Alluvial gold grains from

the South Hams district, Devon

Minerals in
Brit ain
Gol d
British
Geological
Survey
Past product i on . . .
Fut ure pot ent i al
Mi neral s i n Bri t ai n
Gol d
G
ol d has been worked i ntermi ttentl y i n Bri tai n
si nce pre-Roman ti mes. Producti on peaked
between 1860 and 1909 when over 3500 kg
were recovered: 90% came from the Dol gel l au
gol d bel t i n North Wal es whi l e the remai nder was
produced from the Ogofau mi ne i n mi d-Wal es and the
Hel msdal e area of northern Scotl and. Pri or to thi s,
Devon and the Leadhi l l s di stri ct of the Southern
Upl ands of Scotl and were the most i mportant centres
of gol d producti on. Si nce 1938 there has onl y been
i ntermi ttent mi nor producti on from the Cl ogau and
Gwynfynydd mi nes i n Wal es.
During the last 20 years new gold deposit models and
improved analytical methods have led to a better
understanding of the distribution of gold in
Britain, the identification of new exploration
targets, and new mine development.
Gold deposits and prospects in Britain are
now known to occur in rocks ranging in age
from Proterozoic to Permian. Most are of
mesothermal lode type although several
examples of other styles are also present.
Terranes prospective for gold now include
the Dalradian (Neoproterozoic) of the Scottish
Highlands, the Lower Palaeozoic rocks of
southern Scotland, the English Lake District and Wales,
Devonian volcanic rocks of Scotland and northern
England, and the Variscan and overlying Permo-Triassic
rocks of south-west England.
Much of the expl orati on work carri ed out by pri vate-
and publ i c-sector organi sati ons si nce the 1960s i s
ei ther publ i shed i n summary form or hel d on open fi l e
at the BGS. Most of the publ i c-sector work was carri ed
out by the BGS under the DTI -funded Mi neral
Reconnai ssance Programme (MRP). The resul ts from
thi s work are contai ned i n the MRP Report Seri es and
much of the data col l ected i s avai l abl e i n di gi tal form.
Some of the pri vate-sector expl orati on work was
carri ed out under the terms of the Mi neral
Expl orati on I nvestment Grants Act 1972 (MEI GA) i n
the 1970s, and most of these data are now avai l abl e on
open fi l e.
Mesot hermal l ode deposi t s
This type of mineralisation is widespread in the Lower
Palaeozoic and older rocks of Britain. I n the Scottish
Highlandsseveral prospects have been found in rocks
of the Dalradian Supergroup. The most important
deposit so far identified is at Cononish in the historic
Tyndrum lead-mining district, close to the major north-
east-trending Tyndrum Fault. The deposit comprises a
steeply dipping quartz vein, up to 6 m wide, cutting
psammites. Underground exploration has defined a
resource of 483 000 t at 15.9 g/t Au. Caledonia Mining
Corporation has planning permission to develop an
underground mine.
Ther e ar e many r ecor ded occur r ences of gol d i n the
ar ea between Aber fel dy and Comr i e. At Calliachar
Burn, 4 km south-west of Aber fel dy, gol d-bear i ng
quar tz-car bonate vei ns occur i n quar tzi tes and
amphi bol i tes of the Upper Dal r adi an. Gol d gr ades i n
one str uctur e aver age 89 g/t over a str i ke l ength of
87 m, and the over l yi ng gossan i s r epor ted to
contai n up to 400 g/t Au and 230 g/t Ag.
Recent studies by the BGS have indicated the potential
for lode gold mineralisation in Dalradian metasediments
of the Knapdalearea, where quartz-carbonate veins,
some previously worked on a small scale for base metals,
locally contain ppm levels of gold.
I n the Glen Clova di stri ct of the central Hi ghl ands,
drai nage geochemi cal data and observati ons of gol d i n
panned concentrates have i ndi cated several targets,
and grades of up to 6.8 ppm Au have been recorded i n
mi neral i sed bedrock.
Other mi nor occurrences of probabl e mesothermal
type occur i n a stockwork of gal ena-beari ng quartz
vei ns at Corrie Buieand i n a shear zone cutti ng the
southern margi n of the Comriedi ori te compl ex.
The Southern Uplandsof Scotland have a long history
of gold production, principally from alluvial sources (see
below). Recent exploration by the BGS and companies
has identified several new mesothermal gold occur-
rences, many associated with late-Caledonian granitic
intrusions and major strike-slip faults.
Cononish mine development.
Mi neral s i n Bri t ai n
Gol d
Shetland Islands
Corrie Buie
Helmsdale
Rhynie
Glen Clova
Calliachar Burn
Cononish
Comrie
Borland Glen
Knapdale
Duns
Leadhills-Wanlockhead
Thornhill Basin
Glendinning
Mauchline Basin
Hare Hill
Glenhead Burn
Ogofau
North Molton
Wadebridge
Hopes Nose
Carnon Valley
Unst
Stobshiel
Unconformity
Black
Combe
North Anglesey
Crediton Trough
Meall Mhor
South Hams
Dolgellau
Gold Belt
Ladock
Valley
Fore Burn
Muness
Mawddach Estuary
Clogau
Gwynfynydd
0 100 200 kilometres
N
Glasdir
Coed-y-Brenin
Mesothermal lode
Porphyry
Epithermal
Alluvial
Stratabound
Gairloch
Flowerdale
Forest
Knock
Tomnadashan
Cardiff
London
Edinburgh
Lagalochan
Llandeloy
Treffgarne
Parys
Mountain
Others, including mafic hosted, breccia pipe
and volcanogenic massive-sulphide deposits
Moorbrock
Hill
Gold mineralisation at Moorbrock Hill is associated with
quartz veins in a zone of brecciation, hydrothermal
alteration and iron-oxide development along a north-
east-trending splay of the Leadhills Fault system. The
host rocks comprise Ordovician hornfelsed pelagic shale
and chert at the margin of the post-tectonic Cairnsmore
of Carsphairn granitic intrusion.
At HareHill, the site of a former antimony mine, gold
occurs in fractures and shears in a small late-Caledonian
granodiorite hosted by Ordovician greywackes, shales and
basalts. Early arsenic-copper mineralisation with gold
enrichment is overprinted by a late arsenic-lead-zinc stage
in the core of the intrusion.
Mesothermal gol d-arseni c mi neral i sati on has been
found al so at Glenhead Burn cl ose to the contact of
the l ate-Cal edoni an Loch Doon pl uton wi th i ts host of
Ordovi ci an greywackes. The hi ghest gol d concentra-
ti ons, up to 8.8 ppm, occur i n quartz vei ns up to 30 cm
wi de wi thi n a stockwork of thi cker vei ns.
I n the north-eastern Southern Uplands gold, is recorded
in fracture-controlled veins and breccias associated with
small late-Caledonian intrusions at Stobshiel. I n the
Duns area, follow-up by the BGS of regional geochemical
surveys identified gold in stream sediments and bedrock
associated with major structural features and small late-
Caledonian intrusions.
I n the southern part of the Southern Uplands, minor
antimony-arsenic-gold mineralisation of mesothermal
origin has been documented at a former antimony mine
in Silurian greywackes at Glendinning.
A recent BGS multi-dataset analysis of the Southern
Uplands, applying mineralisation-model criteria to inte-
grated digital geological, geochemical, mineral-occurrence,
geophysical, and structural datasets, identified several new
areas favourable for gold mineralisation. Test field
sampling in some of these revealed new indications of gold
mineralisation, and further assessment is merited.
I n north-west England, vei n-styl e, turbi di te-hosted
gol d-beari ng pol ymetal l i c mi neral i sati on has been
found at Black Combe. I t i s hosted by Ordovi ci an si l t-
stones and mudstones of the Ski ddaw Group and l i es
i n the Westmorl and Monocl i ne, a major Cal edoni an
structure at the south-east margi n of the Lake Di stri ct
bathol i th.
Mines in Waleshave dominated gold production in the
British I sles for as long as reliable records have been
kept. With the exception of Ogofau, all the producing
mines were in the Dolgellau Gold Belt, where the two
largest and most famous mines were Clogau and
Gwynfynydd. The mineralisation is typical of turbidite-
hosted vein-style deposits. Gold occurs in fault-con-
trolled polymetallic quartz-sulphide veins cutting clastic
sedimentary rocks of Cambro-Ordovician age. Usually
the veins only contain appreciable gold where they
intersect graphitic horizons, notably the black
mudstones of the Clogau Formation.
I n the Ogofau deposit, gold occurs in pyritic shales,
quartz veins and reefs in a tightly folded and sheared
clastic sedimentary succession close to the Ordovician-
Silurian boundary. Recent regional geochemical surveys
suggest that undiscovered deposits of the same style
may exist elsewhere in the Welsh Basin.
Gol d occurs l ocal l y i n north Anglesey, notabl y i n
quartz vei ned structures devel oped al ong faul t and
thrust boundari es i n l ate-Precambri an and Lower
Pal aeozoi c cl asti c sedi mentary rocks.
Mi neral s i n Bri t ai n
Gol d
08
09
10
11
12
14
15 18
Bathgate
Berwick
Carlisle
Duns
Glasgow
Arran
M

i
d

l
a

n

d


V

a

l
l
e

y
S


U

p

l
a

n

d

s
S
U
F
M
V
L

L
R
F

O
B
F

Dn
LD
CF
CD
Cv
Cp
Pl
Sp
Bw
Tw
Pr
Ck
Sk
Sh
En
An
200 300 400
500
600
Gold in rock
S Highland Group
Ordovician
Silurian
granites
Magnetic
lineaments

<40
60
100
180
>340
Arsenic ppm
0 10 20
km
Multi-dataset analysis.
Porphyry-t ype deposi t s
Gold-bearing porphyry-type mineralisation occurs in
Caledonian rocks of Scotland and Wales. I n the south-
west Highlands of Scotland, mineralisation of this type
in the Lagalochan sub-volcanic complex has attracted
commercial interest. The c. 430 Ma complex is thought
to reflect a vented diatreme-type structure emplaced in
Dalradian rocks. Early copper-molybdenum-gold miner-
alisation in veinlets and disseminations in a central core
of breccias and diorite to granodiorite intrusions was
followed by shear-related lead-zinc-silver-gold-arsenic-
antimony mineralisation and, finally, by lead-zinc-silver
carbonate veins. Carbonate and sericitic alteration are
widespread, and K-silicate alteration is locally
present.
At Tomnadashan, gol d occurs
wi th porphyry-styl e copper
mi neral i sati on i n an al tered
di ori te-grani te compl ex. As
wel l as di ssemi nated
pyri te and chal copyri te,
traces of nati ve gol d,
wi th gal ena, bi smuthi -
ni te, nati ve bi smuth and
mol ybdeni te, have been
reported.
Sub-volcanic porphyry-style
copper-gold mineralisation also
occurs at the margin of a Lower
Devonian volcanic centre and diorite
complex at Fore Burn, close to the
Southern Upland Fault. Detailed exploration in the
1980s identified three styles of auriferous mineralisa-
tion: (i) north-west-trending quartz-carbonate veins
with up to 50 g/t Au over 90 cm, (ii) north-east-trending
aligned quartz-sulphide veins and (iii) a quartz-sulphide
stockwork with up to 52 g/t Au over 25 cm.
I n Wal es, recoverabl e l evel s of gol d (c. 0.1 ppm) occur
i n the Coed-y-Brenin porphyry copper deposi t, whi ch
l i es wi thi n the Dol gel l au Gol d Bel t (see above) and
contai ns 200 Mt of ore, gradi ng 0.3% Cu. To the south,
mi nor gol d al so accompani es di ssemi nated copper mi n-
eral i sati on at Llandeloy.
Epi t hermal deposi t s
Evi dence for l ow-sul phi dati on epi thermal gol d mi ner-
al i sati on i n the Devoni an rocks of northern Bri tai n
has been accumul ati ng i n recent years. I n north-east
Scotl and, mi neral i sati on of thi s type has been found at
Rhyniei n an outl i er of Lower Devoni an sedi mentary
and vol cani c rocks. Geochemi cal , al terati on and
textural features i ndi cate an ori gi n i n a hot-spri ng
setti ng rel ated to l ate-Cal edoni an vol cani sm. The
al tered rocks and chert si nters contai n gol d, arseni c
and anti mony and are al so l ocal l y enri ched i n
tungsten, mol ybdenum and mercury.
Al l uvi al gol d i s wi despread i n the Ochi l Hi l l s of central
Scotl and. The hi ghest concentrati ons are i n Borland
Glen where Lower Devoni an andesi ti c l avas and pyro-
cl asti c rocks are i ntruded by a di ori ti c body and
porphyry dykes. Argi l l i c hydrothermal al terati on and
brecci ati on suggest an epi thermal setti ng, but fol l ow-
up i nvesti gati ons have so far fai l ed to i denti fy gol d
mi neral i sati on i n bedrock.
Vol canogeni c st rat abound deposi t s
A Besshi-style syngenetic copper-zinc deposit, with
minor gold, occurs in Proterozoic supracrustal rocks
near Gairloch in the north-west Scottish Highlands.
The mineralisation comprises stratiform pyrite,
pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite in a 4-m-thick
quartz-carbonate schist unit with a strike length of at
least 1 km. Recently, gold values up to 4 g/t have
been reported from a similar succession,
containing sulphide-bearing and
banded-iron-formation rocks, 10 km
to the south-east in Flowerdale
Forest and it is likely that
further mineralisation is
present in the area.
Low-tenor gol d enri chment
i n associ ati on wi th
str atabound copper mi ner al -
i sati on i s recorded i n
Dal radi an rocks at Meall
Mhor, and gol d has al so been
found recentl y at Muness,
Shetl and, i n a shear ed pyr i ti c
Dal radi an phyl l i te 2 12 m wi de.
Al l uvi al deposi t s
The LeadhillsWanlockhead di str i ct used to be the
most i mpor tant centr e of gol d pr oducti on i n
Scotl and, but the al l uvi al gol d oper ati ons wer e of
secondar y i mpor tance to l ead-zi nc mi ni ng. Today the
ar ea i s popul ar wi th the amateur pr ospector and
ther e i s potenti al for sl ate-bel t hosted mesother mal
vei n deposi ts i n the Lower Pal aeozoi c bedr ocks (see
above).
Easter n Suther l and, near Helmsdale, i s al so wel l
known for i ts hi stori cal al l uvi al gol d producti on. I n
1868 a short-l i ved gol d-rush, l asti ng l i ttl e over a year,
fol l owed the di scovery of gol d i n tri butari es of the
Hel msdal e Ri ver, but ther e has been no si gni fi cant
gol d pr oducti on si nce then. No bedr ock sour ce for the
gol d has been i denti fi ed.
Traces of gol d have been recorded from many of the
former al l uvi al ti n worki ngs around the Vari scan
grani tes of south-west Engl and. Noteworthy si tes
i ncl ude the Ladock and Carnon val l eys.
I n Wal es, gol d occurs i n the extensi ve al l uvi al deposi ts
of the Mawddach Estuary, whi ch contai ns the
Dol gel l au Gol d Bel t wi thi n i ts catchment.
Mi neral s i n Bri t ai n
Gol d
Drilling for epithermal gold
mineralisation in the Ochil Hills.
A
substanti al amount of i nformati on rel ati ng to
gol d mi neral i sati on i n Bri tai n i s ei ther
publ i shed or hel d on open fi l e at the BGS.
I ncreasi ngl y, the data are hel d i n di gi tal form
on databases fronted by a GI S (the BGS MI NGOL
system) and can be suppl i ed under l i cence or as hard-
copy products, i n formats to match the users requi re-
ments. Some of the pri nci pal data sets are:
Mi neral Reconnai ssance Programme Reports and
Data Rel eases.
Reports, maps and other data provi ded under the
terms of the Mi neral Expl orati on and I nvestment
Grants Act 1972 (MEI GA). Some, parti cul arl y
ai rborne geophysi cal data, have been converted to
di gi tal form and can be purchased i n user-speci fi ed
formats. Hard-copy data and reports may be photo-
copi ed.
Regi onal and l ocal scal e geochemi cal surveys.
Regi onal and l ocal scal e ground and ai rborne
geophysi cal data coverage.
Geol ogi cal mappi ng at vari ous scal es.
Mi neral occurrence and mi neral worki ngs
databases.
Dri l l core and rock sampl es, thi n secti ons.
Pl anni ng constrai nts, l i censi ng and l egi sl ati ve
i nformati on.
Mi neral s trade and producti on stati sti cs i n Bri tai n
and worl dwi de.
Sci enti fi c publ i cati ons on mi neral deposi ts i n
Bri tai n.
Staff of the BGS Minerals Programme act as a reference
point for the supply of advice and information on
minerals-related matters in Britain. They can provide
detailed information on the above datasets.
Mi neral s i n Bri t ai n
Gol d
Enqui ri es shoul d be di rect ed t o:
The Manager, BGS Mi ner al s Pr ogr amme, Br i ti sh Geol ogi cal Sur vey,
Keywor th, Notti ngham NG12 5GG
Tel 0115 936 3494 Fax 0115 936 3520 email [email protected]
Internet www.bgs.ac.uk
Unconf ormi t y-rel at ed (redox) deposi t s
Work by the BGS over the l ast ten years has i denti fi ed
several occurrences of thi s newl y descri bed styl e of
mi neral i sati on. I t was fi rst recogni sed when al l uvi al
grai ns from the South Hams area of Devon were
found to have a di sti ncti ve pal l adi um-ri ch composi ti on
and zoni ng, wi th characteri sti c i ncl usi on assembl ages
contai ni ng sel eni de mi neral s. These are bel i eved to
have formed by preci pi tati on of gol d from oxi di si ng
sal i ne fl ui ds at i nterfaces wi th more reduced systems.
Appl i cati on of thi s model to the Crediton Trough of
central Devon, where red-bed Permi an rocks uncon-
formabl y overl i e a Pal aeozoi c Vari scan successi on, l ed
to the di scovery of gol d i n drai nage and bedrock,
whi ch i s currentl y bei ng assessed. Evi dence of si mi l ar
mi neral i sati on has been found at other l ocal i ti es wi th
a comparabl e geol ogi cal setti ng, notabl y i n the
Mauchlineand Thornhill basi ns of southern Scotl and.
Ot her occurrences
I n south-west Engl and gol d i s recorded from several
geol ogi cal envi ronments, notabl y i n hydrothermal
quartz vei ns associ ated wi th Devoni an basi c i gneous
rocks (e.g. Treore mi ne near Wadebri dge), i n
carbonate vei ns at Hopes Nose, and i n copper-i ron
vei ns at Bampfyl de mi ne near North Molton.
Hi gh gol d val ues (up to 7g/t), associ ated wi th hi gh
l evel s of pl ati num-group el ements, occur i n chromi te-
ri ch ul tramafi c rocks of the Unst ophi ol i te compl ex i n
Shetl and.
Mi nor gol d enri chment, associ ated wi th hi gh val ues
for ni ckel , copper and the pl ati num-group el ements,
occurs at the sheared margi n of the Knock l ayered
mafi c-ul tramafi c i ntrusi on i n north-east Scotl and.
I n North Wal es, gol d occurs at Glasdir i n a brecci a
pi pe deposi t mi ned pri nci pal l y for copper, near the
Coed-y-Breni n porphyry copper deposi t and wi thi n the
Dol gel l au Gol d Bel t. Recoverabl e l evel s of gol d al so
occur i n the Parys Mountain vol canogeni c massi ve-
sul phi de (VMS) base-metal deposi t i n northern
Angl esey. I n South Wal es, gol d has been reported from
al tered pyri ti c vol cani c rocks and mudstones at
Treffgarne, possi bl y associ ated wi th VMS or epi ther-
mal mi neral i sati on.
NERC 1999. All rights reserved.