Gold composition and conditions of Southern Ak-Dag gold-sulfide-quartz ore occurrence formation (Western Tuva)

Abstract

Research subject. The paper presents data on the mineralogical, geochemical and fluid inclusion features of the Southern Ak-Dag gold-sulphide-quartz ore occurrence in Western Tuva.Methods. Mineral formation temperatures, salt composition and fluid salinity were examined using a Linkam TMS-600 cryostage and an Olympus BX 51 microscope. The chemical composition of samples was identified using a MIRA 3 LMU (Tescan Orsay Holding) scanning electron microscope equipped with INCA Energy 450+XMax 80 and INCA Wave 500 microanalysis systems; BSE photos were taken by Tescan Vega 3 and Hitachi ТМ-1000 SEM instruments.Results. The ores under study were found to contain both high-grade and medium-grade gold with an Ag content of up to 17.05 wt %. The average gold fineness comprised 904 ‰, ranging from 830 to 928 ‰. According to fluid inclusion data, gold-sulphide-quartz veins were formed at temperatures of 280–240 °C and pressures of 0.8–1.2 kbar from aqueous fluids having a salinity of 8.6–6.4 wt % NaCl eq. The narrow range of fluid salinity at decreasing temperatures and the prevalence of high-grade gold in sulphide-quartz veins indicate a relatively high rate of mineral formation in a narrow permeable zone without any significant interaction with host rocks or mixing with meteoric waters.Conclusions. Gold mineralization in the Southern Ak-Dag ore occurrence, which was formed within one ore substage, corresponds to the type of gold-galena-chalcopyrite with barite. The established similarity of native gold in the Southern Ak-Dag occurrence and other deposits in the Aldan-Maadyr ore cluster in terms of P-T parameters of ore formation and mineralogical and geochemical features, as well as association of the ore mineralization with beresites, indicate the possibility of discovering industrial ore deposits in the region and confirm its paragenetic relation with Devonian magmatic activity.