Platinum metals on the Bam gold ore deposit of the Upper Amur region

Abstract

The problems of complex extraction of noble metals (Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Os, Ir, Pt, Au) during the development of gold-silver deposits have recently acquired increasing practical importance and relevance, due to the clear tendency to exhaust the base of available ores, their concentration of useful components and deterioration of mining processing conditions. The aim of the work was an additional study of platinum mineralization in ore objects at the large Bam gold ore deposit of the Upper Amur region and obtaining estimates of noble metal contents by atomic absorption, electrochemistry and chemical analyzes. It is shown that industrial concentrations for mining are gold and silver, and platinum metals are present at concomitant concentrations and do not reach the values required for cost-effective industrial processing. The revealed peculiarities of the Bam deposit are superposition of high-temperature and low-temperature stages of mineralization of precious metals within the ore columns, which leads to averaging of general geochemical regularities and leveling of characteristic local differences. It is noted that platinum mineralization increases with depth and proximity to the source of volcanic heat, just like the relative sample of gold.