ECONOMIC GEOLOGY

-ANDTIlE

BULLETIN OF THE SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS

VOL. 79 MARCH-APRIL, 1984 No. 2

Zoning in PreciousMetal Distribution within BaseMetal Sulfides:A New

Lithologic Approach Using Generalized Inverse Methods
GEORGEH BRIMHALL,JR., ARIC B. CUNNINGHAM,AND ROGERSTOFFREGEN
Departmentof Geologyand Geophysics,
Universityof California, Berkeley,California 94720

Abstract

Concentrationof minorandtraceelementsin hostmineralphaseshasbeen estimatedusing

a new approachwhich avoidsdifficultiesin the direct analysisof complexlyintergrownores
usingexistingtechniques,suchas neutron activationof grain concentratesof only limited
purity, or the relativelyhigh detectionlimit of the electronmicroprobe.In contrast,the new
methodutilizesa generalrelationshipbetweenwhole-rockcomposition,i.e., gold or silver
assays, mineralabundance,and mineralcomposition.Assuminglimited compositional variation
overrelativelyshortdistances in individualdrill holeintervals,leastsquares
regressionprovides
a bestfit of mineralcomposition to systems of linearmassbalanceequationsrelatingwhole-
rockassays to mineralabundance. Matrixalgebraicmethodsusingsingularvaluedecomposition
havebeen appliedto over 1,000 compositesamplesin the Butte districtof Montana.Main
Stagezonationpatternsof gold distributionin sulfidesare shownto be essentiallyidentical
to thatof silverin the centralpartof the district.Bothzoningpatternsareapparentlycontrolled
by steep faults related to late-stageporphyry intrusionsresponsiblefor Main Stagevein
formationandacidsulfatealteration.In a narrow,steeplydippingzonebetweenthesefaults
silver and gold are concentratedonly in chalcocite,digenite, and pyrite to a depth of over
4,000 ft below the supergenechalcociteenrichmentblanket.Flankingthis zone precious
metalsare hostedin a sulfideassemblage of bornite-chalcopyrite-pyrite which is underlain
by a fiat-lyingzone of apparentlyauriferoussphalerite.Mineral texturesand abundances
showlate hypogenereplacementof chalcopyriteby digenite and chalcocitebetween the
fault structures.Maximumestimatedpreciousmetal contentsin sulfideswithin the zoning
patterns describedin parts per million are: chalcocite-digenite,926 ppm Ag, 5 ppm Au;
bornitc, 1,075 ppm Ag, 3 ppm Au; chalcopyrite,211 ppm Ag, 2 ppm Au; pyrite, 9 ppm Ag,
0.3 ppm Au. Locally,andwith significantlygreateruncertainties,covelliteappearsto contain
up to 10,000 ppm Ag (1 wt %), and enargite-tennantitecontainsup to 1,700 ppm Ag.

Introduction indicaterelativelyhighvaluesin sulfidesin compar-

SILVERand gold as minor constituentsin minerals ison to other groupsof minerals.In this studywe
have been studied extensively(Boyle, 1979; Jones developa new methodof quantitativelyestimating
remain trace elementcontentsof minerals,includingsilver
andFleischer,1969), but importantquestions
concerninggeochemicalfactorswhich controltheir and gold in surfides,in a mannerwhich eliminates
partitioningamongphasesduringvariousore-forming many of the existinganalyticproblemsby incorpo-
processes.Not only do majoranalyticdifficultiesarise rating quantitative modal data. Application of the
in suchtrace elementanalysesof texturallycomplex methodto oresfromthe Butte district,Montana,pro-
ores,but there is alsoan unfortunateinsufficiencyof vides a necessarytest of the techniqueand defines
pertinent chemicalthermodynamicdata. In the ab- the preciousmetal distributionpattern in the area
senceof mixingpropertiesof preciousmetalsin host studied.Furthermore, this applicationofferscritical
phases,detailed geochemicalinterpretationof any insightinto formulationof future hydrothermalex-
availablecompositional informationisdifficult.Sulfide perimentsof maximumutility in generatingrelevant
hostmineralsare of criticalimportancein thisregard mixingmodelsof gold and silverin equilibriumbase
asexistingdataon preciousmetalconcentration levels metal sulfideassemblages.

0361-0128/84/271/209-18$2.50 209
210 BRIMHALL, CUNNINGHAM, AND STOFFREGEN

We are concernedprimarily in this studyof the model for the polymetallicvein systemsin the Pyr-
Butte district with determination of vertical and lateral amid district of Nevada.
variationin gold-silvermineralphasesandtheir com- Optimal evaluationof thesehypothesesrequires
position,and we focuson gainingunderstanding of deepexploratorydrillingof epithermaldeposits below
the emplacementmechanisms of theseelementsinto the stoppingor apparent ore-bottomingsurfaces
the district.Althoughempiricalrelationships between whichare themselvesoftenbasedlargelyon limiting
preciousmetal abundanceand copper assaygrades economicfactorsinsteadof conclusivephysicalevi-
havebeenrecognizedfor manyyearsand are known dence indicatingdownwardreduction in fluid cir-
to vary substantiallyfrom mine to mine within the culation.The possibilityexists,therefore, of deeper
district, little progresshas been made toward un- base metal mineralizationoccurringalong the same
derstanding the mineralogicandcompositionalcauses structures below a barren vein interval. Even without
of the apparentlyhigh, thoughvariable,correlation such definitive drilling penetrationsdown through
between precious and base metals. A spectrumin epithermal systems,it is possible,nevertheless,to
preciousmetal abundancehasalsobeen recognized testthe proposedhypothesis indirectly.Zoningchar-
from trace cluantitiesassociatedwith basemetal host acteristics
in preciousmetalswithindeepvein systems
phasesin Main Stageveinsin the main part of the may be usedin upward projectionsand interpreta-
districtto high-gradesilver-zincmineralizationnear tionsof possiblepreerosionnear-surface deposits.
the peripherycontainingrecognizablesilver-rich
mineralssuchas argentitc (acanthite),stromeyerite, AnalyticMethod
tetrahedrite,proustRe,andpyrargyrite(Guilbert and With the availabilityof highlyaccuratemodaldata
Zeihen, 1964). on ores(Brimhall,1979; Brimhallet al., 1980; G. H
This lateral zonationfrom central copper to pe- Brimhall,Jr., J. G. Burns,andM. L. Rivers,in prep.)
ripheral silver-rich zinc mineralization, in addition it hasbecomepossiblein this studyto expressquan-
to the originalgold placerdiscoveryof the district titativelya generalelementdistributionrelationship
itself,suggests anupwardaswell asoutwardtransition betweenwhole-rock composition,mineralabundance,
to increasedpreciousmetal concentration.Previous andmineralcomposition. Quite simply,this canbe
studieshave shownthat the high-gradeButte vein statedthat the amount(massor weightpercent)of
systemis a late-stagehydrothermaleffect (Meyer et a givenmetalin a rock,e.g.,gold,is the sumof the
al., 1968) and is apparentlythe result of an upward amountof that elementin eachof the mineralphases
and outward copper redistributionfrom an earlier comprisingthe rock. Usingmineral separationon a
subsurfaceporphyry copper-molybdenumprotore weightpercentbasisthe productof the weightper-
(Brimhall, 1979). During this remobilizationevent, cent of a givenmineralin a rock multipliedby the
circulationof meteoricfluidsdriven by a youngin- weightpercentof the metalin that mineraltimesa
trusivesystemwasprobablyalsoresponsible for large- factorof0.01 givestherockcontribution ofthemetal
scale introduction of sulfur and arsenic into the district of interestfor that mineral. Individual productsof
(Brimhall,1979, 1980). The ultimate result of the weightpercentsmultipliedby mineralcomposition
late-stagemodificationof the protorewasto enlarge for eachphasepresentin the rocksumto the whole-
the system,both vertically and laterally, to several rockcontentof themetalin question. Thisrelationship
times its original dimensionsand thus to produce maybe expressed asin equation(1), whereWij rep-
alteration and mineralization effects in the form of resentstheweightpercentof mineralj in a rocksam-
high-gradeveinsandconcentricalterationhaloswhich ple i, Mjkrepresents
theweightpercentof metalk
extendwell beyondandaboveanyrecognizableman- in mineralj, Rikis the whole-rockassayor concen-
ifestation of the earlier fracture-controlled trationof metal k, in rock i, and n is the numberof
dissemi-
natedsulfideprotore of porphyrycoppercharacter. mineralscontainingmetal j:
This geometricvein pattern, in additionto late-stage j:.

metasomatismby young intrusions,suggests(Brim- 0.01 •] WijMjk= Rik. (1)

hall, 1980;BrimhallandGhiorso,1983) thepossibility j=l

that epithermal preciousmetal vein mineralization Thisrelationshipcanbe usedto solvefor the com-
elsewhere,particularly systemswith the advanced positionof mineralsonceabundance dataonminerals
argillic (high sulfur fugacity)alterationassemblage, and metals in rocks are available. Although the
may possiblyrepresentnear-surfacemanifestations methodis indirectanalytically,the relationshipused
of a mineralizedcomplexcomposedof deeperbase isrigorous andprovidesaccurateresultsfortheprob-
metal vein mineralizationand underlyingporphyry- lem at hand, i.e., district scaledeterminationof host
related protore. Wallace (1979) proposeda similar mineralcomposition, which,usingdirect analytical
 ZONING IN PRECIOUSMETAL DISTRIBUTION 211

techniques,e.g., electronmicroprobegold analysis, compositions, i.e., coppercontents,which vary only

wouldbe prohibitivelyexpensiveandimpracticalbe- slightlyfrom34.63 and63.31 weightpercentcopper,
causeof the numberof samplesrequiredandthe limit respectively.
of detectionfor gold. It is important,however, to Now supposewe insteadallow the coppercontent
keep in mind a basicpremisein developmentof this ofbornite andchalcopyriteto be the unknowns,i.e.,
new method, i.e., that whole-rock determinations of M•,,,½u
and Mop,Ca,
and the total weightpercentof
metal abundanceand mineralabundancemay be ac- copper in the rock to be a known quantity, Ri,½u,
curatelyobtained. alongwith the knownweightpercentsofbornite and
Depending on the element, whole-rock metal chalcopyrite in therock,Wi,•,,andWi,cp , respectively.
abundancemay now be determined with standard In order to solvefor the copper content of chalco-
fire-assayingproceduresandelectronicmicrobalances pyrite and bornitc, one would need a secondrock
with reasonable accuracydownto the rangeof 6 to analysiswith a differentchalcopyrite/borniteratio in
8 ppb. Microscopicopticalmodalanalysis usingheavy which these two phaseswere the sole contributors
liquidseparation methodsoncarefullysplitcomposite to the whole-rockcoppercontent.For example,as-
sampleassaypulps offersa meansof concentrating sume a secondrock (II) contained 5 percent chal-
densegrainsthat are minor phasesin the rock but copyrite and 7 percent bornitc with a whole-rock
thatbecomemajorphaseswithin a givendensitycon- copperassayof 6.16 percent Cu. Each rock in this
centrate;this methodthereby reducesmodalerrors samplecasemakesit possibleto formulateequation
correspondingly.Optical determinationof mineral (1) in two unknowns,i.e., the coppercontentin chal-
abundancein reflectedor transmittedlight permits copyrite(x) andbornitc (y). From case(I) we seethat
modal analysisof even fine-grainedintergrowths, 0.2x + 0.5y = 10.09, and from case(II) we seethat
thereby eliminatingthe necessityof making pure 0.05x + 0.07y = 6.16. Solvingthesetwo equations
mineral separatesrequired by existingbulk analysis simultaneously givesus back, of course,x = 34.6
methods(Jonesand Fleischer, 1969). The method percent Cu for chalcopyriteand y = 63.3 percent
developedin thisstudyis similarin somerespectsto Cu for bornitc.
previouswork in that chemicalanalyses are combined This trivial exampleis used only to demonstrate
with modaldata (Cuddyand Kesler, 1982; Hodgson the followingcriticalpoint. Were the secondcasea
et al., 1982). Our method, in contrast,provides a linear combination,i.e., multiple of (I), with the same
formal statementof massbalanceof preciousmetals ratio of chalcopyriteto bornitc,the problemwould
between individual minerals and each whole rock. It degenerateto only one independentequationand
is thereforesignificantlydifferentfrom simplemul- could therefore not be solved for lack of sufficient
tiple regressionin which there may be no guiding informationand necessaryconstraints.It is essential,
principleto constrainthe regression. Insteadof using therefore,that in extendingthis methodto the de-
whole-rockassays, it wouldbe possibleto useassays terminationof natural mineral compositions, which
of the densegrainconcentrates in thisanalysis.How- may in fact vary, that additionalrock analysesbe
ever, in the interest of usingavailabledata, whole- obtainedwhichcovera broadspectrumin bothwhole-
rock assayssufficeperfectly well. rock metal abundance and relative mineral abundance
aswell. In essence,then,the methodis a rathersimple
Example inversionof a commonmental calculationperformed
Althoughwe are concernedwith the distribution to estimatethe rock contentof a given metal. We
of preciousmetalsamongminerals,a simpleexample simplyinvertthe problemby usinga numberof sam-
usingCu-Fe sulfideswill illustratethe utility of the plesandtheir corresponding mineralabundances and
approachand the meaningof equation(1) in a way assays to solvefor their mineralcompositions.
familiarto mostreaders.Considera simpleexample: The extension of this method to determination of
a rock (I) containing20 weight percentchalcopyrite the precious metal contentof mineralsis slightlymore
(34.63% Cu) and 5 percent bornitc (63.31% Cu), complicatedthan is the casefor basemetals;for the
andlackinganyothercopperminerals,contains10.09 former,assays arecommonlyreported--in the United
percentCu. Usingequation(1) we seethat 0.01 (20.0 States,at least--in troy ouncesper shortton, where
X 34.63 + 5.0 X 63.31) = 10.09 percent Cu in the 1.0 troy oz equals31.1 g. Conversionto a weight
rock. This exampleis a clear caseof the individual percentbasisis asfollows:1.0 troy oz per shortton
contributionsof each type of mineral to the whole- is 31.1 g X 100 dividedby 9.072 X 105g per short
rock metal grade which is a relationshipcommonly ton, or 0.0034 weight percent, which is 34 ppm.
usedto estimatevisuallythe metalgrade.It is simple Equation(1) maythenbe rewrittenas(2) for precious
in that chalcopyriteand bornitc are mineralswith metals as
212 BRIMHALL,CUNNINGHAM,AND STOFFREGEN
0.01 •] WijMjk= Rik(in troyoz per ton)
j=l
x 0.0034 wt % (2)
troy oz per ton
294.0 ' the problemin the caseof gold appearas equation
or, dividingthroughby 0.01 gives
-- --
•] WijMjk 2.94troy oz/shortton of metalk. (3)
j=l
Mathematical Formulation and
Numerical Methods
Usingthe methodpreviouslydescribedin the ex-
ample for copper, it can easilybe seenthat through
analysisof a numberof samplesfrom a givenregion,
the compositionof the phasesin questionmay be
determinedby solvingsimultaneous linear equations,
with one equation for each samplein as many un-
knownsas there are mineralswhich might contain
preciousmetals. The only principle used is that of
conservationof mass,i.e., the metal content in all of
the mineral phasesmust sum to the metal content of
the rock. It is importantto realize, however, that a
numberof assumptions are made in introducingad-
ditional rock samplesfrom a given region into the
analysis.Theseassumptions will be discussed in detail
in a geologiccontextin a subsequentsectionof this
paper. In general, however, the linear summations
expressedfor a given singlesampleby either (1) for
base metalsor (3) for preciousmetals may be gen-
eralized using matrix notation. A given problem or
matrix representingthe problem, then, consistsof a
setof datafromrockanalysis on samples. In thisstudy,
setsof consecutivedrill samples,i.e., a groupof drill-
ing composites for whichwhole-rockassaydataexist
alongwith corresonding mineralabundancedata,are
availableand are usedin settingup eachmatrixequa-
tion. For the group of samplestreated together, the
major assumptionis that the mineral compositions,
in termsof true metalconcentrations,
Mjk, are es- WllM1 Auq- Wl2Ma ^u + W13M3 Auq- W14M4 Au
sentiallyconstantwithin mineralsfor that one region
from which the samplesare derived, e.g., a 600-ft
interval in a drill hole.
The matrixelementsmaybe generalizedasfollows.
Consideroresfrom the mainpart of the Butte district
in which the major sulfidesare chalcocite-digenite
(j = 1), bornitc (j = 2), covellite (j = 3), sphalerite
(j = 4), enargite-tennantite(j = 5), pyrite (j = 6),
andchalcopyrite(j = 7), any of whichmightcontain
preciousmetals.In this discussionwe are grouping
chalcocite,togetherwith digeniteand enargite,with
tennantitefor reasonsof conveniencein limiting the
numberof mineralphasesin a problemto a maximum
of seven.Other phasessuspected
of containingpre-
ciousmetals may be included and tested in a sub-
sequentanalysis.It is necessary,however,that even-
tually all phaseswhich indicate the presenceof a
metal of interestbe treated simultaneously in order
to compute accuratecompositions.The matricesfor
(4), where each row, i.e., horizontal line, is for a
given sample:
Wll W12 W13 W14 W15 W16 W17
W21 W27
W31 W37
•f•nl Wn2Wn3Wn4
øøø Wn7
M1 gold R1gold
Ms gold R2gold
X M3.gol
d --• R3.gol
d . (4)
M7gold Rngold
The numberof rows (n, samples)in the matrix of
Wi• mustbe greaterthan the numberof columns
(minerals).Similarly,the lengthof the columnvector
forM•kislessthanthatof thecolumnvectorRik.Wll
is the weight of chalcociteplus digenite in the first
sample(i = 1), Wi2 is the weight of bornitc in the
first sample,etc. The matrixproblemmaybe simply
written asequation(5), where for preciousmetal as-
saysreportedin troy ouncesper shortton, R is equal
to troy ouncesper shortton dividedby 2.94, or for
base metals reported in weight percent, R is equal
to percent metal times 100.0:
WM: (5)
For samplesfor which mineral compositionis con-
stant,the matrix multiplicationis easilyillustrated,
asshownby equation(6), where i = 1 (sample1) and
the elementof interestis gold:
+ W•sM5 ^u+ WlaMa ^u + W17M7Au= R• ^u- (6)
The secondsample,i = 2 is given by equation(7),
and soon down to the last sampleconsideredaspart
of a samplesuite of i = n samples.
W21M1 Au q- WaaMa Au + W23M3 Au q- W24M4 Au
+ W25MsAu+ W26M6Auq- W27M7Au----R• Au- (7)
Keepingin mind that the matrix, W, is composedof
weight percent informationfor each mineral phase
and that the elementsin R are rock assays,equations
suchas (6) and (7), numberingn in total, may be
 ZONING IN PRECIOUS METAL DISTRIBUTION 215

solved simultaneouslyfor values of M. In classical plication of numerical methods from matrix inverse
algebraicnotation(Noble and Daniel, 1977), the theory developedquite recentlyin geophysicalap-
equationsare represented in the form of AX • B plications(Lawsonand Hanson,1974) and brought
instead of WM -• R, where X is the solution vector to the attentionof the authorsby LaneJohnson (pers.
of unknowns. The approximately equalsignappears commun.).Briefly,the problemis oneof contending
in the equationsbecauseerrors are present, either with real data with finite errors, not idealized exact
causedby analytic uncertaintiesin mineral abun- equationsof formalmathematics. The equations,like
dancesand, assays, or by variationsin mineralcom- many in earth sciences,are poorly conditioned,i.e.,
positionover the distancefrom which the drilling inexact,under- or overdetermined,in that there may
samplesare derived.In essencethe equationsrep- be fewer or more equationsthanunknowns,andrank
resenta best fit of mineralcompositionto available deficientaswell, and not all the parametersmay be
assayand mineral abundancedata. independent.
Successful
application of inversetheoryandrelated
Assumptionsand Limitations in the Method advanced numerical methods has been made fre-
In general,W is a j X n matrix of mineral weight quentlyin seismologyand geophysics in recentyears
percent data where i is the number of samplesand (Backusand Guilbert, 1967, 1968, 1970; Jackson,
j is the numberof mineralsthoughtto containa metal 1972; Jordan, 1973; Le Mauel et al., 1975). These
under consideration.Obviously,if a mineralcontain- approachesremain to be utilized, however, to their
ing gold, for example,is omitted from consideration, fullestpotentialin geologyand geochemistry,except
the method will produce unreliable results. M is a for a few pioneeringstudiesby Minsteret al. (1977)
columnvector of mineral compositionsof length n, on trace element behavior in igneous processes,
including in a proper formulation all the minerals Minsteret al., (1974) on plate tectonics,andGhiorso
containingthe trace metal under consideration.It is et al. (in press)on solutionpropertiesof silicateliq-
possiblethat problemsmay arise from variation in uids.The presentpaper showshow matrix methods
compositionof a givenmineralowingto rapid spatial canbe successfully appliedto trace element analysis
variationover the intervaldefiningthe groupof sam- in oresand providesa generaltechniquefor future
ples,multiplestagesof a givenmineralwith different usein petrologyand geochemistry.
compositions,or crystalswhich are stronglyzoned. The method used in determinationof precious
Theseproblemsof disequilibriumor inhomogeneity metalcontentsin thisstudyusingmassbalanceis one
will be discussed in more detail below. As mentioned of regression,i.e., findingthe best fit to a set of real
previouslyin the exampleof copper ore (II), addi- data using linear least squarestechniques(Lawson
tional linear equationsresulting from each sample and Hanson, 1974). The residualvector, r, for a set
consideredshouldbe independent,i.e., not a simple of datawhere r is givenby equation(8) is minimized
multiple of a previous equation, but a linear com- by multiplyingr by itstranspose (rT), asin equation
bination. Should such a condition exist, then addi- (9). We will now use the commonnotationof AX
tional independent equationsare required to limit --- B for our specificproblem WM = R:
the problemsufficiently to resultin a reliablesolution.
In order to avoid this problem, we have analyzed and B = AX + r (8)
suitesof up to 25 samples,a numberwhichis usually
enoughto overcomethe problemof linear indepen- S = rTr = (B - AX)T(B- AX). (9)
dence of up to sevenvariablesgiving an accurate DifferentiatingS with respectto X to minimizer and
solution to the number of unknowns in which we are settingthe resultantequationsequal to zero to find
interested.Should,however, too many samplesbe the minima in S gives equation (10), which is the
includedin a given suite, excessivelylong drill hole equationthat is actuallysolvedto find valuesof X,
intervalsmaybe considered overwhichmineralcom- i.e., mineral composition.
positionsvary significantly within that lengthof drill
hole. An additional limitation of the method is that ATAX= ATB. (10)
it givesthe identity of the phasewith which metals
This equationmay be solvedby a number of gen-
are associated but does not indicate whether the met-
als occur in solid solution,along cracksor grain eralizedinversemethodsby evaluatingX asgivenin
boundaries,or in defectsin a givenphase. equation (11), where A* refers to any of a whole
group of possiblematrix inversions:
Solutionto Matrix Equations
X: AøB. (11)
The matrix equationsresultingfrom lithologic
(modaland assay)analysisof orespresentsomedif- It is commonpracticewith exactmathematicalprob-
ficultieswhichhavenowbeenovercomethroughap- lems,in contrastto real, poorlyconditionedequations
214 BRIMHALL,CUNNINGHAM,
AND STOFFREGEN

/ r --'--::.

!
/ /
//
/
 ZONING IN PRECIOUS METAL DISTRIB•ION 215

usinggeologicdata,to solveequation(10) by directly sionalgeologicbasewhich includesintrusiverock

takingthe inverseof ATA, as in equation(12), al- types,structure,hydrothermalmineralization,alter-
thoughsubstantialnumericalerrorsmay result: ationpatterns,geochronology,and geochemicalevo-
lution (Meyer et al., 1968; Miller et al., 1973; Brim-
X: (ATA)-IATB. (12) hall, 1979, 1980; Brimhall and Ghiorso, 1983). On
However, for the real data arraysof this problem, the basisof existingknowledgeof district geology,
thisparticularinversemethodfails.Fortunatelya new the preciousmetal contentsof sulfidescan be gen-
inversemethodreferredto assingularvaluedecom- erally interpretedin termsof controllingfactorssuch
positionhasbeen developedwhich allowsrigorous as stageof mineralizationand associatedalteration
algebraicsolutionof the problemasdescribedin No- patterns,makingit possibleto deducethe localsource
ble andDaniel(1977). The appendixcontainsdetails of gold and silver.
of the numerical method as discussed and how it dif-
fersfrom simplemultipleregression.
Usingcompre- General Results
hensiveFortrancomputersubroutines givenin Law-
son and Hanson(1974) and M. S. Ghiorso(unpub. The mineralsinvestigatedfor their goldandsilver
ms.), we have utilized singularvalue decomposition content, in additionto thosementionedpreviously,
methodson a matrix equation, CX -- D, which is i.e., chalcocite-digenite, bornitc,covellite,sphalerite,
equivalentto equation(10), whereC = ATAandD enargite-tennantite, pyrite, and chalcopyrite, are
-- ATB,andwehavealsouseda numberof orthogonal molybdenite,magnetite,hematite,quartz,biotite,and
transformations described in Lawson and Hanson limonite. The mineralswith indicatedgold or silver
(1974). The onlyotherconsideration pertinentat this contentsabovestandarderror usingstatisticalmeth-
point is that linear inequalityconstraintsmay be im- ods are pyrite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite-digenite,
posedon the solutionswhich bound the mineral com- bornitc,sphalerite,enargite-tennantite, and covellite.
positions,M or X (in our geologicalcase),to be of The availability of fan drilling samples spanninga
coursebetween0.0 and 100.0 weight percentof a verticalinterval of over 2,500 ft made it possibleto
metal.SubroutinesLSEQIEQ (M. S. Ghiorso,unpub. ascertainverticalaswell aslateralvariationin precious
data)makethisprovisiona simpleandnecessary part metal contentsof these sulfides,and alsoto determine
of the analysis. the stabilityor probableaccuracyof the mineralcom-
positionsderived in this fashionby projection from
Geologic,Mineralogic,and ChemicalData hole to hole.
Over 1,000 compositeassaypulp sampleswere Figure 1, a plan map, showsthe positionof the
modallyand chemicallyanalyzedfrom two repre- vertical crosssection(A-A') to be discussedin detail
sentative north-south vertical cross sections in the andrepresentedin subsequent figures.Thisparticular
Butte district in which more than 14,000 ft of fan sectionis of critical geologicand geochemicalim-
diamonddrilling and rotary percussion(reversecir- portancebecauseit containsall of the ore-forming
culationdualtube) drillinghasbeenperformed.Such factorsin the district:the subsurfaceCu-Mo protore,
continuoussamplingover the intermediate zone of early quartz porphyry dikes,and major steepfaults
Butte offersa diversityof geologicenvironmentsand (Middle and No. 16 faults)which boundthe late in-
chemicaleffects.By usingcomposite or long-interval trusivecenter near the Leonardshaft,alignedalong
samplesinsteadof point or short-intervalsamples, the Leonard-Belmontaxis (Meyer et al., 1968). Pat-
effectsof small-scale variationhave been removed, ternsrecognizedin crosssectionhave subsequently
and it hasbecomepossibleto focuson projectable been assessed in termsof lateral projectabilityover
featuresof a districtscale(Brimhall,1979). Sample the 400-ft distanceto the next adjacentsectionan-
splitting, heavy liquid separationmethods,epoxy alyzed.Althoughthe region of the districtanalyzed
mount preparation,opticalmodal techniques,error in thisway is only a part of the overalldistrictzoning
analysis,andassaytechnologyare discussed in Brim- pattern, it wasthoughtadvisableat this point to de-
hall(1979)andBrimhallandGhiorso(1983).In short, velop the method and apply it systematicallyin an
highlyaccuratemineralogicand chemicaldatahave area with a high enough samplingdensity to give
been generatedand integratedinto a three-dimen- reliable resultsin the critical part of the region in-

FiG. 1. Plan map of the Butte district (2800 level, from Meyer et al., 1968) showingpositionof
vertical crosssectionA-A' depicted in Figure 2. Shownin plan are major structuralelementsin the
compositeore deposit.Early (pre-MainStage)fracture-controlled disseminated sulfideprotoreis rep-
resentedon 2800 level by MoSadomeof Meyer et al. (1968) shownin the ruled pattern.This zone
expandsin plan view with depth and enterscrosssectionA-A'. The No. 16 and Middle faultsare
shownstrikingnortheastthrough the protore and boundingMain Stage horsetailvein structuresin
the Leonardmine area near late prophyryintrusions.
216 BRIMHALL, CUNNINGHAM, AND STOFFREGEN

from 6 to 25. Averagesilverandgold assays are also

•_• BERKELEY
PIT
_• /
MAINSTAGE'/
'• r..,•_•
', •' ',
/8.2
•/ • 9.52
• 0.054
•
.64,1
z 0.07
• 7.5
• .• SCALE
•EARLY • i I000 feet
DIKES
•IO. 2. Butte dis•ricL vertical crosssection
1oo•i• wesLshowi• the mai• drilli• patternstudied.Numbers
alon• drill hole segmentsshowtotal numbero[ composResamples.
Bold numbersindicate average silver and •old assaysin ppm.
Note particularly •he No. ]6 and •idd]e [aults, and the •oS•
dome. The enrichment•]anEet is shownin a stippledpattern.
vestigated.Furthermore, most of the copper pro-
duction in the district has come from this central
zone,eitherin hypogeneor supergeneenvironments.
It is representative of the copper-rich part of the
zoningpattern and offers,therefore, an ideal oppor-
tunity to investigatethe partitioningof preciousmet-
alsin basemetalsulfidesandotherphasesdeepwithin
an evolved geochemicalsystem.The direction and
magnitude
of compositional
gradients
of goldandsil-
ver in hostphasesin thisregionmustcertainlypertain
to a numberof intensiveparametersof significance,
specifically,pressure,temperature, and fluid com-
position.Unfortunately at this time, becauseof the
lack of thermodynamicmixingmodels,we cannotin-
terpret the data in this manner,but the patternsre-
suiting from the analysissuggestwhich future ex-
perimentswill be of greatestapplication.
Drilling Data It is worth noting at this point that in any one
CrosssectionA-A' (Fig. 2) presentsthe drilling segmentof a drill hole a relatively smallnumber of
pattern in relation to major geologicfeaturesof the mineralsappearsto containstatisticallymeaningful
district. The two drill stations shown are on the 2000 goldor silver.The exactnumberis generallybetween
and 3400 levels(givenas depth below the premine one and four and dependsto a certain extent on the
surface).In each drill hole shownin Figure 2, the tolerancelevel chosen,i.e., 0, 2, or 5 percent, with
number of compositeassaysamplestreated as indi- the number of phasesdecreasingas tolerance in-
vidualmatrixproblemsare shownasintegersranging ereases,
given in ppm. It is worth noting that from the 3400
levelup to the 2000 level, in a generalway,the Ag/
Au ratio decreases by abouta factorof 3, indicating
strongmetal zonationupward.
Crosssections(Figs. 3-9) show spatialvariation
patternsin the followingparameters:mineralabun-
dancein weightpercent,computedpartsper million
Au andAg _ the standarderror associated with this
solution(concentration),andthe percentof the gold
and silver in each mineral in relation to the total
precious metals accounted for by the numerical
methods.
Evaluation of Errors
In order to assessrigorouslythe accuracyof the
resultsin a geologiccontext,we have alsopresented
in Figures3 through9 the data in a mannerwhich
includes an indication of errors. This has been ac-
complished
by useof an absolutetoleranceparameter
(M. S.Ghiorso,unpub.data)andnormalpropagation
of errorsthroughoutthe entire calculation.We have
obtained solutionsto the matrix equationsat three
different tolerancelevels, 0, 2, and 5 percent, cor-
respondingto progressivelylower pseudorankor
numberof independentvariables.In this case,pseu-
dorankis equalto the numberof mineralswhichcon-
tain either gold or silver. Furthermore, at the 0 per-
cent tolerancelevel we have computedthe standard
error of eachsolution,therebyofferinganindication
of its stability.All of thisinformationhasbeen shown
in Figures3 through9 to providea rigorousseparation
of numericalresultsfrom projectionsand graphical
interpretationsof the zoning patterns.Toward this
end, portionsof drill holes which indicate precious
metal contentsin mineralshavebeen marked (Figs.
3-9) accordingto error level, and a spatialinterpre-
tation or projection of the resultsis shownat the 5
percenterror level, whichis consistentwith estimates
of actualerrorsin datagroups.Projections of segments
of drill holesshowingsignificantpreciousmetalcon-
tents in minerals at the 5 percent error level have
been made in a systematicmanner,i.e., extending
one-halfthe distanceto the next adjacentdrill hole
segmentlacking indicationsof associatedsilver or
gold. We have shownprojectionsat the 5 percent
tolerancelevel only for drill hole segmentswith so-
lutionsstablethrough5 percent,i.e., at 0 and 2 per-
cent as well.
 ZONING IN PRECIOUSMETAL DISTRIBUTION 217

Ag
Au .A'
LEACHED CAPPING

0.50
' •ELEY
PI'I
2.9ñ0**63
43(99%)

0.20
572.4-102 6.5:•0. T

0.0 .48
0.67:['0.17

0.47
0.474'0.2,1
0.0 5(99 %) ppm

,--- o.59
1[]2Y. S.E.
EXCESS,VE
57.+41 SCALE
5% O.G9
0.0
I000 feet I

FIG. 3. Butte district, vertical crosssectionA-A' (Fig. 1), lookingwest, showingcomputedresults

of silverandgoldcontentsof chalcopyrite.Drill hole intervalsshownin Figure 2 are plottedaccording
to error level. The setsof numbersare asfollows:top number-- weight percentchal½opyrite in the
rock; next subjacentnumber -- silver or gold content in the rock in parts per million plus or minus
the standarderror; the final numbers-- the percent of silveror gold containedin thesemineralphases
out of the percentof the whole-rockmetalaccountedfor by the methodshownin parentheses. Where
resultsindicatestatisticallymeaningfulpreciousmetals(i.e., positiveconcentrations standarderror,
S.E.) in a given interval for a specificoverall error level, appropriatesymbolsare shownalongthe
profile of the drill hole. The vertically ruled region representsgold- and silver-bearingchalcopyrite
at the 5 percent error level. Note that the pattern is unchanged(stable)from 0 to 2 percent and
ultimatelyto 5 percenterror. By usingthismethod,unstableandpossiblyspuriousresultsare eliminated
leavingonly the statisticallymeaningfulpatterns.

An explanationof what is meant by error or tol- fered.Considerfirstthe silvercontentof chalcopyrite.

erancein thisanalysisis warrantedat this point.We
consideronly errorsin modaldatawhich are thought
to be considerably higherthanassayerrors.The error
or percent uncertainty refers to the independent
variables,i.e., weightpercentsof minerals,in matrix
A in termsof their accuracy.For example,if we say
the error is 0 percent, this statementwould imply
that the modaldata, when convertedto a weight per-
centbasis,are knownperfectly.In reality the modal
errorsare known only with about a 5 percent error.
This assessment is based upon microscopicmodal
analysisof gravimetricstandards(G. H Brimhall,Jr.,
J. G. Burns,and M. L. Rivers,in prep.). Resultsfor
gold and silverare shownsideby side for the sake
of directcomparisonof the individualzoningpatterns.
Chalcopyrite
Figure 3 showsthe computedresultsfor chalco-
pyrite, with silver on the left and gold on the right.
This figurewill be discussed at somelength in order
to illustratethe numericaland graphicaldetailsof-
The uppermostfan drill hole samplescontain 0.50
weightpercentchalcopyritein boththe northernand
southernextensions,but interveningsamplescontain
significantlylesschalcopyritenear the No. 16 and
Middlefaultsystems, with only0.20 and0.16 weight
percent chalcopyritc.Note in Figure 2 the number
of compositeassays usedin eachinterval,i.e., 15 and
17, etc., and the silverand gold assaysfor thosein-
tervals,i.e., 4.8 ppm Ag and 0.05 ppm Au, etc. In
Figure 3, asin all subsequentcrosssections,we pre-
sent solutionsto the matrix equationsin both a nu-
mericalandgraphicform showingstabilityof the re-
suitsin terms of the absolutetoleranceparameter or
error given at three levels: 0, 2, and 5 percent. At
the 0 percent error level, i.e., assumingno error in
the weight percent data of chalcopyrite,drilling in-
tervalsin which chalcopyriteis shownby calculation
to containsilveror goldare depictedby a solid,heavy
black line. For examplein Figure 3 for silver, the
uppermostsouthdrillingintervalcontains0.50 weight
percentchalcopyritewith an associated silvercontent
218 BRIMHALL,
CUNNINGHAM,
ANDSTOFFREGEN

A_ . •.... ,•_...•L••
CAPPINGA_ •- LEAC•E-'•'•CAPPING
....•'-,-k•-•. •;• .'e•.•:•,. *• ENRICHMENT •2•)•=•
ß •• • ENRICHMENT
•'•,
1 •.•__.
• .• ' BERKELEY
..........
.::::::
........
......... 0.03 0.06
- O. 0 t a ...... •4•, • ß 12f: 7 0.0
0.03 ?(99%) Ill ...... :0.40
.7.2+
--'

o•o
o.o :o.•: ....
0.39
632+ 94* ........ b:•g: .....
: : :• 1.0•0.'11 ' '
........ •,3(99%!
.,•%•.: :::

0.51
O.0 SCALE
0-96
0.0
oø;o
9• LlOO0feel

FI•. 4. Computed
silver
andgoldcontents
ofbornitc
shown
atvarious
errorlevels
andprojected
atthe5 percent
overall
errorlevel(dotted
pattern).
Thesequence
ofnumbers
isgiven
inFigure
3.
Notethelackof overlapwiththe chalcocite~digenite
zones.

of 179 ppm___ 74 ppmgivenasa standard error.This Atthenexterrorlevelup,i.e.,2 percent, thesame

resultaccounts for26 percentoutof the99 percent drillingintervalhavingassociated silverandgoldis
Ag in all phasesaccountedfor in the model. shown bya dashed blackline.At the5 percenterror

Ag Au
LEACHED CAPPING LEACHED CAPPING

ENRICHMENT ENRICHMENT
BLANKET(dioGrQmmatic) ET

BERKELEY

0.19
401:J:;
141 0.19
21(99%1 182d: 356
o(ol %) 0,19
0.0

0.84 o.o 0.0

1120!52
57(57'

0.26 0.2
998 0.0 0.0

0.14 29(99
%} 0.36 0/• 0.0 0.36

0.0 947:lr.
SOpp,
3f(fO0%)
,,, O.
•,,.•/0.0
o.
..:1
.....
23(00%)

.•8;•,•:..•:: SCALE
,.,,,.o
SOl•} :•j;:•'•:•:•: .ooo
,.., I
•a. 5. Computedsilverandgoldcontents
of chalcocite-digenite
shownat v•ious averallerror
levels
a.dprojected
atthe5 percent
level(shaded
pattern).
Thesequence
ofnumbers
isgivenin
Figure 3.
 ZONING IN PRECIOUSMETAL DISTRIBUTION 219

level, thisdrillingintervalcontainschalcopyritewith 97 percentof the silveraccountedfor by the model

demonstrable silver,asshownin Figure 3, in the area and between 9 and 62 percent of the gold.
under discussion; we showa lined pattern for the 5
percenterror level indicatingsilver-bearingchalco- Chaleoeite-Digenite
pyrite. Note, in the caseof gold,the absenceof such In Figure 5 we seeidenticalgeometricpatternsat
a linedpattern,implyingthat there isnot a statistically
the 5 percent error level for both silver and gold.As
meaningfulsolutionfor gold in chalcopyriteat this the allowable error increasesfrom 0 to ? percent,
error level. Areal projectionsof resultsat the 5 per-
and ultimately to 5 percent, a very stable, i.e., un-
cent error level are onlymadeif a stablesolutionwas changing,patternemerges,shownin Figure5 astwo
alsoindicatedfor 0 and 2 percent errors as well. shadedregionsin andaroundthe Middle andNo. 16
ConsideringFigure 3 as a whole, we can seethat faultzoneextendingdownfromthe Berkeleypit floor.
chalcopyriteappearsto contain silver in both the It is worth noting also that the abundanceof these
footwallandhangingwallsof the steeplydippingzone phasesincreasesin the region near thesefaultsfrom
between the Middle and No. 16 faults. Within this
a value of 0.19 weight percent to almost I percent
region, however, there is a smallercontent of chal- near the faults.Textural analysisshowschalcopyrite
copyrite,andthat whichoccurscontainsneithersilver and bornite often being replaced by digenite and
or gold at statisticallydemonstrablelevels. Chalco- chalcocite in this zone, consistent with the modal
pyrite, when argentiferousaway from the fault zone analysis offeredhere(G. Burns,pers.commun.).The
containsabout20 to 30 percent of the silver in this preciousmetal resultsare not just a functionof the
rock.No significantpercentageof goldis apparently abundanceof chalcocite,however, ascertain intervals
containedin chalcopyrite. with little chalcociteappearto containpreciousmet-
als. These sulfidesappear to contributethe major
Bornite part of both silverandgoldin a steeplydippingzone
near the Middle and No. 16 faults.
Figure 4 presentscomputer results for bornite,
showingidenticalpatternsfor silverandgold.Aswith
chalcopyrite,bornite near the Middle and No. 16 Pyrite
fault zone,at high elevations,doesnot containsilver At the 5 percent error level, the zonesof pyrite
or gold. Bornite is shownto containbetween 35 and showingsignificantpreciousmetal (Fig. 6) locally

A•
-- LEACHEDCAPPING
•-•:•.•
•.., '•'•
;'•"-'•,
,,,•.
•,Z.- '• ENRICHMENT

••ELEY
9.38
0.0

o.o 14.•5
o-o

FIc. 6. Computed silver and gold contentsof pyrite shown at variousoverall error levels and
projected at the 5 percent level (diagonallyruled pattern). The sequenceof numbersis given in Figure
3. Note the maximumcomputedgold content of pyrite of 1.2 _ 0.2 ppm.
220 BRIMHALL, CUNNINGHAM,AND STOFFREGEN

overlap those of chalcocite-digenite,bornire, and Summaryand Interpretations of Zoning Patterns

chalcopyrite.The averagesilvercontentof pyrite is
9 ppm; gold is 0.3 ppm. Althoughthe apparentcon- Perhapsthe mostnotableaspectof the zonation
centration levels are relatively low comparedwith overallis the similaritybetweenthe patternsof silver
thoseof other sulfides,the high whole-rockpyrite andgoldin the sulfidehostphases.This maypartially
contentof about 13 weight percentcontributessig- be due to the observationthat both metalsare strictly
nificantlyto the preciousmetalsin the whole rocks. part of the late or Main Stagehydrothermalevent
This effect is most notable north of the Middle fault andwere introducedlong after formationof copper-
on the 2000 level where pyrite may containup to molybdenumprotore, as determinedby numerous
82 percent of the gold in the rock. assayson the freshestavailableprotore material,
whichconsistently showan extremelylow gold-silver
Sphalerite,Covellite, Enargite, and Tennantite content.Preciousmetalsare, in that specialsense,
Thesemineralsshownin Figures7, 8, and 9 occur singlestagein originandshouldshowgrosslysimilar
at abundancelevelswell below thosepreviouslydis- distributionpatterns,relatedto Main Stagefeatures.
cussed,often in the rangeof 0.01 weight percenton A superposition of the individualpreciousmetal
a rock basis.At the 5 percent error levels only one sulfidezoningpatternsis shownin Figure 10 using
pattern emerges,i.e., a fiat zone in which gold in 5 percenterrorboundaries for purposesof projection.
sphaleriteoccursnear the top of the MoS2dome.In The moststrikingfeature of the resultantcomposite
additionto this zone shownin Figure 7, the standard mapis the lackof overlapof any zonewith that of
errorsare generallyhigherthanthe computedsilver chalcocite-digenite, exceptfor verylocaloccurrences
andgoldcompositions. Thiscouldmeanthatthe min- of preciousmetal-bearing pyrite in additionto these
eralsare highly variablein composition,or possibly, phases. The occurrence of the preciousmetal-bearing
that becauseof the low mineral abundances,the stan- chalcocite-digenite zone near, and parallel to, the
dard errors are proportionallyhigher. In summary, No. 16 and Middle faults,is probablynot a coinci-
it is apparentthat all these phaseslocally contain dence.Thesefaults,shownin plan view in Figure 1,
silverandgold,in somecasesat very high levels.We havehad an importantlocalizingeffecton fluid mi-
have usedthe electronmicroprobeto confirmsome grationduringthe late or Main Stagehydrothermal
of theseerraticresultsandfindasmuchas1.0 percent event, as indicatedby the historicalterm Leonard-
(10,000 ppm) silverin covellite,asindicatedby the Belmontaxis,which is essentiallycoincidentwith the
matrix methods. positionof these faults. Furthermore,these faults

Au m
Ag
_...... LEACHED
CAPPING
'• "•d•'•?•• • BLANKET
• BERKELEYPIT/

498
• //I
o.o, '-'
0.08
, 0.0

0.0•
o.o• •, • o.•o
0.2
6

Io%1
,---- 79(99%) •_

•.• i I000
• ALE

feet
j
FIG. 7. Computedsilverand goldcontentsof sphaleriteshownat variousoverallerror levelsand
projectedat the 5 percentlevel (diagonallyruled pattern).Note that only gold showsa significant
pattern at this error level. The sequenceof numbersis given in Figure 3.
 ZONING
INPRECIOUS
METAL
DISTRIBUTION 221

ALl m
Ag • LEACHED
CAPPING
A LEACHED--------'
CAPPING

•-'.,'j'.•;•.•,,,
.,:•2•: '•-,•;.•.•:•1•'•
.• ENRICHMENT •:•.N-.•-•._.>,,,,.,.
,•N•.
,• •,,•_•...-..•,
-".-•
ENRICHMEN
.v•.,
•,•.•,
-•-••
,• .• '"'•'•'BLA NK ET(diagrammatic)

002
' III o.o

0.0

O. 0 •O. OZ •o 12'2 ••o.o•

o.o
o.o

/
•01
E6 o.o
0.0I O.• O.OI
0
/o.•o
rlll• 1482•1013 ppm
.O O.O
Oo.o
SCALE
1•2 Yo
• •xcEss,v• O.O•
o.o I
IOOO feet
I

FIG.
8. Computed
silver
andgold
contents
ofcovellite
shownatvarious
overall
error
levels.
At
the5percent
level,
noprojection
ispossible,
indicating
anunstable
pattern.
Nevertheless,
covellite
doescontain
highlevels
ofsilver,
asconfirmed
byelectron
microprobe
methods,
butbecause
ofthe
exceedingly
lowabundance
ofcovellite,
theregressions
arenotstable.

Ag Au

LEACHED CAPPING LEACHED CAPPING

ENRICHMENT ENRICHMENT
BLANKET

BERKELEY
BERKELEY

Ill o.o5 I/i

0.01 17.39
FAULT•
O.OI

0.19 0.0 O.14

0.0 O.O
0,0

0.04 0.12 0.0 ).12

0.0 0.0 0.0

).06
0.06
0.0
0.02 214:1:208 ppm
0.0 2(99%)
/0,02
I1o*/. EXCESSIVE
0.0
SCALE
F;]2%• S.E. 0.0

0.11
0.0
IOOO
feel I

FIG.
9. Computed
silver
andgold
contents
ofenargite-tennantite
shown
atvarious
overall
error
levels.
Likecovellite,
because
ofthelowabundance
ofthese
phases,
theregressions
donotproduce
a stablepatternat the5 percenterrorlevel.
 222 BRIMHALL,
CUNNINGHAM,
ANDSTOFFREGEN

GOLD

CHALCOPYRITE
• PYRITE'
• SPHALERITE
F•G.10. Composite
vertical
cross
section
showing
silver-
andgold-bearing
sulfide
patterns
projected
atthe5 percentoverall
errorlevelusing
thesame
graphic
symbols
asinFigures3 through
9.Note
particularly
theclose
association
ofthechalcocite-digenite
zonewiththesteeply
dipping
No.16and
Middle
faults,
andthelackofoverlap
withothercopper-bearing
phases.

boundthe lateporphyry intrusions

in the Leonard precious
metalsin sphalerite,
chalcopyrite,
bornite,
mineaswellasthemajorzoneofhighest frequencyetc.At suchtimewhenmixingmodels of precious
veinsshownin Figure1.
metals insulfidesbecome available,
it shouldbepos-
Geologicstructures
relating
tothezoning
patternssibletointerprettheapparent assemblages shownby
oftheremaining sulfides
arenotquiteaseasily
un- superposition ofmineralogic
patterns inFigure10in
derstood
asthoseofchalcocite-digenite.
Aspreviously
terms ofpossible equilibration
temperature andspa-
suggested,
it appears
thatduringthelateepisode
of tialvariations
inhydrothermalfluidcomposition,e.g.,
the MainStageevent,a chalcocite-digenite
zone temperature gradients
orchange in ionicactivity
ra-
formed,
controlling
silver-gold
deposition
associated
tiossuch assilver
tocopper.Forexample, theimplied
with circulationalongthe No. 16 andMiddlefaults. bornite-chalcopyrite-pyrite
assemblage inFigure10
Destruction of earlierMainStageor latepre-Main in conjunction with mineralcompositions givenin
Stagepatterns of chalcopyrite,
andperhaps bornite, Figures4 and5 suggests
that bornitecontainsabout
by replacement processesmaywell havebeendue fourtofivetimes asmuch silver
asdoes chalcopyrite.
tothedownward thermalcollapseofalateacidsulfate Verypreliminary hydrothermalexperimental results
circulation
system causingadvanced argillic
alterationgenerated in ourlaboratorysuggest thatthisparti-
andthehighest
sulfur
fugacity
mineral
assemblages,
tioning
factorrepresents
equilibria
in therangeof
i.e., chalcocite-digenite-covellite
(Brimhall and 300øto350øC,whichisconsistentwithindependent
Ghiorso,1983).It has
beenargued
inthislatterstudy estimates
of MainStagetemperature
conditions.
that,during
such
anevent,
fracture
permeability
and
rockporosity maybe significantly
enhanced chemi-
callybyanegativevolume Atthepresent FurtherGeochemical
ofreaction. andIndustrialApplication
of the Method
timeweofferonlythisinterpretation
ofwhatappears
to be thelatestMainStagezoningfeature,andwe Therockanalysis
method described,
including
the
deferuntilexperimental
dataareavailable
anexpla- matrix algebraicreductionof data, lendsitself to a
nationfor the distribution
patternsdetermined
for number
ofextensions
intobothacademic
andapplied
 ZONING IN PRECIOUS METAL DISTRIBUTION 22(3

areas of research.To begin with, computationsof rather than in analyticalexploration,that toolssuch

mineral compositionderived in this manner may be asthe ion microprobemay havesignificantimpactin
confirmedthrough direct spot analysisof selected economicgeology.
samples. The specificanalytictechniquechosen,e.g., A final suggestionfor future applicationsof the
electronmicroprobeor ion microprobe(Shimizuet methodis in assessment of trace elementhostphases
al., 1978), can be selectedmostappropriatelyin ac- in homogeneous materials,e.g., individualsettling
cord with the detection limits of each method and unitsin layeredintrusions.It wouldseemat the outset
the trace metal contentof mineralsindicatedby the that in such environments the inversion methods of-
lithologicmatrixalgebraicmethod.In fact,judicious fered here would certainlyfail for lack of composi-
selection of the most appropriate confirmational tionalvariationnecessaryto lend new informationto
method should save considerabletime and expense theregressions. Thiswouldbe trueif identicalsamples
in creatinga geologicallybasedthree-dimensional of such homogeneous materialswere to be used,
pattern of trace element concentrationsin minerals which invariablywould resultin linear dependency.
over substantial distances. To solvesucha problem a very simple solutionis
Althoughthe methodoffered here providesboth offered.From eachsample,manyotherswith distinct
the identity of host mineralsfor trace elementsof compositions may be generatedsimplyby dividing
interest and their concentration level, no information eachsampledifferentiallyby screening,density,or
is offered by this method about the physicaldistri- magneticseparation.Modesand assayson eachdis-
butionof the elementsin the associated mineralphase. tinct fractionof the samerock will then providenec-
Althoughthis factoris a limitation,the methoddoes essaryindependentstatementsof the distributionof
providethe critical informationto guidemosteffec- massamongthe phases.There appearto be few lim-
tively a subsequentanalyticeffort, usinghigh tech- itationson the methods.The approachshouldbe ap-
nologyinstrumentation in whichimagingor profiling plicableto any stableelement in any phasewhich
of trace element abundancecan be performed on may be describedquantitativelyin terms of abun-
single grains. Such additional highly focusedre- dance.
searchcould,for example,indicatethe physicaldis- Acknowledgments
tribution of trace metalson grain boundaries,along
cracks, or in exsolution lamellae. The generalizedinversemethodsusedin thisstudy
Perhaps the most practical application of the were broughtto the attentionof the authorsby Lane
methodis in metallurgicalresearchin which mineral Johnson of the Department of Geology and Geo-
processingoptimization could significantlybe im- physics, University of California,Berkeley.His con-
proved through a more quantitativeunderstanding tinued interest and patient guidancehave been in-
of trace metal abundancesin minerals (Hausen and strumentalin the successful completionof thiseffort.
Park, 1982). Consider, for example, complex base We also are especially grateful to Mark Ghiorso,De-
metalorescontaininggoldoccurringmainlyin pyrite. partment of Geology, University of Washington,for
Flotationoptimizationonbothcopperandgoldwould providing the necessarycomputer subroutines,in-
necessarily limit pyrite suppression, ultimatelyfixing eludingLSEQIEQ, which madeit possiblefor us to
the optimal copper content of the resultant Cu-Au imposelinear inequalityconstraintson matrix equa-
concentratebelow the maximum value commonly tions and to perform error analysiscontributingto
soughtfor copper alone. the geologicevaluationof the results.His enthusiasm
It is hoped also that the methodsderived in this and critical insightinto rigorousapplicationof nu-
study will be directly applicable to trace element merical methodsto geologicproblemshave been a
studiesin a variety of hostphasesin additionto sul- constantsourceof inspirationand support.
fides,for example,hydrocarbons or organicmetallic We would also like to acknowledgesupport from
species.For example, it should be possible,once the National Science Foundation, grants EAR 81-
phase characterizationis completed by pyrolysis, 11507, which made this project possible.Also we
chromatography,or even optical analysis,to deter- are grateful to Anaconda CopperCompanypersonnel,
mine the hostcompounds in which goldoccurseven especiallyGeorgeBurns,for makingsamplematerials
in suchproblematicalmaterialsascarbonaceous ores availableand willing help in handlingcores.
of the Carlin-typefine gold deposits.Once the gen- July 29, 1982; June 16, 1983
eralized inversionmethodsare applied to a broad REFERENCES
compositionalspectrumof such materials, and the
hostphasesand bulk compositions estimated,direct Backus, G., and Gilbert, F., 1967, Numerical applicationsof a
fournalismfor geophysicalinverseproblems:Geophys.Jour.,
compositional analysismay be performedwith max- v. 13, p. 247.
imum probability of successfullyfinding trace ele- -- 1968, The resolvingpower of grossearth data:Geophys.
ments of interest. It is in this mode of confirmation, Jour., v. 16, p. 169-205.
224 BRIMHALL,CUNNINGHAM,
AND STOFFREGEN

-- 1970, Uniquenessin the inversionof inaccurategrossearth perior province of the CanadianShield to gold explorationin
data:Royal Soc.[London]Philos.Trans.,A, v. 266, p. 123- the Cordillera, in Levinson, A. A., ed., Precious metals in the
192.
northern Cordillera: Rexdale, Ontario, Assoc.Exploration
Boyle,R. W., 1979, The geochemistry of gold and its deposits: Geochemists,p. 173-206.
CanadaGeol. SurveyBull. 280, 584 p. Jackson,D. D., 1972, Interpretation of inaccurate, insufficient,
Brimhall,G. H, Jr., 1979, Lithologicdetermination of masstransfer and inconsistentdata: Geophys.Jour., v. 28, p. 97-109.
mechanisms of multiple-stageporphyrycoppermineralization Jones,R. S., and Fleischer, M., 1969, Gold in minerals and the
at Butte, Montana:Vein formationby hypogeneleachingand compositionof nativegold:U.S. Geol. SurveyCirc. 612, 17 p.
enrichmentof potassium-silicate protore:ECON.GEOL.,v. 74, Jordan, T. H., 1973, Estimation of the radial variation in the
p. 556-589. earth:Unpub.Ph.D. thesis,CaliforniaInst. Tech., 215 p.
-- 1980, Deep hypogeneoxidationof porphyry copper po- Lawson,C. L., and Hanson,R. J., 1974, Solvingleast squares
tassium-silicateprotore at Butte, Montana: A theoretical eval- problems:EnglewoodCliffs,N. J., PrenticeHall, 340 p.
uationof the copperremobilizationhypothesis: ECON.GEOL., Le Mauel, J. L., Courtillot, V., and Ducruix, J., 1975, A solution
v. 75, p. 384-409. of someproblemsin potentialtheory:Geophys.Jour., v. 42,
Brimhall,G. H, Jr., and Ghiorso,M. S., 1983, Origin and ore- p. 251-272.
formingconsequences of theadvanced argillicalterationprocess Meyer, C., Shea,E. P., Goddard, C. C., Jr., and staff, 1968, Ore
in hypogeneenvironmentsby magmaticgascontaminationof depositsat Butte, Montana,in Ridge, J. D., ed., Ore deposits
meteoricfluids:ECON.GEOL.,v. 78, p. 73-90. of the UnitedStates,1933-1967 (Graton-Sales vol.):New York,
Brimhall,G. H, Jr., Rivers,M. L., and Bell, T. E., 1980, A quan- Am. Inst. Mining Metall. Petroleum Engineers,v. 2, p. 1363-
titative modalrock analysissystemfor explorationof multiple 1416.
stagehydrothermalore depositsand generalpetrologicappli- Miller, R. N., ed., 1973, Guidebookfor the Butte field meeting
cation labs.l:Geol. Soc.America,Abstractsand Programs,v. of the Society of EconomicGeologists:Butte, Montana, The
12, p. 392. AnacondaCompany, p. A-1 to H-4.
Cuddy, A. S., and Kesler, S. E., 1982, Gold in the Granisle and Minster, J. B., Jordan, T. H., Molnar, P., and Haines, E., 1974,
Bell Copperporphyrydeposits,BritishColumbia,in Levinson, Numericalmodelingof instantaneous
platetectonics:Geophys.
A. A., ed., Preciousmetalsin the northern Cordillera: Rexdale, Jour., v. 36, p. 541.
Ontario, Assoc.ExplorationGeochemists,p. 139-155. Minster,J. F., Minster,J. B., Treuil, M., and All•gre, C. J., 1977,
Ghiorso, M. S., Carmichael, I. S. E., Sack, R. O., and Rivers, Systematicuse of trace elementsin igneousprocesses:Contr.
M. L., in press,The Gibbsfree energyof naturalsilicateliquids, MineralogyPetrology,v. 61, p. 49-77.
its estimationby the regular solutionmodel and the calculation Noble, B., and Daniel, J. W., 1977, Appliedlinear algebra:En-
of intensivevariables:Contr. MineralogyPetrology. glewoodCliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall,477 p.
Guilbert,J. M., andZeihen,L. G., 1964, The mineralogy
of the Shimizu,N., Semet,M.P., andAll•gre, C. J., 1978,Geochemical
Butte district, Montana:Northwest Mining Assoc.Meeting, applications
of quantitativeion-microprobe analysis:
Geochim.
Spokane1964, preprint, 20 p. et Cosmochim.Acta, v. 42, p. 1321-1334.
Hausen,D. M., andPark,W. C., eds., 1982, Processmineralogy: Strang,Gilbert, 1980, Linearalgebraand its applications:New
Extractivemetallurgy,mineralexploration,energyresources: York, AcademicPress,414 p.
New York, Am. Inst. Mining Metall. Petroleum Engineers, Wallace,A. B., 1979, Possiblesignatures of buried porphyry-
713 p. copper depositsin middle to late Tertiary volcanicrocksof
Hodgson,C. J., Chapman,R. S. G., andMacGeehan,P. J., 1982, westernNevada:NevadaBur. MinesandGeologyRept. 33, p.
Applicationof explorationcriteria for gold depositsin the Su- 69-76.

APPENDIX

Singular Value Decomposition

The followingdiscussionof the singularvaluede- the matrixATA,which,asthe productof a 7 X n and
composition techniqueis necessarily brief and as- an n X 7 matrix, is itself a square,7 X 7 matrix. As
sumessomefamiliaritywith matrixoperations. Read- mentionedin the text, if ATA is nonsingular,
and
ers seekingfurther informationon this method,or thereforeinvertible,equation(A1)canbe solvedusing
anyotheraspectof matrixcalculations, are urgedto the inverse of ATA:
consulta goodtext on the subject,suchas Strang
(1980).
X = (ATA)-•ATB. (A3)
As statedin the text of this paper, an equationof This method is equivalent to computing a least
the form squareslinear regressionin n dimensions,where n is
ATAX = ATB (A1) the number of rows and columnsof the square
matrix ATA.
is used to minimize the error in solvingthe inexact
However, sincethe matricesusedin this studyare
equation
AX • B; (A2) sometimes poorlyconditioned,equation(A3) cannot
be used.Instead,the techniqueof singularvaluede-
this meansthat equation(A1) providesa valueof X compositionhasbeen utilized to providean optimal
suchthat the quantity(AX-B)is assmallaspossible. solutionto equation(A2).
The techniques usedfor obtainingan optimalso- It shouldbe stressedthat thismethodisnot equiv-
lutionto equation(A2) dependon the propertiesof alentto ann-dimensional linearregression.
When the
 ZONINGIN PRECIOUS
METALDISTRIBUTION 225

matrixATAis singular,or someof its pivotsare very It nowremainsto determinethe pseudoinverse of

smallnumbers,a linear regressiontechniquecannot D, that is, a matrixwhichwhenmultipliedby E will
be used. This is becausesucha technique requires yield•;
takingthe inverseof ATA;if thisdoesnotexist,or if D+E = •. (A7)
it isunstable,equation(A3)will notyieldmeaningful
Again,in thissimplecasewitha diagonal
matrix,the
results.The singularvaluedecomposition avoidsthis matrixD* can be foundby inspection:
problembecause it doesnotinvolvetakingthe inverse
of ATA.
WhenATAis a singularmatrix,thereare actually
an infinite number of X vectors which will satisfy
equation(Aol). This conceptcanbe illustratedby a
singular2 X 2 matrix
D+ =
1/D
0
0

Equation(A7) then becomes

00 l/D2
0
. (A8)

Here X• is obviouslyequalto b•, and X2 can take

any value. To determinea solutionto equation(A- withD*E givingthe correct• vectorasdetermined
4) we mustchoosean optimalX valuefrom all those above.Notethatthepseudoinverse D+ is a diagonal
possible.Thisvalue,henceforth referredto as•, is matrixwiththereciprocals ofthevaluesin theoriginal
definedasthe vectorwith the shortestlength. A vec- matrixD as its diagonalentries.This simplerela-
tor'slengthis a scalarquantitycalculatedby the Py- tionshipholdsfor anydiagonalmatrixandits pseu-
thagoreantheorem,that is, asthe squareroot of the doinverse.
sum of squaresof each componentlength. For ex- We nowreturntoouroriginalmatrixA, to consider
ample,the length of a vector if it canbe converted
to a diagonal
matrix.Thiswould
allowa pseudoinverse to be computedin the manner
justdescribed,andtheinitialequation
couldthenbe
y= is (12+22+32)2/2
= solvedfor the optimalvector• using
A+B = •. (A10)
In order to solve the initial inconsistentequation In fact,anym X n matrixA canbe factoredin the
AX • B for thisoptimalvalue•, it is necessary
to form
find somematrix A+, calledthe pseudoinverse
of A, a: S, as•T, (all)
whichwhen multipliedby vectorB yieldsX, that is,
where S• is an m X m orthogonal matrix, S2 is an
• = A+B. n X n orthogonal matrix,andA is an m X n diagonal
To illustratethis problem,considera diagonal3 matrix. It is this decompositionof A which can be
X :3matrixD, in an equationof the form DX = E: usedto computeA+ in a relativelysimplemanner,
as discussed below.
Derivingequation(A-11) requiresconsidering
the
0
0 øø1
D2
0
0
0
X2 --
X3
2 ß

Solutionvectorsfor this equationcanbe seenby in-

(A6) eigenvalues
andeigenvectors of the symmetric
matrix
ATA, in our casea 7 X 7 matrix as noted earlier. An
eigenvalue
hi andeigenvector
followingequation
Xi of ATAsatisfythe
spectionto be of the form
ATAXi = )kiXi. (A12)
E•/D•
For the ATAmatrix,there are seveneigenvalues,some
X3 of whichwill equalzero, and sevenorthonormalei-
genvectors.
where X• can have any value. Clearly, to minimize The squarerootsof the eigenvaluesbecomethe
the length of X, X• is set to 0, thus giving diagonalentriesof the matrixA, while the eigen-
vectorsform the columnsof S2.The columnsof the
matrixS• areof theformAXi/•/hi.Thesethreema-
trices are combinedto give
S•
T AS2-- A. (A13)
226 BRIMHALL, CUNNINGHAM, AND STOFFREGEN

To providea simpleexplanationfor this, consider Multiplicationby all the rowsof SIXin equation
onlythe term of the firstrow of Six multipliedonto (513) cannow be seento yield a diagonalmatrixwith
AS2; the squarerootsof the eigenvalues of ATA on its
diagonals.
Thesevaluesare termedthe singularvalues
of A.
Equation (513) can be convertedto (511) by re-
callingthat the inverseof anorthogonalmatrixequals
its transpose.Thus
Multiplication
of thisfirstrow of SiXgives
SiTAS•
= A, (A17a)
SiSiXAS2S•
= SiAS2
T, (al 7b)
* X 1.... . (515)
A = SiAS•
T. A17c)
eigen- Usingequation(All), it is possibleto demonstrate
Multiplyingthisby the matrixof orthogonal
vectors S2 gives that the pseudoinverse
of A is given by
A+ = SaA+S•
T, (A18)
[(X1TATAX1)/?
0---0], (516)
andasdiscussed
earlier,thecomputation
ofA+ give_n
where row 1 is all zerosexcept for the first entry A is a trivial matter. Returning to the equation X
since the eigenvectorsare orthonormal,that is = A+B and substitutingequation(Ai$) gives
X[Xj = 0 for j g=i. •: SaA+SiTB.
Note that the term XiTATAX•is just the left-hand
sideofequation byXiX;it canthere- Actualcalculationsof the singularvaluesof A, which
(512) multiplied
forebe setequalto XlXiTX•,whichequalsXl since involvesfinding the eigenvaluesof a 7 X 7 matrix
X• is orthogonal(XIXX1= 1), and the term (ATA),are numericallyinvolved;interestedreaders
XiTATAX1/•/•[
therefore
simplifies
to1/•. are referred to Lawson and Hanson (1974).