MERCURY DISTRIBUTION IN A GOLD ORE DEPOSIT OF THE KUZNETSKIY ALATAU

Abstract

Study results indicate that in vein quartz, listvenite, carbonaceous shale, as well as in quartz-chlorite schist the mercury generally exists in its metallic (monatomic) form. In quartz of the polymetal phase, more of the mercury tends to be in the sulfide form, as shown by findings of the mercury mineral cinnabar (by x-ray structural analysis). Atomic absorption analysis of the quartz with direct sublimation of the mercury confirms the results of the phase analysis. The distribution pattern of monatomic Hg in quartz is similar to that of gold. The fact that mercury, just as gold, tends to be sorbed by relatively fine-grained quartz, is explained by large surface area of such quartz, along which the above metals tend to be deposited. The pattern of Hg distribution in quartz that we have defined, the direct correlation between Hg, and Au in quartz veins, as well as the large size of mercury haloes in the deposits suggest that this element could be a good indicator of commercially-promising local gold zones on the margin and at depth in deposits of the pyrite phase of development.