Trace element and REE geochemistry of Sanshenjiang gold deposit, southeastern Guizhou Province, China

The Sanshenjiang gold deposit in southeastern Guizhou Province, China, is hosted by the Neoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks which experienced low-grade greenschist facies metamorphism. Gold mineralization occurs mainly in the ribbon chiltern slate of the first member of the Longli Formation and is controlled by both strata and faults. Ore bodies are characterized by abundant quartz-arsenopyrite-gold-pyrite-bedding veins, veinlets and small lenses within the shear zone. In this study, trace element and REE geochemistry was analyzed to constrain the origin and genesis of this deposit. The trace element signatures of wall rocks and veins display a basically similar tendency in the spider diagram, showing the genetic relationship. The values of Co/Ni, Y/Ho, Hf/Sm, Nb/La and Th/La reflect that the hydrothermal fluids of this deposit were derived from the mixture of multiple sources with marked enrichment of Cl and moderate to high temperature. There is a broad similarity in the chondrite-normalized patterns and REE fractionation between wall rocks and ore bodies, possibly reflecting their similar origin. Based on the difference in δCe and δEu, quartz veins and lenses can be subdivided into weakly negative Ce-anomalies (δCe=0.81 to 1.06) with slight Eu anomalies (δEu=0.81 to 1.06) type and the significant positive Ce-anomalies (δCe=1.13 to 1.97) with moderate negative Eu-anomalies type, probably suggesting physical-chemical changes in the evolution process of ore-forming fluids from the early to late stage. It can be concluded that the ore-forming process may have experienced three stages: formation of the original ore source bed, regional metamorphism and gold mineralization, on the basis of trace element and REE analysis and field observation.

Trace element and REE geochemistry of the Zhewang gold deposit, southeastern Guizhou Province, China

The quartz vein-type gold deposits are widely hosted by the Neoproterozoic(Xiajiang Group) epimetamorphic clastic rock series in southeastern Guizhou Province, China. The Zhewang gold deposit studied in this paper occurs in the second lithological member of the Pinglue Formation of the Xiajiang Group. Trace element geochemistry of host rocks, quartz veins and arsenopyrite has revealed that ore-forming fluid was enriched in sulphophile elements such as Au, Ag, As, Sb, Pb and Zn, and simultaneously concentrated some magmaphile elements such as W and Mo, which probably provides some evidence for multi-stage mineralization or overprinting of magmatic hydrotherm. Quartz veins and arsenopyrite were characterized by depletion in HFSE and enrichment in LREE. Hf/Sm, Nb/La and Th/La imply that the ore-forming fluid was probably a NaCl-H2O solution system enriched in more Cl than F; Th/U values reflect the strong reducibility of the ore-forming fluid, coincident with the sulfide assemblages. The values of Co/Ni reflect that magmatic fluids may have partly participated in the ore-forming process and Y/Ho values have proved that the ore-forming fluid was associated with metamorphism and exotic hydrotherm which has reformed former quartz veins during late mineralization. The concentrations of REE, Eu anomalies and Ce anomalies of this deposit display that ore-forming elements mainly were derived from host rocks and possibly from a mixed deep source, and the ore-forming fluid was mixed by dominant metamorphic fluid and minor other sources. The physical-chemical conditions of ore-forming fluid changed from the initial stage to the late stage. The metamorphic fluid is responsible for the mineralization. Therefore, the Zhewang gold deposit is classified as a quartz vein-type gold deposit which may have been reformed by magmatic fluids during the late stage.

A simulation experimental study on oxidative kinetics of sphalerite under hypergene condition

The sphalerite oxidative kinetics under hypergene condition was simulated and studied by means of a mixed flow reactor over a pH range of 1.0 7.8,and at dissolution temperatures from 20 to 55℃,ferric ion concentrations from 1.0×10-5 to 1.0×10-2 mol/L,O 2 flux of 0.5 L/min,and oxidants of ferric ion and O 2.It is indicated that with ferric ion as oxidant,the oxidation rate of sphalerite increases with increasing ferric ion concentration,temperature and decreasing pH value,and under the studied conditions,the dissolution rates of Zn and Cd are approximately identical,with the values of activation energy being 41.75 and 42.51 kJ·mol-1,respectively,suggesting that the oxidation rate of sphalerite is controlled by chemical reactions on mineral surface.However,with O 2 as oxidant,the oxidation mechanism of sphalerite varies with pH value.Oxidation rate decreases with increasing pH value when pH is lower than 5.95,whereas the increase of pH value results in an increase in oxidation rate when pH value is higher than 7.The oxidation rate of sphalerite can be expressed as:R Zn =10 1.1663 [Fe3+] 0 0.154 ·[H+] 0.2659 ·e-41.75/RT or R Cd =10 1.7292 [Fe3+] 0 0.170 ·[H+] 0.2637 ·e-42.