The Salobo 3A area. in Serra dos Carajás in the State of Pará belongs to an elongated range. according to the WNW-E SE direction. of Archean age, which borders the northern flank of the Carajás syncline. This area has been the subject of several studies, with the aim of prospecting and extracting copper ores and using their by-products. The aim of this work is to investigate the distribution of gold in soils in the area of the Salobo 3A copper sulphide deposit. Eighteen samples were collected in horizontal and vertical profiles next to gallery G1 and another sixteen from wells PA-O8 and PA-23. Soil gold concentrations were determined according to the sequential partial opening of Gatehouse et al. (1977), which was supplemented by organic extraction. due to the low concentrations of this metal in soils. The phases considered separately were iron and manganese oxides and hydroxides (amorphous and crystalline), organic matter and clay mineral silicates and quartz. A particle size fraction < 120 mesh was chosen. to avoid the presence of larger metallic gold particles. In addition to sequential analysis. another 5 grams of the same sample were etched with HF+HCl04 and another 5 grams with HF+HCl04 followed by etching with aqua regia (Au-total). All results were compared with those obtained by the instrumental neutron activation analysis and with DOCEGEO analyzes performed through the aqua regia aperture. The main objective of this work is to show the suitability of sequential analyzes for gold in soils and, through the results obtained for the studied phases, to deepen the knowledge about the behavior of gold in a supergenic environment. Of these, it is worth noting the good correlation between the gold concentration determined in the organic matter and the Au-total concentration in the soil (or even only with aqua regia, or with values obtained by INAA). The study of the amount of organic matter related to the gold adsorbed on it seems to be in agreement with the mechanisms of mobility and transport of gold in a supergenic environment known so far. From the analyzes carried out, it is concluded that, in general, little gold is found in the native state, if the concentrations obtained by the partial extractions are compared with the Au-total concentration of the samples. This element is preferentially found in silicates (clay minerals and quartz), in organic matter and in goethite (in smaller amounts).
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