Characteristics of Gold-bearing Minerals in the Ga’erqiong Copper-Gold Deposit,Tibet

The skarn-type Ga’erqiong copper-gold deposit is the first one in which a detailed survey was carried out in the western Banggonghu-Nujiang metallogenic belt. The purpose of this work is to determine the type and the occurrence of gold minerals and to divide the ore-forming phrase by electron microscope observation and scanning electronic microscope analysis. The result indicates that the gold-bearing minerals in the deposit involve Ag -Au mineral suite, Au-Cu mineral suite and few telluride, including native gold, electrum, kustelite, cuprian kustelite, cuproaurite, cuprian electrum and petzite. They are chiefly micro independent minerals. Occurring in the simple form of fissure gold, intercrystalline gold and inclusion gold, gold can be selected easily during the ore dressing. Within the hydrothermal phrase, the gold mineralization concentrated on the quartz-sulfide-gold and calcite-gold stage, in which Ag -Au and Au-Cu mineral suite formed in the earlier stage and Ag- Au mineral suite formed later. Solidification and carbonatization are direct indicators for the gold-mineralization in region.