Ore Petrography and Chemistry of the Tellurides from the Dongping Gold Deposit, Hebei Province, China
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Ore Geology Reviews 64 (2014) 23–34 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ore Geology Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/oregeorev Ore petrography and chemistry of the tellurides from the Dongping gold deposit, Hebei Province, China Shen Gao, Hong Xu ⁎, Desen Zhang, Henan Shao, Shaolong Quan School of Earth Science and Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China article info abstract Article history: The Dongping gold deposit is a mesothermal lode gold deposit hosted in syenite. The ore petrography and chem- Received 5 March 2014 istry of the tellurides from the alteration zone of the deposit have been studied in detail using optical microscopy, Received in revised form 5 June 2014 scanning electron microscopy, electron probe micro-beam and X-ray diffraction facilities. The tellurides, Accepted 12 June 2014 consisting mostly of calaverite, altaite, petzite tellurobismuthite and tetradymite, are hosted irregularly in pyrite Available online 19 June 2014 fractures and voids. In the ore bodies, the species and quantity of tellurides decrease from the top downwards, fi Keywords: accompanied with lowering of gold neness, and the existence of tellurides exhibits a positive correlation with Tellurides gold enrichment. Mineral paragenesis and chemical variations suggest that during evolution of the ore- Ore petrography forming fluids Te preferably incorporated with Pb to form altaite, followed in sequence by precipitation of petzite, Chemistry and calaverite when Ag has been exhausted, and the residue fluids were enriched in Au, giving rise to formation Gold Deposit of native gold. Calculation with reference of the fineness of native gold coexisting with the tellurides indicates Dongping that at 300 °C, log f (Te2) varied between −8.650 and −7.625. Taking account of the Au–Ag–Te mineral paragen- China esis, it is inferred that log ƒ (Te2) varies from −9.12 to −6.43, log ƒ (S2) −11.47 to −8.86. In consideration of the physicochemical conditions for formation of tellurides, with comparison to some known telluride deposits, it is suggested that high log ƒ (Te2) is a key factor for high fineness of native gold as well as precipitation of abundant tellurides. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction alteration. The ores were formed during the early Cretaceous, with U–Pb weighted average age of 140.3 ± 1.4 Ma (Li et al., 2010). The temperature Tellurium commonly occurs as a dispersed element, incorporating of ore-forming process has been constrained as 263–342 °C (Fan et al., Au, Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn, Hg, Bi, Ni, and PGE, etc., to form tellurides. These tel- 2001), and the ore-forming fluids have been interpreted as mixing of me- lurides have been found in many gold deposits, e.g., the Cripple Creek teoritic water with deep-derived fluids (Bao and Zhao, 2006). The ores are deposit, USA, Emperor deposit, Fuji, Roşia Montană gold deposit, sulfide-poor and telluride-rich (Song and Zhao, 1996), with metallic min- Romania (Pals and Spry, 2003; Thompson et al., 1985; Wallier et al., erals less than 5%. Most tellurides in the ores are dispersed as micron- 2006), Guilaizhuang, China, Xiaoqinling gold deposit, China (Fang and sized grains in the other ore minerals (Zhang et al., 2002). The previous Shuai, 1988; Hu et al., 2005), Dashuigou telluride deposit, China (Mao studies have identified calaverite, petzite, altaite, hessite, krennerite and et al., 1995a, 1995b), and Sandaowanzi telluride gold deposit, China stutzite in the auriferous quartz veins from the upper of the ore bodies (Liu et al., 2011; Zhao et al., 2010). Telluride-rich gold deposits in the (Song and Zhao, 1996; Zhang et al., 2002). The telluride mineralogy in world have been studied intensively, on their mineralogy, paragenesis, the lower part of the deposit, however, is poorly understood, and the chemistry, physicochemistry conditions of ore-forming fluids, solid occurrence and spatial distribution of tellurides have not been examined exsolution-based temperature indicator (Xu et al., 2011, 2012; Yu et al., in detail. The authors conducted detailed study, using optical microscope 2012), and geochemistry of major and trace elements of the ore bodies, observation, scanning electron microscope, electron probe, X-ray diffrac- basedonwhichthesourceofore-formingfluids could be speculated. tion analysis and other microscopic analysis facilities, on the chemistry Discovered in the 1980s, the Dongping gold deposit is a mesothermal and petrography of the tellurides in the alteration-hosted ores, which quartz vein and potassic alteration-relatedgolddeposit.Theorebodies provides evidence for the telluride-forming environment and the genetic in the upper part of the deposit comprise quartz veins whereas the ores link between tellurides and native gold. bodies in the lower part, e.g., ore body, No. 70, are associated with potassic 2. Geological Setting ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (S. Gao), [email protected] (H. Xu), The Dongping gold deposit is located in the central section of the [email protected] (D. Zhang), [email protected] (H. Shao), [email protected] (S. Quan). northern margin of North China Craton. The regional stratigrapgy http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2014.06.010 0169-1368/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 24 S. Gao et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 64 (2014) 23–34 Fig. 1. Geological sketch map of the area around the Dongping gold deposit in Hebei province. (Modified after Li et al., 2010; Song and Zhao, 1996). comprises the Neoarchean Sanggan Group, Paleoproterozoic source (Zhang, 1996). It has been proposed that the mineralization Hongqiyingzi Group, Mesoproterozoic Changcheng Group, Jurassic was associated with the alkaline intrusion and relevant hydrothermal and Quaternary. The deposit is controlled by the intersection of NNE- events (Nie et al., 2004). and NW-striking faults, and hosted in Hercynian Shuiquangou alkaline The Neoarchean Jiangouhe Formation, Sanggan Group has experi- igneous complex that emplaced in the Jiangouhe Formation (Fig. 1). enced amphibolite-granulite facies metamorphism, (Fig. 2)andtheli- LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb dating suggests that this alkaline complex thology is dominated by amphibole gneisses, amphibolite and leptites. emplaced at 382.8 ± 3.3 Ma (Li et al., 2010). Geochemical studies The deposit is hosted in the syenite within the Hercynian Shuiquangou show that the extensive granitic aplite veins cut by pegmatite veins alkaline complex. U–Pb dating of hydrothermal zircon yielded 140.3 ± and the Shuiquangou complex were derived from the same magma 1.4 Ma (Li et al., 2010). There are 70 gold zones or swarms in the mining Fig. 2. Simplified geological map of the Dongping gold deposit (modified after Zhang et al., 2012; Zijin Mining in Chongli, 2011). S. Gao et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 64 (2014) 23–34 25 Fig. 3. (a) and (b) Geological cross-sections through Dongping gold deposit. (After Zijin Mining in Chongli, 2011). area (Fig. 2). This study focuses on ore body Nos. 70, 71, and 73, of which replaced by tetradymite, tellurobismuthite and galena. Gangue minerals No. 70 is the largest one which occurs as veins and stripes (Fig. 3), with include K-feldspar, albite and quartz, with subordinate sericite, epidote, Au grade averaging 3.79 g/t. chlorite, calcite, kaolinite, and barite. Quartz and pyrite are the major The ore bodies consist of poly-metallic sulfide quartz veins in the gold-bearing minerals, and the subordinate gold-bearing minerals upper part with zones of potassic alteration in the lower part (Fig. 4). include magnetite, hematite, chalcopyrite, calaverite, petzite, altaite The metallic mineral content is less than 3%, and is dominated by pyrite, and galena. galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, covellite, hematite, magnetite and Four mineralization stages could be identified from field observations: limonite. The native gold and tellurides are fine-grained, hosted in (i) an early silica-potassium alteration stage, with little sulfides and no quartz and pyrite. The tellurides consist of calaverite, petzite, altaite, significant gold mineralization. This stage is expressed as milky quartz tellurobismuthite and tetradymite. Calaverite, petzite, and altaite are and reddish potassium feldspar veins crosscutting the syenite and potas- granular and brecciated, coexisting with native gold that is in turn sium feldspar alteration in the wall rocks. (ii) Pyrite–quartz stage: Fig. 4. Ore types of the Dongping gold deposit, (a)—gray quartz vein included sulfides. (b)—Silicated and K-feldspathization rock. (c)—Gold ore of quartz vein type. (d)—GOLD ore of altered rock type. 26 S. Gao et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 64 (2014) 23–34 Fig. 5. Distribution of studied samples in orebody 70. expressed as milky quartz veins or veinlets in the potassium alteration an X-ray beam diameter of 30 μm. The data was collected after 2 h rocks, containing coarse-grained cubic pyrite, magnetite, hematite, and the 2θ ranged from 20° to 160°. The accuracy of d-values is better chalcopyrite and galena. (iii) polymetallic sulfide–quartz stage: the prin- than 0.001 Å. cipal gold mineralization stage, expressed as quartz veins containing pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and telluride veinlets crosscutting 4. Ore petrography of tellurides and native gold the early quartz veins. (iv) Carbonate–quartz stage: expressed as quartz and calcite veinlets and stockworks, with a small amount of sericite, 4.1. The tellurides barite, chlorite and epidote. This stage is not significantly related with the gold mineralization. The investigated samples were taken from the ore body No. 70, in Wall rock alteration associated with gold mineralization includes the potassic and silica alteration zone. Field observations suggest that K-feldspathization, silicification and pyritization, and less significantly the tellurides were mostly formed in stage III, associated with sulfides. sericite, carbonate, barite, epidote and kaolinite. Optical microscopy and electron probe show that the sulfides are pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, while tellurides consist of altaite, 3. Sample collection and analytical methods petzite, calaverite, tellurobismuthite and tetradymite.