Ore Geology Reviews 126 (2020) 103776

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Ore Geology Reviews

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Understanding seismic reflectivity across hydrothermal alteration zones T

associated with gold: Example of the Karari gold deposit, Western Australia
Andre Eduardo Calazans Matos de Souza , Stephanie Vialle
⁎

Curtin University, Exploration Geophysics, 26 Dick Perry Ave, Perth, Kensington, WA 6151, Australia

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: In this study, we examined whole core samples from a gold deposit in Western Australia, the Karari mine, located
Rock acoustic properties south of the Carosue Dam processing plant. By analyzing the mineralogy and performing petrophysical and
Seismic reflectivity acoustic measurements on 21 core samples representing different stages of hydrothermal alteration, our goal was
Gold exploration to document the values of acoustic impedance as a function of the degree of alteration and identify which
Karari gold deposit
parameters (e.g., mineralogy, porosity, foliation) affect the seismic reflectivity across the alteration zones. To do
Hydrothermal alteration zones
so, we measured the ultrasonic velocities and bulk density at ambient conditions for all samples as well as at
confining pressures for two samples. The acoustic measurements were conducted in the directions perpendicular
and parallel to the foliation of the samples. A subset of samples was selected to identify the mineral phases,
perform automated mineral mapping, measure grain density, and compute porosity using the bulk density–grain
density relation and backscattered electron (BSE) images. Our results show that, regardless of the direction of
acquisition, the acoustic impedance in the background samples is consistently smaller than that in the altered
samples. This difference in acoustic impedance is attributed to a porosity difference of around 2% between the
background and altered samples and is not owing to the presence of alteration minerals. Seismic reflectivity at
the background/hydrothermal alteration interface decreases with increasing pressure owing to the closure of
microcracks. For the Karari site, with a targeted exploration depth between 200 m and 800 m, the altered zones
can be differentiated from the host rock by their acoustic impedance, as the reflection coefficients are expected
to vary between 0.05 and 0.13, depending on the direction of seismic propagation and depth.

1. Introduction
Direct identification of gold is challenging because the ore is dis-
persed within the host rock and represents only a minor component,
typically occurring at only a few grams of ore per ton of rock (Eilu et al.,
1999). However, lode gold deposits are usually associated with hy-
drothermal alteration zones and are controlled by geological dis-
continuities such as shear zones, which act as gold-bearing fluid con-
duits (Colvine et al., 1988; Groves et al., 1998). The interaction of fluid
with the host rock alters its mineralogy, chemistry, and texture, re-
sulting in hydrothermally altered zones surrounding the gold bodies
(Rose and Burt, 1979). Since the 1980s, many geophysical airborne and
ground based surveys have been conducted to identify the structures
and environments favorable for gold (e.g., Paterson and Hallof, 1991;
Doyle, 1986). These surveys mainly employ magnetic, electromagnetic,
and electrical methods.
The identification and recognition of hydrothermally altered zones
are often used as an exploration tool to target gold mineralization, for
several reasons. First, the physical and chemical properties of these
altered zones provide an indirect indication of mineralization. Second,
the mineralogical and chemical distributions across the altered zones
provide key information regarding the physical and chemical condi-
tions during ore formation. Finally, the extension and thickness of the
hydrothermal alteration zones vary widely from deposit to deposit, but
are wider and thicker than the hosted ore deposit, making their de-
tection easier (McCuaig and Kerrich, 1994). However, it is often diffi-
cult to assign specific geophysical signatures to the wide diversity of
geological models of gold deposits, as both host rocks and alteration
minerals are relatively diverse, even within a single class of gold de-
posits (e.g., Groves and Foster, 1991).
Furthermore, with the decrease in gold deposits readily available at
the Earth’s near-surface, it has become necessary to prospect and ex-
tract gold from greater depths. Although shallow deposits represent
more than half of all global gold discoveries, analytical reports show
that the average depth of recent worldwide gold discoveries has in-
creased (Schodde, 2019). Considering this situation, the seismic

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: a.calazans@postgrad.curtin.edu.au (A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza), stephanie.vialle@curtin.edu.au (S. Vialle).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2020.103776
Received 22 April 2020; Received in revised form 5 September 2020; Accepted 11 September 2020
Available online 13 September 2020
0169-1368/ © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza and S. Vialle
reflection method, which is the only surface geophysical method that
combines the depth of penetration and high resolution, has thus be-
come an increasingly used technique in mineral exploration (Malehmir
et al., 2012 and references therein). The seismic reflection method has
been used for the imaging of structures hosting mineral deposits and
crustal mega-structures that aid in the interpretation of the entire mi-
neral system, from the source to the migration and trapping of metal-
rich fluids (Goleby et al., 2004). However, important challenges remain
for this method to become widely accepted in the mining industry and
used to its full potential. One challenge is that the geological settings of
these environments are extremely complex, rendering a quantitative
interpretation of the recorded seismic signatures difficult. In particular,
little is known about the effects of various parameters, such as rock
texture and rock mineralogy, on the seismic attributes.
The seismic detection of an ore body in the subsurface is governed
by two factors: its geometry and its seismic reflectivity (Salisbury and
Snyder, 2007). The geometry of the body, especially the size, affects the
seismic resolution (i.e., the capacity to discriminate two close features).
Owing to the limits of seismic resolution, which is controlled by the
dominant wavelength of the data and depth of the body, the minimum
size of a resolvable body is a few tens of meters (Dentith and Mudge,
2014; Salisbury and Snyder, 2007). Seismic reflectivity is controlled by
the acoustic impedance contrast between ore bodies and the sur-
rounding country rocks (Telford et al., 1990). Acoustic impedance is the
product of the seismic wave velocity and the bulk density of the rock
(Telford et al., 1990), and acoustic impedance contrast is usually low in
hard-rock environments (Salisbury et al., 2003). This, coupled with the
low signal-to-noise ratio of the seismic data caused by ambient noise,
ground roll, and airwaves (Wu et al., 2020), makes seismic detection in
this environment challenging. Eaton et al. (2003), Salisbury and Snyder
(2007), and Malehmir et al. (2012) reported that knowledge of the
acoustic properties is one of several aspects that must be considered
when planning and interpreting seismic data in a hard-rock environ-
ment. However, data on the acoustic properties of crystalline rocks
associated with mineral deposits are scarce (Dentith et al., 2020;
Schetselaar et al., 2019; Chopping, 2008; Souza et al., 2019; Miah et al.,
2015; Duff et al., 2012; Malehmir et al., 2012). This scarcity may be
attributed to the difficulty and cost of acquiring geophysical logs in
narrow boreholes in mineral deposits. The limited knowledge of
acoustic properties makes seismic interpretation more ambiguous in
complex geologic environments, such as hard-rock environments.
Seismic velocities and density measurements conducted in the labora-
tory on core samples acquired from boreholes may contribute to re-
ducing this gap in knowledge.
In contrast to sedimentary environments in which porosity and
fluids are the primary control on seismic velocity, in hard-rock en-
vironments, the nature of rock-forming minerals is typically a first-
order control (Dentith and Mudge, 2014). However, some studies have
reported that pore shape also strongly affects the seismic velocity of
low-porosity rocks such as hard rocks (Johansen et al., 2002; Wilkens
et al., 1991). In terms of seismic response, little importance has been
given to the texture of rocks in these environments, mainly because
they are difficult to compact, massive, and should have zero or close to
zero porosity. However, these rocks may develop foliation and sec-
ondary porosity (e.g., micropores, cracks, and fractures at various
scales) if they are deformed and altered. In addition, some gold mi-
neralization is hosted in volcaniclastic sedimentary sequences that can
exhibit relict porosity and foliation (Witt et al., 2009), and seismic wave
velocities are profoundly affected by the porosity and foliation of the
rocks. Increasing porosity reduces the seismic velocities (Schon, 2015),
and foliated rocks tend to be seismically anisotropic, with velocities
typically lower when propagating perpendicular to the foliation com-
pared with the parallel direction (Kern et al., 2009; Christensen and
Mooney, 1995).
The main goal of this study is to understand the role of porosity,
foliation, and mineralogy on the seismic signature across
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Ore Geology Reviews 126 (2020) 103776
hydrothermally altered zones associated with gold deposition. To do
this, we use a combination of laboratory characterization and geolo-
gical information. We examined 21 samples displaying a wide range of
hydrothermal alteration intensities from the Karari gold deposit in
Western Australia. Rock physics laboratory measurements were con-
ducted, including (i) ultrasonic P-wave and S-wave velocities (Vp and
Vs, respectively) and density measurements at ambient conditions and
under confining pressure, (ii) porosity estimation using measured grain
and bulk densities, and (iii) quantification and mapping of mineral
phases.
The large-scale hydrothermal alteration system at the Karari gold
deposit, which displays a characteristic zonal arrangement (including
proximal, transitional, and distal zones) (Witt et al., 2009), makes this
mine an appropriate site to assess how acoustic properties are affected
by hydrothermal alteration. The recent high-grade drilling results from
the Karari gold deposit have enhanced the prospectivity of the mine and
encouraged the extension of drilling coverage at depth to delineate
additional mineralization. To date, the boreholes of the mine have
targeted gold bodies at 535 m below the surface, but the reserve is
expected to extend up to 835 m in depth (Saracen Website, 2019). As
part of the extension plan for the mine, a detailed 50 km2 3-D seismic
survey was deployed in the area, covering the Karari and Dervish mines
down to a depth of 5 km (Saracen Website, 2019).
The results of this study may help to interpret existing seismic data
in the area and guide future seismic acquisition, processing, and for-
ward modeling. In summary, the results will assist in understanding
seismic reflections across mineral deposits that are genetically asso-
ciated with hydrothermal alteration processes.
2. Geologic setting of the Karari gold deposit
The Karari gold deposit is located approximately 110 km northeast
of Kalgoorlie city, Western Australia, in the Pig Well-Yilgangi sedi-
mentary basin. Locally, this basin is known as the Carosue basin and
mainly comprises metamorphosed sandstones that are intruded by
lamprophyre and monzonite porphyries (Fig. 1) and cut by north–south
faults that are present in all geological sections (Witt & Hammond,
2008). The mineralization is enveloped by these metasediments and is
structurally controlled by faults that coincide with intrusions of mon-
zonite porphyry (Gray et al., 2005; Witt et al., 2009).
The deposit presents several hydrothermal alteration facies (Fig. 1);
however, in terms of exploration, the potassic and sodic zones are the
most relevant altered zones. The other altered zones, which include
chloritic alteration, muscovite alteration, and hematitization, present
little appeal in terms of exploratory data because they occur at a dis-
tance from the mineralized zone, have a limited distribution in the
mine, and postdate gold deposition.
The potassic alteration zone is interpreted as a result of high-tem-
perature and saline magmatic–hydrothermal fluid flow that occurred
prior to the gold deposition (Witt et al., 2009). The mineralogy of the
volcaniclastic sediments was overprinted by this hydrothermal activity,
resulting in the potassic alteration assemblage in these rocks, mainly
composed of plagioclase–biotite–quartz (Witt et al., 2009). Regional
shortening of the basin deformed the metasedimentary rocks (Blewett
et al., 2004), which resulted in a well-developed foliation formed by the
preferred orientation of biotite (Witt et al., 2009). The potassic zone is
extensive and surrounds the mineralized zone (Fig. 1). In this paper, we
denote the potassic altered zone as the “background” rocks because this
represents a regional alteration and is not genetically associated with
the gold deposition.
Gold is associated with the sodic hydrothermal alteration zone and
is spatially influenced by monzonite porphyry intrusions (Fig. 1). This
alteration zone progressively overprints the existing foliation and mi-
neralogy of the potassic assemblage, suggesting that the development of
the sodic zone and the gold deposition both postdate the potassic zone
(Witt & Hammond, 2008). The rocks of the sodic zone are cross-cut by
A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza and S. Vialle Ore Geology Reviews 126 (2020) 103776

Fig. 1. Structural map of the Karari pit showing its several alteration facies and its mineralized zones: CL, FWL, HWL, NWL, K1L. Monzonite porphyry and lam-
prophyre intrusions are shown as a reference. Note the spatial association of the sodic alteration (mineralized zone) with the monzonite porphyry and lamprophyre
intrusions. Inset shows the location of the Karari gold deposit (CD) within the Archean Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia. The picture is modified from Witt et al.
(2009).

quartz veins, which, unlike the typical orogenic gold deposits of the
Yilgarn Craton (Groves et al., 1998), are barren (Witt et al., 2009). Gold
occurs associated with pyrite and as free gold in the altered groundmass
within the sodic zone. Gold lodes are tens to hundreds of meters in
strike length and several meters wide (Witt et al., 2009).
transitional zone between background and sodic alteration, and the
altered mineralized zone (sodic zone), at different stages of hydro-
thermal alteration corresponding to moderate intensity, high intensity,
and the monzonite porphyry intrusion. The background samples are
cylindrical with a diameter of 5 cm, whereas samples from the altered
zone and intrusion zones are half cylinders, cut lengthwise.

3. Sample description and preparation

We selected 21 representative rock samples from a 100 m-long drill
core provided by Saracen Mineral Holding Limited, which is the com-
pany operating the mine. Based on visual inspection as well as the
description and analyses performed by Mihayo (2018) and Witt et al.
(2009), we chose these samples to be representative of the different
zones of hydrothermal alteration (Fig. 2): the background zone, the
3.1. Sample description
The background samples consist of volcaniclastic sediments that
display a relic sedimentary texture. Alternating bands of platy minerals
(biotite) and coarse-grained minerals (quartz/feldspar) at the milli-
meter scale define a well-developed foliation (Fig. 2). There is a very
small angle between the plane perpendicular to the foliation and the

3
A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza and S. Vialle
Fig. 2. Schematic 100 m long drill core showing different zones of hydrothermal alteration. On the right, representative samples from each altered zone. The sodic
zone was qualitatively divided in moderately and highly altered intensity. Note the well-developed foliation in the background sample and the increasing of veins
towards the intrusion.
main axis of the rock specimens (approximately 0–10°), and we assume
in this study that the foliation is orthogonal to the main axis of the
samples. We selected seven samples to represent this group, labeled T7
I, T7 III, T9 I, T9 II, T9 III, T9 IV, and T9 V.
The transitional zone between the background and altered zones is
banded, presenting characteristics from both zones, including some
pink sodic alteration and dark green bands of potassic alteration. The
banding is controlled by the albitization of the potassic assemblage
(background) (Witt et al., 2009). Some sedimentary textures are still
preserved. This altered zone is 6 m thick in the drill hole (Fig. 2). We
collected two samples from this group, labeled T13 I and T13 IV.
The intensity of alteration in the sodic zone was qualitatively de-
scribed as moderately and highly altered, based on the proximity to
monzonite intrusions and on the number of quartz and calcite veins that
cross-cut the samples. The density of cross-cutting veins increases with
proximity to the intrusion, with up to 3 veins per cm2 (Fig. 2). The veins
are randomly oriented, and their sizes range from a few millimeters to
2 cm. The samples are texturally massive, lacking the sedimentary
texture, and the pinkish-reddish color is a result of the presence of fine-
grained hematite (‘dusty hematite’) (Witt et al., 2009). We selected six
samples to represent the moderately altered sodic zone (T13 II–III and
T14 I–IV), three samples to represent the highly altered sodic zone (T15
I–III), and three samples to represent the monzonite intrusion zone (T18
I–III). The three representative samples of the monzonite intrusion zone
look visually similar to the samples of the sodic zone, except for the
large size of albite grains in this zone (see Fig. 4).
3.2. Preparation
To measure the ultrasonic wave velocities under ambient condi-
tions, the rock samples were cut into pieces 5.6 to 7.3 cm in length. For
measurements under confining pressure, we prepared two cylindrical
background samples of 7.6 cm in length and 3.8 cm in diameter to fit
the pressure chamber. Because the cores of the hydrothermally altered
samples had been previously cut lengthwise, the dimensions of these
half cylinders were too small to extract cylindrical sub-samples with an
appropriate length and diameter to perform measurements under con-
fining pressure (requiring a length greater than 7.6 cm and a diameter
equal to 3.8 cm). The end surfaces were cut parallel at a precision
of ± 0.1 cm to ensure a good propagation of the acoustic waves along
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Ore Geology Reviews 126 (2020) 103776
the main axis of the core.
For the automated mineral identification and mapping using scan-
ning electron microscopy (SEM), the ends of eight selected samples
(two background, two from the transitional zone, three from the sodic
zone, and one from the intrusion) were trimmed to obtain a 2 cm-thick
slice, which was then cut into a 2.5 cm-long and 1 cm-thick block. Each
sample was then polished to achieve a flat and smooth finish using a
standard grinder-polisher, and set into a 30 mm diameter epoxy resin
block. The remaining offcuts of these samples were finely milled for a
duration of 4 s using a rock milling machine. One portion of the powder
was used for grain density measurement, and the other portion was
packed into a small circular holder (1 cm diameter and 1 mm thickness)
for X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The mounts were randomly
packaged using the side-loading method, which consists in loading the
powdered samples from one side of the window in the holder, in order
to minimize the preferred orientation of certain minerals, as a preferred
orientation can result in inaccurate peak intensities of XRD reflections
(Środoń et al., 2001).
4. Methods
4.1. Mineral identification
Minerals were identified using XRD (Dinnebier and Billinge, 2008;
Jenkins and Snyder, 1996) and the TESCAN Integrated Mineral Ana-
lyzer (TIMA) (Hrstka et al., 2018), which is a SEM-based automated
mineralogy system. XRD was initially performed to qualitatively iden-
tify the mineral phases, which were then input into a databank (library)
of reference spectra that is used in the TIMA system. The minerals were
then automatically quantified based on this predefined library using
TIMA. Compared to XRD, TIMA provides spatial (2-D) information on
mineralogy, which allows quantitative parameters such as the grain size
distribution and textural relationships to be extracted. Both XRD and
TIMA were performed at the John de Laeter Research Centre at Curtin
University, Western Australia.
4.1.1. XRD analysis
The samples were tested using the powder diffractometer D8
Advance (Bruker AXS, Germany), with a copper K alpha radiation
source (at 40 kV and 40 mA) and a LynxEye detector. To construct the
A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza and S. Vialle
Fig. 3. Porosity estimation from image segmentation (sample T9III). a) BSE image highlighting the pore space in blue and biotite in a lighther grey. b) Total porosity
with BSE intensity ranging between 0 and 38. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this
article.)
diffractometer, the X-ray source was fixed, and the sample holder ro-
tated around angle θ, while the X-ray detector, which was attached onto
a geared arm, turned around angle 2θ. X-rays were detected and re-
corded as 2θ values. The X-ray peaks were recorded every time XRD
took place at a particular angle θ. Measurements were performed in the
2θ range of 7.5–90°, with a spatial step of 0.015°, a time step of 0.7 s,
and an overall measurement time of 60 min per sample.
Mineral phases were identified by comparing the position and in-
tensity of X-ray peaks obtained from the samples with a databank of
mineral X-ray data known as a powder diffraction file. We used the
search/match algorithm DIFFRAC.EVA 3.2 (Bruker AXS, Germany) to
search the powder diffraction file (PDF4 + 2019 edition).
4.1.2. TIMA analysis
The TIMA GM model (Tescan, Czech Republic) was used to auto-
matically identify and quantify the minerals present in the samples.
TIMA consists of a scanning electron microscope equipped with four
fully integrated energy dispersive spectroscopy detectors (Hrstka et al.,
2018). Data processing and mineral classification were carried out
using the software package TIMA 1.5. The data were acquired using the
dot mapping acquisition mode at a spot size of 69.97 nm, at 3 μm re-
solution, with a beam current of 6.91 nA in a high vacuum mode and an
accelerating voltage of 25 kV.
The mineral classification combines backscattered electron (BSE)
imaging with X-ray mapping from the electron beam interaction
(Hrstka et al., 2018). Initially, as the BSE intensity is proportional to the
average atomic number of the mineral, the boundaries of the grains are
easily defined by the gradient in BSE values (Sylvester, 2012). The X-
ray energy inside each grain is then summed to enhance the quality of
the spectra (Hrstka et al., 2018). The X-rays generated are characteristic
of each element present in the sample.
Minerals were automatically identified by comparing the BSE in-
tensity and the combined X-ray spectra of each grain with a predefined
library of reference spectra. A basic library including most common
minerals provided with the software was complemented with spectra
for minerals previously identified through the XRD analysis. As a result,
the software created 2-D mineral maps from the rock specimens, and
the volumetric fraction of each mineral was inferred from its surface
area.
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Ore Geology Reviews 126 (2020) 103776
4.2. Bulk and grain density measurements and porosity computations
Because the rock samples used to obtain the bulk density had an
irregular shape, we could not use the caliper method as in Souza et al.
(2019), and instead opted for the water displacement method, em-
ploying Archimedes’ principle (Abzalov, 2013). The samples were oven-
dried at 70 °C for 24 h and their mass was then measured using a high-
precision balance in air and in water. To measure the mass in water, we
placed the sample in a container hanging from a balance and immersed
it in water (as described in Abzalov, 2013). Note that when measuring
the mass in water, it is assumed that no water enters any pores or
fractures, which is ensured here by i) the fact that the rock samples
have a very low porosity (0%–2%) associated with very small pores or
cracks (see Section 6.1.2), and ii) the very short period of time during
which the sample is actually immersed in water (around 30 s).
The grain density was obtained by employing Boyle’s volume–-
pressure relationship, using an automated helium gas pycnometer, the
Accupyc II Pycnometer (manufactured by Micromeritics, 1995).
Measurements were performed at CSIRO, Western Australia. The
sample powders were also dried, similarly to the bulk density mea-
surements. The total porosity, in percent, was then computed from the
bulk density and grain density measurements (Manger, 1963).
We also estimated the porosity based on the BSE images for com-
parison with the porosity obtained from the bulk density–grain density
relation. We defined the type of pores (soft or stiff) from these BSE
images by image analysis, as seismic velocities are more sensitive to soft
pores, such as crack-like pores, than to rounded pores (stiff). The TIMA
instrument’s software provides the volume fraction of each phase as an
output, including that of the pores (i.e., the total porosity); however, we
performed image analysis on these BSE images using the software
AVIZO (http://www.fei.com/software/avizo3d/). Using this approach,
we were able to separate the cracks from the stiff pores and quantify the
sensitivity of the computed porosity to the chosen grayscale threshold
that was used to separate the pores (in black) from the minerals (in
shades of gray). For each BSE image, we first applied the median filter
to remove noise then segmented the pore space by manual thresh-
olding. Based on our visual inspection and the porosity results deduced
from the experimental measurements, we determined that values of BSE
intensity ranging from 0 to 38 are most representative of the pore space.
A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza and S. Vialle
We computed the sample porosity using this range for all the BSE
images, and the results are reported in Table 2. To define the pore type,
we calculated the width and length of each selected pore and assumed
that pores with a width/length ratio lower than 0.5 are soft pores and
all other pores are considered to be stiff pores. This value was defined
based on the visual identification of cracks (Fig. 3).
4.3. Laboratory measurements of ultrasonic wave velocities
Bench-top ultrasonic velocity measurements of P- and S-waves were
performed on all samples at ambient pressure and temperature condi-
tions using the pulse transmission method (Birch, 1960), which in-
volves measuring the first arrival travel time of the ultrasonic wave
propagating through the sample. Souza et al. (2019) describe details of
ultrasonic wave velocity measurements conducted on samples from the
Karari gold deposit. The samples were placed between a single pair of
piezoelectric transducers that transmitted and received P- and S-waves
simultaneously at a central frequency of 1 MHz (Souza et al., 2019).
The travel time of the P-wave was manually picked as the first onset of
energy, whereas the S-wave travel time was manually picked as the
earliest arrival of high amplitude energy (Souza et al., 2019) (see
Supplementary table). We placed the transducers face-to-face and ac-
quired the system delay time by measuring the transit time between the
transducers, then subtracted the system delay time from the total travel
time. We measured the length and diameter of the sample with a high-
precision caliper, then computed P- and S-wave velocities, Vp and Vs,
respectively, by dividing the sample length by the calculated travel
times (Souza et al., 2019). Velocities were measured in three directions
for background samples (cylindrical), that is perpendicular to the fo-
liation (i.e., along the main axis of the samples) and in two directions
parallel to the foliation (i.e., perpendicular to the main axis of the
samples). For transitional and altered mineralized samples, velocities
were measured in only two directions, along the main axis of the
samples and perpendicular to the main axis, because the samples were
half cylinders. In the following sections, the axial measurements are
referred to as Vp0 and Vs0, and the radial measurements as Vp90 and
Vs90 (taken as an average of the two radial measurements in the case of
background samples). The error in velocity measurements is around 1%
for P-waves and around 2%–4% for S-waves. This error is attributed to
ambiguities in picking the arrival times and the uncertainty in the
sample length and diameter measurements (approximately 0.1 mm).
We also selected two background samples to investigate the pres-
sure dependence of the P-wave velocity (we do not address the pressure
dependency of the S-waves as their identification in these samples was
challenging). As all altered samples consisted of half cylinders, we were
unable to measure their velocity under a confining pressure. The two
background samples were inserted into an insulating rubber jacket and
placed inside a pressure vessel, which was sealed and filled with oil.
The specimens were monitored by three pairs of transducers (sour-
ce–receiver) to measure the P-wave velocity at a frequency of 1 MHz
along three directions of wave propagation, as measured at ambient
conditions. Pore pressure was maintained at zero and the sample was
pressurized in increments of 2.5 MPa, up to 65 MPa.
5. Results
5.1. Mineral identification
Table 1 shows the modal mineralogy of the samples from different
alteration zones in the deposit characterized by TIMA. Some grains
could not be classified (unclassified values), probably because of i) the
quality of the polishing in some parts of the specimen, ii) the presence
of minerals that were not identified during the XRD analysis and were
thus not considered in the input library, and/or iii) spectral inter-
ferences caused by the small size of some grains that resulted in several
overlapping spectra. More than half of the unclassified minerals are
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associated with grain sizes smaller than 4 µm. We note that the un-
classified values decrease in the direction of the intrusion (Table 1) due
to the porphyritic texture, with large grains of albite (up to 5 mm wide)
embedded in a fine-grained matrix (Fig. 4).
5.1.1. Background rocks
The major diffraction peaks observed for the background samples
are related to biotite and albite, which match the most abundant mi-
nerals identified in the TIMA data (Table 1). In the XRD data, biotite
and phlogopite display similar diffraction patterns, but the TIMA clas-
sification indicates that biotite is the most dominant phyllosilicate mi-
neral, in agreement with Witt et al. (2009). The diffraction peak of
chlorite (a clay mineral) was present at around a 2θ angle of 12°.
However, TIMA could not identify this mineral due to its small grain
size. A portion of the unclassified values of the background samples in
the TIMA analysis (Table 1) can therefore be attributed to chlorite. The
main constituents of the two background samples are albite, anortho-
clase, biotite, and quartz (Table 1). Anorthoclase is the primary alkali
feldspar, and albite represents more than 90% of plagioclase feldspar
abundance. The foliated texture observed in the samples is attributed to
the abundance of biotite, at 15%–22% in volume. The grain size of
biotite is variable, but some grains measure up to 2 mm in size (brown
grains in Fig. 4). Although of low abundance, calcite (1%–6% in vo-
lume) is the unique carbonate mineral observed in these samples.
Variable amounts of quartz, ranging from 9% to 22% in volume, occur
in this zone and the pyrite abundance is less than 0.2% of the rock
volume.
5.1.2. Transitional zone
As in the background samples, biotite, quartz, and albite are the
dominant minerals in the transitional zone, with albite representing
almost 41% of the volume in one sample. Compared with the back-
ground zone, the TIMA classification (Table 1) indicates a progressive
decrease in biotite, down to less than 10% of the rock volume, and
calcite is replaced by dolomite.
5.1.3. Sodic zone and monzonite porphyry intrusion zone
The sodic alteration zone and monzonite porphyry intrusion zone
are dominated by sodic plagioclase, with albite as the most abundant
mineral. In some samples, albite represents more than 40% of the rock
volume. The amount of alkali feldspar increases in the direction of the
sodic alteration zone due to the increase in orthoclase abundance (up to
27.2% in volume). This zone is intensely cut by quartz–dolomite veins
and pyrite-rich veinlets (Fig. 4). Dolomite is the only carbonate present
in this zone, making up to approximately 8% of the rock volume. Minor
pyrite is present and represents up to 2% of the rock volume, although
Witt et al. (2009) reported that this zone hosts up to 10% pyrite. With
the exception of one sample, the biotite volume is less than 1%, which
explains the absence of foliation in this altered zone. The X-ray data
confirm the disappearance of biotite.
5.2. Bulk and grain density measurements and porosity computations
Bulk and grain density measurements are reported along with por-
osity in Table 2. The image segmentation and the experimental mea-
surements based on the grain–bulk density relation both show that the
total porosity of the background samples is higher than that of the al-
tered samples. The total porosity ranges from 1.3% to 2.8% for the
background samples, and is lower than 0.5% for the transitional, sodic,
and intrusion zones, with the exception of one sample.
The average bulk density is 2.72 g/cm3 for background samples,
2.76 g/cm3 in the transitional zone, 2.73 g/cm3 in the moderately al-
tered zone, 2.70 g/cm3 in the highly altered zone, and 2.68 g/cm3 in
the monzonite intrusion zone. These values are in agreement with the
felsic composition, which ranges from 2.5 to 2.8 g/cm3 (Schon, 2015).
The grain density tends to decrease slightly from the background zone
A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza and S. Vialle Ore Geology Reviews 126 (2020) 103776

Table 1
Summary of volumetric fractions of mineral (in %) using TIMA analysis.
Group of Minerals Mineral Background Transitional zone Sodic zone Monzonite Intrusion

Sample T7I Sample T9III Sample T13I Sample T13IV Sample T13II Sample T14IV Sample T15II Sample T18III

Plagioclase feldspar Albite 29.8 26.4 40.8 28.4 41.9 27.5 27.7 45.0
Anorthite 0.7 1.5 1.2 1.8 3.3 4.3 3.2 3.0
Oligoclase 0.6 0.9 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.5
Total 31.0 28.7 42.7 31.0 45.8 32.3 31.4 48.5
Alkali feldspar Orthoclase 0.9 3.5 10.9 3.1 12.4 27.2 25.8 17.1
Anorthoclase 10.3 12.9 6.8 17.0 8.9 3.0 2.6 3.0
Total 11.2 16.4 17.7 20.1 21.2 30.2 28.4 20.1
Quartz 22.1 9.2 15.3 14.5 9.7 9.1 22.0 12.2
Calcite 1.0 6.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.1
Dolomite 0.0 0.4 4.0 7.3 8.2 7.6 7.1 6.7
Biotite 14.8 22.5 4.8 9.9 0.9 3.5 0.0 0.1
Pyrite 0.2 0.0 0.6 0.1 0.1 2.6 1.8 0.8
Others 2.6 2.9 2.8 1.6 2.0 1.5 0.8 1.3
Unclassified 15.9 12.8 11.7 15.0 11.8 12.5 8.1 9.8
Holes 1.0 0.9 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Fig. 4. Example of mineral identification and mapping using TIMA for 4 different stages of alteration. Only the more abundant minerals have been displayed (more
than 2% in vol.).

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A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza and S. Vialle Ore Geology Reviews 126 (2020) 103776

Table 2
Summary of measured bulk density and grain density (in g/cm3) along with porosity.
Zone-Intensity of Samples Bulk Grain Total porosity from density Total porosity from BSE Stiff porosity from BSE Soft porosity from BSE
alteration density density relation image image image

Background T7I 2.69 2.746 2.1 ± 0.2% 1.6 ± 0.6% 1.4 ± 0.5% 0.2 ± 0.1%
Background T9III 2.73 2.800 2.3 ± 0.2% 2.0 ± 0.4% 1.6 ± 0.3% 0.4 ± 0.1%
Background T9IV 2.75 2.786 1.3 ± 0.2% – – –
Background T9V 2.78 2.857 2.8 ± 0.2% – – –
Transitional T13I 2.74 2.738 0.1 ± 0.2% 0.5 ± 0.2% 0.4 ± 0.2% 0.1 ± 0.2%
Transitional T13IV 2.79 2.787 0.0 ± 0.2% 0.5 ± 0.2% 0.5 ± 0.2% 0 ± 0.2%
Sodic-Moderate T13II 2.73 2.726 0.0 ± 0.2% 0.3 ± 0.1% 0.3 ± 0.1% 0 ± 0.1%
Sodic-Moderate T14IV 2.72 2.710 0.0 ± 0.3% 0.4 ± 0.1% 0.4 ± 0.1% 0 ± 0.1%
Sodic-High T15I 2.68 2.667 0.0 ± 0.3% – – –
Sodic-High T15II 2.74 2.767 0.9 ± 0.2% 0.4 ± 0.2% 0.3 ± 0.1% 0.1 ± 0.1%
Sodic-High T15III 2.68 2.686 0.3 ± 0.2% – – –
Monzonite intrusion T18III 2.70 2.705 0.2 ± 0.2% 0.3 ± 0.1% 0.3 ± 0.1% 0 ± 0.1%

to the monzonite intrusion zone. The background sample T9V exhibited
the highest grain density, at 2.85 g/cm3.
5.3. Ultrasonic velocity measurements
5.3.1. Ambient conditions
Fig. 5 shows the values of Vp and Vs under ambient conditions,
measured parallel (open dots) and perpendicular (black dots) to the
foliation on the 21 samples from the different alteration intensity zones.
As the values of velocities are close (with a difference of less than
100 m/s) along the foliation of the samples in both parallel directions,
we considered the average value between these directions (open dots).
It was challenging to pick the first S-wave arrival time in the back-
ground samples when measuring perpendicular to the foliation due to a
low signal-to-noise ratio and the overlap of reflected P-waves. It was
therefore only possible to measure Vs in this direction in three samples
from this zone (Fig. 5b). In contrast, a rapid shear wave signal was
easily identified in all the altered rocks in both acquisition directions.
For all background samples, the velocities show a significant dif-
ference depending on the direction of the measurements, with slower
velocities recorded in the direction perpendicular to the foliation. In
these samples, the ε parameter, corresponding to one of Thomsen’s
anisotropic parameters related to the anisotropy of P-waves (Thomsen,
1986), varies from 10% to 22%. In contrast, the Vp and Vs values
measured in both directions for the samples from the transitional, sodic,
and monzonite intrusion zones are close and display low values of an-
isotropy compared to the background samples (Souza et al., 2019).
Regardless of the direction of acquisition, the Vp and Vs values for the
background samples are consistently lower than in the other altered
samples. The most significant difference in Vp and Vs values between
the background and altered samples occurs in the direction perpendi-
cular to the foliation, with an average difference of 1990 m/s and
940 m/s in Vp and Vs, respectively. When measured parallel to the
foliation, the difference between the background and the altered sam-
ples is on average 670 m/s and 330 m/s for Vp and Vs, respectively.
Although background and altered samples may be easily dis-
criminated using the seismic velocity values, it remains challenging to
distinguish between samples characterized by distinct intensities of
alteration due to their similar velocity values. For example, the average
Vp variation between the transitional zone and the monzonite intrusion
zone, considering both directions of acquisition, is 180 m/s. However, it
is interesting to highlight that the highest values of Vs are observed
when the number of quartz veins increases, as in the highly altered
sodic zone (Fig. 5b).
5.3.2. Pressure dependence
Fig. 6 shows the Vp values for two background samples (T9-IV in
white and T9-V in black) measured along three directions of propaga-
tion as a function of confining pressure. At low pressure, the slow axis
of wave propagation is perpendicular to the foliation plane in both
samples (circle symbols). The velocity along this direction of propaga-
tion increases rapidly with increasing pressure, which is interpreted as
resulting from the closure of microcracks. For differential pressures
greater than ~10 MPa for sample T9-V, and greater than ~30 MPa for
sample T9-IV, velocities measured perpendicular and parallel (square
and triangle symbols) to the foliation become very close in magnitude.

Fig. 5. Acoustic velocities measured in the axial (black dots) and radial (open dots) directions of the cores from different altered zones, at ambient conditions. In the
case of the background samples, the black dots and open dots coincide with the directions perpendicular and parallel to the foliation, respectively. a) P-wave velocity
and b) S-wave velocity. The error in velocity measurement is around 1% to P-wave and approximately 2–4% to S-wave.

8
A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza and S. Vialle
Fig. 6. P-wave velocity of two background samples along three directions of
propagation as a function of confining pressure. The black dashed polygon in-
dicates the range of expected pressure in the mine.
The difference in velocity gradient between the two samples could be
associated with different aspect ratios of the cracks (i.e., the ratio be-
tween the width and the length of the pores). The in situ principal stress
orientation and magnitude were estimated by Villaescusa and Hogan
(2020) using the Acoustic Emission technique on oriented cores ex-
tracted from the Karari mine. In the following discussion, we use the
average of the three principal stress components, which gives a stress of
9 MPa at 200 m and 30 MPa at 800 m.
6. Discussion
The results of this study demonstrate that background and altered
samples present mineralogical, textural, and acoustic property differ-
ences. To help us understand and quantify the effect of various para-
meters (i. e., confining pressure, mineralogy, porosity, and foliation) on
the magnitude of the acoustic impedance contrast, and consequently,
on the seismic detectability between background and altered (miner-
alized) rocks, we analyzed our data by correlating Vp with geological
parameters. We first discuss how the confining pressure affects Vp,
porosity, and the acoustic impedance of the studied samples. We then
use these data as inputs in a rock physics model to assess the effects of
the mineralogy on acoustic properties.
6.1. Pressure sensitivity
6.1.1. P-wave velocity
Laboratory measurements conducted on background samples at
ambient conditions showed a significant velocity anisotropy. As ex-
pected, the lowest velocities were measured perpendicular to the fo-
liation in these samples (Fig. 5). The P-wave velocity anisotropy at
ambient conditions is high, with ε = 22%, but decreases significantly
for pressures greater than 20 MPa with ε approaching 0% for pressures
greater than 45 MPa (Fig. 6). Perpendicular to the foliation, velocities
increase by 24% from 0 MPa to 45 MPa, whereas velocities increase by
only approximately 10% parallel to the foliation for sample T9 IV. This
suggests that the microcracks are preferentially distributed parallel to
the foliation, in agreement with the morphology of platy phyllosilicate
minerals such as biotite, which tends to display cracks parallel to the
rock fabric (McCuaig and Kerrich, 1994). Cracks can be easily identified
and associated with biotite grains in the BSE images (Fig. 3). In the
context of the Karari mine, where effective stresses are expected to be
between 9 MPa and 30 MPa, the P-wave velocities for background
samples are expected to be between 4300 m/s and 5200 m/s at a depth
of 200 m and between 5100 m/s and 5400 m/s at a depth of 800 m,
9
Ore Geology Reviews 126 (2020) 103776
depending on the orientation of the foliation with respect to the di-
rection of wave propagation. This corresponds to a value of ε of ap-
proximately 10% at 200 m and 3% at 800 m.
We could not evaluate the pressure dependence of the acoustic ve-
locities for altered samples as the cores were half cylinders, and thus too
small to create suitable cylindrical sub-samples. However, as these
samples do not exhibit a foliated texture, we would expect a smaller
pressure sensitivity than for the background samples. Based on the
pressure dependence obtained for the velocities measured parallel to
the foliation for the background samples, we hypothesize that P-wave
velocities will increase by a maximum of 2% at 200 m and 5% at 800 m
for the altered samples. We further investigate this hypothesis using
pore space analysis in Section 6.1.2.
6.1.2. Porosity
The porosity values computed using the two different approaches
(density measurements and SEM-BSE image analysis) are in good
agreement (Table 2). The small difference in porosity values obtained
using these two techniques can be attributed to the heterogeneity of the
samples, the use of 2-D data for image analysis versus 3-D data for
experimental measurements, and the choice of the grayscale thresh-
olding value to separate pores from minerals. This threshold was mainly
based on a visual inspection of the output result. For example, if a
threshold of 40 was chosen instead of 38, the porosity estimated for
sample T9-III would be 2.8% instead of 2.0%, demonstrating that the
obtained value is relatively sensitive to the chosen threshold value.
However, a simple visual inspection of the resulting pore space showed
that a portion of the solid phase was identified as pore space for a
threshold value of 40. We estimated the error in the porosity compu-
tation using image analysis as resulting from an uncertainty of ± 1 in
grayscale intensity value.
In order to assess how porosity values vary with pressure, we first
performed tests using the same pycnometer as that employed for grain
densities, but with cylindrical sub-cores and at increasing values of
confining pressure. However, at a low confining pressure (2 MPa), only
0.1% of the pore volume of the tested samples could be filled with
helium gas, indicating that most of the porosity was unconnected and
thus inaccessible using this technique. We then performed image ana-
lysis on the pore space in the BSE images, and classified pores as soft or
stiff pores based on their width-to-length ratios. The assumption is that
stiff pores will not close under in situ stresses, but soft pores will par-
tially or totally close depending on the magnitude of in situ stresses and
the orientation of the cracks with respect to these stresses. The obtained
values for the soft and stiff porosities are reported in Table 2. For
background samples, soft porosity was identified in all analyzed sam-
ples and varied between 0.2% and 0.4% (representing up to 20% of the
pore space). For most altered samples, no soft porosity was detected at
the resolution of the images (3 μm), and represented up to 0.1% only for
two samples. From these results, we can infer that (i) porosity values
under the in situ stress conditions existing at the Karari mine are ex-
pected to be similar to those obtained under ambient conditions for the
altered samples and at most 25% smaller for the background samples,
and (ii) the pressure sensitivity of acoustic velocities in altered samples
is expected to be smaller than that observed for background samples
due to a lack of or a very small proportion of soft porosity (cracks).
Thus, the hypothesis that velocities will increase by at most 5% under
the maximum in situ pressure is legitimate.
Fig. 7 shows the evolution of porosity, Vp 90, Vp 0, and mineralogy
as a function of increasing hydrothermal alteration. For porosity, Vp 90
and Vp 0, the range of expected values under in situ stress conditions
are displayed in Fig. 7a, as described above. We observed a good cor-
relation between P-wave velocities and porosity and noted that a dif-
ference in porosity of approximately 2% between the background and
altered samples generates a difference in Vp 90 between 400 m/s and
1500 m/s and a difference in Vp 0 between 900 m/s and 2600 m/s. This
indicates that the velocity values are very sensitive to porosity.
A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza and S. Vialle Ore Geology Reviews 126 (2020) 103776

Fig. 7. The porosity-Vp relation for 12 samples (a) and the mineralogy-Vp relation for 8 samples (b) across the zones of alteration.

Fig. 8. P-wave velocity versus density acquired along, Vp0, (a) and transverse, Vp90, (b) to the main axis of the samples at ambient conditions. The colors represent
different alteration zones and symbols represent different pressure conditions. Dashed lines represent constant acoustic impedance, and the perpendicular separation
between them is the minimum acoustic impedance contrast required to generate a reflection coefficient (R) of 0.06.

6.1.3. Seismic reflectivity reflection may not be detected.

Fig. 8 displays Vp 0 (a) and Vp 90 (b) versus bulk density at ambient
conditions, along with their estimated increase at the in situ stress
conditions. The perpendicular distance between the constant acoustic
impedance contours (black dashed lines) represents the minimum re-
flection coefficient required for a planar reflector to be detected by
seismic reflection data, corresponding to 0.06 (Salisbury et al., 1996).
To estimate the reflection coefficient, R , we used the Zoeppritz equation
for the case of normal incidence,
I I1
R= 2 ,
I1 + I2
where I1 and I2 are the acoustic impedances of the upper and lower
media, respectively. Considering the presence of a seismic reflector
with a favorable geometry and size, for the Vp0 case, the background/
hydrothermal alteration interface is easily detected by the seismic re-
flection method for pressures lower than 10 MPa. However, no contrast
was detected among the altered samples. We note that the difference in
acoustic impedance is entirely attributed to the difference in velocity,
with no contribution from density. This is still true for the Vp90 case,
but the seismic reflectivity is lower, close to the minimum required for
seismic detection. Bearing in mind that the signal-to-noise ratio of the
seismic data is commonly low in hard-rock environments, this weak
Considering this scenario, the seismic reflectivity between the
background and altered samples is expected to decrease with increasing
depth (increasing confining pressure). Depending on the orientation of
the foliation relative to the seismic wave propagation direction, the
seismic reflectivity is expected to be between 0.07 and 0.13 at a depth
200 m and between 0.05 and 0.09 at a depth of 800 m.
6.2. Effect of mineralogy on acoustic impedance contrast between
background and altered samples
(1)
Based on the mineralogy data (Table 1), no clear trends in the
amount of quartz and feldspar (in % volume) were observed from the
background samples to the monzonite intrusion zone. However, we
observed that calcite was replaced by dolomite and the amount of
biotite decreased significantly with alteration, from 22% to 0% in vo-
lume (Fig. 7b). Dolomite exhibits a P-wave velocity (7.4 km/s) higher
than calcite (6.5 km/s) and biotite (6.1 km/s) (Mavko et al., 2011), and
its density (2.87 g/cm3) is lower than that of biotite (3.05 g/cm3) but
higher than that of calcite (2.71 g/cm3). As acoustic impedance is the
product of these two quantities, the resulting effect of this mineralogy
change on seismic reflectivity is not straightforward, and likely to be
small. To quantify the effect of the mineral replacement only on the

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A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza and S. Vialle Ore Geology Reviews 126 (2020) 103776

Table 3
Parameters used for the rock physics modeling. Density, bulk modulus (K), and shear modulus (µ) are in g/cm3, GPa, and GPa, respectively. Except for albite that was
taken from Bass (1995), the values of elastic moduli for each mineral were taken from the data compiled by Mavko et al. (2011). The ranges of the volume fraction of
each mineral in each altered zone were based on TIMA analysis and Witt et al. (2009).
Elastic moduli from literature Range of the volume fraction of each mineral in each zone

Mineral Density K µ Background zone Transitional zone Sodic zone

Quartz 2.65 36.6 45.0 10–40% 15–30% 10–32%

Calcite 2.71 75.0 31.0 0–12% 0–7% 0%
Dolomite 2.87 94.9 45.7 0–1% 2–12% 5–14%
Biotite 3.05 55.2 42.4 13–45% 5–15% 0–4%
Albite 2.61 56.9 28.6 15–45% 25–50% 31–50%
Pyrite 4.93 147.4 132.5 0–1% 0–1% 0–4%
Magnetite 5.20 161.4 91.4 0% 0–4% 0–1%

seismic reflectivity, we assumed zero porosity and used the Voig-
t–Reuss–Hill average rock physics model (Mavko et al., 2011). As input
in this model, we use the volume fraction of the most abundant mineral
phases only, and their elastic moduli and density taken from the lit-
erature (listed in Table 3). To better represent the acoustic properties in
each alteration zone, we first fixed a range of volume fractions for each
mineral according to the expected values for each zone, based on the
results obtained from TIMA analysis (see mineral identification section)
along with reported values from Witt et al. (2009) (Table 3).
For the Voigt-Reuss-Hill average, we first estimated the effective
bulk modulus of a mixture of minerals (solid) using the expressions for
the Voigt upper bound and the Reuss lower bound
N This study focused on understanding the effects of geological
MVoigt = fi Mi ,
i=1
N
1 fi
=
MReuss i=1
Mi
respectively, where N, fi, and Mi represent the number of components,
the fraction of ith mineral constituent, and bulk (K) or shear modulus (µ)
of the ith mineral constituent, respectively. We then calculated the ar-
ithmetic average of both. Once the elastic moduli were computed, we
then calculated the density (ρ) and Vp using the following expressions,
respectively,
N and Vs in the background samples were consistently slower than in the
= fi i ,
i=1
K+
4µ
3
vp = . with no contribution from density. The small contrast in porosity (ap-
The results of these models show that Vp tends to increase and
density tends to decrease with increasing alteration (“x” symbols in
Fig. 9). The lack of acoustic contrast between the different zones is a
result of the compensation of the increase in Vp with alteration by the
reduction in density. Mineralogy is therefore not the primary geological
parameter controlling the seismic reflectivity of the background/altered
rock interface. Hence, any acoustic contrast must be the result of
parameters relating to the pore space (such as porosity, and cracks not
closed or partially closed at in situ stresses, etc.) that will lower the
values of acoustic velocities.
As previously mentioned, discriminating between samples with
different alteration intensities (transitional, moderate, high, and intru-
sion) using only Vp or Vs is challenging (Fig. 5). In the oil industry, the
combination of seismic velocities Vp and Vs is usually used to dis-
criminate mineralogy and fluids (Avseth et al., 2010). Among the mi-
nerals in this study, quartz has one of the lowest Vp/Vs ratios because
its shear modulus is higher than its bulk modulus (Table 3). As there is
no clear trend in quartz content between the different alteration zones
in this study, a cross-plot of Vp as a function of Vp/Vs does not result in
clustering of the data based on their intensity of alteration (Fig. 10).
However, two samples from the highly altered zone (T15-I and T15-III)
displayed a much lower value of Vp/Vs, regardless of the acquisition
direction, and also visually present a higher number of quartz veins. As
most of the typical orogenic gold deposits of the Yilgarn Craton in
Australia are associated with quartz veins (Groves et al., 1998), a cross-
plot of Vp as a function of Vp/Vs could be used to identify quartz vein-
rich zones.
7. Conclusions
parameters such as mineralogy, porosity, and foliation on seismic re-
(2) flectivity in hydrothermal alteration zones associated with the Karari
gold deposit. To do so, we measured the bulk density and P- and S-wave
velocities at ambient conditions on 21 whole core samples representing
(3) different intensities of hydrothermal alteration, and under confining
pressure for a subset of these. The velocity measurements were per-
formed in the axial and radial directions of the cores. In the case of
background samples, measurements along the main axis of the cores
were made perpendicular to the foliation and measurements transverse
to the main axis were made parallel to the foliation. In addition, we
selected a subset of eight samples for careful characterization of the
mineralogy and porosity. Regardless of the direction of acquisition, Vp
altered samples. Our data indicate that porosity is the main causative
(4) factor for lower velocity values in the background samples, and con-
sequently, for the lower acoustic impedance values. The difference in
acoustic impedance is entirely attributed to the difference in velocity
(5)
proximately 2%) between the background and altered samples dom-
inates the velocity response, especially in the acquisition direction
perpendicular to the foliation. Although the background/alteration in-
terface displays seismic reflectivity values that are sufficient to be de-
tected by seismic methods at pressures below 10 MPa, the seismic re-
flectivity of this interface tends to decrease rapidly with increasing
pressure due to the closure of microcracks. At pressures between
10 MPa and 30 MPa, seismic reflectivity is around the minimum value
required for a planar reflector to be detected using the seismic reflec-
tion method and is seismically undetectably at pressures above 30 MPa.
To investigate the effects of mineralogical replacement caused by
hydrothermal alteration on seismic reflectivity, we created hypothetical
zero porosity rocks with a range of mineral volume fractions for each
dominant mineral according to the expected values for each zone of
alteration. We then used these data as input in the Voigt-Reuss-Hill
average rock physics model. These results showed that the miner-
alogical replacement does not affect the seismic reflectivity of the de-
posit because the increase in Vp with increasing alteration is compen-
sated by a reduction in density. Although the mineralogy does not
directly affect the seismic reflectivity, the porosity observed in the

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A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza and S. Vialle Ore Geology Reviews 126 (2020) 103776

Fig. 9. The effects of mineralogical replacement (x) and porosity on Vp and density across the zones of alteration. The colors represent different alteration zones and
symbols represent different pressure conditions. To simulate the mineralogical replacement with alteration, we used the Voigt-Reuss-Hill average. Dashed lines
represent constant acoustic impedance.

Fig. 10. Vp as a function of Vp/Vs at ambient conditions.

background samples is in part attributed to the presence of biotite in Declaration of Competing Interest
these samples.
This study enhances our understanding of the acoustic contrast The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
between the gold-mineralized rocks and their host rocks, which serves interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
as a basis for seismic interpretation of the existing seismic data across ence the work reported in this paper.
the deposit, as well as for delineating additional mineralization in the
Karari gold deposit and in mineral deposits with similar geological
characteristics.

12
A.E. Calazans Matos de Souza and S. Vialle
Acknowledgments
Andre Souza is grateful to Curtin University (through Curtin
Strategic Stipend Scholarship) and CSIRO (through the Deep Earth
Imaging Program) for the financial support and the physical facilities
for this research. We thank Saracen Mineral Holding Limited for pro-
viding the drill core. We thank Lionel Esteban from CSIRO for assisting
in the grain density measurements. We are grateful to Mustafa Sari, Joel
Sarout, Ludwig Monmusson, and Shane Kager from CSIRO's
Geomechanics and Geophysics Laboratory for assisting in the velocity
measurements under confining pressure. Dr. Mehrooz Aspandiar,
Veronica Avery, and Andrew Wieczorek, from Applied Geology at
Curtin University, are thanked for their useful help during the selection
and preparation of the samples. Part of this research was undertaken
using the XRD and TIMA instrumentation (ARC LE LE0775551 and
LE140100150] at the John de Laeter Centre, Curtin University. We are
grateful to Geological Society of Australia for permission to reproduce
copyright material of Fig. 1 after W. K. Witt, D. R. Mason & D. P.
Hammond (2009) Archean Karari gold deposit, Eastern Goldfields
Province, Western Australia: a monzonite-associated disseminated gold
deposit, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 56:8, 1061-1086, rep-
rinted by permission of Taylor & Francis Ltda. Part of this work was
supported by resources provided by Pawsey supercomputing Centre
with funding from Australian Government and the Government of
Western Australia.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2020.103776.
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