As the co- and corresponding author, Dr. Behnam Sadeghi, from EarthByte Group, has recently published this paper in “Ore Geology Reviews”. This research is based on a collaborative project with the Geological Survey of Iran.
Abstract:
The objective of this paper is to detect various gold and copper mineralization stages according to surface lithogeochemical data utilizing zonality index and spectrum-area (S-A) multifractal modeling along with geological data in the Au-(Cu) intrusion-related Gouzal-Bolagh deposit, northwestern Iran. Gold mineralization at Gouzal-Bolagh consists of quartz-sulfide veins within the Paleocene batholithic granitoid complex, which has intruded into the Mesozoic and older metamorphic rocks and shales. Considering the mineralization type, a zonality index was determined as (Au + Cu)/(As + Sb). Au, Cu, and zonality index values were categorized by the S-A multifractal model and the log–log plots. Moreover, multifractal modeling of the zonality index in correlation with geological (specifically mineralographical) data shows that there are three stages for mineralization including Pre-, main and post-mineralization (supergene enrichment). The main stage of mineralization formed from two sub-stages:A (Quartz vein and veinlet sulfidation), B (Quartz sulfide brecciation). In addition, various stages of mineralization contain zonality index values of < 31.8, 31.8–507.3, 507.3–758.3, 758.3–1628.7 and >1628.7 for background, pre-mineralization, sub-stages A, B and supergene, respectively. The background is a granitic batholith containing silicic mineralized veins with a NE-SW trend. Results obtained by this study demonstrate that there are major occurrences of gold and copper mineralization in the sulfidation and brecciation sub-stages, respectively.
Full link to this paper is: https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0169-1368(21)00587-4
