Conference paper
Behaviour of trace elements in arsenian pyrite in ore deposits
10th Biennial SGA Meeting of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (Townsville, Australia, 17/08/2009–20/08/2009)
2009
Abstract
As-bearing pyrite is one of the main hosts for Au and other trace elements in epithermal, Carlin and mesothermal (orogenic) Au deposits. A review of our own and published SIMS, EMPA, LA-ICP-MS and PIXE analyses of pyrite from these deposits suggests that the solubility of Ag, Te, Hg, Sb and Pb in arsenian pyrite is controlled by As-content in a manner similar to that previously reported for Au by Reich et al., (2005). The trace elements can be divided into two groups that exhibit different solubility limits: i) Au, Ag, Te, Hg and Bi ii) Sb and Pb. HRTEM and HAADF-STEM observations reveal nanoparticles with compositions of Sb-As-Fe-Ni, Sb-Pb-Te, Pb-Bi, PbS and Ag in arsenian pyrite above the solubility limit. Most nanoparticles are between 5 and 200 nm, with some containing Pb reaching 500 nm. Pyrite from Carlin-type and epithermal deposits contains larger amounts of Sb and/or As than pyrite from higher-temperature orogenic gold/mesothermal deposits. This suggests that the solubility of trace elements in pyrite appears to decrease with increasing temperature.
Details
- Title
- Behaviour of trace elements in arsenian pyrite in ore deposits
- Authors/Creators
- A.P. Deditius (Author/Creator)S.E. Kesler (Author/Creator)R.C. Ewing (Author/Creator)S. Utsunomiya (Author/Creator)J. Walshe (Author/Creator)
- Conference
- 10th Biennial SGA Meeting of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (Townsville, Australia, 17/08/2009–20/08/2009)
- Identifiers
- 991005543692207891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Engineering and Information Technology
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Conference paper
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