A. V. MELNIKOV (IG&NM FEB RAS), V. A. STEPANOV (SRGC FEB RAS)

Large gold nuggets in ore­placer clusters of the Amur Region

The study of large and very large gold nuggets extracted from placers in the Amur province since 1858 is described. The main nugget­forming formation is gold­quartz, the gold­polymetallic formation plays a lesser role, and the skarn type of mineralization plays an even smaller role. It has been identified that most of ore­placer clusters containing nuggets are confined to the central, most productive part of the province, and a smaller part to the southern and northern peripheries of the province. It is shown that the Gar River­2 Placer of the Yasnensky Cluster contains a nest of almost unrounded nuggets in quartz aggregates comparable in total weight to the world’s largest Holtermann Nugget.
Keywords: nuggets, gold, ore­placer cluster, placer, mineral deposit.