Does dynamic recrystallization enrich gold deposits? A field- to micro-scale study of the Goliath gold complex

在加拿大，尽管矿产勘探行业的支出不断增加，但新的、经济的矿藏的发现正在减少。开发新的矿床模型和更好地了解其结构特征对于矿业公司制定更有效的勘探战略至关重要。这反过来又导致在发现新矿床期间经济和生态足迹较小。绿岩金矿占加拿大黄金总产量和储量的59%，其中许多金矿位于安大略省北部。黄金在热液中以十亿分之一的水平运输；然而，含绿岩的金矿以百万分之一的水平开采。尽管对绿岩金矿进行了数十年的研究，但人们对从流体中低含量的金到最终可开采矿床的金富集机制知之甚少。我们假设含金的石英脉的动态再结晶导致了金的再活化和富集。该研究项目将使用创新的野外测绘技术和现代微量分析技术来测试动态再结晶是否导致了安大略省北部金矿的富集。如果这个假设是正确的，矿产勘探公司将能够向更有可能发生动态再结晶的地区驶去，以发现新的矿床。

The discovery of new, economic, mineral deposits is decreasing in Canada despite increasing expenditures in the mineral exploration industry. Developing new deposit models and a better understanding of their structural signatures is essential for developing more effective exploration strategies for mining companies. This in turn leads to smaller economic and ecological footprints during the discovery of new deposits. Greenstone-hosted gold deposits account for 59% of Canada's total production and reserves of gold and many of these deposits occur in Northern Ontario. Gold is transported in hot hydrothermal fluids at the parts-per-billion level; however, greenstone-hosted gold deposits are mined at the parts-per-million level. The mechanisms of gold enrichment from the low levels of gold in fluids to the final mineable deposit is poorly understood despite decades of work on greenstone-hosted gold deposits. We hypothesize that dynamic recrystallization of the quartz veins which host the gold leads to gold remobilization and enrichment. This research program will use innovative field mapping techniques and modern microanalytical techniques to test whether dynamic recrystallization led to enrichment of a gold complex in Northern Ontario. If the hypothesis is correct, mineral exploration companies will be able to vector towards regions where dynamic recrystallization is more likely to have occurred to discover new deposits.