E, thats a tough one,
Archean lode gold deposits occur in a variety of lithological and structural settings in
greenstone belts of the Canadian Shield. “In general, the ores are derived from
hydrothermal fluids and consist of veins (open space) filling and altered wall rock
(replacement or metasomatism). The veins generally consist of coarse or cherty quartz with
lesser amounts of albite and carbonate, tourmaline, sericite and chlorite. In some systems,
tourmaline or carbonate may be the principal constituent of the veins. Opaque minerals
rarely constitute more than 5% of a vein. Pyrite is invariably present and is the most
abundant sulphide; pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite are common, and other opaque minerals may
include galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, molybdenite, stibnite, tellurides and scheelite. In
greenschist facies rocks, the altered wall rock immediately adjacent to the veins, is
characterized by minerals that also occur in the veins: carbonates, quartz, sericite, albite and
pyrite” (Roberts
et al, 1990). Fuchsite is also present in many major deposits (Thorpe et al,
1994).
Typically, ore grade gold occurs in the quartz, and in small fractures in quartz, and in the
wall rock where it is usually associated with iron sulphides. It is not uncommon for most or
all of the gold of an ore zone to be contained in wall rocks immediately adjacent to veins