Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Four folded plates in pocket. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 285-303). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1984. / Bibliographies: leaves 511-532a, 617-618. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Western Australia, 2004. / Title from PDF title page (viewed Mar. 3, 2006). Chapters 2-5 co-authored with others. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Washington State University, August 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Most of the economic gold and uranium placers are developed on low angle disconformities in the Central Rand Group and concentrations of gold and uranium are usually at their optimum on unconformity surfaces. Examples include the Kimberley Reef and South Reef of the East Rand, the Main Reef Leader of the Central Rand, the Carbon Leader of the Carletonville goldfield, the Vaal Reef of the Klerksdorp goldfield and the Basal/Steyn placers of the Welkom goldfield. The individual goldfields represent fluvial fans which are composed of a large number of tectonogenetic sedimentary packages separated by unconformities. The tectonic responses between cycles of sedimentation produced unconformities and tectonically controlled cyclic sedimentation is one of the key factors culminating in the preparation and deposition of auriferous placers within the Witwatersrand succession. Unconformities, which represent breaks in sedimentation, result in the preconditioning of palaeosurfaces and redistribution of sediments and heavy minerals on them. Winnowing of sands produced heavy mineral residual accumulations on erosion surfaces which were generally preserved by small-pebble lags or algal mats. Reworking of units truncated by the unconformities provided additional gold, uranium and heavy minerals to unconformity surfaces.

Gold exploration was conducted in northern margin, granulite-facies rocks of the Limpopo Belt. Methods used in the prospecting include drainage, soil and rock geochemistry, geophysical surveys, geological mapping, trenching and diamond drilling. These techniques successfully led to the discovery of two medium size, mesothermal gold deposits (Grid 2s and Grid 4). Objectives of this study were to (a) document the exploration methodology used; (b) describe the regional geology; (c) establish a mineral deposit model; (d) outline the methods and results of various exploration techniques; (e) outline follow-up procedures and evaluation of anomalies; and (f) discuss results of the exploration exercise and conclusions. The granulite-facies terrain comprises Charno-enderbites, mafic and felsic to intermediate metavolcanic rocks and meta-sediments. Renco Mine situated immediately east of the study area, was selected as the ore deposit model for the exploration program. Gold mineralization occurs in shear and thrust zones within an enderbite. The gold deposits are structurally controlled by a first-order, Sinistral transcrustal Mauch Shear Zone, which is parallel to a regional east-northeast penetrative foliation. The deposits are in dilation zones where the Mauch Shear (a) is intersected by a dextral east-west shear (Grid 2s), or (b) has a sinistral splay (Grid 4 and Renco). Close to these deposits, the Mauch Shear is in contact with a "greenstone belt", which is a possible source of crustal metamorphic ore fluids and gold. The Grid 2s deposit contains fine-grained, disseminated free gold, and small amounts of pyrrhotite, pyrite and chalcopyrite in quartz veins within third-order shears in K-feldspar granite. K-feldspar, sericitic, silicic, sulphidation and carbonate alteration characterizes the deposit, which has a proposed mantle-degassing model. The Grid 4 deposit is magmatic porphyry-type, with CuMo and Au in third- and fourth-order shears respectively. Mineralization comprises disseminated to semi-massive pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, bismuth, molybdenite and gold. Wall rock alteration includes biotitic, chloritic, silicic, sulphidation and carbonate. In Grid 2s, Grid 4 and Renco deposits, the alteration mineral assemblages are in three facies, which are granulite, amphibolte and greenschist. In the three deposits, the mineralization occurs with the amphibolite-facies, indicating post-peak, retrograde metamorphic conditions. / Illustrations (maps) only available in print form at Cory Library / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in

This investigation is concerned with primary variations in the silver content of gold which occurs in hydrothermal deposits, particularly those of hypothermal character which are found in Basement rocks in Southern Rhodesia. The nature of the gold produced by a number of different mines has been studied by reference to production data, and microscope techniques as well as gold and silver assays have been used to determine and to explain the variations in gold fineness. The literature does not contain a great deal of information which is relevant to this topic, but an attempt has been made here to summarize the more important contributions by different writers. From this it emerges that the interpretations given by different investigators are in conflict and that paradoxes may arise when efforts are made to explain observed variations in fineness in terms of certain generalizations which have become entrenched in the literaure. In particular, it is shown that falling temperature alone cannot account for the occurrence of silver-rich gold in certain deposits. The Gwanda district of Southern Rhodesia has been selected as a typical gold belt, and the variation in fineness in 150 producers is described. The deposits are hypothermal in character, and the average fineness of the gold is high but variable, but in a small proportion the fineness is low. It is shown that the nature of the host rock and the distance of a deposit from the granite contact appear to have no influence on the fineness of the gold and that there is no zonal arrangement of fineness values. There is a suggestion that diversity of mineral species in any particular area may be accompanied by rather wide fluctuations in the gold fineness. The variations of fineness in eight typical Southern Rhodesian deposits are studied in detail, by analysis of production data, by assaying specimens of the ore and by the examination of polished specimens of gold-bearing ore. Briefer reference is made to two other deposits in the territory, and to deposits in other countries which appear to bear out the conclusions reached in this section. It emerges that there are two factors which can commonly be correlated with variations in fineness. The first of these is the grade of the ore: high-grade ore generally contains purer gold than low-grade ore. Secondly, the textural evidence indicates that gold which separates relatively early in the paragenesis contains more silver than that which is deposited in the final stages of metallization. A general survey which draws on the literature as well as on the writer's examinations of deposits in the territory indicates that, in general, gold which is associated with late-stage minerals such as tellurides, antimony, bismuth and bismuthinite is silver-poor. Gold associated with galena may be either silver-rich or silver-poor, whereas gold which is of the same age as chalcopyrite or sphalerite is very frequently rich in silver. The difficulty which is encountered in establishing the age of gold which is intimately associated with pyrite and arsenopyrite renders uncertain the correlation between fineness and age of gold in these latter cases. There are, however, indications that gold which is truly contemporaneous with either pyrite or arsenopyrite is silver-rich. In the discussion, the objections to the common practice of singling out temperature as the most potent factor controlling gold fineness are listed. Chief amongst these objections is the fact that gold does not in all deposits increase in fineness with increasing depth: examples are quoted where fineness was found to decrease as deeper levels of the ore body were exploited. It is shown that there is no consistent relationship between the size of gold grains and their silver content. It is the writer's conclusion that in hydrothermal deposits in this territory the high fineness of the gold is due to increasing solubility of silver in the ore fluids in the late states, and that where hydrothermal deposits are characterized by gold with low average fineness, an unusually large proportion of the gold has been deposited early in the paragenotic sequence. In the majority of hypothermal deposits, however, the bulk of tho gold separates late in the sequence and the fineness is accordingly high. It is believed that the relationship which exists between fineness and tenor in many deposits is due to protracted crystallization of gold in those portions of the ore body which remained permeable to the latest stages. These portions of the ore body, which represent either valuable ore shoots or ore shoots in miniature, are likely to contain gold of variable character, but the average silver content will be low because a large proportion of the gold is "late" gold. The factors which might cause epithermal gold to have a lower fineness than mesothermal or hypothermal gold are briefly discussed. Some possible applications of this study are indicated in the final chapter. It is claimed that records of gold fineness might constitute a valuable addition to mill records. Tentative suggestions are made regarding a method whereby the approaching exhaustion of a deposit might in some cases be predicted. With regard to the origin of the gold in the Witwatersrand sediments, it is pointed out that the modified placer hypothesis is not fully equipped to explain certain of the variations in the composition of the gold.

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A remarkable correlation between hydrothermal gold mineralisation and geological structure is discussed. The mineralisation occurs in vein quartz which occupies a fissure in Archaean greenstones of the Basement Complex in Rhodesia, It has been determined that gold which is silver-rich is typical of low-grade ore, and is associated in space with sulphides that crystallised early in paragenesis. Silver-poor gold is characteristic of highgrade ore which is concentrated along the crestal zone of anticlinal warps in the fissure. It is suggested that the local pattern of fracturing and folding is related to fundamental wrench faulting.