Mineralogy of Noble Metals and “Invisible” Speciations of These Elements in Natural Systems

Dear Colleagues,

In nature, gold most commonly occurs as an alloy with silver and, more rarely, with platinum, palladium, and other elements, and ranges in size from nanoparticles to big nuggets. The origin of nuggets has been still debated. More and more novel mineral species, including the minerals of noble metals, are discovered every year. New phases containing Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru are also known to be discovered, but the mineral has not been named yet. Still unsolved is the problem of the “invisible” speciations of gold, silver and other noble metals in sulfides and other minerals-concentrators of these elements. The chemistry and scales of the processes of dissolution, transport and deposition of noble metals have not been fully studied. Improved understanding of the genesis of deposits of noble metals in endogenic and supergene environments is necessary. The knowledge of the nature of gold occurrence and sites in gold-bearing minerals is significant for developing better process to extract gold from ores. The processes of consolidation, aggregation and purification of native elements under the conditions of formation of oxidation zones and placer deposits are poorly studied. It is known that gold content in the weathering crust considerably exceed that in endogenous sources. The mechanisms of this effect are still ambiguous and are attributed to different processes, including physicochemical and biological ones. Revealing of the role of the biogenic factor in the geochemistry of gold and other noble metals is an important task. Noble metals are a very popular in nanotechnology.

Dr. Galina Palyanova
Guest Editor

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