Morphology and composition of gold minerals from the placer deposit of Dunitovaya River (Maimecha-Kotui Province, Polar Siberia)

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Abstract

Complex gold-iridium-osmium placer deposits are associated with the Guli massif of ultramafic, alkaline rocks and carbonatites within the Maimecha-Kotui province in the northern part of the Siberian Platform. Unlike natural Os-Ir alloys, which are genetically related to ultramafic rocks, the bedrock source of gold remains controversial. We report, for the first time, morphological and compositional features of gold mineralization from the Quaternary deposits of the Dunitovaya River in the southern part of the Guli massif. According to the morphology, gold grains are subdivided into drop-shaped-rounded, lumpy, flattened-lumpy and lamellar varieties; their main morphometric parameters, gold fineness and average statistical characteristics of the chemical composition are presented. Based on their internal structure, the studied gold grains are subdivided into homogeneous, consisting predominantly of electrum of homogeneous composition, and heterogeneous, containing (1) several minerals (e.g., electrum, tetra-auricupride, auricupride) or (2) formed by electrum with a highly variable composition (i.e., from Au-bearing silver to Ag-bearing gold). The first copper isotopic data for gold grains from various morphological types of the Dunitovaya River are characterized by similar δ65Cu values in the range from −0.59 to 0.11‰ (δ65Cu average = −0.30±0.23‰, n = 5), which is in favor of a primitive source of ore matter. Taking into account the geological background of the location of channel and terrace deposits of the Dunitovaya River, the insignificant character of the transfer for placer gold (4−6 km), and the similarity of gold minerals from the Dunitovaya River with gold minerals from calcite carbonatite, we propose that the main bedrock sources of the studied morphological varieties of gold were the rocks of the Maimecha-Kotui ijolite-carbonatite complex.

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About the authors

K. N. Malitch

Zavaritsky Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Ural Branch RAS

Author for correspondence.
Email: dunite@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, Ekaterinburg

A. A. Voitin

Zavaritsky Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Ural Branch RAS

Email: dunite@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, Ekaterinburg

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. Schematic geological map of the southern part of the Guli massif of ultramafic, alkaline rocks and carbonatites (compiled by geologists of the Polar Party of the Norilsk Integrated Geological Exploration Expedition). 1 – alluvial (channels, floodplains and terraces), lacustrine and fluvio-glacial deposits; 2–5 – Maimecha-Kotui ijolite-carbonatite complex: 2 – carbonatites of the seventh phase of the complex; 3 – nepheline and alkaline syenite of the fifth phase of the complex; 4 – biotite-pyroxene ultramafic rocks, malignite and shonkinite of the third phase of the complex; 5 – melilite rock of the second phase of the complex; 6, 7 – Guli clinopyroxenite-dunite complex: 6 – dunite (first phase), 7 – clinopyroxenite (second phase); cpx – metasomatic halos composed of olivine-bearing clinopyroxenite, wehrlite, and clinopyroxene-bearing dunite; 8 – meimechite (coarse grained picrite), lava breccias and meimechite tuffs, 9 – geological boundaries; 10 – faults (a – reliable, b – assumed); 11 – economic gold placers; 12 – sampling site for alluvial gold.

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3. Fig. 2. Cross section along trench # 8 through the Dunitovaya River valley (compiled by geologists of the Polar Party of the Noril’sk Integrated Geological Exploration Expedition). 1 – soil-vegetative layer, 2 – peat, 3 – silt, 4 – clay, 5 – loam, 6 – sandy loam, 7 – sand, 8 – gravel, 9 – pebbles, 10 – boulders, 11 – gruss, 12 – crushed stone, 13 – boundaries of genetic types of loose sediments, 14 – productive layer.

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4. Fig. 3. Typical features of alluvial gold grains within morphological varieties from placer deposit of the Dunitovaya River. а, б, в – drop-shaped-rounded (sample D30), г, д, е – lumpy (sample D39), ж, з, е – flattened-lumpy (sample D16), к, л, м – lamellar (sample D58). Images: (а, г, ж, к) under a binocular, (б, д, з, л) – in secondary electrons, (в, е, и, м) – in back-scattered electrons with compositional contrast.

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5. Fig. 4. Histgram of roundness (a) and sphericity (b) values for gold grains from placer deposit of the Dunitovaya River.

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6. Fig. 5. Diagram in coordinates sphericity – roundness for 58 gold grains from placer deposit of the Dunitovaya River. Numbers in the upper left corner of each square correspond to numbers of the studied samples, n – quantity of grains.

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7. Fig. 6. Average chemical compositions of homogeneous gold grains within drop-shaped-rounded (a), lumpy (б), flattened-lumpy (в) and lamellar (г) morphological types from placer deposit of the Dunitovaya River in Ag-Au-Cu coordinates (at. %). Grain numbers correspond to those in Table. 2.

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8. Fig. 7. Chemical compositions of heterogeneous gold grains from lumpy (а), flattened-lumpy (б), lamellar (в) and drop-shaped-rounded (г) morphological types from placer deposit of the Dunitovaya River in Ag-Au-Cu coordinates (at. %). Grain numbers correspond to those in Table. 2.

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9. Fig. 8. Heterogeneous gold grains from placer deposit of the Dunitovaya River: (а) sample D7, (б) sample D8. Points with numbers 1–29 denote areas of electron microprobe analyses (EMPA) corresponding to the same numbers in Table 4. (Au, Ag) – electrum, Au – native gold, AuCu – tetraauricupride, Cu3Au – auricupride. BSE images.

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10. Fig. 9. Histogram of transport distance values (km) from bedrock source for gold grains of drop-shaped-rounded (а), lumpy (б), flattened-lumpy (в) and lamellar (г) varieties from placer deposit of the Dunitovaya River.

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11. Fig. 10. Au-Cu-Ag composition diagram (wt %) for gold minerals within heterogeneous grains D7 (а) and D8 (б) from placer deposit of the Dunitovaya River. The diagram shows isotherms of a ternary solid solution based on experimental data (Dritz et al., 1979). Points with numbers 1–29 denote areas of EMP analyses corresponding to the same numbers in Table 4.

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