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A Major Archean, Gold- and Crust-Forming Event in the Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa
Jason Kirk,1*Joaquin Ruiz,1John Chesley,1John Walshe,2Gavin England3
The 2.89- to 2.76-gigayear-old conglomerates of
the Central Rand Group of South Africa host an immense concentration of
gold.The gold and rounded pyrites from the conglomerates yield a
rhenium-osmiumisochron age of 3.03 ± 0.02 gigayears and an
initial 187Os/188Os ratio of 0.1079 ± 0.0001. This age is older than that of theconglomerates. Thus, the
gold is detrital and was not depositedby later hydrothermal
fluids. This Middle Archean gold mineralizationevent corresponds to a
period of rapid crustal growth in whichmuch of the Kaapvaal craton was
formed and is evidence for a significantnoble metal flux from the
mantle.
1 Department of Geosciences, University of
Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
2 Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Division of
Exploration and Mining, 39 Fairway, Nedlands 6009, Western Australia.
3 Geology and Geophysics Department, University of
Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JW UK.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
jkirk{at}geo.arizona.edu
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