Journal article

CH4-N2 in the Maldon gold deposit, central Victoria, Australia

B Fu, TP Mernagh, AM Fairmaid, D Phillips, MA Kendrick

Ore Geology Reviews | ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV | Published : 2014

Abstract

The Maldon gold deposit in central Victoria has geological, geochronological and fluid chemistry characteristics that distinguish it from typical vein-hosted, 'orogenic' gold deposits in this region. The deposit lies within the thermal aureole of the Late Devonian Harcourt Granite and associated granitic dykes that postdate regional metamorphism (~445Ma) and large gold deposits such as Bendigo. The fluid inclusions are characterised by the presence of non-aqueous (i.e. carbonic) fluids, which exhibit complex freezing and heating behaviour, as well as mixed CO2-low-salinity aqueous fluids (mostly ≤10wt.% NaCl eq.). Raman analysis indicates that carbonic inclusions can vary from CO2-rich to CH..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was initially supported by GeoScience Victoria and the Australian Research Council (LP0882157). The authors are indebted to Gregory Ebsworth and Joseph Krokowski de Vickerod (Alliance Resources Ltd, now Octagonal Resources Ltd) for giving access to mine sites/drill cores, providing logging notes for Table 1 and Fig. 3, and for their guidance on deposit geology, as well as to Avi Olshina for providing the geology maps. Thanks are given to G. N. Phillips, G.R. Olivo, P.S. Garofalo, and an anonymous referee for their constructive comments on earlier versions of the manuscript and F. Pirajno for editorial handling. TPM publishes with the permission of the CEO of Geoscience Australia.