Kerogen—as a sort of organic bearer of gold in gold-bearing formations
Kerogen——as a sort of organic bearer of gold in gold-bearing formations

Organic component, organic carbon and gold content analyses were used to study the relationship between gold mineralization and organic matter in major host rocks of three different chronological gold-bearing formations of South China. The results show that the organic matter of host rocks in various chronological major gold-bearing formations of South China has associated with gold mineralization in genesis. There is a positive correlation between gold and organic carbon in the host rocks of gold-bearing formations. Gold element was mainly enriched in insoluble organic matter—kerogen. Gold content of the kerogen is commonly higher from a few tens to several hundred times than that of the whole rocks, up to 5%–40% gold of the whole rocks. Gold remaining in the kerogen was considered an organic group of the kerogen to combine with ionic gold in solution through surface absorption, ion exchange complex reaction and chelation so that the kerogen could have become an important sort of organic bearer of gold in gold-bearing formations.