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

尽管矿产勘探业的支出在增加，但加拿大新发现的经济矿藏正在减少。开发新的矿床模式并更好地了解它们的结构特征，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藏期间产生较小的经济和生态足迹。绿石金矿占加拿大黄金总产量和储量的59%，其中许多矿床位于安大略省北部。黄金在热的热液中以十亿分之一的水平运输；然而，绿岩赋存的金矿是在百万分之几的水平上开采的。尽管数十年来对绿岩赋存的金矿进行了研究，但从流体中的低水平金到最终可开采的金矿床的金浓缩机制仍知之甚少。我们推测，赋存金的石英脉的动态重结晶导致了金的再活化和富集化。这项研究计划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安大略省北部的一个金矿杂岩的富集化。如果这一假设是正确的，矿产勘探公司将能够转向动态再结晶更有可能发生的地区，以发现新的矿藏。

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.