Journal article
New constraints on fluid sources in orogenic gold deposits, Victoria, Australia
Bin Fu, Mark A Kendrick, Alison M Fairmaid, David Phillips, Christopher JL Wilson, Terrence P Mernagh
CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY | SPRINGER | Published : 2012
Abstract
Fluid inclusion microthermometry, Raman spectroscopy and noble gas plus halogen geochemistry, complemented by published stable isotope data, have been used to assess the origin of gold-rich fluids in the Lachlan Fold Belt of central Victoria, south-eastern Australia. Victorian gold deposits vary from large turbidite-hosted 'orogenic' lode and disseminated-stockwork gold-only deposits, formed close to the metamorphic peak, to smaller polymetallic gold deposits, temporally associated with later post-orogenic granite intrusions. Despite the differences in relative timing, metal association and the size of these deposits, fluid inclusion microthermometry indicates that all deposits are genetical..
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Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to Gordon Holm for thin section preparation, Asaf Raza and Abaz Alimanovic for assistance in mineral separation, Stanislav Szczepanski for technical assistance in the Noble Gas Laboratory and Andy Tomkins for assistance with the microthermometry determinations. BF thanks Bill Birch, Ross Cayley, Allison Dugdale, Megan Hough, Lawrence Leader, David Moore, Peter O'Shea, Tim Rawling, Bas van Riel and Stan White for guidance on regional- to deposit-scale geology and fruitful discussions. GeoScience Victoria and the Australian Research Council (LP0882157) are acknowledged for financial support. We are also indebted to Alliance Resources, Bendigo Mining, Northgate (formerly Perseverance), Lihir Gold and GeoScience Victoria (Ken Sherry, Avi Olshina) for access to mine sites/drill core libraries and to Bill Birch and Lawrence Leader for provision of particular samples. An earlier version of this paper has greatly benefited from thoroughly reviews by Alfons van den Kerkhof and an anonymous referee.