Characterization and origin of gold mineralization at the providence mine

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The proposal is to study the origin of the gold mineralization in the Providence mine, one of a number ofhigh-grade deposits in the "Mother Lode Gold Belt", a 200-km-long system of gold-quartz veins located on thewestern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Despite the history of mining in the area, suprisingly littlescientific research has been done on the "Mother Lode Gold Belt", and in particular, there exists no detailedstructural and mineralogical analysis of the veins. The literature that is available consists almost entirely ofregional studies or summaries, and it is difficult to determine the relevance of many of these because the namesand definitions of the groups and structures have been repeatedly revised.In order to efficiently direct further exploration the sponsoring company needs to know: (1) how the depositformed; (2) the relationship between geological structures such as folds, faults, and shears and the gold-bearingveins; (3) minerals the gold occurs with and their relationships; and (4) the classification of the deposit andhow it compares to other gold deposits. There are two primary benefits of such an analysis: (1) it will aid indeveloping genetic model of the deposit, with an eye towards predicting where additional veins may be found;(2) it will allow the company to develop a metallurgical circuit for maximum gold recovery.The proposed project will involve fieldwork (mapping and sampling) followed by optical petrography,scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and X-ray diffraction techniques. The gathereddata will be evaluated to determine which deposit model is most consistent with the data, or if a new depositmodel is more appropriate. In either case, elements idiosyncratic to the Providence Gold Mine will be closelyexamined.