Direct dating of gold by radiogenic helium: Testing the method on gold from Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil
New analytical developments have made radiogenic helium ( 4 He) applicable to archeological gold artifacts for age determinations. Here we report the application of the U/Th– 4 He method to the direct dating of gold from the historically important gold deposit in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The U/Th– 4 He age of 515 ± 55 Ma for the Diamantina gold is corroborated by a new U/Pb age of 524 ± 16 Ma for rutile recovered from auriferous pockets. These ages tie the Diamantina gold mineralization to the Brasiliano orogenic event, in the context of the Gondwana amalgamation. Our results indicate that U/Th– 4 He dating of gold is possible, opening new perspectives for the dating of gold deposi…
Palaeozoic arc magmatism in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt of Kazakhstan: SHRIMP zircon ages and whole-rock Nd isotopic systematics
Abstract Early Palaeozoic tonalite to granodiorite intrusions in northern Kazakhstan are associated with lode gold mineralization and have SHRIMP zircon ages of 457.3 ± 6.6 Ma (Aksu), 452.9 ± 5.6 Ma and 447.4 ± 5.4 Ma (both Zholymbet). The Stepnyak intrusion contains large xenoliths with an age of 480.6 ± 5.0 Ma. One early Palaeozoic zircon from a porphyritic diorite at Stepnyak has a core with a near-concordant 207Pb/206Pb age of 3888 ± 1.5 Ma, whereas other xenocrystic grains are between 983 and 2698 Ma old. The early Archaean age is probably inherited from unexposed basement of the Kokchetav Massif and represents the oldest crustal material so far known from the Asian continent. It appea…