Abstract
The Salsigne gold deposit contains a complex association of sulphide layers, gold-rich disseminations, quartz-bearing veins and flat reefs, which are hosted by folded and slightly metamorphosed Paleozoic sediments on both sides of a major thrust zone. It is demonstrated that these various Au-As ore types have similar lead-isotope compositions (206Pb/204Pb = 18.22–18.56), which are characteristic of Hercynian ore deposits in the southern Massif Central. The Lower Cambrian to Devonian host rocks and associated Pb-Zn-Ba occurrences display distinctly less radiogenic corrected isotopic signatures (206Pb/204Pb = 17.83–17.98), which are characteristic of Cambrian lead in the Montagne-Noire. Concerning the controversial origin of the Salsigne gold mineralization, these results disagree with the former syngenetic hypothesis and support a new model of Hercynian syntectonic gold concentration.
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This work was supported by BRGM'S scientific program: “Le gisement de Salsigne: caractérisation du modèle et évaluation du potentiel aurifère du district”
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Le Guen, M., Lescuyer, J.L. & Marcoux, E. Lead-isotope evidence for a Hercynian origin of the Salsigne gold deposit (Southern Massif Central, France). Mineral. Deposita 27, 129–136 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00197097
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00197097