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A two-stage process of native palladium formation at low temperatures: evidence from a palladian gold nugget (Gongo Soco iron ore mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

A. Raphael Cabral  and
B. Lehmann
A. Raphael Cabral*
Affiliation:
Institut für Mineralogie und Mineralische Rohstoffe, Technische Universita¨t Clausthal, Adolph-Roemer-Str. 2A, D-38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
B. Lehmann
Affiliation:
Institut für Mineralogie und Mineralische Rohstoffe, Technische Universita¨t Clausthal, Adolph-Roemer-Str. 2A, D-38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
*
* E-mail: cabral@min.tu-clausthal.de
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Abstract

Native palladium is rare and occurs in oxidizing environments (hematite stability field) and consistently has very low contents of other metals. On the other hand, gold may contain significant amounts of alloyed palladium. A nugget of palladian gold, obtained from a specularite-rich auriferous vein (‘jacutinga’) of the Gongo Soco iron ore mine, Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Minas Gerais, allows the definition of a paragenetic sequence of native palladium formation. The cm-sized nugget is brecciated and consists of fragments of palladian gold [Au0.79Pd0.09Cu0.07Ag0.04Hg0.01] with inclusions of isomertieite [Pd11Sb2As2], cemented by kaolinite-hematite-palladian gold infill. The isomertieite inclusions are preferentially fractured and display various degrees of alteration to a Pd-O phase. Native palladium occurs as a crystallized component within the Pd-O phase, with microstructural and chemical features suggesting a desiccation process. It is proposed that native palladium forms by (1) oxidation of a pre-existent palladium mineral to a Pd-O phase, and (2) subsequent crystallization of native palladium from the Pd-O phase, by oxygen loss and dehydration. This process operates in a low-temperature hydrothermal or weathering environment and leads to strong fractionation of palladium and gold.

Keywords

native palladiumpalladian goldisomertieite alterationPd-O speciesGongo SocoItabira Iron FormationQuadrilátero FerríferoMinas GeraisBrazil.
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 67 , Issue 3 , June 2003 , pp. 453 - 463
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2003

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