WC/95/041 Characterisation of Gold from Fiji
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British Geological Survey TECHNICAL REPORT WC/95/41 Overseas Geology Series CHARACTERISATION OF GOLD FROM FIJI J Naden and P J Henney A Report prepared for the Overseas Development Administration under the ODABGS Technology Development and Research Programme, Project 92/1 ODA Clussificution Subsector: Geoscience Theme: G I Promote environmentaly sensitive development of non-renewable natural resources Project Title: Alluvial Gold Characterisation in Exploration Planning Reference number: R5549 Bibliographic reference: J. Naden and P J Henney, 1995 Characteristation of Gold from Fiji BGS Technical Report WC/95/41 Keywordr: Gold, alluvial, soil, bedrock, mineralogy, electron microprobe, Fiji Front cover illustration: Panning for gold - Tuvatu prospect, Viti Levu ONERC 1995 Keyworth, Nottingham, British Geological Survey, 1995 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. GOLD MINERALISATION IN FIJI 2 2.1. Epithermal gold mineralisation 2 2.1.1. High-sulphidation systems 2 2.1.2. Alkali systems 2 2.2. Porphyry-Cu-Au mineralisation 3 2.3. Alluvial gold 3 3. METHODOLOGY 3 3.1. Sampling 3 3.2. Laboratory studies and sample preparation 3 3.2.1 Bedrock gold samples 3 3.2.2. Placer gold and ore concentrate samples 4 3.2.3. Electron probe micro-analysis 4 4. MINERALISED AREAS 5 4.1. Mount Kasi, Vanua Levu 5 4.1.1. Bedrock gold 6 4.1.2. Alluvial gold 7 4.2. Emperor Gold Mine, Viti Levu 7 4.2.1 Bedrock gold 7 4.2.2 Alluvial gold 9 4.3. Tuvatu prospect, Viti Levu 9 4.3.1. Bedrock gold 9 4.3.2. Alluvial gold 10 4.4. Waimanu Alluvial gold, Viti Levu 10 5. DISCUSSION 12 6. CONCLUSIONS 13 BIBLIOGRAPHY 15 FIGURES TABLES APPENDIX 1 LIST OF SAMPLES List of Figures Figure 1. Geological and metallogenic maps of Fiji. Figure 2. Microgeochemical map of a zoned goldfieldite-enargite grain with gold telluride. Figure 3. Microgeochemical map of a fractured enargite grain. Figure 4. Transect across a zoned pyrite grain. Figure 5. Modified 'SI-curves of alluvial and bedrock gold from Emperor mine and its environs. Figure 6. Microgeochemical maps of two placer gold grains from the Waimanu river. Figure 7. Modified 'SI-curves of silver content for alluvial gold from the Waimanu river. Figure 8. Bivariate plot of Ag versus Cu and Hg in the Waimanu alluvials . List of Tables. Table 1. Analytical conditions and detection limits for electron micro- probe analyses. Table 2. Electron micro-probe analyses of enargite, goldfieldite, pyrite and calaverite from the Mount Kasi gold deposit. Table 3. Electron micro-probe analyses of bedrock gold for Mount Kasi. Table 4. Averaged electron micro-probe analyses of pyrite from Emperor Gold Mine. Table 5. Electron micro-probe analyses of gold and other mineral analyses of a table concentrate from Emperor Gold Mine. Table 6. Electron micro-probe analyses of alluvial gold and heavy minerals collected in the Emperor mine drainage catchment. Table 7. Electron micro-probe analyses of gold and associated minerals from the Tuvatu prospect. Table 8. Electron micro-probe analyses of alluvial gold from the Waimanu river. Table 9. Electron micro-probe analyses of inclusions hosted in alluvial gold from the Waimanu River. EXECUTrVE SUMMARY This is a study of the variation in chemistry and inclusion mineralogy of bedrock and placer gold from Fiji. It forms part of a large project, undertaking gold characterisation from a wide range of geological environments in Ecuador, Zimbabwe, Malaysia and Fiji. The work was carried out under the Overseas Development AdministratiodBritish Geological Survey Technology Development and Research programme (Project R5549) as part of the British Government’s provision of technical assistance to developing countries. For the Fijian component of the project, samples were collected from river gravels, primary ore, and table concentrates. In total thirty-five samples from five localities were examined. Data collected from these samples are represented by over 100 point analyses of gold, identification of associated minerals, and microgeochemical maps of gold-mineral intergrowths. A framework for identifying possible sources of alluvial gold is given. This was achieved by characterising bedrock gold mineralisation from a variety of epithermal and porphyry environments. The environments studied included alkali (the Emperor Gold Mine), high-sulphidation (the Mount Kasi prospect) and telescoped (the Tuvatu prospect) systems. A study of placer gold from the Waimanu alluvial deposit, the only alluvial gold deposit in Fiji, showed two distinct sources of gold: one, a low-silver type, associated with Cu-Fe sulphides, can be related to the nearby Namosi porphyry copper deposit. The other source, a high-silver type with abundant tellurides, indicates an alkali epithermal association, suggesting a source similar in style to the mineralisation observed at Emperor Gold Mine. The identification of two bedrock sources for the Waimanu alluvials clearly shows that there must be a, yet unknown, alkali epithermal (Emperor) source within the Waimanu catchment. This demonstrates the power of alluvial gold characterisation and its role in gold exploration. An important implication of these results is that future exploration within the area should be focussed on locating this “Emperor type” source. 1. INTRODUCTION This report documents the results of work undertaken on ODA/BGS TDR project 92/1 R5549 entitled Alluvial Gold Characterisation in Exploration Planning. The project has three main aims. The first is characterisation of primary bedrock gold and associated placer gold from a wide range of geological and geographical settings. The second is to establish whether variations in the bedrock gold are inherited in placer gold. The third is the investigation of how these variations can be used to "fingerprint" primary sources of gold from different geological environments. The characterisation of bedrock and associated placer gold has two main aspects: the use of scanning electron microscopy to study morphological features (e.g., shape, size and growth patterns) and the application of reflected light microscopy and electron micro-probe analysis to identify of heterogeneities, zoning and inclusions. The latter includes detailed microgeochemical mapping of gold grains on the sub-10pm scale. This report documents and characterises some of the types of bedrock and alluvial gold mineralisation present in Fiji. Fiji was chosen as an area suitable for study for the following reasons: (i) It has a well established operating gold mine (the Emperor Gold Mine), the geology of which is well understood (Denholm, 1967; Forsythe, 1976; Ahmed, 1979; Ahmed et al. , 1987; Anderson et aZ., 1987; Anderson and Eaton, 1990; Kwak, 1990; Setterfield et al., 1989; Setterfield, 1991). (ii) Several distinct types of gold mineralisation with different mineralogies are present on the islands (Colley, 1976; Colley and Greenbaum, 1980). If the characterisation of alluvial gold allows the differentiation between these styles of mineralisation, then it can be used as an exploration tool in delineating the type of mineralisation responsible for placer gold in stream sediments. (iii) Possible source regions for alluvial gold and styles of mineralisation for bedrock gold are limited in an island setting. Hence, the likelihood of mixed sources in alluvial samples are reduced compared with very mixed populations in distal samples, that are derived from large catchments with many sources (e.g., Zimbabwe). 1 2. GOLD MINERALISATION IN FIJI The Fiji islands are located at a bend in the boundary between the Indo- Australasian and Pacific plates, and occur midway between the west- dipping Tonga-Kermadec subduction zone and the east-dipping Vanuatu subduction zone. The islands are separated from the subduction zones by two discontinuous spreading centres (the Lau and North Fiji basins). Magmatism in Fiji was mainly related, to a now inactive, southwest- dipping subduction zone, which was disrupted in the early Pliocene or late Miocene. The oldest rocks on Fiji are island-arc volcanic and associated sedimentary rocks, which are late Eocene to early Oligocene in age. These rocks were folded and then intruded by the 12-7.5 Ma Col0 plutonic suite. Intrusive activity coincided with extensive sedimentation and minor calc- alkaline volcanism, which continued after intrusive activity ceased. Subsequently, several shoshonitic volcanoes were active in northern Viti Levu, the larger of the two main islands. Gold mineralisation on Fiji is commonly associated with this period of magmatism (Setterfield et al., 1991). Several distinct types of gold mineralisation are present on Fiji. These comprise two main styles of bedrock mineralisation, epithermal and porphyry-copper-gold, with subsidiary concentrations of alluvial gold. At least two classes of epithermal mineralisation are present and include high-sulphidation and alkali systems. 2.1. Epithermal gold mineralisation 2.1.1. High-sulphidation systems Epithermal gold mineralisation that is classified as being High- sulphidation in style is characterised by intense acid-sulphate alteration and is commonly located close to the margin of volcanic craters. 2.1.2. Alkali systems Alkali epithermal mineralisation has a close association with alkaline magmatism (Bonham, 1988; Richards, 1993) and a distinctive mineralogy, commonly dominated by a suite of telluride minerals. The Emperor Gold Mine, on Fiji, is considered to be a type example of this style of mineralisation (Richards, 1993) 2 2.2. Porphyry-Cu-Aumineralisation Porphyry gold mineralisation is not widespread, but a new mine exploiting the Namosi porphyry copper deposit was recently opened and contains minor amounts of gold (Ilppm). This locality is of particular interest as it lies in the drainage catchment of the Waimanu alluvial gold deposit. 2.3. Alluvial gold Fiji is not noted for deposits of alluvial gold. The Waimanu gravels are the only known alluvial deposit. Reserves of gold are estimated at 1.53 million m3. The average grade is O.03ppm with a maximum value of 10.2ppm (Colley, 1976). Elsewhere, gold is generally very fine grained, but locally abundant (up to lOOppm in pan concentrates). 3.