Composition and gold-bearing potential of Neogene deposits in the middle reaches of the Selennyakh river, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Abstract

Because of significant exhaustion of known easily accessible gold placers, revealing new such objects is becoming increasingly important. Several gold placer clusters are situated in the region of the Selennyakh River in the middle course of the Indigirka River. They are mainly located along the left bank of the Selennyakh River, in its upper reaches. The right banks of the Selennyakh River, especially in its middle course, remain poorly studied. However, the presence of halos of panned gold concentrates with no obvious relation to probable primary sources of gold, revealed in the 1970s-80s, is a reason for this area to be studied as a gold-bearing one. The article presents results of the 2020-2021 panned heavy mineral concentrate sampling within the Vetvistyi site in the middle reaches of the Selennyakh River, provides a characteristic of the alluvial gold typomorphism, and gives a description of the Neogene deposits drained by the Vetvistyi Stream. The belonging of the Neogene deposits to the Uyandina Formation that fills the Momo-Selennyakh depression has been confirmed. Potentially commercial gold-bearing potential of the Vetvistyi Stream and its tributaries has been substantiated, and gold particles (signs) have been revealed in the Neogene deposits of the Uyandina Formation