Advisor: Dr. Christopher R. Kelson
Age and origin of a gold-bearing breccia from the Hilltop Au deposit, Lander County, Nevada
Despite the impressive gold concentration (~0.3 ounces per ton) of a breccia within the Hilltop gold deposit in the northern Shoshone Range, Nevada, its origin is poorly understood and has only received precursory treatment by the geologic community to date. The conditions under which the gold deposits formed are still not fully constrained, and an early attempt at determining its age yielded questionable results. This research will utilize various advanced geochemical, geochronological, and analytical techniques to determine the age of the Hilltop breccia body and the physiochemical conditions under which the deposits formed.