ODNAWIANIE SIĘ ROZSYPISK ZŁOTONOŚNYCH PRZEDPOLA SUDETÓW WSCHODNICH

Abstract

RENEWAL OF GOLD-BEARING PLACERS FROM THE EAST SUDETIC FORELAND, POLANDAbstract. Auriferous sequences in the East Sudetic Foreland include up to five gold-bearing horizons and are associated with the so-called preglacial “White Gravels”, Pleistocene and Holocene fluvial deposits overlying the Neogene sediments of the Poznań formation or Paleozoic metamorphic rocks. The significant placer potential for gold in the region lies in the preglacial (Eopleistocene) fluvial drainage system, primarily in paleo-channels of the Biała Głuchołaska River. The White Gravels, the richest gold-bearing deposits, contain up to 0.4 g/m3 Au near the base of the auriferous horizon. Two visibly distinct gold sub-types are identified based on their overall morphology: 1) flaky gold, flattened or reshaped by refolding; 2) craggy, irregular grains. All the grains are alloys of gold and silver, with Te and Se occurring as trace amounts. Two distinct gold sub-types of detrital gold display surface morphotypes and internal textures of Au and Ag dissolution indicative of supergene gold modification, as well as authigenic Au formation and aggregation resulting in the renewal of gold-bearing placers. The indicative morphotypes include nano- to microparticulate bud- or bubble-like gold, as well as overgrowths and aggregates of crystalline plate-like gold. They are well preserved and lacking any signs of physical damage. Stages of the gold particles growth have been observed during the nano- to microtextural investigations of gold grains, from the isolated semi-spherical nanoparticles, agglomerates, to irregularly shaped plates of gold. The presence of nano- to microphase gold embedded in the fine-grained assemblages of clayey masses and the lack of any signs of grain surface abrasion confirmed that bud- and babble-like Au, as well as complex aggregates of plate-like gold, must have formed in situ, i.e. are authigenic in origin. Chemical transfer may be related to both the Au precipitation from a colloidal solution as well as the adsorption by clay minerals and surface precipitation of Au on particles of mineral substrate.