Au-Ag polymetallic mineralization within tectonically weak zones along the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau
- Geological Survey, Denver, CO (United States)
The Music Mountain mining district lies at the base of the Grand Wash Cliffs, a major fault-line scarp along the Grand Wash fault, which marks the SW margin of the Colorado Plateau. Nearly vertical Au-Ag polymetallic quartz veins parallel, and are in contact with, altered diabase and granite porphyry dikes that cut Proterozoic granite, schist, and gneiss. The gold-bearing veins range in thickness from an inch to several feet and contain significant amounts of sulfide minerals. Diabase dikes and quartz veins in the district and to the north consistently strike N42[degree]W to N57[degree]W, which is one of the most prevalent fracture orientation throughout NW Arizona. In the Gold Basin-Lost Basin districts to the north, the Au occurs in such pegmatite-quartz veins that strike NE. Thirty miles east along Diamond Creek, quartz veins and diabase dikes strike N45[degree]E and are associated with Au and Ag anomalies in stream-sediments and panned concentrates. To the west major Au-Ag polymetallic quartz veins of the Wallapai mining district show consistent strikes from N30[degree] to 60[degree]W. K-Ar ages of hydrothermal alterations of 4 NW oriented diabase dikes that have quartz veins along them, range from 935 [+-] 35 to 755 [+-] 21 Ma. Sericite from altered granite porphyry, adjacent to a mineralized vein, gave a K-Ar age of 72 [+-]2 Ma. All geochemical sites (within a 1,000 mi[sup 2] area) determined to be anomalous in Au lie within 2 mi of either the Grand Wash or Hurricane faults. The Hurricane and Grand Wash faults, major Precambrian fault zones that were reactivated in the Phanerozoic, appear to be good exploration targets for Au-rich quartz veins associated with pegmatite or diabase dikes, many of which may be buried beneath the thick alluvium of Hualapai Valley.
- OSTI ID:
- 5020592
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9305259-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 25:5; Conference: 89. annual meeting of the Cordilleran Section and the 46th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Reno, NV (United States), 19-21 May 1993; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ARIZONA
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
GOLD ORES
SILVER ORES
ARGON ISOTOPES
COLORADO PLATEAU
DIABASES
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GOLD
GRANITES
HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION
ISOTOPE DATING
MINERALIZATION
POTASSIUM ISOTOPES
SILVER
AGE ESTIMATION
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
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GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
IGNEOUS ROCKS
ISOTOPES
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ORES
PLUTONIC ROCKS
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TRANSITION ELEMENTS
USA
VOLCANIC ROCKS
580000* - Geosciences