The Features of Native Gold in Ore-Bearing Breccias with Realgar-Orpiment Cement of the Vorontsovskoe Deposit (Northern Urals, Russia)

Sergey Y Stepanov,Ludmila N Sharpyonok,Darya V Kiseleva,Dmitry A Varlamov,Anatoly V Kasatkin,Roman S Palamarchuk,Radek Škoda

doi:10.3390/min11050541

Abstract

This paper describes native gold in ore-bearing breccias with realgar-orpiment cement from the Vorontsovskoe gold deposit (Northern Urals, Russia). Particular attention is paid to the morphological features of native gold and its relation to other minerals. The latter include both common (orpiment, barite, pyrite, prehnite, realgar) and rare species (Tl and Hg sulfosalts, such as boscardinite, dalnegroite, écrinsite, gillulyite, parapierrotite, routhierite, sicherite, vrbaite, etc.). The general geological and geochemical patterns of the Turyinsk-Auerbakh metallogenic province, including the presence of small non-economic copper porphyry deposits and general trend in change of the composition of native gold (an increase in the fineness of gold from high-temperature skarns to low-temperature realgar-orpiment breccias) confirm that the Vorontsovskoe deposit is an integral part of a large ore-magmatic system genetically associated with the formation of the Auerbakh intrusion.

Highlights

The Vorontsovskoe gold deposit is located in Krasnoturyinskiy district of SverdlovskOblast (Northern Urals, Russia), 13 km south of the town of Krasnoturyinsk and approximately 310 km north of Ekaterinburg
It is important to emphasize that the diversity of thallium minerals, including those first discovered at the Vorontsovskoe deposit—vorontsovite and ferrovorontsovite [34], tsygankoite [35], gladkovskyite [36], luboržákite [37], pokhodyashinite [38], gungerite [39]
Native gold in the ore breccias of the Vorontsovskoe deposit is concentrated in the form of both small grains ranging in size from 0.05 to 0.15 mm and fairly large grains up to 0.5 mm

Summary

Introduction

The Vorontsovskoe gold deposit is located in Krasnoturyinskiy district of Sverdlovsk. Oblast (Northern Urals, Russia), 13 km south of the town of Krasnoturyinsk and approximately 310 km north of Ekaterinburg. It was discovered in 1985 and is currently operated by the Polymetal International PLC. It is located within the Turyinsk-Auerbakh metallogenic province (Figure 1a), which includes a series of medium-size copper-iron-skarn and small-size gold skarn, medium-size lode and quartz stockwork gold deposits with “berezite” (quartz-sericite-carbonate metasomatites) alteration gold deposits. Within the Vorontsovsko-Peshchanskaya system, mainly iron-skarn and gold ore deposits are located. By 2003, three economic deposits with calculated reserves were discovered within the Turyinsk-Auerbakh

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Discussion

Conclusion