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1.
Archaean lode gold deposits in the Coolgardie Goldfield, Western Australia, occur in mafic and ultramafic rocks which have been metamorphosed to the amphibolite facies. Mineralisation was broadly synchronous with peak metamorphism, the main phase of granitoid emplacement, and regional deformation. Several different structural styles are represented by the deposits of the Coolgardie Goldfield. Mineralisation occurs along sheared felsic porphyry-ultramafic rock contacts, in gabbro-hosted quartz-vein sets, in fault-bounded quartzvein sets, and in laminated quartz reefs sited in brittleductile shear zones. The structures hosting mineralisation formed in response to a progressive deformation event, related to granitoid emplacement in an east-west compressional far-field stress régime, but with local heterogeneous stress orientations. This occurred after an earlier period of thrust-stacking, with probable north-south directed tectonic transport. Two contrasting styles of goldrelated wallrock alteration are associated with the auriferous lodes of the Coolgardie Goldfield. A high-temperature assemblage (formation temperature >500°C), characterised by the proximal alteration assemblage garnet+ hornblende + plagioclase + pyrrhotite, contrasts with a medium-temperature assemblage (formation temperature <500°C), consisting of calcic amphibole + biotite + plagioclase + calcite + arsenopyrite + pyrrhotite. The distribution of the two styles of gold-related alteration is controlled by distance from voluminous syntectonic granitoids located to the west of the Coolgardie Goldfield, with the high-temperature style of alteration more proximal to the granitoid-greenstone contact than the medium-temperature style. The occurrence of gold deposits that formed under amphibolite facies conditions throughout the Coolgardie Goldfield supports a crustal continuum model for Archaean lode-gold deposits, which proposes that gold is deposited in metamorphic environments that range from the sub-greenschist to granulite facies. In addition, the data from Coolgardie suggest that syntectonic, synmineralisation granitic plutons may play a significant role in controlling the style of gold associated wallrock-alteration at deep crustal levels.  相似文献   

2.
Zircons from porphyry and granitoid samples collected in and around the Marymia Gold Mine in the Marymia Inlier, Western Australia, record a complex history. The results of U-Pb studies confirm that the Plutonic Well greenstone belt, and the surrounding granitoid envelope (including a 2,721Lj Ma intrusion), represent an Archaean terrain, which was intruded by high-level, felsic to intermediate porphyries at 2,694lj Ma and potentially also at 2,660dž Ma. Zircon xenocrysts (Sca. 3.35, 2.93 and 2.74 Ga) indicate that there was older crust within, or below, the greenstone belt at the time of porphyry emplacement. Zircons from the granitoid envelope and intrusions within the greenstone belt record subsequent metamorphism and/or hydrothermal activity coeval with magmatism in the Late Archaean (ca. 2.66-2.63 Ga), and peak metamorphism, magmatism and gold mineralisation in the Yilgarn Block. A later period of metamorphism and hydrothermal activity at ca. 1.72 Ga is coeval with orogenesis in the southern Capricorn Orogen. Both the Late Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic thermal events have altered zircons, redistributed trace elements and caused zircon recrystallisation, which is distinctive in its isotope chemistry (in particular Th/U ratios >1) and morphology (e.g. homogeneous in transmitted light and back-scattered electron images, but sector-zoned in cathodoluminescence).  相似文献   

3.
In the Archaean Murchison Province of Western Australia, granitoid batholiths and plutons that intruded into the ca. 2.7–2.8 Ga and ca. 3.0 Ga greenstone belts can be divided into three major suites. Suite I is a ca. 2.69 Ga monzogranite-granodiorite suite, which was derived from anatexis of old continental crust and occurs as syn-tectonic composite batholiths over the entire province. Suite II is a trondhjemite-tonalite suite (termed I-type) derived from partial melting of subducted basaltic crust, which intruded as syn- to late-tectonic plutons into the greenstone belts in the northeastern part of the province where most of the major gold deposits are situated. One of the Suite II trondhjemite plutons has a Pb−Pb isochron age of 2641±36 Ma, and one of the structurally youngest tonalite plutons has a minimum Pb−Pb isochron age of 2630.1±4.3 Ma. Suite III is a ca. 2.65–2.62 Ga A-type monzogranite-syenogranite suite which is most abundant in the largely unmineralised southwestern part of the province. Gold deposits in the province are mostly hosted in brittle-ductile shear zones, and were formed at a late stage in the history of metamorphism, deformation and granitoid emplacement. At one locality, mineralisation has been dated at 2636.8±4.2 Ma through a pyritetitanite Pb−Pb isochron. Lead and Sr isotope studies of granitoids and gold deposits indicate that, although most gold deposits have initial Pb isotope compositions most closely similar to those of Suite II intrusions, both Suite I and Suite II intrusions or their source regions could have contributed solutes to the ore fluids. These preliminary data suggest that gold mineralisation in the Murchison Province was temporally and spatially associated with Suite II I-type granitoids in the northeastern part of the province. This association is consistent with the concept that Archaean gold mineralisation was related to convergent-style tectonic settings, as generation of both Suite II I-type granitoids and hydrothermal ore fluids could have been linked to the dehydration and partial fusion of subducted oceanic crust, and old sialic crust or its anatectic products may also contribute solutes to the ore fluids. Integration of data from this study with other geological and radiogenic isotope constraints in the Yilgarn Block argue against direct derivation of gold ore fluids from specific I-type granitoid plutons, but favour a broad association with convergent tectonics and granitoid magmatism in the late Archaean.  相似文献   

4.
The Lady Bountiful granitoid-hosted lode gold deposit, located in the mid-greenschist facies metamorphosed Ora Banda greenstone sequence, is hosted predominantly by the late-tectonic Liberty Granodiorite. Gold mineralisation is localised along quartz-veined, sinistral, brittle fault-zone(s) that transect the boundary between the Liberty Granodiorite and Mt Pleasant sill. Quartz vein textures indicate two stages of a single gold-related vein-development event, with high-grade gold mineralisation restricted to the second stage. Ore minerals include pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, galena, sphalerite, Au−Ag−Bi−Pb-tellurides, and native gold. Fluid infitration has resulted in narrow (<1 m) bleached wallrock alteration envelopes to the fault zones comprising albite-K-mica ±chlorite±calcite±rutile assemblages. Temperature-pressure conditions varied from Stage I (300°±50°C, ≈2 kbar) to Stage II (250°±50°C, ≈0.5 to 2 kbar), with the hydrothermal fluid in both stages characterised by X(CO2)≤0.15 and moderate salinity (≈1.28 m NaCl). Intermittent phase separation of Stage II mineralising fluids, initiated by pressure fluctuations in dilational sites, and/or fluid-dominated fluid: wallrock interaction, are invoked as the dominant depositional mechanisms. The granitoid-hosted Lady Bountiful lode gold deposit shares many features with other granitoid-hosted lode gold deposits in the Yilgarn Craton and the Superior Province. Granitoid-hosted lode gold deposits, such as the Lady Bountiful deposit, provide additional evidence that the dominant control on the localisation of gold mineralisation within a granitoid host is structure, with competency contrasts playing a significant role. Furthermore, the hydrothermal wallrock alteraction and orefluid chemistry characteristics of the granitoid-hosted lode gold deposits are comparable to those established for greenstone-hosted lode gold mineralisation.  相似文献   

5.
Most Archaean gold ores belong to a coherent genetic group of structurally controlled lode-deposits that are characteristically enriched in Au with variable enrichments in Ag, As, W, Sb, Bi, Te, B and Pb, but rarely Cu or Zn, and are surrounded by wallrock alteration haloes enriched in K, LILE and CO2, with variable Na and/or Ca addition. Evidence from the Yilgarn Block of Western Australia, combined with similar evidence from Canada and elsewhere, indicates that such deposits represent a crustal continuum that formed under a variety of crustal régimes over at least a 15 km crustal profile at PT conditions ranging from 180°C at <1 kb to 700°C at 5 kb. Individual deposits, separated by tens to hundreds of kilometres, collectively show transitional variations in structural style of mineralisation, vein textures, and mineralogy of wallrock alteration that relate to the PT conditions of their formation at varying crustal depths. Specific transitions within the total spectrum may be shown also by deposits within gold camps, although nowhere is the entire continuum of deposits recorded from a single gold camp or even greenstone belt. Recognition of the crustal continuum of deposits implicates the existence of giant late-Archaean hydrothermal systems with a deep source for the primary ore fluid. A number of deep fluid and solute reservoirs are possible, including the basal segments of greenstone belts, deep-level intrusive granitoids, mid-to lower-crustal granitoidgneisses, mantle lithosphere, or even subducted oceanic lithosphere, given the probable convergent-margin setting of the host greenstone terranes. Individual stable and radiogenic isotope ratios of fluid and solute components implicate fluid evolution from, or equilibrium with, a number of these reservoirs, stressing the potential complexity of pathways for fluid advection to depositional sites. Lead and strontium isotope ratios of ore-associated minerals provide the most persuasive evidence for fluid advection through deep-level intrusive granitoids or granitoid-gneiss crust, whereas preliminary oxygen isotope data show that mixing of deeply sourced fluid and surface waters only occurred at the highest crustal levels recorded by the lode gold deposits.  相似文献   

6.
Two major epigenetic gold-forming events are recorded in the world-class gold province of southwest Ghana. A pre-Tarkwaian event was the source of the world-class Tarkwa palaeoplacers whereas post-Birimian and Tarkwaian deformation, which was related to the Eburnean orogeny, gave rise to the world-class (e.g. Prestea) to giant (e.g. Obuasi) orogenic gold deposits which have made the region famous for more than 2,500 years. A maximum age of 2133±4 Ma for Tarkwaian sedimentation is provided by 71 of 111 concordant SHRIMP II U–Pb dates from detrital zircons in Tarkwaian clastic rocks from Damang and Bippo Bin, northeast of Tarkwa. The overall data distribution broadly overlaps the relatively poorly constrained ages of Birimian volcanism and associated Dixcove-type granitoid emplacement, indicating syntectonic development of the Tarkwaian sedimentary basin. These zircon ages argue against derivation of the palaeoplacer gold from an orogenic gold source related to the compressional phase of an orogeny significantly older than the Eburnean orogeny. Instead, they suggest that the gold source was either orogenic gold lodes related to an earlier compressional phase of a diachronous Eburnean orogeny or ca. 2200–2100 Ma intrusion-related gold lode. The CO2-rich fluid inclusions in associated vein-quartz pebbles are permissive of either source. At the Damang deposit, an epigenetic, orogenic lode-gold system clearly overprinted, and sulphidised low-grade palaeoplacer hematite–magnetite gold occurrences in the Banket Series conglomerate within the Tarkwaian sedimentary sequence. Gold mineralisation is demonstrably post-peak metamorphism, as gold-related alteration assemblages overprint metamorphic assemblages in host rocks. In alteration zones surrounding the dominant, subhorizontal auriferous quartz veins, there are rare occurrences of hydrothermal xenotime which give a SHRIMP U–Pb age of 2063±9 Ma for gold mineralisation. The similar structural timing of epigenetic gold mineralisation in Tarkwaian host rocks at Damang to that in mainly Birimian host rocks elsewhere in southwest Ghana, particularly at Obuasi, suggests that 2063±9 Ma is the best available age estimate for widespread orogenic gold mineralisation in the region. Argon–argon ages of 2029±4 and 2034±4 Ma for hydrothermal biotite from auriferous quartz veins appear to represent uplift and cooling of the region below about 300 °C, as estimates of the temperature of gold mineralisation are higher, at around 400 °C. If peak metamorphism, with temperatures of about 550 °C, is assumed to have occurred at about 2100 Ma, the biotite ages, in combination with the xenotime age, suggest a broadly constant uplift rate for the region of about 1 km per 10 million years from about 2100 to 2025 Ma.  相似文献   

7.
The Racetrack Au−Ag deposit, in the Archaean Yilgarn Block, Western Australia, is hosted by a porphyritic basalt in a low greenschist facies setting and is associated with a brittle strike-slip fault system. Three distinct and successive stages of hydrothermal activity and late quartz-carbonate veining resulted in multiple veining and/or brecciation: Stages I and II are Au-bearing, whereas Stage III and late veins are barren. The ore shows features of both classic epithermal and mesothermal deposits. Alteration assemblages, typified by sericitization, carbonization, silicification and chloritization, are similar to those of mesothermal gold deposits, wheras the quartz vein-textures including comb, rosette, plumose and banded, ore mineralogyof arsenopyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, freibergite, tetrahedrite, tennantite, fahlore, electrum and gold, and metal associations (Cu, As, Ag, Sn, Sb, W, Au and Pb) are more characteristics of epithermal deposits. Fluid inclusions related to Stage II are two phase and aqueous with 1–8 (average 4) wt. % NaCl equiv. and CO2 content of <0.85 molal. Pressure-corrected homogenisation temperatures range from 190°C to 260°C. Mineral assemblages indicate that ore fluid pH ranged between 4.2 and 5.3, fO 2 between 10−38.8 and 10−39.6 bars, and mΣs between 10−3.2 and 10−3.6. Calculated chemical and stable isotope compositions require a component of surface water in the ore fluid depositing the mineralisation, but evidence for deep crustal Pb indicates that deeply sourced fluids were also involved. The deposit is interpreted to have formed in a shallow environment via mixing of deeply sourced fluids, from at least as deep as the base of the greenstone belt, with surface waters. It therefore represents the upper crustal end-member of the crustal depth spectrum of Archaean lode-gold mineralisation.  相似文献   

8.
The Corinthia lode‐gold deposit in amphibolite‐facies greenstone belt rocks in the Southern Cross Province of the Archaean Yilgarn Block contains a largely undeformed pegmatite dyke emplaced during the last phases of movement along the Fraser's‐Corinthia shear zone. Gold mineralization and shear zone development were synchronous, and a Pb‐Pb isochron age of 2620 ±6 Ma for pegmatite emplacement either indirectly dates mineralization, or places a minimum age constraint on the timing of mineralization. This age is in accord with a broadly synchronous dominant episode of Archaean lode‐gold mineralization throughout the Yilgarn Block.  相似文献   

9.
The Tower Hill gold deposit is distinguished from most Archaean lode deposits of the Yilgarn Craton by virtue of its formation early in the regional deformation history and its consequent deformation. The deposit is located in ultramafic schist, adjacent to the contact with a small pluton of biotite monzogranite that intrudes pervasively foliated granodiorite, the dominant component of the Raeside Batholith. Gold, accompanied by local concentrations of bismuth minerals and molybdenite, occurs in a number of quartz vein ‘packages‘. Mineralised quartz veins at Tower Hill lie within an envelope of potassic alteration (talc‐biotite‐chlorite‐pyrite schist), up to several hundred metres wide. They are spatially and temporally associated with the biotite monzogranite and felsic porphyry intrusions, and their deformed equivalents. The deposit lies in a broad zone of ductile deformation (the Sons of Gwalia Shear Zone). Within the altered ultramafic schist, thin units of felsic schist, derived from biotite monzogranite and felsic porphyry, provided sites of contrasting competency that localised quartz vein formation. The mineralised quartz veins were subsequently deformed during alternating periods of shortening and extension, probably related to the syntectonic, solid‐state emplacement of the Raeside Batholith. These deformations pre‐dated strike‐slip movement on the Cemetery Fault, which truncates the ductile fabrics of the Sons of Gwalia Shear Zone, south of Tower Hill. In terms of the regional deformation history, gold mineralisation at Tower Hill formed during early D2 (regional upright folding); subsequent deformation of the orebody pre‐dated D3 (strike‐slip movement on the Cemetery Fault). The nearby Sons of Gwalia and Harbour Lights deposits also probably formed at an early stage, in contrast to most lode gold deposits in the Yilgarn Craton, which formed during or after D3.  相似文献   

10.
The Granny Smith gold deposits formed late in the structural history of the Yilgarn Block at a high crustal level in a largely brittle structural régime. Gold mineralisation is located along a N-S striking fault which wraps around the contact of a small granitoid intrusion. In different sections of the fault, mineralisation may be developed in the granitoid, in the adjacent sedimentary sequence and/or along the contact between them. In the granitoid, gold mineralisation is in conjugate networks of thin carbonate-quartz veins and their alteration halos. Small displacements along veins are common. In contrast, veins and faults in the sedimentary rocks are subparallel to bedding. Spatial variations in the conjugate vein orientations indicate that the local stress field was heterogeneous and controlled by the shape of the granitoid contact. The greatest variations in vein and implied stress orientations occur in zones where the contact is most irregular. These are also the areas of richest mineralisation. Fluid flow was thus focused in a regional-scale low mean-stress region created by the geometry of the granitoid intrusion. Its irregular contact caused deposit scale variations in fluid flow and resulted in heterogeneous gold grades along the contact zone.  相似文献   

11.
The Marymia gold deposit, comprising two orebodies, Keillor 1 and Keillor 2, is at the northern end of the Plutonic Well greenstone belt in the Marymia Inlier, in the southern Capricorn Orogen, just north of the Yilgarn craton. The Marymia Inlier is a discrete fault-bounded Archean gneiss-granitoid-greenstone domain surrounded by sedimentary basins that were formed and variably metamorphosed and deformed during several Palaeoproterozoic orogenic cycles. The greenstone sequence at Marymia is stratigraphically and geochemically similar to greenstone sequences in the Yilgarn craton, but was subjected to further deformation and metamorphism in the Palaeoproterozoic. Late Archean deformation (D1-D2) was ductile to brittle-ductile in style, whereas Palaeoproterozoic deformation was predominantly brittle. Equilibrium mineral assemblages indicate that peak amphibolite-facies metamorphism (540-575 °C, <3 kb) was overprinted by greenschist-facies metamorphism (300-360 °C). Petrographic textures indicate that prograde metamorphism was coeval with D1-D2, with peak metamorphism early to syn D2. Gold mineralisation at Marymia is hosted in metamorphosed tholeiitic basalts and banded iron formation. On a gross scale, the distribution of gold is controlled by D2 folds and shear zones. Lithological contacts with strong rheological or chemical contrasts provide local controls. Gold-related alteration comprises subtle millimetre- to centimetre-wide zones of silicification with variable amounts of quartz, hornblende, biotite, K-feldspar, plagioclase, calcite/siderite, scheelite, titanite, epidote, sulfide and telluride minerals. Quartz veins are generally narrow and discontinuous with low total volume of quartz. Gold is sited in the wall rock, at vein salvedges or within stringers of wall rock within veins. There are two distinct opaque-mineral assemblages: pyrite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-galena and hessite-petzite-altaite-Bi-telluride-galena. Ore samples are variably enriched in Ag, Te, Pb, W, Cu, S and Fe reflecting heterogeneity of the ore mineralogy. Structural timing and temperature of formation of alteration and ore minerals support deposition of gold during late peak amphibolite-facies metamorphism from neutral to alkaline (pH=5-6), moderately oxidising (log PO2,-21-22) and CO2-bearing (XCO2 Ƹ.2) fluids. The total sulfur content of the fluid is estimated at 1mDS. Lead isotope compositions support derivation of lead from within the local greenstone sequence. Gold lodes were deformed by faults and shear zones in the Palaeoproterozoic, with only limited remobilisation. Subeconomic, carbonate vein- and breccia-hosted base metal mineralisation is locally hosted within Palaeoproterozoic fault zones, which clearly cut gold lodes. Base-metal-related alteration is characterised by intense carbonatisation, chloritisation, and albitisation of the mafic host rocks. Mineral assemblages are consistent with formation at greenschist facies conditions. Lead isotope compositions support crystallisation at ca. 1.7 Ga from lead that is similar in composition to earlier gold-related galena.  相似文献   

12.
The Archaean lode-gold deposits at Norseman, Western Australia, consist of auriferous quartz veins in dextral-reverse ductile-brittle shear zones within tholeiitic metabasalts of upper-greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphic grade. Three types of deposits (Northern, Central, Southern) are delineated on the basis of their spatial distribution, veining style, alteration mineraloty and metamorphic grade of host rocks. Northern deposits, hosted in upper-greenschist to lower-amphibolite facies rocks, comprise massive to laminated quartz veins with selvedges of quartz-chlorite-calcite-biotite-plagioclase assemblages. Central deposits, hosted in lower-amphibolite facies rocks, consist of laminated to massive quartz veins with selvedges of quartz-actinolite-biotite-plagioclasecalcite assemblages. Southern deposits, hosted in middleamphibolite facies metabasalts, consist of banded quartz-diopside-calcite-microcline-zoisite veins. All deposits exhibit variable ductile deformation of veins and contiguous alteration haloes, consistent with a syn-deformational genesis at high temperatures. From Northern to Southern deposits, the alteration assemblages are indicative of higher temperatures of formation, and there are progressively greater degrees of dynamically recovered textures in alteration and gangue minerals. These observations imply that a thermal variation of gold-related hydrothermal alteration exists within the Norseman Terrane over a distance of 40 km, with TNorthern<TCentral<TSouthern This thermal zonation is corroborated by T−XCO 2 phase relations between vein selvedge assemblages, which signify formation temperatures of approximately 420°–475°C, 470°–495°C and >500°C for Northern, Central and Southern deposits, respectively. The sum of structural, petrographic and mineral chemistry data indicates that the alteration assemblages formed in high-temperature, open hydrothermal systems and have not been subsequently metamorphosed. The thermal differences between the deposit groups may reflect (1) a temperature gradient, at relatively constant P, corresponding to the proximity of the deposits to regional granitoid complexes, or (2) formation of the deposits at progressively deeper crustal levels from north to south. In either case the deposits represent a continuum of gold deposition from upper-greenschist to amphibolite facies, now exposed in an oblique section through the Archaean crust at Norseman.  相似文献   

13.
The Central Iberian Zone of Spain and Portugal contains numerous gold deposits of varying size, age and host lithology. Previous work concentrated on single deposits leading to a need to apply a range of techniques to the region as a whole, to form a model for metallogenesis throughout the region. With this aim, a number of occurrences of gold mineralisation in the south-western Central Iberian Zone were studied. The Central Iberian Zone consists essentially of greenschist facies metasedimentary units intruded by Hercynian granitoids. Hercynian deformation occurred in three main stages, the earliest (D1) being the most intense. Quartz veining is common throughout the region, and a vein chronology was established relative to these deformation events. V1 veins are pre-Hercynian, and may predate the Precambrian Sardic deformation. V2 veins are syndeformational (D1), and associated with peak greenschist metamorphism. V3 veins are late-kinematic, syn- to post-D2. V4 veins are syn- to post-D3, occurring in the final stages of the Hercynian, and often associated with or post-dating granites. Reactivation of vein sets by later fluids was common. Fluid chemistry studies of samples of known chronology indicate three main sources of fluid. The dominant fluid throughout the region from V2 to V4 is a dilute aqueo-carbonic fluid of varying composition. The combination of fluid inclusion analyses and geochemical studies of wallrock alteration indicates that the fluid was the result of devolatilisation and dehydration during prograde metamorphism at varying depths. The resulting aqueo-carbonic fluids flowed upwards, mixing with each other and with meteoric waters. Contact metamorphism associated with granite intrusions during the D3 deformation released further aqueo-carbonic fluids, which in some cases unmixed to form separate carbonic and aqueous inclusions. Circulation of meteoric waters was important during later stages (D3). Prolonged low temperature fluid-rock interaction produced highly saline aqueous fluids which post-date all major quartz veining. No single set of characteristics exists for gold mineralisation in the Central Iberian Zone. Deposits cover a wide spectrum, but three main types have been identified: (1) early (D1/V2) syn-peak metamorphic gold-quartz veins, associated with an aqueo-carbonic fluid with high N2 and CH4; (2) late-kinematic (D2/V3) veins, often associated with late brittle faults. Again, the fluid present at the time of formation was aqueo-carbonic, but with lower N2 and CH4. (3) Late (V4) low temperature veins, formed by a mainly meteoric fluid, which was also responsible for remobilisation and concentration of gold in earlier deposits. The gold mineralisation in the Central Iberian Zone supports the continuum model for lode gold deposits. Gold was leached from metasediments during prograde metamorphism, transported to shallower crustal levels, and deposited wherever suitable traps occurred. Channelling of fluid from deeper levels resulted in the localisation of deposits close to major shear zones. Depositional sites were usually dilational zones in faults, and more rarely folds, but locally lithological controls were important. H2O-CO2 unmixing was common, but was not necessarily related to gold deposition. Received: 19 February 1996 / Accepted: 11 February 1997  相似文献   

14.
The Archaean greenstone terrane between Menzies and Kambalda exhibits a coherent, although deformed, stratigraphic sequence intruded by granitoids and bounded by major NNW-trending shear and/or fault zones. The greenstone terrane hosts a large number of lode gold prospects and deposits, including the giant Kalgoorlie deposits. The initial Pb isotope compositions of lode gold deposits, as determined from ore related galena and pyrite, vary systematically in a linear trend on a207Pb/204Pb versus206Pb/204Pb diagram which reflects crustal heterogeneity at the time of mineralisation. Deposits hosted within a 90 km section of the Menzies-Boorara Shear Zone have a uniform, radiogenic initial Pb isotope composition irrespective of temperature of mineralisation and proximity to granitoid-gneiss in plan view. The Pb in these deposits is considered to be derived largely from older felsic crust underlying the greenstone belt and was accessed via this major shear-zone system. Deposits in a transect unrelated to a major shear zone show a systematic correlation between initial Pb isotope compositions and proximity to granitoid-gneiss and/or to mineralisation temperature. These compositions are less radiogenic than those within the Menzies-Boorara Shear Zone, but trend on a207Pb/204Pb versus606Pb/204Pb diagram between this isotope signature and the uniform Pb isotope signature which characterises the >100 km greenstone transect from the Mt Pleasant area through Kalgoorlie to Kambalda. These data are interpreted to reflect Pb derivation from discrete crustal segments within and below the greenstones, and require that mineralisation was related to crustal-scale hydrothermal systems that accessed both sialic mid- to lower-crust and the greenstone succession.  相似文献   

15.
A gold-bearing quartz vein system has been identified in Archaean basement rocks at Sortekap in the Kangerlussuaq region of east Greenland, 35 km north–northeast of the Skaergaard Intrusion. This constitutes the first recorded occurrence of Au mineralisation in the metamorphic basement rocks of east Greenland. The mineralisation can be classified as orogenic style, quartz vein-hosted Au mineralisation. Two vein types have been identified based on their alteration styles and the presence of Au mineralisation. Mineralised type 1 veins occur within sheared supracrustal units and are hosted by garnet-bearing amphibolites, with associated felsic and ultramafic intrusions. Gold is present as native Au and Au-rich electrum together with arsenopyrite and minor pyrite and chalcopyrite in thin alteration selvages in the immediate wall rocks. The alteration assemblage of actinolite-clinozoisite-muscovite-titanite-scheelite-arsenopyrite-pyrite is considered to be a greenschist facies assemblage. The timing of mineralisation is therefore interpreted as being later and separate event to the peak amphibolite facies metamorphism of the host rocks. Type 2 quartz veins are barren of mineralisation, lack significant alteration of the wall rocks and are considered to be later stage. Fluid inclusion microthermometry of the quartz reveals three separate fluids, including a high temperature (T h ?=?300–350 °C), H2O–CO2–CH4 fluid present only in type 1 veins that in interpreted to be responsible for the main stage of Au deposition and sulphidic wall rock alteration. It is likely that the carbonic fluids were actually trapped at temperatures closer to 400 °C. Two other fluids were identified within both vein types, which comprise low temperature (100–200 °C) brines, with salinities of 13–25 wt%?eq. NaCl and at least one generation of low salinity aqueous fluids. The sources and timings of the secondary fluids are currently equivocal but they may be related to the emplacement of Paleogene mafic intrusions. The identification of this occurrence of orogenic-style Au mineralisation has implications for exploration in the underexplored area of east Greenland between 62 and 69°?N, where other, similar supracrustal units are known to be present.  相似文献   

16.
The 43 t (1.4 Moz) of gold in the Woodcutters goldfield 50 km north of Kalgoorlie has wide geological significance in terms of gold in Archaean granite, as well as its local commercial and exploration significance. Woodcutters is already one of the largest Archaean gold systems in granite, and is unusual in being so far laterally from the nearest greenstone belt. Gold in the Federal zone, one of the deposits making up the Woodcutters goldfield, is hosted in hornblende‐biotite granodiorite,6 km from the mapped contact with greenstone. In Federal open pit, the granodiorite is coarse‐grained in the northern half, and a fine‐grained granodiorite in the south, with both hosting gold. These two types of granodiorite are rather similar in both mineralogy and geochemistry. There is also a subordinate fine‐grained monzodiorite. The Federal gold mineralisation is in a northwest‐striking, northeast‐dipping (315° strike/60°E dip) shear zone in the Scotia granite. Variation in grainsize of the host rocks might have affected the style of deformation with more brittle fabrics in the coarse‐grained phase and more ductile fabrics prominent in the fine‐grained granodiorite. Hydrothermal alteration is extensively developed around the Federal deposit and is a useful vector towards gold mineralisation. Distal epidote alteration surrounds a proximal muscovite‐biotite alteration zone that contains quartz‐sulfide veins. The alteration shares some of the common alteration characteristics of Archaean greenstone‐hosted gold, but differs in that carbonate‐chlorite alteration is only weakly developed. This difference is readily explained in terms of host‐rock composition and lower concentrations of Fe, Mg and Ca in the granite compared with greenstone. Fluid‐inclusion studies demonstrate that the fluids associated with the hydrothermal alteration at Woodcutters shared the common characteristics of fluids in Archaean greenstone gold, namely low‐salinity and dominant H2O–CO2. Fluid inclusions with moderate salinity were found in one fresh sample away from mineralisation, and are inferred to represent possible magmatic fluid. There is no evidence of a granite‐derived fluid being responsible for gold mineralisation. The granodiorite host rock had cooled, crystallised and had at least started to undergo deformation prior to gold introduction. The distribution of gold mineralisation in the Woodcutters goldfield has the style, shape and orientation comparable with greenstone‐hosted gold deposits in the same region. The northwest trend, the quartz veining and simple pyrite mineralogy are all features common to other greenstone‐hosted gold deposits near Kalgoorlie such as Mt Pleasant. The alteration fluid appears to have penetrated the granite on the scale of many hundreds of metres, causing large‐scale alteration. Woodcutters gold mineralisation resulted from the same metamorphic fluid processes that led to formation of greenstone gold deposits. In this metamorphic model, granitic rocks are predicted to be less‐favourable gold hosts than mafic rocks for two reasons. Granitic rocks do not generally fracture during regional deformation in such a way as to create large‐scale dilation. Furthermore, with less iron and no carbon, granitic rocks have lower potential to precipitate gold from solution by wall‐rock reaction. The metamorphic model predicts that those granite types with higher Fe should host better gold deposits, all other factors being equal. Accordingly, tonalite‐trondhjemite and hornblende‐bearing granodiorite should provide better environments for major gold deposits compared with monzogranite, and granite sensu stricto, as borne out by Woodcutters, but mafic rocks should be better hosts than any of these felsic to intermediate rocks.  相似文献   

17.
Southern Cross was one of the earliest gold mining centres in Western Australia. Over 142 tonnes of gold have been produced from the district, and, on a gold per hectare basis, the Southern Cross greenstone belt in the southwestern Yilgarn Craton is the most productive of Western Australia's Archaean greenstone belts. The SW Yilgarn Craton is characterised by high-grade (amphibolite- to granulite-facies) metamorphism, extensive granitoid magmatism and older greenstone volcanism ages, compared to the well-known greenschist-facies metamorphism and younger (2.7 Ga) eruption ages which dominate in the Eastern Goldfields Province. The Pb-isotope compositions of deep-seated granitoids in the SW Archaean Yilgarn Craton, which were emplaced coeval with a craton-wide major orogenic lode-gold mineralization event at about 2.64–2.63 Ga, have been determined for 96 whole-rock and 24 K-feldspar samples. The Pb isotope data of the granitoids are consistent with a crustal origin for their genesis, probably by reworking (partial melting) of older continental crust. The Pb isotope composition of greenstones, which are the main host rocks for gold mineralisation, and pyrites from the komatiite-hosted syngenetic Ni deposits in the amphibolite-facies Forrestania greenstone belt, have also been determined, with initial Pb-isotope ratios higher than that for the Eastern Goldfields Province. The Pb isotopic character of the orogenic lode-gold deposits in the region is intermediate between coeval granitoid and greenstone Pb, indicating that the ore fluids contained metals from both reservoirs. The Pb in the ore fluid of the most deeply formed deposit, Griffin's Find, overlaps the isotopic composition of coeval granitoids, indicating the deep-seated granitoid magmatism was the primary source for Pb in the ore fluids. Received: 8 October 1998 / Accepted 22 December 1998  相似文献   

18.
津巴布韦太古宙花岗-绿岩型金矿床受构造的控制,金矿可分为褶皱控矿型、剪切带控矿型、层控型、深成花岗岩控矿型和构造-蚀变岩型等5类。津巴布韦花岗-绿岩型金矿多产于花岗质片麻岩与绿岩带的接触带上,金以自然金或金的硫化物形式产出。金矿成矿时代大致分为(2660±50)Ma和(2410±70)Ma(米德兰德绿岩带北部白钨矿Sm-Nd测年)2个时段,分别与新太古代TTG事件和大岩墙侵入相关。津巴布韦花岗-绿岩型金矿较多,但发现的中-大型绿岩型金矿较少,具有较好的金矿找矿前景。  相似文献   

19.
The Kottathara gold prospect of Attappadi Valley in Kerala is located within the Southern Indian Granulite Terrain comprising charnockite and gneisses with enclaves of high-grade supracrustals. The gold mineralization associated with the basic members of the Attappadi supracrustals and the quartz veins traversing them are confined within the Bhavani Shear Zone. Primarily the gold-quartz lode is emplaced in rheologically preferred zones along the contact of the basic members with the enclosing gneisses subsequent to a period of retrogression and shearing. Ore-mineralogical studies reveal that gold got remobilized and this remobilization is identified with the regional Bhavani Shear. SEM studies indicate that gold occurs in free state and also within sulphides especially pyrite. Variation in grain morphology is clearly discernible in gold occurring within oxidised and in non-oxidised zones.Sequencing of deformational events with associated emplacements of known ages suggests the age of gold mineralization of Attappadi area as between 2 Ga. and 2.5 Ga. The secondary mobilization has to be <2.0 Ga or younger possibly of younger Pan-African age related with the Moyar-Bhavani Shear System. The inherent gold content of the komatiitic metapyroxenites together with the auriferous quartz lodes assigns a lithological control on gold mineralisation. Subsequent folding and remobilization due to the regional shear constrained the geometry of the lode zones implying structural control.  相似文献   

20.
We report results of metallogenic, structural, petrological, and fluid-inclusion studies that characterise the nature of gold mineralisation in the Amanda Bel Goldfield, the most significant gold producer in the Palaeozoic Broken River Province of northeastern Queensland, Australia. Gold–antimony–arsenic and gold–arsenic deposits in the Amanda Bel Goldfield occur along distinctive northeastern trends, suggesting a strong structural control for their development during several phases of deformation in the Devonian to Carboniferous. Field evidence, as well as petrographic, scanning electron microscope and fluid-inclusion analysis of mineralised samples, indicate the presence of two main stages of gold genesis. These are distinguished by the coarse grained versus invisible nature of gold particles and their association with particular sulfide phases. A third stage of gold deposition is attributed to introduction of antimony±gold-rich ore fluids. Fluid-inclusion studies record minimum trapping temperatures between 140 and 380°C, and salinities of up to 6.5 wt% NaCl equivalent for the two main gold-forming stages. Our analyses further indicate that mineralising solutions for the earlier of the two main gold-forming stages were slightly more saline, and that the ore-hosting veins formed at higher temperatures. The style of gold mineralisation in the Amanda Bel Goldfield is compatible with orogenic gold deposits that form primarily during compressional and transpressional deformation along convergent plate margins in accretionary and collisional orogens. The increased understanding gained from our studies on the origin and nature of the deposits aids predictive mineral discovery elsewhere in the Broken River Province, and also in analogous terranes throughout the Tasman Fold Belt System of eastern Australia.  相似文献   

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