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Trace Element Compositions of Pyrite from the Shuangwang Gold Breccias, Western Qinling Orogen, China: Implications for Deep Ore Prediction

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Abstract

The Shuangwang gold deposit, located in the Fengxian-Taibai fore-arc basin in the western Qinling Orogen of Central China, has yielded over 70 tons of gold. It is an orogenic gold deposit occurring in an NW-trending breccia belt. Most of the ores are hydrothermal breccia type containing fragments of adjacent strata cemented by ankerite and pyrite. Pyrite is the most abundant metallic mineral and the major gold-bearing mineral in the ores. A total of 58 pyrite samples from main ore bodies of the Shuangwang gold deposit have been analysed for 44 trace elements by HR-ICP-MS. Sb, Ba, Cu, Pb, Zn, Bi, Mo, Co are selected as indicator elements to investigate the potential usefulness of trace elements in pyrite as an indicator in gold exploration. The results show that the supra-ore halo elements Sb and Ba, which may have been more active than other near-ore halo elements and sub-ore halo elements, are best to characterize the shape of ore bodies. Five target areas are pointed out for deep ore exploration based on a comprehensive study of supra-ore, near-ore and sub-ore halos. This study provides evidence that trace elements in pyrite can be used to depict the deep extension of ore bodies and to vector towards undiscovered ore bodies.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41230311, 41272106, 41030423) and the Special Program on Mineral Resources Survey from CGS (No. 1212011220923). The authors are grateful to managers Hongbin Li and Ruirong Cao of the Shaanxi Taibai Gold Mine Co. Ltd. for permission to access mines. Engineers Jianjun Cheng, Feng Qi, and Lo Wang are thanked for their help during fieldwork. Thanks are due to Professor Jianwei Li and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions and insightful comments. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-017-0751-7.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Jianping Wang, Zhenjiang Liu, Jiajun Liu, Chonghao Liu & Fangfang Zhang

  2. School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Jianping Wang, Zhenjiang Liu, Jiajun Liu, Chonghao Liu & Fangfang Zhang

  3. China National Gold Group Cooperation, Beijing, 100011, China

    Xiangtao Zeng, Kexin Wang & Bizheng Liu

  4. China Railway Resources Exploration Co. Ltd., Beijing, 100039, China

    Huan Wang

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  1. Jianping Wang
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Correspondence to Jianping Wang.

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Wang, J., Liu, Z., Liu, J. et al. Trace Element Compositions of Pyrite from the Shuangwang Gold Breccias, Western Qinling Orogen, China: Implications for Deep Ore Prediction. J. Earth Sci. 29, 564–572 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-017-0751-7

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