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Native Gold as a Specific Indicator Mineral for Gold Deposits, 2nd Edition

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A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Deposits".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2024 | Viewed by 1553

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Galina Palyanova

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Guest Editor

1. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Novosibirsk State University, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
Interests: ore-forming processes; experiment; thermodynamic modeling; minerals-indicators; fluid−mineral−rock interactions; gold mineralization; gold deposits; mechanisms of ore formation; reconstruction of T,P,X-conditions
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Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to contribute papers to our Special Issue entitled “Native Gold as a Specific Indicator Mineral for Gold Deposits, 2nd Edition”.

Native gold is the most common and significant industrial gold mineral. The widespread isomorphic impurity elements in gold are Ag, Cu, Hg, and Pd. Findings of native gold with Pt and Ni impurities and other elements have been reported. Native gold often contains microinclusions of ore minerals, silicates, oxides, carbonates, etc. Over the last few years, special attention has been paid to the study of the impurities and minerals in association with native gold since these characteristics are important informative signs of deposits with different types of mineralization. The chemical compositions of native gold and its associated minerals are the most important typomorphic features, as they allow for the prediction of the possible sources of metal for placers. The set and quantity of impurities in native gold vary greatly between different types of deposits and largely depend on the physicochemical conditions of their formation and the metallogenic features of gold-bearing provinces. It is also important to analyze changes in the compositions of native gold and its associated minerals in hypergene conditions during the formation of weathering crusts and placers. The concentration levels and ratios of various elements in gold grains can provide a geochemical history of ore-forming events. Papers reporting analytical results pertaining to native gold obtained via electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) are welcome. Experimental and theoretical studies of binary, ternary, and more complex phase systems with gold, revealing the existence of solid solutions and intermetallic compounds, would also be significant and valuable contributions to this Special Issue.

The aim of this Special Issue is to explore the reasons behind the variation in the chemical and mineralogical characteristics of native gold and to develop an effective criteria for forecasting and searching for gold deposits.

Dr. Galina Palyanova
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

isomorphic impurities in native gold
fineness
heterogeneity
proto-, syn- and epigenetic minerals of native gold
LA-ICP-MS
EPMA
phase diagrams Au-element(s)
gold deposit types
criteria for forecasting and searching for gold deposits

Related Special Issue

Native Gold as a Specific Indicator Mineral for Gold Deposits in Minerals (17 articles)

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 26294 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Minerals of the Au-Cu-Ag System in Grains from the Placers of the Olkhovaya-1 River (Eastern Kamchatka, Russia)

by Galina A. Palyanova, Tatiana V. Beliaeva, Dmitry P. Savelyev and Yurii V. Seryotkin

Minerals 2024, 14(5), 448; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14050448 - 24 Apr 2024

Viewed by 269

Abstract

Heterogeneous grains in the heavy fractions of the placers of the Olkhovaya-1 river (Kamchatka Cape Peninsula, Eastern Kamchatka, Russia) containing Au-Ag, Au-Cu, and Au-Ag-Cu particles were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, electron-probe microanalysis, and X-ray powder diffractometry. The analyses showed that auricupride dominates in some grains, whereas in others, the main phases are tetra-auricupride or Ag-rich and (or) Au-rich alloys. It was revealed that in the central parts of some grains of exsolution structures, auricupride Cu_3.04–2.74Au_0.96–1.26 (Ag < 1 wt.%) occurs in intergrowths with low-fineness Ag_0.86–0.67Au_0.09–0.33Cu_<0.05 solid solutions (160‰–480‰), and tetra-auricupride Cu_1.12–0.87Au_0.88–1.11Ag_<0.02 (Ag < 2 wt.%) occurs with higher-fineness Au_0.73–0.62Ag_0.2–0.38Cu_<0.07 solid solutions (520‰–850‰). We also observed, mainly in the peripheral parts of the grains, insignificant amounts of secondary phases that were compositionally similar to Cu₂Au, Cu₃Au₂, Au₃Cu₂, Au₂Cu, Au₃Cu, high-fineness gold with impurities of Cu and occasionally Ag (>850‰), and pure gold. In intergrowths with auricupride and tetra-auricupride, we also observed earlier-formed silicates (garnet, pyroxene, chlorite, epidote, titanite), syngenetic sulfides (pyrrhotite, bornite, galena), and later minerals (chalcocite, covellite, anilite, cuprite, goethite, etc.). The XRD analysis of the peripheral parts of some grains showed the presence of auricupride (Cu₃Au), tetra-auricupride CuAu (I) and Cu(Au_0.92Ag_0.08) (II), and gold. The profiles show the absence of peaks of the Au₃Cu phase and other Au-Ag-Cu phases identified by the EMPA, which is likely due to their low concentrations in the samples or their structural similarity to gold. It is assumed that the probable source of Au-Ag-Cu mineralization in the Olkhovaya-1 river placers is located in the upper reaches of watercourses that erode the ultrabasic massif of Mounts Soldatskaya and Golaya (Kamchatka Cape Peninsula). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Native Gold as a Specific Indicator Mineral for Gold Deposits, 2nd Edition)

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17 pages, 12062 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Montbrayite from the Svetlinsk Gold–Telluride Deposit (South Urals, Russia): Composition Variability and Decomposition

by Olga V. Vikent’eva, Vladimir V. Shilovskikh, Vasily D. Shcherbakov, Tatyana N. Moroz, Ilya V. Vikentyev and Nikolay S. Bortnikov

Minerals 2023, 13(9), 1225; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13091225 - 18 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 912

Abstract

A rare gold–telluride montbrayite from the large Svetlinsk gold–telluride deposit (South Urals, Russia) was comprehensively studied using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, reflectance measurements, electron backscatter diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. Significant variations in the composition of the mineral were revealed (in wt%): Au 36.98–48.66, Te 43.35–56.53, Sb 2.49–8.10, Ag up to 4.56, Pb up to 2.04, Bi up to 0.33, Cu up to 1.42. There are two distinct groups with much more-limited variation within the observed compositional interval (in wt%): (1) Au 36.98–41.22, Te 49.35–56.53, Sb 2.49–5.57; (2) Au 47.86–48.66, Te 43.35–44.92, Sb 7.15–8.10. The empirical formula calculated on the basis of 61 apfu is Au_{16.43–23.28}Sb_1.79–6.09Te_{32.01–38.89}Ag_0–3.69Bi_0–0.14Pb_0–0.90Cu_0–1.96. Two substitution mechanisms for antimony are proposed in the studied montbrayite grains: Sb→Au (2.5–5.6 wt% Sb) and Sb→Te (7–8 wt% Sb). The dependence of the reflection spectra and Raman spectra on the antimony content and its substitution mechanism, respectively, was found in the mineral. The slope of the reflectance spectra decreases and the curve in the blue–green region of the spectrum disappears with increasing Sb content in montbrayite. Raman spectra are reported for the first time for this mineral. The average positions of the peak with high-intensity are ~64 cm⁻¹ and ~90 cm⁻¹ for montbrayite with Sb→Te and Sb→Au, respectively. Two grains of montbrayite demonstrate decomposition according to two schemes: (1) montbrayite (7 wt% Sb) → native gold + calaverite ± altaite, and (2) montbrayite (5 wt% Sb) → native gold + tellurantimony ± altaite. A combination of melting and dissolution–precipitation processes may be responsible for the formation of these decomposition textures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Native Gold as a Specific Indicator Mineral for Gold Deposits, 2nd Edition)

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