A new occurrence of telluride minerals in South Carolina

A study of drill cores from the Haile gold mine, Lancaster County, South Carolina, has revealed grains containing large amounts of Te with various combinations of Pb, Ag and Au in pyrite. These telluride minerals have so far not been identified. The nearby Brewer mine, on the basis of chemical evidence, also contains tellurides. The probable telluride localities in South Carolina are now expanded to three, significantly increasing the few reports of Te minerals from the Au deposits of the southeastern Piedmont, many of which are now considered to be volcanogenic. The occurrence of telluride minerals in gold ore from the Haile-Brewer area may help to explain the divergence in Au/Ag ratios reported in chemical analyses of drill core, ore samples and production records. Te, in addition, may be useful in geochemical exploration programmes in the SE Piedmont, including programmes using heavy mineral concentrates derived from stream alluvium. -R.S.M.