Typomorphic characteristic of gold from tailings of pyrite-polymetallic deposits of Siberian

Abstract

The long-term stored tailings of the ore concentration of pyrite-polymetallic ore deposits are an ideal natural laboratory in which it is possible to study the gold transformation from primary ores to supergene with superimposed anthropogenic characteristics. The typomorphic characteristics of native gold are studied on the example of technogenic-mineral formations (TMF) of the Novo-Ursk, Belokluch and Zmeinogorsk deposits (Western Siberia). The grain size distribution of gold and its concentration, morphology, internal structure and chemical composition shows the features of gold conversion in the processes of dissolution, migration and secondary deposition at geochemical barriers. As a result of a typomorphic analysis, external and internal signs were identified that prove that gold underwent supergene transformations directly in the body of the technogenic tailings. The growths and accumulations of nano- and micro-size gold, the formation of particles of aggregate structure, lamination, fine particles and veinlets, openwork edges, as well as the absence of physical damage on the surface of the golds, confirm the active mobility of gold at the scales of tailings and emphasize the complex nature of multi-stage processes of gold mobilization. The gold formation of different chemical composition in TMF is explained by specific physical and chemical conditions for the section of the mound of stored waste, different sources of primary gold and geochemical barriers. Au(S2O3)n(1-2n) and Au(HS)2– are the main complexes responsible for the mobility of gold. Gold of low and medium fineness is formed from thiosulfate complexes, whereas high-fineness gold is formed from hydrosulfide complexes.