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Does SW China have Carlin-type gold deposits? A micro- to atomic-scale perspective

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Abstract

Actively mined Carlin-type gold provinces are only found in Nevada, USA, and SW China. Herein, we combined nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry and atom probe tomography to characterize the distribution of Au and As in pyrite from the micrometer to atomic scales from the Shuiyindong and Lannigou deposits, SW China, and compared this with a representative Nevadan deposit. Results show that invisible gold in both deposits occurs in complex micrometer and nanometer scale zones in the rims of pyrite. Within these oscillatory zones, Au is homogenously distributed rather than occurring as nanoclusters. This confirms that invisible gold is principally structure-bound Au, and that ore fluids were not saturated in Au. Gold deposition from undersaturated, arsenic containing, and ore fluids led to the formation of the giant Carlin-type gold deposits. Although not all high-As zones in the Lannigou pyrite contain high Au, all high-Au zones in both deposits contain elevated As. Arsenic is an important criterion for the incorporation of Au, but just because the fluid had high As does not necessarily imply it had/precipitated a high-Au pyrite. Gold atoms, in the Au–As rich zones of pyrite from both deposits, are surrounded by elevated concentrations of As compared to the matrix. Therefore, As both promotes Au incorporation into the pyrite and controls the maximum amount of structure-bound Au in the pyrite. Comparison of the Guizhou pyrite with Nevada pyrite reflects that the pyrite from the two districts exhibits the consistent nanometer- to atomic-scale characteristics. These similar nanometer- to atomic-scale characteristics further support the Guizhou deposits being classed as “Carlin-type.”

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Guizhou Zijin Mining Corporation Limited for access to the Shuiyindong deposit and Guizhou Jinfeng Mining Limited for access to the Lannigou deposit. We thank Bohao Yin and Chuanqiang Sun from the Tianjin University for NanoSIMS analyses and Rui Li (Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences) for assistance with APT specimen preparation using FIB-SEM techniques. We thank Benjamin Jenkins from the University of Oxford for assistance with APT analysis. Constructive comments and suggestions from Prof. Bernd Lehmann, Hartwig Frimmel, Denis Fougerouse, and an anonymous reviewer significantly improved the manuscript.

Funding

This research was financially supported by grants from the National Key R&D Program of China (2023YFC2906801), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42073044; U1812402), the Guizhou Provincial 2020 Science and Technology Subsidies (No. GZ2020SIG), the Science and Technology Foundation of Guizhou Province (Qiankehejichu[2020]1Z034; Qiankehepingtairencai-CXTD[2021]007), the Geological Exploration Fund Project of Guizhou Province (520000214TLCOG7DGTNRG), the West Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (xbzg-zdsys-202108), and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2022402).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550081, China

    Zhuojun Xie, Yong Xia, Qinping Tan, Jingdan Xiao & Youwei Chen

  2. Department of Applied Geology and Geophysics, University of Leoben, Peter Tunner Strasse, 8770, Leoben, Styria, Austria

    Phillip Gopon

  3. Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Rd, Oxford, OX1 3PH, UK

    Phillip Gopon, James O. Douglas & Michael P. Moody

  4. Department of Materials, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2BP, UK

    James O. Douglas

  5. University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, 89154, USA

    Jean Cline

  6. Innovation Center of Ore Resources Exploration Technology in the Region of Bedrock, Ministry of Natural Resources of People’s Republic of China, Guiyang, 550081, China

    Jianzhong Liu

  7. Guizhou Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration & Development, Guiyang, 550018, China

    Jianzhong Liu

  8. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China

    Jingdan Xiao

  9. Center for Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550081, China

    Yuanyun Wen

  10. Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Pan Li

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  1. Zhuojun Xie
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Xie, Z., Gopon, P., Xia, Y. et al. Does SW China have Carlin-type gold deposits? A micro- to atomic-scale perspective. Miner Deposita 59, 757–772 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-023-01231-6

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