Gold and other impurity elements in pyrite from the Berezovskoe deposit in the Middle Urals

Abstract

Research subject. In this work, we investigated the crystals of pyrite, one of the key gold-bearing minerals, from the Berezovskoe (the Middle Urals) deposit using modern research approaches. Materials and methods. Samples for the analysis were collected from the ladder sulphide-quartz veins and related berezites in the Ilinskaya, Pervopavlovsk and Vtoropavlovsk dykes of the Berezovskoe deposit. The ores were studied using the methods of optical microscopy, X-ray microanalysis (PCMA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and LA-ICP-MS. The latter method was largely used to examine pyrite. Along with pyrite, the materials under study included faded ore, galena, and such rare occurring minerals as aikinite, cosalite, tetradymite and tsumoite. Results. According to the point and profile analysis, as well as grain mapping, the main impurity elements in the stu died samples are found to be Co, Ni and As. The distribution of these elements has shown a zonal character: the amounts of Co and Ni tend to increase and that of As tends to decrease towards the grain centre. In the pyrite samples, Cu, Zn and Pb occur either in the form of their sulphide micro-inclusions or as evenly distributed admixtures. The pyritic ore of later genera tions in the Pervopavlovsk dyke is established to contain gold in amounts of up to 22 g/t, with Au being zonally distributed. The goldbearing variety of pyrite is characterized by abnormally low contents of Co and Ni, as well as by an increased content of As (up to 8000 g/t). Conclusion. A common character of the distribution of main impurity elements in the pyritic ores in the studied dikes indicates similar conditions of their crystallization. The presence of late-generation pyrite with fine gold in the Pervopavlovsk dike evidences to a heterogeneous distribution of gold mineralization therein, likely due to the multistage character of the latter. This may also be an indicator of the concentration of ore columns, which fact requires further elucidation.