Reconnaissance investigation of the placer gold deposits in the Zarkashan Area of Interest, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan
Open-File Report
2013-1179
Prepared in cooperation with the Afghan Geological Survey under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations; USGS Afghanistan Project Product No. 185
By: Katherine C. Malpeli, Peter G. Chirico, and Isabel H. McLoughlin
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Abstract
This study is a reconnaissance investigation of the placer gold deposits in the Zarkashan Area of Interest (AOI) in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. Detailed investigations of the Zarkashan gold deposits were conducted by Soviet and Afghan geologists in the 1960s and 1970s, prior to the development of satellite-based remote-sensing platforms and new methods of geomorphic mapping. The purpose of this study was to integrate new mapping techniques with previously collected concentration and borehole sampling data and geomorphologic interpretations to reassess the placer gold deposits in the Zarkashan AOI. A methodology combining the collection and analysis of historical sampling data, digital database development, hydrologic analysis, and geomorphic modeling was used. The analysis led to the reinterpretation of four gold-bearing seams along the Zarkashan River, and the calculation of an estimated gold reserve of approximately 3,000 kilograms (kg). This estimate is approximately 1,500 kg greater than the Soviet estimate. The result differs in large part due to the reinterpretation of the seams based on a much lower cutoff grade of 100 mg/m3. Because cutoff grade is dependent in part on the price of gold, the sevenfold increase in the price of gold since the undertaking of the Soviet investigation warranted our re-evaluation of their 500 mg/m3 cutoff grade.
Study Area
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Reconnaissance investigation of the placer gold deposits in the Zarkashan Area of Interest, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan |
| Series title | Open-File Report |
| Series number | 2013-1179 |
| DOI | 10.3133/ofr20131179 |
| Year Published | 2013 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Publisher location | Reston, VA |
| Contributing office(s) | Eastern Geology and Paleoclimate Science Center |
| Description | iv, 12 p.; 4 Figures: 40 x 26 inches |
| Country | Afghanistan |
| Other Geospatial | Ghazni Province |
| Online Only (Y/N) | Y |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | Y |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |