Fine and ultrafine gold in placers of northeastern Russia

Abstract

The main features of the migration and accumulation of fine and ultrafine gold during the evolution of placer-forming processes in northeastern Russia are discussed. The results of loose sediment sampling (over 2000 samples) with a screw separator and strake facilities have been taken into consideration. The approximate grades and potential resources of gold were estimated for various genetic types of placers. The most favorable conditions for the mobilization and accumulation of fine and ultrafine gold in the placers of northeastern Russia prevailed during the Paleogene to Miocene stage of the evolution of orogenic morphostructures, when the residual (illuvial and alluvial) placers were formed. During the Pliocene to Quaternary stage, the tectonic activation caused the reworking of placers by slope and fluvial processes and resulted in the formation of new hillside and alluvial placers. At this stage, the dispersal of fine gold fractions prevailed over accumulation. Under conditions of the periglacial lithogenesis of the Pliocene to Quaternary tectonic activation, the formation of new placers with fine and ultrafine gold derived from primary sources was suppressed due to the low rate of metal release in the process of physical weathering. In terms of the economic importance of placers with fine and ultrafine gold, residual, eluvial, or hillside placers, as well as alluvial stratal placers located in low-order (and partly medium-order) stream valleys, are the most attractive in northeastern Russia. The primary sources of such placers comprise gold-bearing porphry copper, gold-sulfide-quartz, and other hydrothermal deposits with similar placer-forming capability, as well as gold-quartz stockworks. The grade of fine and ultrafine gold in such placers may be as high as a few g/m3. The placers located in the constratal alluvium of graben-type valleys and the bar and floodplain placers in the areas with stockwork-like orebodies containing fine (<0.25 mm) gold are regarded as prospective objects.