Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Crummy, J
• Hall, A J
• Haszeldine, R S
• Anderson, I K

Titel

Potential for epithermal gold mineralization in east and central Sutherland, Scotland: indications from River Brora headwaters

Ist Teil von

• Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. Transactions. Section B: Applied earth sciences, 1997-01, Vol.106, p.B9-14

Erscheinungsjahr

1997

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The eastern part of Sutherland is well known for its alluvial gold localities which provided the impetus for a gold rush in 1868. The original source of the gold has remained enigmatic despite sporadic exploration. Bedrock gold mineralization that has now been located in association with an extensive float train some 25 km to the west of the known alluvial gold provides a clue to the source. Mineralization is dominantly in the form of open, matrix-supported breccias comprising pyritic quartz/sericite clasts in a vuggy cherty, chalcedonic and crystalline quartz matrix. Fluid inclusions in pyritic clasts within these breccias indicate trapping temperatures for gold-mineralizing hydrothermal fluid of 170-240\0\C. The possibility exists that other high-level feeder zones to hydrothermal systems could be preserved elsewhere in this terrain. The potential for further bedrock gold occurrences cannot be overlooked. (Abstract quotes from original text)