A saline lake-type gold enrichment in cold-water sedimentation

We report the discovery of native gold particles within evaporite sediments (halite, gypsum) from the Tarim Basin, China. These gold grains, exhibiting dendritic and nodular morphologies, are intergrown with salt minerals and likely precipitated from low-temperature (< 150 °C) brines at trace concentrations. This finding represents a rare observation of gold mineralization in an evaporative sedimentary environment, which contrasts with the conventional paradigm of gold deposits dominated by high-temperature hydrothermal fluids. Based on these observations, we propose a preliminary saline lake-type gold enrichment model linked to “cold-water” sedimentation, which, if corroborated by future discoveries, may expand exploration targets to evaporite-bearing sedimentary basins.