Nanoparticle suspensions from carbon-rich fluid make high-grade gold deposits

被引:28
|
作者
Petrella, Laura [1 ]
Thebaud, Nicolas [1 ]
Fougerouse, Denis [2 ]
Tattitch, Brian [1 ]
Martin, Laure [3 ]
Turner, Stephen [4 ]
Suvorova, Alexandra [3 ]
Gain, Sarah [5 ]
机构
[1] Univ Western Australia, Ctr Explorat Targeting, Crawley, Australia
[2] Curtin Univ, Sch Earth & Planetary Sci, Bentley, WA, Australia
[3] Univ Western Australia, Ctr Microscopy Characterisat & Anal, Perth, WA, Australia
[4] Newmont Corp, Welshpool, WA, Australia
[5] Geol Survey Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
基金
澳大利亚研究理事会;
关键词
U-PB GEOCHRONOLOGY; SLEEPER DEPOSIT; YILGARN CRATON; RED LAKE; MINERALIZATION; SILICA; MINE; TRANSPORT; YELLOWKNIFE; DISTRICT;
D O I
10.1038/s41467-022-31447-5
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
The authors present novel observations providing insights into the formation of extraordinary gold-rich veins. We discovered metal nanoparticles associated with amorphous silica and carbon indicating their essential contribution to efficient gold deposition. Economic gold deposits result from a 100- to 10,000-fold enrichment in gold relative to crustal background. In hydrothermal systems, this enrichment is achieved through the transport and accumulation of metals via deeply sourced fluids to a site of deposition. However, the generally low metal solubility of Au in aqueous solutions in orogenic systems requires additional processes in order to explain high-grade gold formation. Reports of Au nanoparticles in high-grade gold veins infer that their formation is linked to mineralisation. However, processes leading to nanoparticle nucleation and deposition remain poorly understood. Here we show that formation of metal nanoparticles (Au, AuAg, Cu, Ag2O) is one of the essential contributors to efficient and focused gold deposition. We report systematic and previously unrecognized metal nanoparticles preserved in amorphous silica and/or carbonic phases in five high-grade deposits. The association of metal, silica and carbonic phases helps to constrain the multiple reactive processes involved in Au, Cu and Ag metallogenesis and formation of high-grade gold mineralisation.
引用
收藏
页数:9
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