ELSEVIER Journal of Geochemical Exploration 66 (1999) 17–25 www.elsevier.com/locate/jgeoexp Exploration for Au and PGE in the Polish Zechstein copper deposits (Kupferschiefer) A. Piestrzy´ nski a , Z. Sawlowicz b,* a Department of Ore Deposits, University of Mining and Metallurgy, Mickiewicza av. 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland b Institute of Geological Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Oleandry Str. 2A, 30-063 Krakow, Poland Accepted 25 February 1999 Abstract Results of preliminary exploration for possible economic accumulations of gold and PGE in the working Cu–Ag mines of southwest Poland are presented. High contents of Au (avg. 0.5 ppm), Pt (avg. 0.2 ppm) and Pd (avg. 0.1 ppm) occur in oxidized shales and in places in the underlying sandstones. Maximum contents of Ru, Rh and Ir are 22, 12 and 2 ppb, respectively. These shales are characterized by low contents of TOC and sulphides, degraded organic matter, and lower Re-contents in comparison with typical Cu-rich shales (Au 20 ppb, Pt <5 ppb, Pd 4 ppb). Samples with high contents of Pt and Pd are typically rich in Au. Gold is present as native gold, electrum, in native silver, possibly as organometallic compounds, and in some Cu and Ag sulphides. Some of the Pt and Pd occur as diarsenides or Pt-alloys, but most occur in unknown carriers. The most promising areas in the Lubin–Sieroszowice mining district seem to be the transition zones between sulphide-rich facies and the oxidized Rote Fa ¨ule facies developed both laterally and vertically in the lower part of the shales and=or the upper part of the sandstones.  1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Au; PGE; Kupferschiefer; Cu-deposits; exploration 1. Introduction Possible economically significant accumulations of Au and PGE in anoxic sediments have been re- ported in the past few years, including the Mo– Ni–PGE deposits in Cambrian black shales of China and Devonian black shales of the Yukon, Canada (Coveney et al., 1992), and Zechstein Cu deposits of Poland (Kucha, 1982; Sawlowicz, 1993b; Piestrzy´ nski et al., 1996) (see also Pasava, 1993, for a review). A growing interest in the exploration for precious metals in black shales and reports on very L Corresponding author. E-mail: zbyszek@geos.ing.uj.edu.pl local but high enrichments in these elements in the mining area of the Polish Kupferschiefer stimulated a detailed study. Occurrences of Au and PGE in the Permian Kupferschiefer from Germany were already reported in 1948 by Goldschmidt et al. (in Schu ¨ller, 1959). New studies from these areas reveal various concentrations in different lithological types, ranging from 43 ppb PGE in the Kupferschiefer to about 1250 ppb PGE in underlying conglomerate and over- lying limestone (Pfeifer et al., 1997). In the mining area of the Polish part of the Kupferschiefer, high concentrations of noble metals (maximum values: Au 3000 ppm, Pt 340 ppm, Pd 1000 ppm and Ru 53 ppm) were described from a very local and thin layer 0375-6742/99/$ – see front matter  1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S0375-6742(99)00020-5