Scintillation arc atomic-emission spectrometry (SAES) is used to study noble metals (NM), including Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Ir, Os, Rh, and Ru, in black shales of the Sukhoi Log gold deposit (Irkutsk Region, Russia), with a focus on NM total contents in samples and on the compositions and sizes of NM-bearing particles. The estimated sizes of gold particles and their distribution are confirmed by results of scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (SEM-EDX). The SAES results are in satisfactory agreement with earlier SEM-EDX data on NM species but reveal a much greater number and diversity of element associations.

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Bortnikovite, a new mineral species that is an intermetallic compound of Pd, Cu, and Zn with the simplified formula Pd 4 Cu 3 Zn has been detected at the unique Konder placer deposit in the Ayan-Maya district, Khabarovsk krai. The primary source of this placer is a concentrically zoned alkaline ultramafic massif. The X-ray diffraction pattern is indexed on the assumption of a tetragonal unit cell: a = 6.00 ± 0.02 Å and c = 8.50 ± 0.03 Å , V = 306 ± 0.01 Å 3 , Z = 3, probable space group P 4/ mmm . The calculated density is 11.16 g/cm 3 ; the mean microhardness VHN is 368 kg/mm 2 . In reflected light, the new mineral is white with a slight grayish beige tint; bireflectance, anisotropy, and internal reflections are not observed. The reflectance spectrum belongs to the concave group of the anomalous type. The measured values of reflectance are as follows: 56.9 (470 nm), 61.7 (546 nm), 63.4 (589 nm), and 65.4% (650 nm). The new mineral is intergrown with isoferroplatinum, titanite, perovskite, V-bearing magnetite, bornite, and chlorite. The origin of bortnikovite is related to the effect of alkaline fluid on ultramafic rocks. The new mineral is named in honor of Professor Nikolai Stefanovich Bortnikov, a prominent mineralogist and researcher of ore deposits and a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Bortnikovite is the first platinum group mineral that contains Zn as a major mineralforming element.

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