Gold solubility in silicate melts and fluids: Advances from high-pressure and high-temperature experiments

Abstract

The solubility of Au in silicate melts and fluids governs the enrichment and migration of Au during the formation of magmatic-hydrothermal Au deposits. Large Au deposits require vast amounts of Au to migrate from the upper mantle-lower crust to the shallow crust, and high Au solubility in magma and hydrothermal fluid facilitates the formation of Au-rich magma and fluid in the crust and mantle source and efficient transport. This paper reviews recent high-pressure and high-temperature experimental studies on Au species in magmas and hydrothermal fluids, the partitioning behavior of Au between silicate melts and fluids, and the effects of temperature, pressure, oxygen fugacity, sulfur fugacity, silicate melt composition, and volatiles (H 2 O, CO 2 , chlorine, and sulfur) on the solubility of Au in magma. We show that the solubility of Au in magma is largely controlled by the volatiles in the magma: the higher the content of reduced sulfur (S 2− and HS − ) in the magma, the higher the solubility of Au. Under high-temperature, high-pressure, H 2 O-rich, and intermediate oxygen fugacity conditions, magma can dissolve more reduced sulfur species, thus enhancing the ability of the magma to transport Au. If the ore-forming elements of the Au deposits in the North China Craton originate from mantle-derived magmas and fluids, we can conclude, in terms of massive Au migration, that these deep Au-rich magmas might have been generated under H 2 O-rich and moderately oxidized conditions (S 2− coexists with S 6+ ). The big mantle wedge beneath East Asia was metasomatized by melts and fluids from the dehydration of the Early Cretaceous paleo-Pacific stagnant slab, which not only caused thinning of the North China Craton, but also created physicochemical conditions favorable for massive Au migration.