Statistical analysis of stream sediments in the Mt. Freegold area of the Dawson Range, Central Yukon Territory, Canada

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2024 The study uses data and samples from a 2009 and 2012 stream sediment sampling program, conducted in part by the author. With the aim to identify gold-bearing prospects, a data set of 417 samples was digested with aqua regia and analyzed using induct...

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Main Author: Mueller, Heiko
Other Authors: Meyer, Franz, Newberry, Rainer, Nadin, Elisabeth
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11122/15164
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spelling ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/15164 2024-09-15T18:03:33+00:00 Statistical analysis of stream sediments in the Mt. Freegold area of the Dawson Range, Central Yukon Territory, Canada Mueller, Heiko Meyer, Franz Newberry, Rainer Nadin, Elisabeth 2024-05 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/15164 en_US eng http://hdl.handle.net/11122/15164 Department of Geoscience Geochemical surveys Geochemical prospecting Gold ores River sediments Yukon Master of Science in Geology Thesis ms 2024 ftunivalaska 2024-07-15T23:41:30Z Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2024 The study uses data and samples from a 2009 and 2012 stream sediment sampling program, conducted in part by the author. With the aim to identify gold-bearing prospects, a data set of 417 samples was digested with aqua regia and analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). I had leftover material from the original samples reanalyzed by ICP-MS after 4 acid (nitric + hydrochloric + hydrofluoric + perchloric) digestion. I compared the compositional data for the two sample sets (308 samples, 45 elements). Accuracy and precision (reproducibility) for all elements of the aqua regia sample set is noticeable lower than that of the 4 acid digestion set. Accuracy is computed by the relative error that compares the assay of the standard sample to the known concentration of the standard. Precision is an estimate of the reproducibility of the sampling and analytical system. Precision is calculated by fractional uncertainty. Field duplicates are produced by splitting samples in two. Fractional uncertainty is calculated for each pair of original sample and field duplicate. Gold shows the lowest precision of all elements for both data sets, most likely due to the nugget effect. Using a paired sample T-Test I concluded that the mean concentrations of 42 elements are different for aqua regia versus 4 acid digestions. Only for three elements (sulphur, bismuth and copper) were non-distinguishable average element concentrations found for both digestion methods. A negative t-statistic (based on aqua regia vs. 4 acid digestion-based compositions) implies higher elemental recovery by 4 acid digestion. The aqua regia data set record only a portion (presented in brackets) of the values for 4 acid digestions for these elements: Na (1%), Hf (2%), Zr (3%), K (4%), Nb (5%), Sr (7%), Al (11%), Ti (12%), Rb (14%), Ba (16%) and Ca (19%). The digestion method determines the degree of element recovery from the solids (i.e., dissolution into solution) and consequently ... Thesis Dawson Alaska Yukon University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA
institution Open Polar
collection University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA
op_collection_id ftunivalaska
language English
topic Geochemical surveys
Geochemical prospecting
Gold ores
River sediments
Yukon
Master of Science in Geology
spellingShingle Geochemical surveys
Geochemical prospecting
Gold ores
River sediments
Yukon
Master of Science in Geology
Mueller, Heiko
Statistical analysis of stream sediments in the Mt. Freegold area of the Dawson Range, Central Yukon Territory, Canada
topic_facet Geochemical surveys
Geochemical prospecting
Gold ores
River sediments
Yukon
Master of Science in Geology
description Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2024 The study uses data and samples from a 2009 and 2012 stream sediment sampling program, conducted in part by the author. With the aim to identify gold-bearing prospects, a data set of 417 samples was digested with aqua regia and analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). I had leftover material from the original samples reanalyzed by ICP-MS after 4 acid (nitric + hydrochloric + hydrofluoric + perchloric) digestion. I compared the compositional data for the two sample sets (308 samples, 45 elements). Accuracy and precision (reproducibility) for all elements of the aqua regia sample set is noticeable lower than that of the 4 acid digestion set. Accuracy is computed by the relative error that compares the assay of the standard sample to the known concentration of the standard. Precision is an estimate of the reproducibility of the sampling and analytical system. Precision is calculated by fractional uncertainty. Field duplicates are produced by splitting samples in two. Fractional uncertainty is calculated for each pair of original sample and field duplicate. Gold shows the lowest precision of all elements for both data sets, most likely due to the nugget effect. Using a paired sample T-Test I concluded that the mean concentrations of 42 elements are different for aqua regia versus 4 acid digestions. Only for three elements (sulphur, bismuth and copper) were non-distinguishable average element concentrations found for both digestion methods. A negative t-statistic (based on aqua regia vs. 4 acid digestion-based compositions) implies higher elemental recovery by 4 acid digestion. The aqua regia data set record only a portion (presented in brackets) of the values for 4 acid digestions for these elements: Na (1%), Hf (2%), Zr (3%), K (4%), Nb (5%), Sr (7%), Al (11%), Ti (12%), Rb (14%), Ba (16%) and Ca (19%). The digestion method determines the degree of element recovery from the solids (i.e., dissolution into solution) and consequently ...
author2 Meyer, Franz
Newberry, Rainer
Nadin, Elisabeth
format Thesis
author Mueller, Heiko
author_facet Mueller, Heiko
author_sort Mueller, Heiko
title Statistical analysis of stream sediments in the Mt. Freegold area of the Dawson Range, Central Yukon Territory, Canada
title_short Statistical analysis of stream sediments in the Mt. Freegold area of the Dawson Range, Central Yukon Territory, Canada
title_full Statistical analysis of stream sediments in the Mt. Freegold area of the Dawson Range, Central Yukon Territory, Canada
title_fullStr Statistical analysis of stream sediments in the Mt. Freegold area of the Dawson Range, Central Yukon Territory, Canada
title_full_unstemmed Statistical analysis of stream sediments in the Mt. Freegold area of the Dawson Range, Central Yukon Territory, Canada
title_sort statistical analysis of stream sediments in the mt. freegold area of the dawson range, central yukon territory, canada
publishDate 2024
url http://hdl.handle.net/11122/15164
genre Dawson
Alaska
Yukon
genre_facet Dawson
Alaska
Yukon
op_relation http://hdl.handle.net/11122/15164
Department of Geoscience
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