Using a THMSG600 Linkam stage, scientists at the Department of
Physics and Earth Science from the University of Parma in Itlay
are investigating gold deposits from the Lepaguare valley mining
district, Honduras. The Lepaguare is within a mountain belt that
hosts several precious metal vein deposits and extends from
Guatemala to Costa Rica through the Honduras region. These
deposits mainly consist of gold and sulphide and are associated
with thick quartz veins within pre-Mesozoic metamorphic rocks.
Inside the veins, the quartz crystals are rich in fluid
inclusions (FI) which can be studied to provide an understanding
of the history of the gold deposits. FI offer the possibility of
reconstructing the environmental conditions (pressure,
temperature, oxygen fugacity) and give information on the
composition of the supercritical fluids in the environment
during mineral formation. The Honduras region is of interest to
geologists as it has a complicated geodynamic evolution, due to
complex interactions between the No