First finds of native palladium, platinum, gold, and silver in brown coals of the Erkovets field (upper Amur region)

Abstract

Minerals of native elements (Pd, Pt, Au, Ag, and Au-Ag solid solutions) as well as Pb, Zn, Cu, Bi, Fe, Cr, Ni, W, Al, and their intermetallides, and a number of other ore minerals were discovered in brown coals of the Erkovets field. The structural reorganization of the noble metal grains and most of the other minerals found in the brown coals suggest their authigenic paragenesis. The input of noble metals in brown coals is possible in an ionic mode from the surface and underground waters as mineral particles transported by wind from goldfields. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]