Gold-sulfide mineralization of the Lemvinsk area (Polar Urals)

Abstract

A brief geological description of the Lemvinsk gold-bearing area is given. The mineralization is represented by a series of separate areas with elevated gold content (up to 21 g/t) and is confined to zones of silicification and development of quartz-calcite and albite-calcite veins. The ore zones are represented by gold-bearing sulfide mineralization (mainly pyrite-chalcopyrite-halenite-sphalerite composition). The results of mathematical processing of the spectral analysis of rocks and ore-bearing formations have led to the conclusion about the close association of gold and sulfide minerals, which may be the result of either the impurity nature of gold in sulfides (pyrite, galena or others) or synchronous formation of gold and sulfide minerals. On the basis of a detailed mineralogical study the sequence of mineral formation has been determined and several varieties of sulfide minerals have been established. The assumption of relation of the mineralization to the gold-quartz-sulfide formation of meta-morphogenic-hydrothermal type was made. The South Lemvinskoye and Podsnezhnozhnoye sections are characterized by relatively elevated gold concentrations.