The Crofoot-Lewis deposit is an adularia-sericite-type (low-sulfidation) epithermal Au-Ag deposit, whose well-preserved palcosurface includes abundant opaline sinters, widespread and intense silicification, bedded hydrothermal eruption breccias, and a large zone of acid sulfate alteration. Radiogenic isotope ages indicate that the system was relatively long-lived, with hydrothermal activity starting around 4 Ma and extending, at least intermittently, for the next 3 m.y.Field evidence indicates that the surficial zone of acid sulfate alteration formed in a steam-heated environment within an active geothermal system. A drop in the water table enabled descending acid sulfate waters to leach Au and Ag from zones of low-grade disseminated mineralization, resulting in the redistribution and concentration of Au and Ag into ore-grade concentrations. These zones of secondary Au-Ag enrichment are associated with opal + alunite + kaolinitc + montmorillonite _ hematite and were deposited in open space fractures at, and within a few tens of meters below, the palcowater table.The stable isotope systematics of alunite and kaolinitc in the steam-heated environment are relatively complex, due to variations in the residence time of aqueous SO4 that formed from the oxidation of H2S prior to precipitation of alunite, and the susceptibility of fine-grained kaolinires to hydrogen isotope exchange with later waters. Most of the alunites are enriched in 34S relative to early sulfide minerals, reflecting partial S isotope exchange between aqueous SO4 and H2S. About half of the alunites give reasonable calculated z•SOso4_ou temperatures for a steam-heated environment indicating O isotope equilibrium between aqueous SO4 and water. The 6DH2o values of the hydrothermal fluids varied by almost 60 per rail over the life of the meteoric water-dominated system, suggesting significant climate changes.Mineralization is believed to have resulted from large-scale convection of meteoric water controlled largely by basin and range fractures and a high geothermal gradient with H2S for Au complexing derived from organic matter in basin sediments. A wet climate resulted in the formation of a large inland lake which provided abundant recharge water for the hydrothermal system. A fluctuating water table controlled by changing climatic conditions enabled steam-heated acid sulfate fluids to overprint lower grade mineralization resulting in ore-grade precious metal enrichment.

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The >5 Moz (1 oz (troy) = 31.103 g) gold veins of the Liese Zone and nearby prospects in the Goodpaster Mining District of east central Alaska are spatially and temporally associated with late-Early to Late Cretaceous reduced granitoids that are divided into a granite suite, tonalite suite, and diorite suite in decreasing age. Synkinematic to postkinematic biotite ± hornblende granite, granodiorite, pegmatite, and two-mica granite with accessory garnet compose the granite suite (109-107 Ma). The tonalite suite (107-103 Ma) forms small to large bodies of postkinematic hornblende-biotite granodiorite to tonalite with rare granite. Intruding the granite and parts of the tonalite suites are aplite and pegmatite that grade through sugary pegmatoidal or aplitic quartz veins and finally into quartz veins along strike. The diorite suite (95.4-93.7 Ma) consists of small stocks of diorite to tonalite that intrude the older suites and are inferred to intrude the shallowly dipping auriferous quartz veins. Limited data indicate granitoid emplacement at 5-9 km depths, consistent with formation of the auriferous quartz veins based upon published fluid inclusion data. The weakly peraluminous granite and tonalite suites are distinguished by variable amounts of monazite and zircon whereas the diorite suite is metaluminous, contains <5% magnetite, and lacks monazite. All suites are subalkalic, calc-alkaline and have low magnetic susceptibilities, high large-ion lithophile element/high field-strength element (LILE/HFSE), and depleted Nb and Ti. The granite suite has higher 206 Pb/ 204 Pb values (19.4-19.6) than the diorite (19.1). Overall the granite and tonalite suites likely represent melts generated late during crustal thickening that intruded along shallowly dipping faults during exhumation, whereas the diorite suite represents postdeformation melts that underwent less interaction with the old silicic crust.Résumé : Les filons aurifères de la zone Liese (>5 Moz) (1 oz (troy) = 31.103 g) et les prospects avoisinants dans le district minier de Goodpaster du centre-est de l'Alaska sont associés dans le temps et l'espace à des granitoïdes du Crétacé précoce à tardif qui ont subi une réduction et qui sont regroupés en une suite granitique, une suite tonalitique et une suite dioritique, selon un âge décroissant. La suite granitique (109 à 107 Ma) est composée de granite syn-à post-cinématique à biotite ± hornblende, de granodiorite, de pegmatite et d'un granite à deux micas avec du grenat accessoire. La suite tonalitique (107 à 103 Ma) forme de petits à de grands amas post-cinématique de granodiorite à hornblend-ebiotite à une tonalite avec, rarement, du granite. Les suites granitiques et certaines parties des suites tonalitiques ont subi l'intrusion d'une aplite et d'une pegmatite qui passent de filons de quartz pegmatoïde finement granulaire ou aplitique à des filons de quartz longeant la direction. La suite dioritique (95,4 à 93,7 Ma) comprend de petits massifs intrusifs, de diorite à tonalite, qui pénètrent les suites plus ancienn...

Interpretation of various exploration data, in particular geochemical prospecting, offers a powerful and rapid assessment of grass-root projects in a green-field terrain. Here, we present an example of the Collins epithermal prospect in Aceh Province, Indonesia. In this area, the Au+ base-metal-bearing sheeted quartz veins (individually mostly 2-4 cm wide), which are controlled by a 250 m wide by 800 m long NNE-trending structural corridor within Paleogene sandstone and volcanic rocks, are the product of two main stages of deposition. Stage I formed veins with a sliver of cryptocrystalline quartz wall zone followed by an inner zone of comb quartz with interstitial rhombic adularia that terminates in open space. Stage I or main-stage sulfide mineralization consisting of early galena + sphalerite and later chalcopyrite occurs with the quartz + adularia. Small amounts of galena also occur in the wall zone. Stage II mineralization brecciated Stage I veins and overprinted them with silicification characterized by vuggy texture. Mineralization associated with this episode consists of earlier chalcopyrite + sphalerite + tennantite-tetrahedrite and later, vug-filling Au-Ag alloy (Ag 0.37-0.41 Au 0.62-0.59 ). The above mineralized veins are successively flanked by silicic selvages, an illite + chlorite + pyrite ± kaolinite zone and a chlorite + epidote + carbonate + pyrite zone. Local supergene alteration induced replacement of galena by plumbogummite and anglesite and chalcopyrite by covellite. Data from fluid inclusion microthermometry in quartz indicated that the inner zone of Stage I veins formed from fluids with a 2.3 wt% salinity (0.5-3.3 wt% NaCl equivalent), at 174 C (155-211 C). Combining these physicochemical parameters with the mineral assemblage, the mineralization occurred under a reduced environment. Rock and soil assays indicate that elevated Au concentrations (up to 16.5 ppm over 1 m) occur along northeast-trending zones and show a strong correlation with Pb, while Cu (up to 2.58% over 1 m), Zn, As, Sb, and Mo anomalies lie mostly at the periphery. The high-grade mineralized veins correlate with moderate to high resistivity and chargeability zones, and the pseudosections of such geophysical signals are interpreted as reflecting coalesced or enlarged veins at depth, or inclined veins in other localities. The intermediate sulfidation affinity for