Journal of

GEOsciences

  (Formerly Journal of the Czech Geological Society)

Letter to Editor

Alexandre Raphael Cabral , Nikola Koglin, Helene Brätz

Gold-bearing ferroselite (FeSe₂) from Trogtal, Harz, Germany, and significance of its Co/Ni ratio

Journal of Geosciences, volume 57 (2012), issue 4, 265 - 272

DOI: http://doi.org/10.3190/jgeosci.129

Ferroselite from Trogtal, the type locality of the cobalt selenide trogtalite, in the Harz Mountains, Germany, forms a trogtalite-ferroselite assemblage in pockets of massive clausthalite in which specular hematite is dispersed. The pockets occur in hematite-impregnated carbonate veins, emplaced in a reddened greywacke of Lower Carboniferous age. Ferroselite contains ~0.2-5.0 ppm Au; trogtalite has even higher Au contents. Ferroselite has Co/Ni ratios mostly above unity. These characteristics likely reflect oxidizing brines with Co/Ni > 1, such as those involved in the formation of sediment-hosted copper deposits.