Micro-PIXE analysis of varied sulfide populations from the Ventersdorp Contact Reef, Witwatersrand basin, South Africa

Micro-PIXE spot analysis and true elemental imaging of pyrrhotite and pyrite crystals from the Ventersdorp Contact Reef (VCR) of the Witwatersrand basin, the world's most important gold resource, are reported. The objective was to evaluate the use of this technique with regard to its analytical resolution concerning the detection limits for the elements encountered in these samples and their spatial distribution. Furthermore, this project was designed to identify chemical signatures characteristic for particular textural types of VCR sulfides. Micro-PIXE is indeed a highly useful technique for the analysis of such materials and provided results that could not be obtained by optical and SEM microscopy and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). Micro-inclusions could be made visible through elemental area scanning. Chemical zonation in the interior of apparently homogeneous grains was detected, which has obvious implications for the interpretation of the multi-stage evolution of Witwatersrand mineralization. The available data do not yet allow unambiguous chemical classification of different sulfide types (generations), but a distinct late growth of As-enriched sulfide was detected. These late overgrowths may be enriched in Ni or not. No unambiguous relation between As and Au could be observed in these samples. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.