Abstract:Archean greenstone belts are renowned for their Au endowment. Gold can be associated with orogenic Au style of mineralization and with diorite-hosted Au-Cu disseminated sulfides interpreted as a porphyry style of mineralization. The Regnault Au project, located in the Frotet–Evans greenstone belt (Superior craton), is a structurally-controlled and diorite-hosted mineralization with an unclear metallogenic model. The aim of this study is to evaluate the fertility of the Regnault granodiorite-diorite-gabbro intr… Show more
The Regnault gold deposit in Quebec, Canada, was discovered by Kenorland in 2020 following identification of a gold-in-till dispersal train. In 2022, two non-traditional media—eskers and organic lake-bottom mud (gyttja)—were sampled to determine if they likewise contained gold anomalies that vectored the mineral deposit. Striking, coherent (mappable) anomalies exist in both media. The gold-in-esker dispersal train has a similar pathfinder element association as the gold-in-till dispersal train (e.g., Te, W) but contains approximately twice the gold (average 73 ppb Au) in the <63 um fraction. It is hypothesized to be a meltwater-sorted version of the gold-in-till train, sourced from the erosional esker corridor some 3 km upflow. By contrast, the gold-in-gyttja dispersal train is substantially different than both the gold-in-esker and gold-in-till dispersal trains. It has lost significant association with pathfinder elements, contains an order of magnitude less gold (average 4.2 ppb Au), and is
tentatively
hypothesized to have a hydromorphic origin, sourced primarily from the gold-in-till dispersal train. The main takeaway from the study is that the sampling of any of these three media—eskers, gyttja or till—could have conceivably led to the discovery.
Supplementary material:
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.7235784
The Regnault gold deposit in Quebec, Canada, was discovered by Kenorland in 2020 following identification of a gold-in-till dispersal train. In 2022, two non-traditional media—eskers and organic lake-bottom mud (gyttja)—were sampled to determine if they likewise contained gold anomalies that vectored the mineral deposit. Striking, coherent (mappable) anomalies exist in both media. The gold-in-esker dispersal train has a similar pathfinder element association as the gold-in-till dispersal train (e.g., Te, W) but contains approximately twice the gold (average 73 ppb Au) in the <63 um fraction. It is hypothesized to be a meltwater-sorted version of the gold-in-till train, sourced from the erosional esker corridor some 3 km upflow. By contrast, the gold-in-gyttja dispersal train is substantially different than both the gold-in-esker and gold-in-till dispersal trains. It has lost significant association with pathfinder elements, contains an order of magnitude less gold (average 4.2 ppb Au), and is
tentatively
hypothesized to have a hydromorphic origin, sourced primarily from the gold-in-till dispersal train. The main takeaway from the study is that the sampling of any of these three media—eskers, gyttja or till—could have conceivably led to the discovery.
Supplementary material:
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.7235784
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.