Letter: Gold-telluride nanoparticles revealed in arsenic-free pyrite

By Cristiana Ciobanu, N. Cook, S. Utsunomiya, Masashi Kogagwa, L. Green, Sarah E. Gilbert, B. Wade. 2012

186 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Pyrite, the most abundant sulfide on Earth and a common component of gold deposits, can be a significant host for refractory gold. This is the first documentation of pore-attached, composite Autelluride nanoparticles in “arsenic-free” pyrite. Trace elements mapping in pyrite from an intrusionhosted Au deposit with orogenic overprint (Dongping, China) shows trails of tellurides overlapping Co-Ni-zonation. Intragranular microfracturing, anomalous anisotropy, and high porosity are all features consistent with devolatilization attributable to the orogenic event. The pyrite-hosted nanoparticles are likely the “frozen,” solid expression of Te-rich, Au-Ag-Pb-bearing vapors discharged at this stage. Nanoparticle formation, as presented here, provides the “smallest-scale” tool to fingerprint Au-trapping during crustal metamorphism

Subfields: Artificial Intelligence, Geochemistry and Petrology, Geophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7d93a0d6720f040cd72e3afea360e55eedbad790