White Mica as a Hyperspectral Tool in Exploration for the Sunrise Dam and Kanowna Belle Gold Deposits, Western Australia

Research Article| August 01, 2017 White Mica as a Hyperspectral Tool in Exploration for the Sunrise Dam and Kanowna Belle Gold Deposits, Western Australia* Rui Wang; Rui Wang † ** 1CSIRO Mineral Resources, Kensington, Western Australia 6151 †Corresponding author: e-mail, Rui.Wang@csiro.au Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Tom Cudahy; Tom Cudahy 1CSIRO Mineral Resources, Kensington, Western Australia 6151 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Carsten Laukamp; Carsten Laukamp 1CSIRO Mineral Resources, Kensington, Western Australia 6151 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar John L. Walshe; John L. Walshe 1CSIRO Mineral Resources, Kensington, Western Australia 6151 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Adam Bath; Adam Bath 1CSIRO Mineral Resources, Kensington, Western Australia 6151 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Yuan Mei; Yuan Mei 2CSIRO Mineral Resources, Clayton, Victoria 3168 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Carl Young; Carl Young 3Saracen Gold Mines Pty. Ltd., Perth, Western Australia 6000 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Tony J. Roache; Tony J. Roache 4AngloGold Ashanti, Perth, Western Australia 6000 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Andrew Jenkins; Andrew Jenkins 4AngloGold Ashanti, Perth, Western Australia 6000 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Malcolm Roberts; Malcolm Roberts 5CMCA, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Andrew Barker; Andrew Barker 5Northern Star Pty. Ltd., Perth, Western Australia 6008 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jamie Laird Jamie Laird 2CSIRO Mineral Resources, Clayton, Victoria 3168 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Rui Wang † ** 1CSIRO Mineral Resources, Kensington, Western Australia 6151 Tom Cudahy 1CSIRO Mineral Resources, Kensington, Western Australia 6151 Carsten Laukamp 1CSIRO Mineral Resources, Kensington, Western Australia 6151 John L. Walshe 1CSIRO Mineral Resources, Kensington, Western Australia 6151 Adam Bath 1CSIRO Mineral Resources, Kensington, Western Australia 6151 Yuan Mei 2CSIRO Mineral Resources, Clayton, Victoria 3168 Carl Young 3Saracen Gold Mines Pty. Ltd., Perth, Western Australia 6000 Tony J. Roache 4AngloGold Ashanti, Perth, Western Australia 6000 Andrew Jenkins 4AngloGold Ashanti, Perth, Western Australia 6000 Malcolm Roberts 5CMCA, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009 Andrew Barker 5Northern Star Pty. Ltd., Perth, Western Australia 6008 Jamie Laird 2CSIRO Mineral Resources, Clayton, Victoria 3168 †Corresponding author: e-mail, Rui.Wang@csiro.au *A digital supplement containing electronic Appendix Tables A1-A12 is available at http://economicgeology.org/ and at http://econgeol.geoscienceworld.org/. **OCE Postdoctoral Fellow, Mineral Resources, CSIRO, Kensington, Western Australia 6151, Australia. Publisher: Society of Economic Geologists First Online: 24 May 2017 Online Issn: 1554-0774 Print Issn: 0361-0128 © 2017 Society of Economic Geologists.Society of Economic Geologists Economic Geology (2017) 112 (5): 1153–1176. https://doi.org/10.5382/econgeo.2017.4505 Article history First Online: 24 May 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Rui Wang, Tom Cudahy, Carsten Laukamp, John L. Walshe, Adam Bath, Yuan Mei, Carl Young, Tony J. Roache, Andrew Jenkins, Malcolm Roberts, Andrew Barker, Jamie Laird; White Mica as a Hyperspectral Tool in Exploration for the Sunrise Dam and Kanowna Belle Gold Deposits, Western Australia. Economic Geology 2017;; 112 (5): 1153–1176. doi: https://doi.org/10.5382/econgeo.2017.4505 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyEconomic Geology Search Advanced Search Abstract Patterns in white mica (muscovite, paragonite, and phengite) Al-Si chemistry (Tschermak substitution) were examined for the Archean Kanowna Belle and Sunrise Dam gold deposits in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, using short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectrometry of drill core samples. Both of these deposits represent greenschist-facies, structurally controlled, >10-Moz gold systems with broadly similar host rocks and superimposed metasomatic hydrothermal alteration halos that extend for up to 3 km from the economic zone. However, zonation toward gold mineralization at Kanowna Belle is associated with increasingly longer wavelength white mica, whereas Sunrise Dam comprises the opposite pattern. The study also found that gold mineralization at Kanowna Belle is associated with quartz, chalcopyrite, and pyrite with negative δ34S values and a relative lack of carbonate, chlorite, and paragonite (Na-rich white mica), whereas gold mineralization at Sunrise Dam is associated with paragonite as well as carbonate, Fe-rich chlorite and pyrite with positive δ34S values and a relative lack of quartz and chalcopyrite. Thermodynamic numerical modeling revealed that these contrasting patterns in white mica Tschermak substitution (and associated alteration mineralogy) can be explained by two different types of ore fluids, namely (1) oxidized, alkaline, and silica-rich at Kanowna Belle; and (2) reduced, acid, Fe-rich and silica-poor at Sunrise Dam, though the sources of these contrasting fluids are less clear. Importantly for explorers, spectral measurement (using drill core, field, airborne, and potentially satellite hyperspectral SWIR data) of gradients (especially within a given geologic unit) in white mica absorption wavelength (Tschermak substitution) represents a potential vectoring tool for the discovery of new Archean hydrothermal gold systems. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.