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Microchemical Characterization of Alluvial Gold Grains as an Exploration Tool

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Abstract

There is considerable variation in the composition of native gold and the nature of minerals co-existing with it, and this reflects differences in the geological environment and chemistry of ore-forming processes. In areas where gold-bearing mineralization is subject to active fluvial erosion, especially in temperate climatic regimes, any discrete grains of native gold pass into alluvial sediment with little modification. The chemical characteristics of alluvial grains and the nature of preserved mineral inclusions provide a signature which points back to the type of source mineralization. This signature may be established using electron probe microanalysis and scanning electron microscopy and can be interpreted to provide information about the original bedrock mineralization. Identification of the type of source mineralization using the technique at an early stage in regional exploration can help focus attention on targets with the most potential economic importance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth Sciences, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, Leeds, UK

    Robert Chapman & Bob Leake

  2. British Geological Survey, NG12 5GG, Keyworth, Notts, UK

    Mike Styles

Authors
  1. Robert Chapman
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  2. Bob Leake
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  3. Mike Styles
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Additional information

Rob Chapman graduated as a Minerals Engineer and worked on the gold mines in South Africa before returning to the UK to study for a PhD. He joined the University of Leeds in 1990 and began collaboration with Bob Leake on the characterization of indigenous gold in 1994. He remains an enthusiastic gold prospector.

Bob Leake graduated from Durham University in 1965 and obtained a PhD after working at the Universities of Oslo and Durham. He joined the British Geological Survey in 1968 and until retirement in 1997 worked mainly on the Mineral Reconnaissance Programme and, since 1987, mostly on gold.

Mike Styles graduated from Swansea University in 1971 and obtained his PhD from Manchester University for regional studies in northern Norway. He joined the British Geological Survey in 1976 and has worked for the Mineralogy and Petrology section on a wide range of mineralization projects. He is in charge of the BGS electron microprobe laboratories and started the development of the gold characterization technique in collaboration with Bob Leake in 1989. Since then he has applied the technique to many studies of gold from a wide range of localities.

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Chapman, R., Leake, B. & Styles, M. Microchemical Characterization of Alluvial Gold Grains as an Exploration Tool. Gold Bull 35, 53–65 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03214838

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03214838

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