The spatial variations of elements and element associations in the primary geochemical halos:A case study of the Zhajiatongna gold deposit in Qinghai province
HOU Zhen-Guang1(), YUAN Zhao-Xian2()
1. No. 5 Exploration Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, Qinghai Bureau of Geological Exploration and Mineral Development, Xining 810008, China 2. Institute of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang 050031, China
The primary geochemical halos, which exist in nearly all types of deposits, especially in hydrothermal deposits, serve as an essential geochemical indicator for deep prospecting. Many studies have been presently carried out on the elemental enrichment/depletion and component zoning in primary geochemical halos. However, there is a lack of reports on the spatial variations of elements and associated elements. This study collected geochemical data from 2,279 samples of the boreholes in the Zhajiatongna gold deposit and then calculated the enrichment factors and conducted a multivariate analysis to characterize the spatial variations of elements and element associations of the deposit. The element associations representing the components of surrounding rocks and mineralized components were extracted from all samples including surrounding rock samples, mineralized surrounding rock samples, and ore samples. They reflect that the deposit was formed by the superposition of mineralized components on the components of surrounding rocks in essence. Moreover, high-medium- and medium-low-temperature element associations were extracted from the ore samples, and high- and medium-low-temperature metallogenic element associations were extracted from the mineralized surrounding rock samples, indicating mineral precipitation mechanisms and the differences in the precipitation time and space. As suggested by the results, the primary geochemical halos of the Zhajiatongna deposit show the following variations from the periphery to the mineralization center: the mineralization-related elements generally exhibit an increasing trend in terms of enrichment degree and the number of enriched element types quantitatively, and the high-medium-temperature-medium-low-temperature and high-temperature-medium-low-temperature metallogenic element associations are superimposed on the surrounding rocks - mineralized element associations.
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