Quick
Search: 		  
advanced search
 GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help 
Elements Don't get GSW? Talk to your librarian.
JOURNAL HOME HELP CONTACT PUBLISHER SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Elements; October 2009; v. 5; no. 5; p. 281-287; DOI: 10.2113/gselements.5.5.281
© 2009 Mineralogical Society of America
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Williams-Jones, A. E.
Right arrow Articles by Migdisov, A. A.

Gold in Solution

Anthony E. Williams-Jones1, Robert J. Bowell2 and Artashes A. Migdisov1

1 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University
3450 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2A7, Canada
Corresponding author: Anthony.Williams-Jones{at}mcgill.ca
2 SRK Consulting, Churchill House, Churchill Way
Cardiff CF10 2HH, Wales, UK

Although gold is a noble metal and is effectively insoluble even in strong acids, we have known for nearly 500 years that it can be concentrated to mineable levels by being transported as dissolved species in crustal fluids (indeed, most economic gold deposits owe their origin to this mode of transport). From alchemy and later experimental chemistry and geochemistry, we have developed an understanding of the solubility and speciation of gold in aqueous liquids and other crustal fluids. This knowledge informs us about the processes that promote the transport of gold in the Earth's crust, result in exploitable gold deposits and lead to the remobilization of gold in the surficial environment.

KEYWORDS: gold, solubility, hydrothermal fluids, petroleum, supergene




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 ELEMENTSHome page
C. R. M. Butt and R. M. Hough
Why Gold is Valuable
Elements, October 1, 2009; 5(5): 277 - 280.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ELEMENTSHome page
R. M. Tosdal, J. H. Dilles, and D. R. Cooke
From Source to Sinks in Auriferous Magmatic-Hydrothermal Porphyry and Epithermal Deposits
Elements, October 1, 2009; 5(5): 289 - 295.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ELEMENTSHome page
G. Southam, M. F. Lengke, L. Fairbrother, and F. Reith
The Biogeochemistry of Gold
Elements, October 1, 2009; 5(5): 303 - 307.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ELEMENTSHome page
C. M. Cobley and Y. Xia
Gold and Nanotechnology
Elements, October 1, 2009; 5(5): 309 - 313.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


JOURNAL HOME HELP CONTACT PUBLISHER SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2009 by Mineralogical Society of America