Placer deposits

Submitted by: Bhaskarjyoti Rajkhowa, 5th Sem, Roll No.-07

In geology, a placer deposit or placer is an accumulation of valuable minerals

formed by gravity separation during sedimentary processes. The name is from the
Spanish word placer, meaning "alluvial sand". When heavy, stable minerals are
freed from their matrix by weathering, processes, they are slowly washed
downslope into streams that quickly winnow the lighter matrix. Thus the heavy
minerals become concentrated in stream, beach, and lag (residual) gravels and
constitute workable ore deposits. Minerals that form placer deposits have high
specific gravity, are chemically resistant to weathering, and are durable; such
minerals include gold, platinum, cassiterite, magnetite, chromite, ilmenite, rutile,
native copper, zircon, monazite, and various gemstones.

To form a placer deposit, the particles desired must show a

marked density contrast with the gangue material, which is able to be transported
away from the trap site. Only if the deposit is winnowed in this way can the
minerals be concentrated to economic levels.

Types of Placer Deposits

Placer deposits have been divided into four groups:

1. Eluvial placer
2. Alluvial placer
3. Beach placer
4. Elian placer

1. Eluvial Placer: Eluvial placers form on hill slopes from weathered deposits.
They are not acted on by streams but by rainfall and wind, which carry away the
light materials; thus they may be considered intermediate in the formation of
stream placers. Examples include the earlier worked gold deposits of Australia
and the cassiterite placers of Malaysia.

2. Alluvial Placer: Alluvial placers are those formed in river or stream sediments.
Typical locations for alluvial gold placer deposits are on the inside bends
of rivers and creeks; in natural hollows; at the break of slope on a stream; the
base of an escarpment, waterfall or other barrier. Alluvial placers are formed by
the deposition of dense particles at a site where water velocity remains below
that required to transport them further. They can be conveniently divided into:
a. Gulch placers.
b. Creek placers.
c. River deposits.
d. Gravel-plain deposits.

3. Beach placer: Beach placers form on seashores where wave action and shore
currents shift materials, the lighter more rapidly than the heavier, thus
concentrating them. Among the examples of beach placers are the gold deposits
of Nome, Alaska; the zircon sands of Brazil and Australia; the black sands
(magnetite) of Oregon and California; and the diamond-bearing marine gravels of
Namaqualand, South Africa.

4. Eolian placer: Eolian placers may form in arid areas where wind, not water, acts
as the concentrating agent, removing fine particles of the lighter dross. The gold
deposits of some parts of the Australian desert are examples of Eolian placers.