Palladium and platinum minerals in Au-Pd ores of the Chudnoe deposit (Subpolar Urals, Russia)

Abstract

Research subject. Minerals of palladium, platinum, and native gold, localized mainly in the veins of chromium-containing mica (fuchsite) in rhyolites. Aim. Clarification of the localization features of platinum group minerals, their species diversity, determination of the composition of minerals, relationships between precious metal minerals, establishment of the sequence of formation. Methods. Polished sections from ore samples and concentrates of heavy minerals mounted in epoxy resin were studied using optical and electron microscopes. The composition of minerals was determined using a scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive spectrometer. Results. The main Pd minerals of the deposit are isomertieite/pseudomertieite and mertieite, the minor ones are ateneite and the unnamed Pd6BiSe mineral, and the platinum mineral is sperrylite. Isomertieite/pseudomertieite forms intergrowths with gold of any composition and structure, while mertieite occurs only with relatively low-copper gold of a homogeneous structure; therefore, significant areas of ore zones are characterized by the presence of one of the palladium arsenoantimonides. In some areas of ores, the replacement of isomertieite/pseudomertieite by mertieite wass established. Conclusions. The formation of fuchsite veinlets and the native gold, palladium minerals, and sperrylite contained therein is associated with one stage of mineral formation. Cr, Au, Pd, and Pt in ores form a single geochemical association, which indicates a common source of these elements. This source is most likely to be derivatives of basite-hyperbasite magmatism.