Authigenic Gold in Stale Tailings of Cyanide Leaching of Gold—Sulfide—Quartz Ores (Komsomol’skii Gold-Extracting Factory, Kemerovo Region)

Abstract

Based on complex mineralogical and geochemical analysis, high concentrations of dissolved and metallic native forms of Au were registered in the tailing store near-surface horizon of the Komsomol’skii gold-extracting factory. According to the physicochemical characteristics, this layer is distinguished by contrasting variations in the environmental parameters and oxidizing medium. The processes of dissolution, growth, and reprecipitation of authigenic Au were detected, and its predominant formation at the expense of redistribution from the lower horizons of gold-bearing sediments and accumulation in the oxidation zone were supported.