Sediment-Hosted Disseminated Gold Deposits (Type Carlin)

This text is based on the review paper of Arehart (1996) and the report of Berger et al. (2014).
Additional literature is listed in the references.

Definition. Sedimentary-hosted disseminated gold deposits comprise extremely fine-grained

disseminations of Au hosted by altered silty carbonate rocks. They were recognized as a distinct type of
ore deposits only after the discovery of the large Carlin deposit in 1965. Until then, they were simply
considered to be epithermal deposits, rich in gold and poor in other elements. Therefore, they are
commonly called the Carlin-type deposits, to avoid the use of the very long formal name sediment-
hosted disseminated gold deposits.

Tectonic settings. The Carlin-type deposits occur in cratons and fold belts. The craton tectonic group
contains 101 deposits that are located within the rifted western margin of the North American craton
(Great Basin province) and southwestern margin of the South China craton (Dian-Qian-Gui province)
(Berger et al. 2014). The deposits in the fold belts and magmatic arcs occur in parts of China, to a lesser
extent elsewhere. In these deposits, just as in the craton group, the country rocks of the ores are
predominantly carbonate-siliciclastic sedimentary sequences.

Geographic and age distribution: The majority of the Carlin-type deposits are found in the Great Basin
in western North America, mostly in the state Nevada. Additional deposits of this type are known from
southern China, southeast Asia, and Peru. The best known deposits of this type from Nevada appear to
be young, with ages from Jurassic to Tertiary.

Geometry. The geometry of the Carlin-type deposits is controlled by the tectonic features, that is,
faults and folds, and by the reactivity of the host rocks. The ore bodies consists of a steeply dipping
feeder zone (something that could be called a stringer in the VMS deposits) and flat lying stratiform or
stratabound parts. In rocks which are less reactive and brittle, the ores may be preferentially developed
along faults or other open structures. On the other hand, the reactive lithologies host commonly
tabular, stratiform to stratabound ore bodies of this type.
The most important host rocks of the Carlin-type deposits are sedimentary rocks, mixtures of
siliciclastic material and carbonates, such as silty carbonates, calcareous siltstones or calcareous shales.
Minor mineralizations occur also in igneous rocks.

Mineralogy of the Carlin-type deposits. The ore mineralogy of the Carlin-type deposits is usually
simple. In some deposits, pre-ore events may have brought quartz, calcite, pyrite, and barite. Gold is
associated with the hydrothermal pyrite, to a lesser extent arsenopyrite. As a matter of fact, most of the
gold in these deposits is bound in the crystal structure of arsenian pyrite. Because it cannot be seen,
either by eye or by a light microscope, it is commonly referred to in the literature as “invisible gold” (see
the following paragraph). The ores may also contain orpiment (As2S3), realgar (AsS), stibnite (Sb2S3),
calcite, barite, and rare thallium minerals. A significant difference in comparison to the epithermal
deposits is a striking lack of minerals of lead, zinc, and copper. Although these are common, especially in
the low-sulfidation epithermal deposits, they are missing in the Carlin-type deposits.
The invisible gold has been a subject of a number of studies, mostly because the invisible gold cannot
easily be separated from the host phase (pyrite), and therefore increasing the processing costs for such
ores. Despite numerous studies (summarized by Cabri et al. 1989, 2000), the question of the nature of
the invisible gold has not been solved conclusively. Some of the invisible gold is undoubtedly present in
the form of nanoinclusions; these have been directly imaged by Palenik et al. (2004) by high-resolution
transmission electron microscopy. The nanoinclusions have been documented by spectroscopy by
Majzlan et al. (2012). In their experimental studies, Maddox et al. (1998) found 20-50 nm gold particles
deposited on arsenopyrite; those on pyrite were generally larger. Similar observations were made by
Möller & Kersten (1994) who were able to precipitate metallic gold on the surfaces of pyrite,
arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite. Spectroscopic evidence also suggests that at least some portion of the
invisible gold may be described as bulk metallic gold (Simon et al. 1999, Cabri et al. 2000). In addition to
metallic gold, the presence of Au+ (Simon et al. 1999, Cabri et al. 2000) or Au3+ (Johan et al. 1989,
Arehart et al. 1993) have been proposed based on the results from X-ray absorption spectroscopy or
charge-balance calculations. Such “chemically-bound“ gold should be present in the crystal structures of
arsenopyrite and pyrite, where it would substitute for the Fe or As ions present here (cf. Cabri et al.
2000). Numerous 197Au Mössbauer studies (Friedl et al. 1992, Andráš et al. 1995, Genkin et al. 1998)
confirmed that invisible gold can be distinguished from metallic gold. Microbeam techniques provided
abundant evidence that gold correlates with arsenic (Arehart et al. 1993). Yet, the position of the
chemically-bound invisible gold remains a mystery.

Size and grade. There are more than 100 Carlin-type deposits known, most of the in the western USA
or in China. On average, they yield about 6 metric tonnes of gold with an average ore grade of 3 g/t, a
relatively low concentration. The total gold reserves can reach 200 tonnes (for example, the Carlin
deposit) or slightly more. Along with gold, silver may be extracted, although the ore grades are usually
low, about 1 g/t on average (Berger et al. 2014).

Genetic model. The Carlin-type deposits are usually, but not always, hosted by carbonate-siliciclastic
sedimentary sequences. Magmatic rocks could also be hosts. Therefore, it seems that the lithology of
the host rocks is not of principal importance for the formation of these deposits.
The source of heat for these deposits is probably geothermal gradient within sedimentary basins, just
as for the SEDEX and Mississippi-valley type deposits. The Carlin-type deposits can be rarely spatially or
even genetically connected to intrusive rocks.
The fluids in the Carlin-type deposits are not known as well as from other types of deposits, mostly
because the fluid inclusions in these deposits are small and difficult to study. What we know is that in
most cases, two different fluids are detected. One fluid has a higher salinity (up to 20 wt% NaCl eq), the
other one lower salinity but a higher content of CO2. In some deposits, a “pre-metamorphic” fluid was
also observed; this fluid is not directly related to the formation of the ores but circulated in the rocks
before the ore formation. This early fluid may be basinal fluid expelled by regional metamorphism. The
temperature of the fluids was estimated mostly between 200-300 ºC and the pressure to about 1 kbar,
implying depths of formation of 2-7 km, depending on the pressure model (lithostatic versus hydrostatic
pressure). Based on the isotopic studies, the Carlin-type ores may have been formed from “evolved”
meteoric waters, that is, meteoric waters which had time to circulate through the upper crust and
interact with the rocks.
Gold was transported in the fluids in the form of a thiocomplex [Au(HS)2]– and was probably leached
from the rocks by the action of the near-neutral, mildly reducing fluid (the “evolved” meteoric water).
Such properties of the fluids are well documented by the alteration assemblages (kaolinite-sericite-
pyrite-arsenopyrite) (see Arehart 1996). A most reasonable model that could explain precipitation of
gold from the hydrothermal fluid is mixing of the reduced, gold-enriched hotter fluid with a lower-
salinity, cooler groundwater at a site of structural breach in an overpressurized reservoir.
In summary, it could be imagined that the Carlin-type deposits formed from modified (“evolved”)
meteoric water. This water circulated through the upper crust, attained its reduced state by interaction
with organic matter, caused dissolution of sulfates (e.g., barite) and became enriched in gold. CO2 was
probably added from a deep source; the isotopic data are not compatible with the organic carbon as a
source of the CO2. The fluids could have deposited gold, that is, created the ore deposits, at places
where they broke through the pressure seal and flowed into groundwater in the overlying geological
units.

Zonation of the Carlin-type deposits: These deposits are not zoned, except for the alteration zones
(see the part Alteration below).

Alteration. The typical alteration features around the Carlin-type bodies include decarbonatization,
silificification, and argillization. The spatial and temporal relationship between the three types of
processes may vary from deposit to deposit. In general, the deposits of this type are surrounded by a
broad decarbonatization envelope, in which carbonates in the host rocks were dissolved and carried
away. Within this envelope, the silicification and argillitization zones are found. Silicification is
characteristic by massive addition of SiO2 to the rocks, but not only in the form quartz. The SiO2 matter
in these deposits is called jasperoid, fine-grained quartz to cryptocrystalline SiO2 colored red with
minute hematite grains. Argilitization is seen as illitization of feldspars in the peripheral parts of the ore
bodies. Toward the core of the ore bodies, the intensity of illitization increases and illite is eventually
replaced by kaolinite or a related sheet silicate mineral (for example, dickite).

References

Andráš, P., Wagner, F., Ragan, M., Friedl, J., Marcoux, E., Caňo, F. & Nagy, G. (1995): Gold in arsenopyrites from the
Pezinok deposit (Western Carpathians, Slovakia). – Geol. Carpath. 46: 335–342.
Arehart G.B., Chryssoulis S.L. & Kesler S.E. (1993): Gold and arsenic in iron sulfides from sediment-hosted
disseminated gold deposits – Implications for depositional processes. – Econ. Geol. 88: 171–185.
Arehart, G.B., 1996: Characteristics and origin of sediment-hosted disseminated gold deposits: A review. Ore
Geology Reviews 11, 383-403.
Arehart, G.B., Chakurian, A.M., Tretbar, D.R., Christensen, J.N., McInnes, B.A., Donelick, R.A., 2003: Evaluation of
radioisotope dating of Carlin-type deposits in the Great Basin, western North America, and implications for
deposit genesis. Economic Geology 98, 235-248.
Ashley, R.P., Cunningham, C.G., Bostick, N.H., Dean, W.E., Chou, I.-M., 1991: Geology and geochemistry of three
sedimentary-rock-hosted disseminated gold deposits in Guizhou Province, People's Republic of China. Ore
Geology Reviews 6, 133-151.
Berger, V.I., Mosier, D.L., Bliss, J.D., Moring, B.C., 2014: Sediment-Hosted Gold Deposits of the World—Database
and Grade and Tonnage Models. United States Geological Survey Open-File Report 2014–1074.
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