Detrital origin of hydrothermal Witwatersrand gold—a review

Abstract

The Witwatersrand ‘basin’ is the largest known gold province in the world. The gold deposits have been worked for moren than 100 years but there is still controversy about the ore forming process. Detailed petrographic studies often reveal that the gold is late in the paragenetic sequence, which has led many researchers to propose a hydrothermal origin for the gold. However, observations, such as the occurrence of rounded, disc‐like gold particles next to irregularly shaped or idiomorphic secondary gold particles in the same sample, suggest an initial detrital gold source within the Witwatersrand strata. Mineral chemical and isotopic data, together with SEM cathodoluminescence imaging and fluid inclusion studies, provide evidence for small‐scale variations in the fluid chemistry – a requirement for the short‐range mobilization of the gold. The existing data and observations on the Witwatersrand rocks support a model of hydrothermally altered, metamorphosed placer deposits, with at least two subsequent gold mobilization events: hydrothermal infiltration in early Transvaal time (2.6–2.5 Ga) and during the 2.020 Ga Vredefort impact event.