Placer Gold Composition and Provenance Studies in the Kuznetskiy Alatau and Western Sayan, South-East Siberia: Results of Field Trip, Summer 2014

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study of gold samples obtained by students during a practical field trip in the summer of 2014. Placer gold samples retrieved from four rivers in southeast Siberia (Khakassia and Tyva territories) by panning and sluicing were described and analyzed compositionally by Scanning Electron Microscopy. There is evidence from grain flattening and morphology for significant variations in gold transport distance, both within and between sample locations. The composition and texture of gold is compared to similar studies in the Yukon, and it is inferred that most of the placer gold in the region originated from orogenic lode sources. This orogenic gold is of Devonian to Carboniferous age. There is also evidence for a contribution from igneous intrusion-related bedrock gold, which is supported by the presence of granite, granodiorite and sienite intrusions of Devonian age. There is scope for further study, since relatively few grains were analyzed here. In addition, if compositional data of the prospective primary gold deposits can be obtained, there would be potential for more precise determination of provenance.

Keywords

• россыпное золото
• Кузнецкий Алатау
• Западный Саян
• Сибирь
• пробоотбор
• промывка на лотке
• состав
• морфология зерен