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Gold nugget formation from earthquake-induced piezoelectricity in quartz

Nature Geoscience volume 17, pages 920–925 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Gold nuggets occur predominantly in quartz veins, and the current paradigm posits that gold precipitates from dilute (<1 mg kg−1 gold), hot, water ± carbon dioxide-rich fluids owing to changes in temperature, pressure and/or fluid chemistry. However, the widespread occurrence of large gold nuggets is at odds with the dilute nature of these fluids and the chemical inertness of quartz. Quartz is the only abundant piezoelectric mineral on Earth, and the cyclical nature of earthquake activity that drives orogenic gold deposit formation means that quartz crystals in veins will experience thousands of episodes of deviatoric stress. Here we use quartz deformation experiments and piezoelectric modelling to investigate whether piezoelectric discharge from quartz can explain the ubiquitous gold–quartz association and the formation of gold nuggets. We find that stress on quartz crystals can generate enough voltage to electrochemically deposit aqueous gold from solution as well as accumulate gold nanoparticles. Nucleation of gold via piezo-driven reactions is rate-limiting because quartz is an insulator; however, since gold is a conductor, our results show that existing gold grains are the focus of ongoing growth. We suggest this mechanism can help explain the creation of large nuggets and the commonly observed highly interconnected gold networks within quartz vein fractures.

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Fig. 1: Quartz crystal models depicting the relationship between a CPO (‘texture’) and piezoelectric polarization.
Fig. 2: Summary of gold accumulation by the quartz piezocatalysis model.
Fig. 3: Results from the uncoated quartz gold chloride (AuCl4) experiment.
Fig. 4: Results from the gold chloride (AuCl4) and gold nanoparticle (AuNP) with natural auriferous quartz experiments.
Fig. 5: Results from the uncoated quartz gold nanoparticle (AuNP) experiment.

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Data availability

Neutron diffraction measurements of quartz samples and associated data used to model the piezoelectric properties are available via figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.26315281 (ref. 50). All other data supporting the findings of this study (sample images and geochemical models) are available within the article and its extended data files.

Code availability

The code used for piezoelectric potential tensorial modelling can be found in ref. 20.

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Acknowledgements

This study is supported by Australian Research Council (LP200200897) and MRIWA project M10412 awarded to A.G.T., J.B. and W.L. We acknowledge the use of instruments and scientific and technical assistance at the Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy (MCEM), Monash University, the Victorian Node of Microscopy Australia. This research used equipment funded by Australian Research Council grant: Thermo Fisher Scientific Helios 5 UX FIB-SEM ARC Funding (LE200100132). We thank Agnico Eagles Mines Limited and the staff at Fosterville Gold Mine for providing samples and site access. We thank Y. Xing and D. Willis for assistance and discussions throughout the project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Christopher R. Voisey, Nicholas J. R. Hunter, Andrew G. Tomkins & Joël Brugger

  2. Centre for Health Systems Development, Australian Institute of Primary Care and Ageing, La Trobe University, Bundoora Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Nicholas J. R. Hunter

  3. CSIRO Mineral Resources, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Weihua Liu

  4. Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Yang Liu

  5. Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, ANSTO, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Vladimir Luzin

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Contributions

C.R.V. conceptualized the project, designed and conducted piezoelectric laboratory experiments and was lead writer of the paper. N.J.R.H. processed and interpreted neutron diffraction data, constructed relevant figures and helped write the paper. A.G.T. helped conceptualize the project and interpretation. J.B. helped design the aqueous experiments and solutions and constructed geochemical models. W.L. designed and created the nanoparticle suspensions. Y.L. conducted SEM and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. V.L. conducted the neutron diffraction experiments. All authors reviewed the paper before submission.

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Correspondence to Christopher R. Voisey.

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Nature Geoscience thanks David Groves, Mark Hannington, Randolph Williams and Yanhao Yu for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary Handling Editor: Alison Hunt, in collaboration with the Nature Geoscience team.

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Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1 The crystallography of quartz and related piezoelectric effects.

The crystal planes of quartz and the piezoelectric response when distorted. (a) Crystallography of left- and right- handed quartz. The basal {c}, prismatic {m} and rhombohedral {r, z} planes are indicated. Minor planes, such as bipyramidal and acute rhombohedral, are not shown. (b) Quartz crystal viewed parallel to the c-axis. Here, the first- {m} and second- order {a} prismatic planes can be easily distinguished. (c) The effect of an applied mechanical stress (parallel to X) on the quartz atomic framework (top left and right). As the framework is distorted (top right), a piezoelectric potential is generated. When a quartz crystal is viewed parallel to the c-axis (bottom left and right) the distribution of positive (red) and negative (blue) piezoelectric charge can be recognised. (d) Note that only the {a} crystal planes are piezoelectric in quartz.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Geological map of the Victorian goldfields, Australia.

Major gold deposits in the Victorian goldfields, including the Fosterville deposit where samples for this study were sourced, from Voisey et al. (2020). (a) Schematic of Australia with the state of Victoria highlighted in grey. Position of (b) is indicated. (b) Inset map of Victoria and part of New South Wales showing the locations of the Lachlan orogen and the Delamerian orogen. Position of (c) is indicated. (c) Simplified geologic map of central Victoria, modified from Phillips et al. (2012). Infilled circles show major gold fields.

Extended Data Fig. 3 Schematic of the apparatus used in all experiments.

Deformation apparatus used in our experiments. The 2 x 1 x 0.5 cm quartz slab(s) are placed within an 8 x 8 x 3 cm sample chamber and submerged in 75 ml of gold-bearing solution. The perimeter of the sample chamber is sealed with silicon and the bottom plate has a trough to keep the sample chamber in place. Pressure is applied between the bottom two plates to prevent vertical bouncing during experimental oscillations. The quartz is then deformed by the actuator impact head for 1 hour at room temperature.

Extended Data Fig. 4 Gold solubility in our experiments vs. typical orogenic systems.

Eh vs. pH diagrams showing the potentials required to reduce aqueous gold. (a) Gold present as AuCl4− in our room-temperature experiments and (b) shown as the Au(HS)2- ± Au(HS)(aq) complexes typical in orogenic gold fluids, into metallic gold, as a function of gold in solution. The diagrams of iron also shown for comparison, where (c) and (d) correspond to (a) and (b), respectively. Abbreviations: Hem – hematite, Mgn – magnetite, Po- pyrrhotite, Py – pyrite. QMF in (d) shows the pH corresponding to quartz-muscovite-K-feldspar for activities of K+ of 0.1 to 0.01.

Extended Data Fig. 5 Control results from uncoated quartz experiments.

Imagery of the quartz crystal control slabs from our uncoated experiments. Samples were submerged in their respective solutions, but not deformed. (a) BSE image of bare quartz gold chloride (AuCl4) experiment. (b) and (c) are BSE and SE images, respectively, of the square area outlined in (a). (d) BSE image of bare quartz gold nanoparticle (AuNP) experiment. (e) and (f) are BSE and SE images, respectively, of the square area outlined in (d). BSE: Backscattered electron. SE: Secondary electron.

Extended Data Fig. 6 Results from Ir-coated quartz with gold chloride (AuCl4) experiment.

Imagery of the Ir-coated quartz crystal slab after deformation within AuCl4 solution. (a) BSE image of the quartz surface exhibiting distribution of gold particles deposits from AuCl4 solution. Linear arrays, or ‘branches’, of gold particles can be seen. (b) and (c) are BSE and SE images, respectively, of the square area outlined in (a). Coupling of gold particles is evident as well as a pseudo-hexagonal Au nanocrystal. (d) EDS image of the square area in (a) highlighting the chemistry of sample area. BSE: Backscattered electron. SE: Secondary electron. EDS: Energy dispersive spectroscopy.

Extended Data Fig. 7 Control results from from Ir-coated quartz with gold chloride (AuCl4) experiment.

Imagery of the Ir-coated quartz crystal control slab for the AuCl4 solution experiment. Sample was submerged but not deformed. (a) EDS image of the quartz control sample surface. (b) BSE image of the quartz control sample surface. Inset shown at higher magnification. (c) EDS spectra of area in (a). BSE: Backscattered electron. EDS: Energy dispersive spectroscopy.

Extended Data Fig. 8 Control results from natural auriferous quartz experiments.

Imagery of the natural gold-bearing quartz control slabs from our growth experiments. Samples were submerged in their respective solutions, but not deformed. (a) BSE image of natural auriferous quartz gold chloride (AuCl4) experiment. Gold grain within quartz. (b) and (c) are BSE and SE images, respectively, of the square area outlined in (a). (d) BSE image of natural auriferous quartz gold nanoparticle (AuNP) experiment. Gold grain within quartz. (e) and (f) are BSE and SE images, respectively, of the square area outlined in (d). In both samples, particles seen on the gold grain surface are pieces of quartz. BSE: Backscattered electron. SE: Secondary electron.

Extended Data Fig. 9 Results from Ir-coated quartz gold nanoparticle (AuNP) experiment.

Imagery of the Ir-coated quartz crystal slab after deformation within AuNP solution. (a) BSE image of the quartz surface exhibiting distribution of gold particles deposits from AuNP solution. Large clusters of AuNPs can be seen. (b) and (c) are BSE and SE images, respectively, of the square area outlined in (a). (d) EDS image of the square area in (a) highlighting the chemistry of sample area. BSE: Backscattered electron. SE: Secondary electron. EDS: Energy dispersive spectroscopy.

Extended Data Fig. 10 Control results from Ir-coated quartz with gold nanoparticle (AuNP) experiment.

Imagery of the Ir-coated quartz crystal control slab for the AuNP solution experiment. Sample was submerged but not deformed. (a) EDS image of the quartz control sample surface. (b) BSE image of the quartz control sample surface. Inset shown at higher magnification. (c) EDS spectra of area in (a). BSE: Backscattered electron. EDS: Energy dispersive spectroscopy.

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Voisey, C.R., Hunter, N.J.R., Tomkins, A.G. et al. Gold nugget formation from earthquake-induced piezoelectricity in quartz. Nat. Geosci. 17, 920–925 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01514-1

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