The paper examines the morphology and composition of native gold from placers of the Kvarkush region (Perm krai). Using optical and electron microscopy, 149 native gold grains from three placers are studied. Weakly and semirounded isometric and angular particles and partly facet grains are dominant. The fineness of native gold varies from 802 to 999 ‰; most native gold grains have high and very high fineness; many native gold grains contain high-fineness (>990 ‰) rims and veins. Copper is the main trace element (up to 2.89 wt. %); Fe and Te are less common. Microinclusions of 23 various minerals are found in 120 grains, often in polymineral assemblages. The morphology of native gold grains and the presence of numerous mineral inclusions indicate the proximity of primary deposits. The rocks from the Upper Cambrian-Lower Ordovician Tabor Formation (an analog of the Alkesvozh Formation), which were previously considered a possible source, were excluded from the consideration as primary deposits after the comparison of the composition of micas and chromite. Based on the analysis of the composition of native gold and mineral inclusions, the beresites, listvenites, and low-sulfide quartz veins are suggested to be the possible sources.
Keywords: Northern Urals, Urals western slope, Kvarkush area, placer gold, gold typomorphism, mineral inclusions, primary source forecast.
Acknowledgements. We are grateful to N.S. Vlasenko (Geomodel Resource Center, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia) for the assistance in laboratory studies, D.V. Zarkhidze, A.E. Tsybulskaya, L.I. Bogatyrev and A.A. Soboleva (Karpinsky Russian Geological Research Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia) for help in field sampling and editors of the journal for careful editing the manuscript.
Conflict of interest. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Author contribution. S.V. Petrov – concept development; M.D. Shamsutdinov – software, visualization, writing the manuscript; S.V. Petrov, M.D. Shamsutdinov – research, analytical and experimental work, editing the final version of the manuscript; . All authors approved the final version of the article before publication.
For citation: Shamsutdinov M.D., Petrov S.V. Assessing gold-bearing potential of the Kvarhush area (Western slope of the Urals, Perm krai). Mineralogy, 2025, 11(4), 56–77. https://doi.org/10.35597/2313-545X-2025-11-4-4

Received 15.09.2025, revised 30.11.2025 accepted 16.12.2025

Mikhail D. Shamsutdinov –  St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia; shamsutdinov.michail@yandex.ru
Sergey V. Petrov – Associate Professor, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia; petrov64@gmail.com

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