School of Geology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Environ Monit Assess. 2018 Nov 19;190(12):734. doi: 10.1007/s10661-018-7103-7.
Muteh Gold Deposit is the biggest active gold district in Iran consisting of two mines, Senjedeh and Chah-Khatoun, and seven mineral occurrences. Senjedeh has been mined about 20 years ago and was recently closed because of the depletion of the reserves. Chah-Khatoun went into operation few years ago. During the previous decades, more than 22 Mt of low-grade wastes has been produced from both mines. The wastes are assumed to be a possible source of gold, especially with recent increase in the world gold prices. In this research, 62 surface and subsurface samples were taken from four waste dumps in Senjedeh and two dumps in Chah-Khatoun mines. The optical mineralogy, XRD, ICP-MS analysis, SEM, and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) studies were carried out to investigate the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the waste rocks. In addition to identification of major and minor primary and secondary phases, the mode of occurrence of minerals and also the content of precious and economic elements have been studied. The main opaque mineral was found to be pyrite. Among the economic elements, Au was recognized in the pyrite lattice as well as electrum. The Au grades are higher than 0.5 mg/kg in some waste piles. Zinc and Cu revealed concentrations above 5000 and about 1400 mg/kg, respectively. It is for the first time that electrum is reported in Muteh. Therefore, regarding the economically recoverable content of Au, the studied waste rocks may be considered as potential ores of coming years. Among the environmentally significant elements, As showed concentrations of up to 25 mg/kg which may be of pollution concerns.
muteh 金矿是伊朗最大的活性金矿矿区，由两个矿山（senjedeh 和 chah-khatoun）和七个矿点组成。senjedeh 矿大约在 20 年前开始开采，最近由于储量枯竭而关闭。chah-khatoun 矿几年前开始运营。在过去的几十年里，两个矿山已经产生了超过 2200 万吨的低品位废物。这些废物被认为是金矿的潜在来源，特别是在最近全球金价上涨的情况下。在这项研究中，从 senjedeh 的四个废物堆和 chah-khatoun 矿山的两个废物堆中采集了 62 个地表和地下样本。进行了光学矿物学、XRD、ICP-MS 分析、SEM 和电子探针微分析（EPMA）研究，以调查废石的矿物学和地球化学特征。除了鉴定主要和次要的原生和次生相外，还研究了矿物的赋存方式以及贵金属和经济元素的含量。主要的不透明矿物是黄铁矿。在经济元素中，金被发现在黄铁矿晶格中以及银金矿中。在一些废物堆中，金品位高于 0.5mg/kg。锌和铜的浓度分别高于 5000 和 1400mg/kg。这是 muteh 首次报道银金矿。因此，就可回收金的经济含量而言，研究的废石在未来几年可能被视为潜在的矿石。在环境意义重大的元素中，砷的浓度高达 25mg/kg，可能引起污染关注。
