Silver Substitution into Common Metal Sulphides from Cobalt, Ontario

Abstract

<P> The occurrence of silver in galena, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and pyrite as well as tailings from Cart Lake, Cobalt Ontario were investigated to compare with the undetectable ( <10^-11 g/g) Ag found in runoff water from the Cobalt area. </p> <p> Silver was detected at very low levels: 0.012 wt% ± 0.009 wt%, 0.015 wt% ± 0.01 wt%, and 0.0062 wt% ±0.02 wt% for pyrite, galena and chalcopyrite, respectively. </p> <p> Attempts to characterize the mineralogical associations of silver were not successful. The silver sequence of pyrite> galena> chalcopyrite is contrary to results from other studies. This may be due to the maximum thermal stabilities of the minerals in relation to the ions available for replacement. </p>