By Morgan Poliquin, M.Sc., P.Eng. Geological Engineer and Director Almaden Minerals Ltd.
Suite 1103-750 West Pender St, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6C 2T8. ph: 604 689-7644 fax: 604 689-7645 email: info@almadenminerals.com; www. almadenminerals.com
much longer period of time. As a result of the extended duration of the fluids interaction with the rock, the fluids become dilute and neutralized and the silica dissolves (later precipitated as quartz). In low sulphidation veins, protracted boiling of these fluids produces high grade gold (greater than one ounce gold per ton) and silver deposits over vertical intervals of generally 300 to 600 metres. Within this vertical dimension, gold grades can be very high and result in large amount of easy to mine gold in a narrow compact area.
By virtue of the fact that the gold is transported, increasingly smaller amounts of gold are found at elevations above this level. Finding anomalous, but non-economic amounts of gold in a vein that is clearly eroded to a level above that of the ore horizon is viewed as a good sign of the potential for high-grade gold below. Above the ore zone the bands of quartz are much finer grained (smaller crystals) since different forms of silica precipitated other than quartz, such as opal and chalcedony. In addition, the highest concentrations of bladed calcite are typically found at the top of the ore zone, while mercury and arsenic are found in higher grades above the zone. Beneath the ore zone the veins are generally made up of bands of coarse quartz crystals with little to no fine-grained quartz present. Gold and silver are highest in the ore zone and lead and zinc concentrations increase with depth, although there are significant exceptions to this rule. Erratic gold and silver values can be found immediately above the ore-zone in the latticetextured part of the vein. Sometimes elevated molybdenum can occur above the ore zone as well. When the fluid boils along with water vapour, CO2 and H2S also separate. These gases rise vertically. H2S condenses above the water table where it naturally forms sulphuric acid. Sulphur can precipitate as well, resulting in the foul smell of many hot springs. At the surface, the sulphuric acid reduces many rocks to clay and sulphate, and in the process the acid can dissolve any silica that may be present in the rocks. The resulting silica-laden fluid trickles down to the water table and re-precipitates the silica. If a permeable unit (such as a volcanic rock) is situated at the water table, a large area can be flooded with silica. This process results a resistant quartz-rich rock that occurs above many vein systems, commonly known as a silica cap. Since gold is not transported by either the gases or sulphuric acid, the silica cap is usually devoid of gold although generally highly elevated in mercury, arsenic and antimony. Antimony tends to occur in and within close proximity to the veins while arsenic and mercury are often widely dispersed into the rocks around the veins.
formation can be estimated. This information can then be used to corroborate observations made from vein textures and geochemistry about the depth at which to expect gold mineralization.
One of the most important similarity is that, like at Fuego, abundant lattice textured calcite has been identified in veins on the Kupol property. At Kupol, as with many other vein systems, the lattice textured calcite is distributed generally above areas of significant economic gold and silver mineralization. Illustrated above is a longitudinal section (a view of the plane of the vein relative to depth) and to the right a cross section demonstrating the high grade drill intercepts at Kupol. 3
The El Penon Gold Deposit, Chile The El Penon epithermal banded quartz vein system was found and is operated by Meridian Gold Corp. At present the deposit has 1.76 million ounces of gold at a grade of 9.1 g/t in the proven and probable categories and a further 0.87 million ounces of gold at a grade of 10.0 g/t in the measured and indicated categories. One of the most intriguing aspects of the exploration and discovery of the El Penon deposit is that the vein is not well mineralized at surface; high gold and silver grades were blind and intersected by drilling at depth. Illustrated right is a cross section and below, a longitudinal section respectively that show the blind nature of the mineralization 4 indicating the number of holes that were necessary to find ore deposit.
Pajingo, Australia The Pajingo deposit has resources and production that total 9 million tonnes averaging 12.2 g/t for a total of 3.5 million ounces of gold. High gold grades were encountered at deeper depth, and diminished closer to surface. A cross section (left) and longitudinal section (below) illustrate the distribution of ore grades. 5 This deposit is an excellent example of how high grades frequently occur at deeper levels within a vein while near the surface little indication may be evident of the high grade deposit below. The longitudinal section below demonstrates how many drill holes (hollow circles) were necessary to define the deposit since many holes missed the ore zone altogether, which is shaded from lowest (grey) to highest (black) grade.
Hishikari Gold Deposit, Japan The Hishikari gold deposit is one of the largest epithermal gold vein deposits in the world. It was discovered in 1981 by drilling underneath erratically mineralized quartz veins. This drill program encountered spectacular high grades at depth. In 2004, the total contained gold, both mined and in reserve, totalled 264 tonnes (8.5 Million ounces) comprising 3.5 Mt @ 60 to 70 g/t Au and 2 Mt @ 20 to 25 g/t Au. The image to the right illustrates that the high grade veins were intersected well beneath veins which had returned low gold grades.
Low Sulphidation Epithermal Veins in Mexico Mexico is particularly well endowed with epithermal low-sulphidation vein systems. This is because there was an abundant source of fluids and metals emanating from hot magmas over a long period of time. In addition there has been little erosion since the formation of the vein deposits. This means that veins in Mexico are often well preserved. Listed below are some of the most significant vein systems that have been mined in Mexico. 6 The Fuego prospect is thought to be similar in age to these deposits and associated with the same belt of volcanic rocks. Mine Name, State Tayoltita, Durango Fresnillo, Zacatecas Guanajuato, Guanajauato Pachuca, Hidalgo Taxco, Guerrero Zacatecas, Zacatecas El Oro, Mexico Natividad, Oaxaca Estimated Production >19Mt >6.2 Mt 40 Mt 80 Mt >30 Mt >20 Mt 43.3 Mt 1.7 Mt Gold Grade 8 g/t 0.56 g/t 4 g/t 2.5 g/t 0.3 g/t 2.5 g/t 7 g/t 20 g/t Silver Grade 500 g/t 780 g/t 850 g/t 500 g/t 240 g/t 900 g/t 100 g/t 300 g/t
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The Fuego project is road accessible and located in Oaxaca State, roughly 140 kilometers southeast of Oaxaca City. The property covers an area of low-sulphidation epithermal veining exhibiting classic low vein textures commensurate with a highly preserved dynamic mineralizing environment. The textures include colloform banded fine grained quartz which has replaced non-crystalline amorphous silica, quartz which has replaced lattice-textured calcite and sulphide-rich bands containing electrum which exhibits graded bedding. These textures are interpreted to represent a high level of exposure within the mineralised portion of a large epithermal vein system. The veins on average are very wide, and locally up to 10 meters in width. Several parallel veins have been identified along the roughly 1,000 meters of strike length that is presently known. Based on these observations, along with fluid inclusion studies and geochemistry, the Fuego vein system is interpreted to represent a level of erosion immediately above an ore forming environment. Significant gold grades have already been encountered at surface, indicating that consistent, high-grade gold-silver ore zones should be sought at shallow depths beneath the exposures of the vein with drilling. In 2004 and 2005, Horseshoe completed a surface geologic mapping and rock and soil sampling program on the Fuego property. This program outlined the main vein zone which has been traced in outcrop roughly 1,000 meters along strike. Along this exposed strike length vein widths vary from 3 to 10 meters wide. Several parallel veins were identified in outcrop as well. Where exposure allowed, continuous chip sampling was carried out on the main vein. The results included a 4 meter exposure averaging 4.52 g/t Au and 86 g/t Ag with individual samples up to 10.6 g/t Au and 162 g/t Ag and a 3 meter sample that returned 7.8 g/t Au and 191 g/t Ag. Soil sampling highlighted the main vein zone with elevated Au, Ag, Sb and As values in samples collected. Additional zones of elevated Au, Ag, Sb and As in soil samples spatially unrelated to the main vein zone suggest that unexposed parallel structures may exist. A small Induced Polarization (IP) geophysical survey was carried out to test the effectiveness of this methodology in identifying vein structures that are not exposed. This work identified the known veins as resistivity and chargeability highs. Additional resistivity and chargeability highs were identified in this work which suggests that further veins may exist. Additional geologic mapping, sampling and IP surveys are planned to better define these results and Horseshoe has informed Almaden that permits are presently being acquired for a planned diamond drill program to commence as soon as possible. Samples were analysed by ALS Chemex Labs of North Vancouver and taken under the direction of qualified persons Mr. H. L. King, P.Geo., Mr. William Wengzynowski, P.Eng., Mr. Andris Kikauka, P.Geo and the author. Illustrated below is a sample taken from the Fuego project (sample assayed 29.9 g/t gold and 550 g/t silver) compared to that of a high grade ore sample from the Hishikari deposit, Japan 7 . Similar features are evident; however the Fuego specimen contains lattice-textured calcite (replaced by quartz) which is indicative of a level immediately above an ore zone.
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Taken from White, N C and Hedenquist,J W, 1994, Epithermal environments and styles of mineralization; variations and their causes, and
guidelines for exploration, In: Epithermal gold mineralization of the Circum-Pacific; geology, geochemistry, origin and exploration; II.Siddeley-G (editor), Journal of Geochemical Exploration. 36; 1-3, Pages 445-474. 1990.
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Taken from the Metal Mining Agency of Japans publication the story of a Successful gold exploration, the Hishikari gold deposit, 1990. These figures are taken from Bema golds website: www.bema.com Taken from Meridian Golds website: www.meridiangold.com Taken from Butler, I, Murphy, T, and Parks, J, 1999, Vera South: Discovery History, Sydney Mineral Exploration Discussion Group, Taken from: Albinson, T, Norman, D.I., Cole, D., Chomiak, B, 2001, Controls on Formation of Low-Sulphidation Epithermal Deposits in
http://www.smedg.org.au/Sym99vera.htm
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Mexico: Constraints from Fluid Inclusion amd Stable Isotope Data, In: Albinson, T. and Nelson, C.E., eds., Society of Economic Geology Special Publication 8, p. 1-32.
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Taken from: High Grade Epithermal Gold Mineralization-The Hishikari Gold Deposit, Resource Geology Special Issue, No.14, 1993
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