Within the last decade, the high and continuing demand for gold has prompted a global gold rush on a scale never before seen, not even in the heady days of Ballarat, California and the Yukon. Gold is being sought on every continent and, with very few exceptions, in every country around the world. Such interest and fierce competition has demanded considerable innovation and improvement in exploration techniques paralleled by a rapid expansion of the geological database and consequent genetic modelling for the many different types of gold deposits now recognized. This proliferation of data has swamped the literature and left explorationist and academic alike unable to sift more than a small proportion of the accumulating information. This new book represents an attempt to address this major problem by providing succinct syntheses ofall major aspects ofgold metallogeny and exploration, ranging from the chemical distribution of gold in the Earth's crust, and the hydrothermal chemistry of gold, to Archaean and Phanerozoic lode deposits, epithermal environments, chemical sediments, and placer deposits, and culminates in chapters devoted to geochemical and geophysical exploration, and the economics of gold deposits. Each chapter is written by geoscientists who are acknowledged internationally in their respective fields, thus guaranteeing a broad yet up-to-date coverage. In addition, each chapter is accompanied by reference lists which provide readers with access to the most pertinent and useful publications.

Distribution of gold in the Earth's crust.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 Gold in rock-forming minerals.- 1.3 Gold in igneous rocks.- 1.3.1 Introduction.- 1.3.2 General characteristics of gold distribution in the lithosphere.- 1.3.3 Gold abundance in mafic and ultramafic rocks.- 1.3.4 Gold in Precambrian rocks.- 1.3.5 Estimates of mantle gold abundance.- 1.3.6 Mafic volcanic rocks in non-orogenic environments.- 1.3.7 Mafic plutonic rocks in non-orogenic settings.- 1.3.8 Orogenic environments.- 1.4 Gold in sediments and sedimentary rocks.- 1.4.1 Introduction.- 1.4.2 Gold in sediments.- 1.4.3 Gold in clastic rocks.- 1.4.4 Gold in chemical sedimentary rocks.- 1.5 Gold in metamorphic rocks.- 1.5.1 Introduction.- 1.5.2 Regional metamorphism.- 1.5.3 Granitoid intrusions in metamorphic terranes.- 1.6 Concluding summary.- 1.7 Mineral data.- 1.7.1 Explanatory notes.- 1.7.2 The gold content of rock-forming minerals.- 1.7.3 The gold content of igneous rocks.- 1.7.4 The gold content of sediments and sedimentary rocks.- 1.7.5 The gold content of metamorphic rocks.- References.- The hydrothermal geochemistry of gold.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 The inorganic chemistry of gold.- 2.2.1 Oxidation states.- 2.2.2 Relativistic effects.- 2.2.3 Coordination chemistry of Au(I).- 2.3 Gold complexing in hydrothermal solutions.- 2.3.1 Which complexes are important?.- 2.3.2 Halide complexes of gold(I).- 2.3.3 Hydrolysis.- 2.3.4 Hydrosulphido and sulphido complexes.- 2.3.5 Additional sulphur-containing ligands.- 2.3.6 Other ligands.- 2.4 Gold deposition.- 2.4.1 Boiling.- 2.4.2 Precipitation on colloid and mineral surfaces.- 2.5 Summary.- References.- 3 Archaean lode gold deposits.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.1.1 Global distribution and economic significance.- 3.1.2 Genetic concepts.- 3.2 Nature of deposits.- 3.2.1 Introduction.- 3.2.2 Size and grade.- 3.2.3 Structural styles.- 3.2.4 Host rocks.- 3.2.5 Mineralization and wallrock alteration.- 3.2.6 Metal associations.- 3.3 Regional distribution.- 3.3.1 Heterogeneous distribution.- 3.3.2 Structural setting.- 3.3.3 Metamorphic setting.- 3.3.4 Spatial relationship to intrusive rocks.- 3.3.5 Timing of mineralization.- 3.3.6 Peak mineralization age.- 3.4 Constraints on genetic models.- 3.4.1 Introduction.- 3.4.2 Nature of ore fluids.- 3.4.3 Transport and deposition of gold.- 3.4.4 Fluid focusing.- 3.4.5 Source of fluid and ore components.- 3.5 Genetic models.- 3.6 Tectonic setting of gold mineralization.- 3.7 Potential exploration significance.- 3.8 Brief summary.- References.- 4 Phanerozoic gold deposits in tectonically active continental margins.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Distribution of Phanerozoic lode gold deposits in space and time.- 4.2.1 North America.- 4.2.2 South America.- 4.2.3 Australia New Zealand.- 4.2.4 Asia.- 4.2.5 Europe.- 4.2.6 Africa.- 4.3 Geological and geochemical characteristics.- 4.3.1 Host rocks.- 4.3.2 Structure.- 4.3.3 Ore morphology and textures.- 4.3.4 Mineralogy and paragenesis.- 4.3.5 Hydrothermal alteration.- 4.3.6 Elemental geochemistry and zoning.- 4.3.7 Fluid inclusions.- 4.3.8 Stable isotopes.- 4.3.9 Applications of Sr, Pb and Nd isotope ratios.- 4.4 Genetic models.- 4.5 Comparisons of Phanerozoic mesothermal deposits to other types of gold Mineralization.- 4.6 Conclusions.- References.- 5 Epithermal gold deposits in volcanic terranes.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Exploration case studies.- 5.2.1 Hishikari, Japan.- 5.2.2 Kelian, Kalimantan, Indonesia.- 5.2.3 Ladolam deposit, Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea.- 5.3 Environment of alteration and mineralization.- 5.3.1 Volcanic association.- 5.3.2 Structural controls.- 5.3.3 Wallrock alteration.- 5.3.4 Fluid inclusions and light stable isotopes.- 5.4 Active geothermal systems.- 5.5 Metal transport in epithermal systems.- 5.6 Physico-chemical conditions in the depositional regime.- 5.7 Epithermal deposits through geologic time.- 5.8 Exploration.- 5.9 Summary.- References.- 6 Intrusion-related gold deposits.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Geotectonic settings.- 6.3 Intrusion-hosted stockwork/disseminated deposits.- 6.3.1 Porphyry deposits.- 6.3.2 Other intrusion-hosted stockwork/disseminated deposits.- 6.4 Deposits in carbonate rocks.- 6.4.1 Skarn deposits.- 6.4.2 Carbonate-replacement deposits.- 6.5 Stockwork, disseminated and replacement deposits in non-carbonate rocks.- 6.6 Breccia-hosted deposits.- 6.7 Vein-type deposits.- 6.8 Deposit interrelationships and metal zoning.- 6.9 Genetic considerations.- 6.9.1 Magma type.- 6.9.2 Ore formation.- 6.10 Possible relationships with other gold deposit types.- 6.10.1 Epithermal deposits.- 6.10.2 Sediment-hosted deposits.- 6.10.3 Mother Lode-type deposits.- 6.11 Concluding remarks.- References.- 7 The geology and origin of Carlin-type gold deposits.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 Classification of Carlin-type deposits.- 7.2.1 A historical perspective.- 7.2.2 Current perspectives.- 7.2.3 Relationship of Carlin-type deposits to polymetallic replacements.- 7.3 Regional geological and tectonic setting.- 7.3.1 Regional geological and tectonic setting in North America.- 7.3.2 Magmatism in western North America.- 7.3.3 Regional geological, tectonic, and magmatic settings in south-eastern China.- 7.4 Characteristics of the deposits.- 7.4.1 Nature of the host rocks.- 7.4.2 Structural setting of the deposits.- 7.4.3 Associated igneous rocks.- 7.4.4 Geochronology of the deposits.- 7.4.5 Alteration and metallization.- 7.4.6 Geochemistry of the deposits.- 7.4.7 Geophysical studies.- 7.4.8 Sizes, shapes, and grades of deposits.- 7.5 Ore deposit models.- 7.5.1 Published models.- 7.5.2 A speculative model.- 7.6 Exploration guidelines.- 7.7 Summary.- References.- 8 Auriferous hydrothermal precipitates on the modern seafloor.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 Gold in seafloor polymetallic sulphide deposits.- 8.2.1 Mid-ocean ridges.- 8.2.2 Seamounts.- 8.2.3 Island-arc settings.- 8.2.4 Sedimented-rift environments.- 8.3 Mineralogy and geochemistry of gold in seafloor hydrothermal systems.- 8.4 Gold in sub-seafloor stockwork mineralization.- 8.5 Gold in hydrothermal plumes and associated metalliferous sediments.- 8.6 Transport and deposition of gold in seafloor hydrothermal systems.- 8.6.1 The chemistry of seafloor hydrothermal fluids in volcanic environments.- 8.6.2 The chemistry of seafloor hydrothermal fluids in sedimentary environments.- 8.6.3 The solubility of gold in seafloor hydrothermal fluids.- 8.6.4 The flux of gold in seafloor hydroth…