DETERMINATION OF THE 3-DIMENSIONAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF PRECIOUS METALS IN SULFIDE MINERALS BY LASER-ABLATION MICROPROBE-INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY (LAMP-ICP-MS)

Precious metals are of great financial importance and the form of thei r occurrence will dictate the economics of their recovery from ore. It has been postulated that ''invisible'' gold in sulphides occurs in so lid solution, as particulates, or associated with micro-inclusions of other minerals in the host. This study applied the high spatial resolu tion (<20 mu m) and high sensitivity (sub-mu g g(-1) detection limits) of the laser ablation microprobe-inductively coupled plasma-mass spec trometer to identify both the form and concentration of gold in sulphi des. Data are presented demonstrating the three-dimensional distributi on of gold in minerals from Hemlo, Ontario, Canada, and Penjom Prospec t, Kuala Lipis, Malaysia. Gold at mu g g(-1) levels was determined and , through its correlation with other trace elements, identified as eit her particulates or associated with micro-inclusions.