearing quartz–chalcedony stockworks that are pristine examples of ancient low-sulfidation epithermal deposits. Fluorite extracted from these epithermal deposits define a Sm–Nd errorchron age of 1434 ± 23 Ma mean square of weighted deviates (MSWD) = 4.8. This date is interpreted to have age significance because (1) a simple linear trend does not exist between the 143Nd/144Nd ratios of the fluorite with respect to their 1/Nd concentrations as would be expected for mixing of two geochemical end members; (2) microthermometric studies indicate that the fluorite analysed in this study has an intimate association with a single high-salinity, calcic brinal fluid; and (3) the age determined from seven fluorite samples extracted from a single outcrop location yielded an identical age result (1434 ± 60 Ma; MSWD = 5.5) compared to the fluorite composite. Rhyodacites of the Pitz Formation and syenites from the Nueltin suite (intrusive equivalent to the rhyodacites) are the youngest volcanic–plutonic rocks that are observed in outcrop in the Mallery Lake area, and they were dated by U–Pb zircon analysis at 1760 ± 43 Ma and 1755.4 ± 1.8 Ma, respectively. The ~320 million year age difference between the epithermal deposits and the hosting rhyodacitic flows suggests that the epithermal stockworks may have formed by a regional hydrothermal event unrelated to this earlier Paleoproterozoic volcanic activity. Uranium deposits in the Thelon and Athabasca basins, to the northwest and south of the Baker Lake Basin, were determined to have similar ore emplacement ages with no evident heat source.

scholarly journals The Poopó Polymetallic Epithermal Deposit, Bolivia: Mineralogy, Genetic Constraints, and Distribution of Critical Elements

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torres ◽  
Melgarejo ◽  
Torró ◽  
Camprubí ◽  
Castillo-Oliver ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Mineral Chemistry ◽  
Epithermal Deposit ◽  
Genetic Constraints ◽  
Epithermal Deposits ◽  
Critical Elements ◽  
The Family ◽  
Tin Deposits ◽  
Bolivian Altiplano ◽  
Low Sulfidation

The tin-rich polymetallic epithermal deposit of Poopó, of plausible Late Miocene age, is part of the Bolivian Tin Belt. As an epithermal low sulfidation mineralisation, it represents a typological end-member within the “family” of Bolivian tin deposits. The emplacement of the mineralisation was controlled by the regional fault zone that constitutes the geological border between the Bolivian Altiplano and the Eastern Andes Cordillera. In addition to Sn and Ag, its economic interest resides in its potential in critical elements as In, Ga and Ge. This paper provides the first systematic characterisation of the complex mineralogy and mineral chemistry of the Poopó deposit with the twofold aim of identifying the mineral carriers of critical elements and endeavouring to ascertain plausible metallogenic processes for the formation of this deposit, by means of a multi-methodological approach. The poor development of hydrothermal alteration assemblage, the abundance of sulphosalts and the replacement of löllingite and pyrrhotite by arsenopyrite and pyrite, respectively, indicate that this deposit is ascribed to the low-sulphidation subtype of epithermal deposits, with excursions into higher states of sulphidation. Additionally, the occurrence of pyrophyllite and topaz has been interpreted as the result of discrete pulses of high-sulphidation magmatic fluids. The δ34SVCDT range in sulphides (−5.9 to −2.8‰) is compatible either with: i. hybrid sulphur sources (i.e., magmatic and sedimentary or metasedimentary); or ii. a sole magmatic source involving magmas that derived from partial melting of sedimentary rocks or underwent crustal assimilation. In their overall contents in critical elements (In, Ga and Ge), the key minerals in the Poopó deposit, based on their abundance in the deposit and compositions, are rhodostannite, franckeite, cassiterite, stannite and, less importantly, teallite, sphalerite and jamesonite.

scholarly journals Invisible Gold in Pyrite from Epithermal, Banded-Iron-Formation-Hosted, and Sedimentary Gold Deposits: Evidence of Hydrothermal Influence

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuichi Morishita ◽  
Napoleon Q. Hammond ◽  
Kazunori Momii ◽  
Rimi Konagaya ◽  
Yuji Sano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Gold Deposits ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Banded Iron Formation ◽  
Field Range ◽  
Invisible Gold ◽  
Epithermal Deposits ◽  
As Relationship ◽  
Low Sulfidation ◽  
The Relationship

“Invisible gold” in pyrite is defined as an Au solid solution of the pyrite lattice, sub-microscopic Au nanoparticles (NPs) in the pyrite, or other chemisorption complexes of Au. Because the relationship between the Au and As concentrations in pyrite could indicate the genesis of the deposit, the purpose of this study is to assess the micro-analytical characteristics of the Au–As relationship in pyrite from epithermal and hydrothermally affected sedimentary Au deposits by secondary ion mass spectrometry. The Au and As concentrations in pyrite vary from 0.04 to 30 ppm and from 1 to 1000 ppm, respectively, in the high-sulfidation Nansatsu-type epithermal deposits; these concentrations are both lower than those of the low-sulfidation epithermal Hishikari deposit. The Au concentrations in pyrrhotite and pyrite reach 6 and 0.3 ppm, respectively, in the Kalahari Goldridge banded-iron-formation-hosted gold deposit, and Au in pyrrhotite may sometimes exist as NPs, whereas As concentrations in pyrrhotite and pyrite are both low and lie in a narrow range from 6 to 22 ppm. Whether Au is present as NPs is important in ore dressing. The Au and As concentrations in pyrite from the Witwatersrand gold field range from 0.02 to 1.1 ppm and from 8 to 4000 ppm, respectively. The shape of the pyrite grains might prove to be an indicator of the hydrothermal influence on deposits of sedimentary origin, which implies the genesis of the deposits.

scholarly journals The Distribution of Precious Metals in High-Grade Banded Quartz Veins from Low-Sulfidation Epithermal Deposits: Constraints from µXRF Mapping

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Tharalson ◽  
Thomas Monecke ◽  
T. Reynolds ◽  
Lauren Zeeck ◽  
Katharina Pfaff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Precious Metals ◽  
Thermal Waters ◽  
High Grade ◽  
Epithermal Deposits ◽  
Quartz Veins ◽  
Ore Minerals ◽  
Low Sulfidation ◽  
Hand Specimen ◽  
Black Color ◽  
Representative Samples

High-grade ore zones in low-sulfidation epithermal deposits are commonly associated with the occurrence of banded quartz veins. The ore minerals in these veins are heterogeneously distributed and are mostly confined to ginguro bands, which can be identified in hand specimen based on their distinct dark gray to black color. Micro-X-ray fluorescence element maps obtained on representative samples of banded quartz veins show that Au occurs together with Ag minerals in some of the ginguro bands, but Au can also be present in quartz bands that are light gray to white and cannot be macroscopically distinguished from barren bands. The occurrence of compositionally distinct ginguro and gankin bands, the latter being a new term coined here for colloform quartz bands containing primarily electrum or native gold, can be explained by temporal changes in the composition of the ore-forming thermal waters or variations in the conditions of ore deposition. Textural relationships, including the dendritic shape of ore minerals that appear to have grown in a matrix of silica microspheres, suggest that the ginguro and gankin bands have formed as a result of rapid deposition associated with vigorous boiling or flashing of the thermal waters.

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