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GMGHEIlGAl
ELSEVIER
EWPLIMATIOY
Journal of Geochemical
Exploration
Abstract
Soil geochemistry has proved an effective technique in exploration for gold since the 1980s in the Black Flag area,
situated some 50 km northwest of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Between 1991 and 1995 Mining Corporation of Australia
Ltd (MCA)
conducted a systematic programme of soil geochemistry within a tenement area of some 400 square
kilometres, much of which had been previously explored by many different exploration groups using a variety of
geochemical techniques. A GIS database incorporating nearly 40,000 samples, partly from MCA work, but also using data
from previous exploration where appropriate, was assembled. This compilation provided a good basis for evaluating the
effectiveness of soil geochemistry through the varying regolith types encountered, and allowed a direct comparison between
various sampling and analytical techniques.
The MCA programme was based on the sampling of near-surface soil at depths of lo-20 cm, pulverising and analysing
the < 2 mm fraction for Au and As. Sampling grids varied from 400 by 100 m for reconnaissance,
to 40 by 40 m for
detailed delineation of anomalies prior to drilling. Each sample was described in terms of its mechanical (grain size)
composition, distinguishing characteristics and likely origin during collection. These data were used in conjunction with a
broad classification of geomorphological
setting in the interpretation of results.
The simple low-cost sampling procedures adopted by MCA proved robust and effective in delineating mineralisation,
even under extreme conditions of concealment. Mineralisation located by recent work ranges from palaeochannel deposits,
covered by 30 metres or more of transported overburden, to deeply weathered primary lodes under thin residual soil.
Anomalies related to mineralisation were usually better developed in near-surface soil than deeper bedrock samples,
which were frequently taken by explorers in the early 1980s from the zone of leaching. Mineralisation was also detectable in
soils over complete laterite profiles, closely reflecting anomalies in the underlying ferricrete horizon, although at lower
concentration levels. Surface sampling has also been used in playa lake environments, where the most effective samples
often consist of saprolitic bedrock. In areas previously tested by the bulk cyanide leach (BCL or BLEG) method, essentially
similar dispersion patterns for gold were delineated by the simpler and lower-cost MCA techniques. There is no evidence
that the BCL method provides any advantage, either in terms of enhanced anomaly contrast, anomaly extent or
reproducibility in soil geochemistry in the Black Flag area.
Keywords:
0375-6742/96/$15.00
Copyright
PII SO375-6742(96)00033-7
1. Introduction
The Archaean greenstone sequences which host
many gold deposits in the Eastern Goldfields of
Western Australia are extensively concealed by a
complex regolith. which includes remnants of a former deep tropical weathering cycle and various superficial formations, many of transported origin (Butt,
1992). Despite this, gold anomalies related to bedrock
mineralisation
are generally well developed in near-
-------------Palaeochannel
-Proterozoic
Dyke
Felsic Volcanics
Ultramafics
u,
Fig.
I.
plan.
WESTERNAUSTRALIA
171
geochemical echniques. This, together with the numerous occurrences of gold mineralisation
in a variety of geomorphologic
settings, provided a unique
opportunity to compare the relative effectiveness of
different geochemical techniques over the range of
regolith types developed in the Eastern Goldfields.
Four Chomcten
R-ltesldud
A - AllUVhl
c - Clay
c - cc4luvid
c - cdcareous
L-Loam
T-lmlupcded
D-Drolroge
S-SOM
D - Dklwbed
L-lcdmtc
G - Gravel
s - contanindw
5. Skdetd
UND _ UndaMed
W-WIKblawtl
c.
PIerent
. Absent
Y - Play0
of soil type.
15
30
60
120
240
4. Comparison
and weathered
between dispersion
bedrock
patterns in soil
During the 1970s and early I!%&, much geochemical exploration in the Yilgarn Block was based
on samples of weathered
bedrock obtained
by
drilling. in the belief that surface soils were unreliable as a geochemical sampling medium. This ignored the fact that dispersion patterns in bedrock are
more restricted laterally than in soils, and are complicated due to the development of zones of depletion and enrichment in the regolith (Mazzucchelli.
1989). Many areas, previously
explored by this
method, still retain potential for further discoveries.
The Zsa Zsa area (Fig. 1) provides an illustration of
thi\.
R.H. Mu.zzucchelli/Joumal
of Geochemical
Exploration
179
57 11996) I75-I(35
15
-1
0
RAE
I
:
l
*
8
l
DRILL-HOLES
~0.01
*
0
Au pprn
0.01~0.25Au
ppm
400
Fig. 5. Au distribution
in soils (contours)
600
and weathered
800Metres
bedrock (symbols),
5. Gold response
profiles
laterite
Near-surface
soil sampling is very effective in
areas where a complete laterite profile has been
No
Data
-~
0
FIN. 6. Comparison
Woop\
between
Im auger smlpltr\:
500
Im a~aq
ioioo
Au ppb (A). ltnd near-wrtace
2000
wil\:
Metres
aqua repia/graphite
Prospect (6).
preserved. At the Woops Prospect (Fig. I) a complete laterite profile overlies mineralised
Mount
Pleasant Gabbro. Fig. 6 shows that dispersion patterns for Au in near-surface soils are remarkably
similar to those for samples taken by auger at I m
depth by a previous explorer. The auger samples
were taken just above or within the ferricrete horizon
and tend to exaggerate the anomaly. both in tenor
and lateral extent. The 60 ppb contour in near-surface
soil corresponds closely with the occurrence of gold
values in the range 0.4-1.0 g/t in the sub-surface
laterites. which are developed over weak mineralisation associated with altered saprolitic gabbro at depth.
At the very least, the near-surface data are comparable with those from the more expensive auger sam-
6. Soil anomalies
alisation
related to palaeochannel
miner-
One interesting finding from the geochemical propramme at Black Flag has been the extent to which
palaeochannel
deposits are reflected in surface soil
geochemistry. The Palace, Rose, and Coca deposits
(Fig. I) are examples of numerous palaeochannel
gold occurrences found to be associated with anomalous gold in soils, demonstrating dispersion through
IS-40 m transported overburden.
A diffuse soil
anomaly in transported alluvial loams, with a peak
R.H. Muzzucchelli/
Journal
of Geochemical
Exploration
57 (199fi)
175-185
181
VARlSCHElTl
PIT
Fig 7. Au distribution
._A
200
400
in soils associated
600
600
Metres
7. Geochemical
ments
deposit.
response
IX2
Surface projection of
Golden Flag deposit
.
240
120
60
30
15
a
0
200
300
400
Metres
being generally
con-
soils
R.H. Mazzucchelli/Journal
I
1600
Fig. 9. Comparison
183
Metres
10. Discussion
The geochemical
anomalies for gold in nearsurface soils at Black Flag are the result of one ot
more dispersion processes by which geochemical
evidence of bedrock gold mineralisation
is either
brought to the surface or retained at the surface.
despite the frequently transported nature of some
components of the regolith. These dispersion processes include:
. normal elastic dispersion processes (downslope
movement, sheetwash etc.);
- concentration
of gold and associated pathfinder
elements in lateritic sesquioxide particles, which
are retained in the near-surface soils following
degradation of the original lateritic profiles due to
climate change;
- upward movement of gold-bearing
groundwatel
and concentration by evaporative processes. usually with accumulations
of calcium carbonate
formed by a similar mechanism;
- uptake of anomalous gold from depth and deposition in surface soils through the vegetation cycle:
- bioturbation by burrowing animals such as termites, lizards and mammals.
At any given mineralised location, one or more of
these processes is likely to be effective in bringing
anomalous gold to the near-surface soils at Black
Flag and elsewhere in the Yilgarn Block. An appreciation of the local geomorphology
is an essential
pre-requisite to assessment of the interplay of the
many relevant factors.
The dispersion
mechanisms
responsible
for
anomalies in surface soils over palaeochannel
gold
deposits are not yet known with any certainty.
Evapo-transpiration.
vegetation cycling and the relict
imprint from earlier elastic processes could all be
11. Conclusion
Near-surface soil sampling is a cost-effective and
extremely robust technique in geochemical exploration for gold in the various geomorphologic environments represented in the Black Flag area. It has
led to several significant
gold discoveries,
some
overlain by thick transported cover. Use of the assembled geochemical database will very likely result
in more discoveries through systematic interpretation
in conjunction with geological, geophysical and, in
particular, an appreciation of the geomorphological
environment sampled.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Mining Corporation of
Australia Ltd for permission to publish this paper.
185
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