Au–Ag–Te Mineralization of the Low‐Sulfidation Epithermal Aginskoe Deposit,Central Kamchatka,Russia

Mineralogic studies of major ore minerals and fluid inclusion analysis in gangue quartz were carried out for the for the two largest veins, the Aginskoe and Surprise, in the Late Miocene Aginskoe Au–Ag–Te deposit in central Kamchatka, Russia. The veins consist of quartz–adularia–calcite gangue, which are hosted by Late Miocene andesitic and basaltic rocks of the Alnei Formation. The major ore minerals in these veins are native gold, altaite, petzite, hessite, calaverite, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite. Minor and trace minerals are pyrite, galena, and acanthine. Primary gold occurs as free grains, inclusions in sulfides, and constituent in tellurides. Secondary gold is present in form of native mustard gold that usually occur in Fe‐hydroxides and accumulates on the decomposed primary Au‐bearing tellurides such as calaverite, krennerite, and sylvanite. K–Ar dating on vein adularia yielded age of mineralization 7.1–6.9 Ma. Mineralization of the deposit is divided into barren massive quartz (stage I), Au–Ag–Te mineralization occurring in quartz‐adularia‐clays banded ore (Stage II), intensive brecciation (Stage III), post‐ore coarse amethyst (Stage IV), carbonate (Stage V), and supergene stages (Stage VI). In the supergene stage various secondary minerals, including rare bilibinskite, bogdanovite, bessmertnovite metallic alloys, secondary gold, and various oxides, formed under intensely oxidized conditions. Despite heavy oxidation of the ores in the deposit, Te and S fugacities are estimated as Stage II tellurides precipitated at the log f Te₂ values ?9 and at log fS₂ ?13 based on the chemical compositions of hypogene tellurides and sphalerite. Homogenization temperature of fluid inclusions in quartz broadly ranges from 200 to 300°C. Ore texture, fluid inclusions, gangue, and vein mineral assemblages indicate that the Aginskoe deposit is a low‐sulfidation (quartz–adularia–sericite) vein system.     

新西兰科罗曼德尔半岛金（铜）矿床地质特征、成因及找矿意义

新西兰科罗曼德尔半岛火山岩带是世界知名的浅成低温热液型金矿成矿省,也是新西兰最为重要的金银矿矿集区,在环太平洋成矿带内占有重要的地位。科罗曼德尔半岛浅成低温热液型金矿主要赋存于科罗曼德尔群中新世安山岩和英安岩中,矿化类型主要为石英脉型和角砾岩型2种。矿床的成矿流体特征表现出明显的大气降水特征,并显示有少量的岩浆水加入,成矿物质具岩浆来源特征,为石英±方解石±冰长石±伊利石亚型浅成低温热液型金矿。区内金矿成矿时代为16．3-2．0Ma,主要集中于7．0-6．0Ma之间,金矿的大规模形成与诺特兰德火山弧与科尔维一劳火山弧共同作用有关,区域构造背景由挤压转变为伸展环境的转折期,为金矿形成的高峰期。区内零星出露与浅成低温热液型金矿化有关的斑岩型铜矿化表明,该地区具有较好的斑岩型铜矿化潜力。     

Geology,Alteration, and Mineralization of the Kay Tanda Epithermal Gold Deposit,Lobo, Batangas,Philippines

The Kay Tanda epithermal Au deposit in Lobo, Batangas is one of the Au deposits situated in the Batangas Mineral District in southern Luzon, Philippines. This study aims to document the geological, alteration, and mineralization characteristics and to determine the age of the mineralization, the mechanism of ore deposition, and the hydrothermal fluid characteristics of the Kay Tanda deposit. The geology of Kay Tanda consists of (i) the Talahib Volcanic Sequence, a Middle Miocene dacitic to andesitic volcaniclastic sequence that served as the host rock of the mineralization; (ii) the Balibago Diorite Complex, a cogenetic intrusive complex intruding the Talahib Volcanic Sequence; (iii) the Calatagan Formation, a Late Miocene to Early Pliocene volcanosedimentary formation unconformably overlying the Talahib Volcanic Sequence; (iv) the Dacite Porphyry Intrusives, which intruded the older lithological units; and (v) the Balibago Andesite, a Pliocene postmineralization volcaniclastic unit. K‐Ar dating on illite collected from the alteration haloes around quartz veins demonstrated that the age of mineralization is around 5.9 ± 0.2 to 5.5 ± 0.2 Ma (Late Miocene). Two main styles of mineralization are identified in Kay Tanda. The first style is an early‐stage extensive epithermal mineralization characterized by stratabound Au‐Ag‐bearing quartz stockworks hosted at the shallower levels of the Talahib Volcanic Sequence. The second style is a late‐stage base metal (Zn, Pb, and Cu) epithermal mineralization with local bonanza‐grade Au mineralization hosted in veins and hydrothermal breccias that are intersected at deeper levels of the Talahib Volcanic Sequence and at the shallower levels of the Balibago Intrusive Complex. Paragenetic studies on the mineralization in Kay Tanda defined six stages of mineralization; the first two belong to the first mineralization style, while the last four belong to the second mineralization style. Stage 1 is composed of quartz ± pyrophyllite ± dickite/kaolinite ± diaspore alteration, which is cut by quartz veins. Stage 2 is composed of Au‐Ag‐bearing quartz stockworks associated with pervasive illite ± quartz ± smectite ± kaolinite alteration. Stage 3 is composed of carbonate veins with minor base metal sulfides. Stage 4 is composed of quartz ± adularia ± calcite veins and hydrothermal breccias, hosting the main base metal and bonanza‐grade Au mineralization, and is associated with chlorite‐illite‐quartz alteration. Stage 5 is composed of epidote‐carbonate veins associated with epidote‐calcite‐chlorite alteration. Stage 6 is composed of anhydrite‐gypsum veins with minor base metal mineralization. The alteration assemblage of the deposit evolved from an acidic mineral assemblage caused by the condensation of magmatic volatiles from the Balibago Intrusive Complex into the groundwater to a slightly acidic mineral assemblage caused by the interaction of the host rocks and the circulating hydrothermal waters being heated up by the Dacite Porphyry Intrusives to a near‐neutral pH toward the later parts of the mineralization. Fluid inclusion microthermometry indicates that the temperature of the system started to increase during Stage 1 (T = 220–250°C) and remained at high temperatures (T = 250–290°C) toward Stage 6 due to the continuous intrusion of Dacite Porphyry Intrusives at depth. Salinity slightly decreased toward the later stages due to the contribution of more meteoric waters into the hydrothermal system. Boiling is considered the main mechanism of ore deposition based on the occurrence of rhombic adularia, the heterogeneous trapping of fluid inclusions of variable liquid–vapor ratios, the distribution of homogenization temperatures, and the gas ratios obtained from the quantitative fluid inclusion gas analysis of quartz. Ore mineral assemblage and sulfur fugacity determined from the FeS content of sphalerite at temperatures estimated by fluid inclusion microthermometry indicate that the base metal mineralization at Kay Tanda evolved from a high sulfidation to an intermediate sulfidation condition.     

Characteristics of the Cibaliung Gold Deposit: Miocene Low-Sulfidation-Type Epithermal Gold Deposit in Western Java, Indonesia

Middle Miocene (11.18–10.65 Ma) low sulfidation‐type epithermal gold mineralization occurred in the Cibaliung area, southwestern part of Java Island, Indonesia. It is hosted by andesitic to basaltic andesitic lavas of the Middle Miocene Honje Formation (11.4 Ma) and is covered by Pliocene Cibaliung tuff (4.9 Ma). The exploration estimates mineral resource of approximately 1.3 million tonnes at 10.42 g/t gold and 60.7 g/t silver at a 3 g/t Au cut‐off. This equates to approximately 435,000 ounces of gold and 2.54 million ounces of silver. That resource resulted from two ore shoots: Cibitung and Cikoneng. Studies on ore mineralogy, hydrothermal alteration, geology, fluid inclusion, stable isotopes and age dating were conducted in order to characterize the deposit and to understand a possible mechanism of preservation of the deposit. The ore mineral assemblage of the deposit consists of electrum, naumannite, Ag‐Se‐Te sulfide minerals, chalcopyrite, pyrite, sphalerite and galena. Those ore minerals occur in quartz veins showing colloform–crustiform texture. They are enveloped by mixed layer clay illite/smectite zone, which grades into smectite zone outward. The temperature of mineralization revealed by fluid inclusion study on quartz in the veins ranges from 170 and 220°C at shallow and deep level, respectively. The temperature range is in agreement with the temperature deduced from the hydrothermal alteration mineral assemblage including mixed layered illite/smectite and laumontite. The mineralizing fluid is dilute, with a salinity <1 wt% NaCl equivalent and has stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen composition indicating a meteoric water origin. Although the deposit is old enough that it would have been eroded in a tropical island arc setting, the coverage by younger volcanic deposits such as the Citeluk tuff and the Cibaliung tuff most probably prevented this erosion.     

福建碧田金矿床冰长石特征及其意义

电子探针、扫描电子显微镜、Ｘ射线衍射等测试方法的应用,揭示了碧田金矿床冰长石的存在及其矿物学特征。冰长石的存在及其它地质证据,说明碧田金床属于冰长石－绢云母型浅成低温热液贵金属矿床,与附近产出的紫金山酸性－硫酸盐型铜金矿床成因类型不同。     

Mineralogical and Geochemical Characteristics of the Utanobori Gold Deposit in Northern Hokkaido,Japan

The Utanobori gold deposit is a low‐sulfidation, epithermal vein‐type deposit located in northern Hokkaido, Japan. The deposit is hosted by conglomerate, sandstone, and tuff of the Middle to Late Miocene Esashi Formation. These rocks were hydrothermally altered. Silica sinters and quartz‐adularia veins are common in the deposit. The quartz‐adularia veins either contain a ginguro band, which corresponds to the main gold‐bearing vein (Type 1 Veins), or do not contain a ginguro band but contain minor adularia (Type 2 Veins). Type 1 Veins are divided into three stages with 12–14 substages. Ore minerals identified include electrum, naumannite, chlorargyrite, bromargyrite, an unidentified Fe‐Sb mineral, and an Fe‐(Sb)‐As mineral. These ore minerals formed in the main mineralization stages I (bands I‐b and I‐d) and II (band II‐a). Scanning electron microscopy with cathodoluminescence images show that cathodoluminescence‐dark microcrystalline quartz exhibiting colloform (ghost‐sphere) texture is closely associated with ore minerals in the Type 1 Vein and Type 2 Vein, and the Al and K contents of such quartz are commonly >1000 ppm. This indicates that the ore minerals were crystallized from alkaline, silica‐saturated fluids at temperatures <200°C, which initially deposited amorphous silica that was recrystallized to microcrystalline quartz. The average Au content of electrum is 52.5 at% Au (n = 10), 65.7 at% Au (n = 20), and 55.5 at% Au (n = 5) in bands I‐b, I‐d, and II‐a, respectively, of Type 1 Veins. The δ³⁴S_CDT values of two fine‐grained disseminated pyrites in the altered conglomerate and bedded tuff in the argillic altered zone are ?4.3 and ?4.2‰. Ar‐Ar dating on adularia yielded 13.6 ± 0.06 Ma, 13.6 ± 0.07 Ma, and 13.6 ± 0.06 Ma for the stages I, II, and III of the Type 1 Vein, respectively. K‐Ar ages determined on adularia in the silica sinter and on whole‐rock of glassy rhyolite of the Esashi Formation are 15.0 ± 0.4 Ma and 14.6 ± 0.4 Ma, respectively. These radiometric ages indicate that silica sinter associated with the rhyolitic volcanic rocks formed prior to the main gold mineralization.     

Epithermal Gold-Silver Mineralization of the Asachinskoe Deposit in South Kamchatka, Russia

The Asachinskoe epithermal Au‐Ag deposit is a representative low‐sulfidation type of deposit in Kamchatka, Russia. In the Asachinskoe deposit there are approximately 40 mineralized veins mainly hosted by dacite–andesite stock intrusions of Miocene–Pliocene age. The veins are emplaced in tensional cracks with a north orientation. Wall‐rock alteration at the bonanza level (170–200 m a.s.l.) consists of the mineral assemblage of quartz, pyrite, albite, illite and trace amounts of smectite. Mineralized veins are well banded with quartz, adularia and minor illite. Mineralization stages in the main zone are divided into stages I–IV. Stage I is relatively barren quartz–adularia association formed at 4.7 ± 0.2 Ma (K‐Ar age). Stage II consists of abundant illite, Cu‐bearing cryptomelane and other manganese oxides and hydroxides, electrum, argentite, quartz, adularia and minor rhodochrosite and calcite. Stage III, the main stage of gold mineralization (4.5–4.4 ± 0.1–3.1 ± 0.1 Ma, K‐Ar age), consists of a large amount of electrum, naumannite and Se‐bearing polybasite with quartz–adularia association. Stage IV is characterized by hydrothermal breccia, where electrum, tetrahedrite and secondary covellite occur with quartz, adularia and illite. The concentration of Au+Ag in ores has a positive correlation with the content of K₂O + Al₂O₃, which is controlled by the presence of adularia and minor illite, and both Hg and Au also have positive correlations with the light rare‐earth elements. Fluid inclusion studies indicate a salinity of 1.0–2.6 wt% NaCl equivalent for the whole deposit, and ore‐forming temperatures are estimated as approximately 160–190°C in stage III of the present 218 m a.s.l. and 170–180°C in stage IV of 200 m a.s.l. The depth of ore formation is estimated to be 90–400 m from the paleo‐water table for stage IV of 200 m a.s.l., if a hydrostatic condition is assumed. An increase of salinity (>C_NaCl≈ 0.2 wt%) and decrease of temperature (>T ≈ 30°C) within a 115‐m vertical interval for the ascending hydrothermal solution is calculated, which is interpreted as due to steam loss during fluid boiling. Ranges of selenium and sulfur fugacities are estimated to be logfSe2 = ?17 to ?14.5 and logfS2 = ?15 to ?12 for the ore‐forming solution that was responsible for Au‐Ag‐Se precipitation in stage III of 200 m a.s.l. Separation of Se from S‐Se complex in the solution and its partition into selenides could be due to a relatively oxidizing condition. The precipitation of Au‐Ag‐Se was caused by boiling in stage III, and the precipitation of Au‐Ag‐Cu was caused by sudden decompression and boiling in stage IV.     

论治岭头金银矿床的成因

治岭头金银矿床矿体为含冰长石、蔷薇辉石的玉髓状石英脉体,矿石具环带状构造,围岩蚀变具典型的浅成低温热液蚀变特征,成矿流体是一种低盐度、近中性的还原性流体.矿床硫、铅、氢、氧、碳同位素研究表明,成矿物质主要来源于地下深部（甚至上地幔）,成矿热液表现出低温热液演化特点.成矿作用与加里东晚期浅成岩浆侵入活动有内在的成因联系.治岭头金银矿床属浅成低温热液（次火山热液）型金银矿床     

The Arinem Te‐Bearing Gold‐Silver‐Base Metal Deposit,West Java,Indonesia

The vein system in the Arinem area is a gold‐silver‐base metal deposit of Late Miocene (8.8–9.4 Ma) age located in the southwestern part of Java Island, Indonesia. The mineralization in the area is represented by the Arinem vein with a total length of about 5900 m, with a vertical extent up to 575 m, with other associated veins such as Bantarhuni and Halimun. The Arinem vein is hosted by andesitic tuff, breccia, and lava of the Oligocene–Middle Miocene Jampang Formation (23–11.6 Ma) and overlain unconformably by Pliocene–Pleistocene volcanic rocks composed of andesitic‐basaltic tuff, tuff breccia and lavas. The inferred reserve is approximately 2 million tons at 5.7 g t^?1 gold and 41.5 g t^?1 silver at a cut‐off of 4 g t^?1 Au, which equates to approximately 12.5t of Au and 91.4t of Ag. The ore mineral assemblage of the Arinem vein consists of sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, pyrite, marcasite, and arsenopyrite with small amounts of pyrrhotite, argentite, electrum, bornite, hessite, tetradymite, altaite, petzite, stutzite, hematite, enargite, tennantite, chalcocite, and covellite. These ore minerals occur in quartz with colloform, crustiform, comb, vuggy, massive, brecciated, bladed and calcedonic textures and sulfide veins. A pervasive quartz–illite–pyrite alteration zone encloses the quartz and sulfide veins and is associated with veinlets of quartz–calcite–pyrite. This alteration zone is enveloped by smectite–illite–kaolinite–quartz–pyrite alteration, which grades into a chlorite–smectite–kaolinite–calcite–pyrite zone. Early stage mineralization (stage I) of vuggy–massive–banded crystalline quartz‐sulfide was followed by middle stage (stage II) of banded–brecciated–massive sulfide‐quartz and then by last stage (stage III) of massive‐crystalline barren quartz. The temperature of the mineralization, estimated from fluid inclusion microthermometry in quartz ranges from 157 to 325°C, whereas the temperatures indicated by fluid inclusions from sphalerite and calcite range from 153 to 218 and 140 to 217°C, respectively. The mineralizing fluid is dilute, with a salinity <4.3 wt% NaCl equiv. The ore‐mineral assemblage and paragenesis of the Arinem vein is characteristically of a low sulfidation epithermal system with indication of high sulfidation overprinted at stage II. Boiling is probably the main control for the gold solubility and precipitation of gold occurred during cooling in stage I mineralization.     

西藏弄如日金矿床蚀变绢云母~(40)Ar-~(39)Ar年龄及其地质意义

西藏弄如日金矿是冈底斯成矿带发现的第一个浅成低温热液型金矿床。为确定金矿床的成矿时代,对该矿床与金矿化有关的蚀变花岗斑岩中绢云母进行了40Ar-39Ar年龄测试,获得绢云母的加权平均年龄和等时线年龄分别为19.87±0.96Ma和19.70±0.30Ma。结果表明,弄如日金矿床金矿化的主要成矿时代为中新世。该成果的获得对于进一步认识弄如日金矿成因机制、地球动力学背景以及区域找金突破具有重要意义。     

中硫型浅成低温热液金多金属矿床基本特征、研究进展与展望

继20世纪80年代以来低硫型和高硫型浅成低温金矿床概念提出及成矿模型建立之后,相继发现一些浅成低温热液矿床不具上述两类矿床端元的成矿特点,相反兼具过渡性质;很多学者将其作为单一矿床类型,定义为中硫型浅成低温热液矿床。作为一个新的矿床类型,中硫型矿床是否有单独划分的必要?该类矿床具有什么样的地质特征?长期以来这些问题令人困惑。本文从大量文献中,在全球范围内甄别出24个比较明确的中硫型浅成低温热液金(多金属)矿床,基于其基本特征和研究进展的系统梳理与分析,从中硫型矿床的时空展布、地质特征、矿物组合、金属源区特征、中硫型与高硫型金(铜)矿和低硫型金矿的主要区别,以及目前国际研究进展及难点等方面进行总结阐述。中硫型金多金属矿床具有如下六大特征:(1)发育富碳酸盐-贱金属硫化物成矿体系,碳酸盐矿物可见于各成矿阶段热液脉系中,尤其在热液晚阶段以碳酸盐矿物为主;贱金属硫化物主要为Cu、Pb、Zn、Fe等的硫化物;(2)发育中硫化态矿物组合,如贱金属硫化物黄铜矿、闪锌矿、方铅矿、黄铁矿、黝铜矿等;可少量发育明矾石和冰长石;(3)含矿脉系中富硫化物(总量大于5%),且在斑岩铜矿系统中较富黄铜矿;(4)普遍发育浅色贫铁闪锌矿(有待进一步证实);(5)普遍赋存在挤压岛弧背景下斑岩Cu-Au-Mo矿的外围;(6)空间上可与高硫型和低硫型金多金属矿床共存。普遍发育斑岩型Cu-Au-(Mo)矿床和浅成低温热液型矿床的世界著名三大成矿域(滨太平洋成矿域、古亚洲洋成矿域和特提斯-喜马拉雅成矿域),同样具有形成中硫型矿床的有利成矿条件。未来关于中硫型矿床的研究亟需解决以下几个关键问题:(1)目前尚未有文献对"富碳酸盐-贱金属(Cu、Pb、Zn、Fe等)"进行详细报道,这种成矿体系是如何形成的?流体中CO_2、H_2S及贱金属元素对Au的运移和沉淀有何影响?此问题是认识中硫型金多金属矿床成矿机制的关键所在。(2)中硫化态矿物的矿物(黄铁矿、闪锌矿、方铅矿、黝铜矿、砷黝铜矿、黄铜矿等)的沉淀环境?与高硫化态、低硫化态矿物有何区别?(3)从成矿系统、成矿过程和矿物形成的复杂性来考虑,显然以闪锌矿中Fe S的含量多少作为区别IS型、HS型、LS型矿床的特征地化标志过于简单,且与已有关于闪锌矿的矿物学研究成果相矛盾,因此仍需进一步工作。(4)早期形成的作为赋矿围岩的火山岩地层或者次火山岩体是否提供了成矿物质?是否充当了浅成低温热液矿物沉淀的地球化学屏障?其具体过程是怎样的?以上问题的解决可辅助揭示IS型矿床的成因机制和形成过程,并为同类型矿床的勘查工作提供支持。     

Polymetallic and Au-Ag Mineralizations at the Mutnovskoe Deposit in South Kamchatka, Russia

Abstract. The Mutnovskoe deposit located in the Porozhisto‐Asachinskaya metallogenic province of South Kamchatka, Russia, is a polymetallic vein and Au‐Ag quartz vein associated type of hydrothermal deposit. The Mutnovskoe deposit is located inside a paleo‐caldera structure at the center of the Mutnovsko‐Asachinskaya geothermal field of Pliocene ‐ Quaternary age, where active gold deposition is identified in hot spring precipitate. The Mutnovskoe deposit is subdivided into the north flank, the central flank and the south flank based on the vein distributions and mineral parageneses. The mineralized vein system is oriented N‐S hosted in diorite ‐ gabbroic diorite stock, volcanic rocks and sedimentary rocks of Miocene ‐ Pleistocene age. The mineralization stage I (polymetallic vein) mainly in the central and the south flanks is Zn‐Pb‐Cu‐Au‐Ag contained in sphalerite, galena and tetrahedrite‐tennantite group mineral. The stage II (Au‐Ag quartz vein) occurs in the north and the central flanks. The stage III (Mn‐sulfide and Mn‐Ca‐carbonate vein) occurs in the whole deposit area. Stage II is the typical Au‐Ag quartz‐adularia vein of low‐sulfidation type. Stage III is alabandite‐rhodochrosite‐quartz‐calcite vein. The K‐Ar ages are 1.3±0.1 Ma for stage I sericite in alteration zone, and 0.7±0.1 Ma for the stage II adularia in mineralized vein. Based on the fluid inclusion study, range of ore forming temperature of the Mutnovskoe deposit is 200 to 260d?C (av. 230d?C). Salinities of fluid inclusions indicate 2.2 to 5.7 wt% NaCl in sphalerite and 0.8 to 3.3 wt% NaCl in quartz for the stage I. Mineral paragenesis of the polymetallic vein (stage I) is characterized by a district zoning of tennantite and Cd‐rich sphalerite in the south flank and tetrahedrite and Mn‐rich sphalerite in the central flank, which is due to the fractional crystallizations of ore‐forming fluid. Depositional condition of the low sulfidation state is inferred for the Mutnovskoe deposit, where the polymetallic vein of the south flank is in relatively higher sulfidation state than the central flank.     

Evolution of hydrothermal fluids of HS and LS type epithermal Au–Ag deposits in the Seongsan hydrothermal system of the Cretaceous Haenam volcanic field,South Korea

The Haenam volcanic field was formed in the southern part of the Korean peninsula by the climactic igneous activity of the Late Cretaceous. The volcanic field hosts more than nine hydrothermal clay deposits and two epithermal Au–Ag deposits. This study focuses on the relationship between hydrothermal clay alteration and epithermal Au–Ag mineralization based on the geology, alteration mineralogy, geochronology, and mineralization characteristics.These clay and epithermal Au–Ag deposits are interpreted to have formed by the same hydrothermal event which produced two distinct types of mineral systems: 1) Au-dominant epithermal Au–Ag deposit and 2) clay-dominant hydrothermal clay deposit. The two types of mineral systems show a close genetic relationship as suggested by their temporal and spatial relationships. The Seongsan hydrothermal system progressively evolved from a low-intermediate sulfidation epithermal system with Au–Ag mineralization and phyllic alteration to an acid–sulfate high-sulfidation system with Au–Ag mineralization and/or barren advanced argillic/argillic alteration. The Seongsan system evolved during post volcanic hydrothermal activity for at least 10 Ma in the Campanian stage of the late Cretaceous.The Seongsan hydrothermal system shows the rare and unique occurrence of superimposed high to low (intermediate) sulfidation episodes, which persisted for about 10 Ma.     

Geological setting and timing of the Chah Zard breccia-hosted epithermal gold–silver deposit in the Tethyan belt of Iran

The breccia-hosted epithermal gold–silver deposit of Chah Zard is located within a high-K, calc-alkaline andesitic to rhyolitic volcanic complex in the central part of the Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Arc (UDMA), west central Iran. The total measured resource for Chah Zard is ∼2.5 million tonnes of ore at 12.7 g/t Ag and 1.7 g/t Au (28.6 t Ag, 3.8 t Au), making it one of the largest epithermal gold deposits in Iran. Magmatic and hydrothermal activity was associated with local extensional tectonics in a strike-slip regime formed in transtensional structures of the Dehshir-Baft strike-slip fault system. The host rocks of the volcanic complex consist of Eocene sedimentary and volcanic rocks covered by Miocene sedimentary rocks. LA-ICP–MS U–Pb zircon geochronology yields a mean age of 6.2 ± 0.2 Ma for magmatic activity at Chah Zard. This age represents the maximum age of mineralization and may indicate a previously unrecognized mineralization event in the UDMA. Breccias and veins formed during and after the waning stages of explosive brecciation events due to shallow emplacement of rhyolite porphyry. Detailed systematic mapping leads to the recognition of three distinct breccia bodies: volcaniclastic breccia with a dominantly clastic matrix; gray polymict breccia with a greater proportion of hydrothermal cement; and mixed monomict to polymict breccia with clay matrix. The polymictic breccias generated bulk-mineable ore, whereas the volcaniclastic breccia is relatively impermeable and largely barren. Precious metals occur with sulfide and sulfosalt minerals as disseminations, as well as in the veins and breccia cements. There is a progression from pyrite-dominated (stage 1) to pyrite-base metal sulfide and sulfosalt-dominated (stages 2 and 3) to base metal sulfide-dominated (stage 4) breccias and veins. Hydrothermal alteration and deposition of gangue minerals progressed from illite-quartz to quartz-adularia, carbonate, and finally gypsum-dominated assemblages. Free gold occurs in stages 2 and 4, principally intergrown with pyrite, quartz, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, and Ag-rich tennantite–tetrahedrite, and also as inclusions in pyrite. High Rb/Sr ratios in ore-grade zones are closely related to sericite and adularia alteration. Positive correlations of Au and Ag with Cu, As, Pb, Zn, Sb, and Cd in epithermal veins and breccias suggest that all these elements are related to the same mineralization event.     

Genetic Environment of the Intrusion-related Yuryang Au-Te Deposit in the Cheonan Metallogenic Province, Korea

Abstract. The Yuryang gold deposit, comprising a Te‐bearing Au‐Ag vein mineralization, is located in the Cheonan area of the Republic of Korea. The deposit is hosted in Precambrian gneiss and closely related to pegmatite. The mineralized veins display massive quartz textures, with weak alteration adjacent to the veins. The ore mineralization is simple, with a low Ag/Au ratio of 1.5:1, due to the paucity of Ag‐phases. Ore mineralization took place in two different mineral assemblages with paragenetic time; early Fe‐sulfide mineralization and late Fe‐sulfide and Au‐Te mineralization. The early Fe‐sulfide mineralization (pyrite + sphalerite) occurred typically along the vein margins, and the subsequent Au‐Te mineralization is characterized by fracture fillings of galena, sphalerite, pyrrhotite, Te‐bearing minerals (petzite, altaite, hessite and Bi‐Te mineral) and electrum. Fluid inclusions characteristically contain CO₂ and can be classified into four types (Ia, Ib, IIa and IIb) according to the phase behavior. The pressure corrected temperatures (≥500d?C) indicate that the deposit was formed at a distinctively high temperature from fluids with moderate to low salinity (<12 wt% equiv. NaCl) and CH₄ (1?22 mole %). The sphalerite geo‐barometry yield an estimated pressure about 3.5 ?2.1 kbar. The dominant ore‐deposition mechanisms were CO₂ effervescence and concomitant H₂S volatilization, which triggered sulfidation and gold mineralization. The measured and calculated isotopic compositions of fluids (δ¹⁸O_H2^O = 10.3 to 12.4 %o; δD_H2^O = ‐52 to ‐77 %o) may indicate that the gold deposition originated from S‐type magmatic waters. The physicochemical conditions observed in the Yuryang gold deposit indicate that the Jurassic gold deposits in the Cheonan area, including the Yuryang gold deposit are compatible with deposition of the intrusion‐related Au‐Te veins from deeply sourced fluids generated by the late Jurassic Daebo magmatism.     

Fluid Inclusion and Stable Isotope Studies at Don Sixto,a Precious Metal Low Sulfidation Deposit in Mendoza Province,Argentina

The Don Sixto mining area in Mendoza province, central‐western Argentina, contains an epithermal low sulfidation Au–Ag deposit. It is a small deposit (～4 km²), with a gold resource of 36 t. In Don Sixto, ore minerals are disseminated in the hydrothermal quartz veins and hydrothermally altered volcanic‐pyroclastic rock units of Permian–Triassic age. On the basis of the texture, ore mineral paragenesis and cross cutting relationship of gangue minerals, seven stages of mineralization were recognized and described. The first six stages are characterized by quartz veins with minor amounts of base metal minerals and the last stage is represented by fluorite veins with minimal quantities of base metal minerals; the precious metal mineralization is mainly related to the fourth stage. The hydrothermal veins exhibit mainly massive, crustiform and comb infilling textures; the presence of bladed quartz replacement textures and quartz veins with adularia crystals are indicative of boiling processes in the system. Fluid inclusion and complementary stable isotope studies were performed in quartz, fluorite, and pyrite samples from the vein systems. The microthermometric data were obtained from primary, biphasic (liquid‐vapor) fluid inclusion assemblages in quartz and fluorite. The maximum values for salinity and homogenization temperature (T_h) came from the stage IV where quartz with petrographic evidence of boiling has average values of 4.96 wt% NaCl_equiv. and 286.9°C respectively. The lower values are related to the last stage of mineralization, where the fluid inclusions in fluorite have average salinities of 1.05 wt% NaCl_equiv. and average homogenization temperatures of 173.1°C. The oxygen and sulfur isotopic fractionation was analyzed in quartz and pyrite. The calculated isotopic fractionation for oxygen in the hydrothermal fluid is in the range of δ¹⁸O_H2O = ?6.92 up to ?3.08‰, which indicates dominance of a meteoric source for the water, while sulfur reaches δ³⁴S_H2S = 1.09‰, which could be reflecting a possible magmatic, or even a mixed source.     

滇西大坪金矿床地质特征及成因初探

大坪金矿床被视为哀牢山造山带南段最典型的造山型金矿,但其诸多地质特征明显不同于国外典型造山型金矿床,而呈现出与浅成低温热液型金矿床的一致性.区域上,脉型金铜铅银矿床的产出与中酸性侵入岩及中基性火山岩密切相关.大坪金矿床形成于主要赋矿的桃家寨闪长岩侵位之后约800Ma的新生代构造-岩浆热事件中,金矿床是区域尺度伸展和转换拉伸应力体制的产物;成矿作用过程中,研究区构造动力体制发生了转换,主成矿期容矿断裂带显示为张剪性正断层性质.矿脉多(55条)、薄(0.2～0.8m)、长(200 ～ 1500m)、陡(56°～ 85°)、延深大(约700m),且近平行成带产出;矿体中Au品位高(超过10×10-6),Au/Ag低(o.1 ～o.5),且伴生Pb、Cu、Ag.矿石的充填型结构构造和矿物共生组合指示矿脉形成温度低、深度浅;矿化-蚀变样式以及蛋白石和氧化矿的出现表明成矿体系处于开放的氧化环境,成矿后保存良好.大坪金矿床这种特殊的地质特征可能与其复杂的区域构造背景及成矿演化过程密切相关,金矿床虽然具有造山型金矿的基本特征,但在成矿作用晚期,矿床浅部叠加了浅成低温热液型金铜铅银成矿作用.即大坪金矿床属于深部造山型+浅部低温热液型矿床套叠组合,成矿体系保存完整,现发现的均为浅部矿体,深部找矿潜力巨大.     

赣南印支期中硫化型浅成低温热液银矿床的发现和意义

近年,在中国赣南的会昌县年坑地区新发现一浅成低温热液银矿床,其矿体赋存在隐爆角砾岩筒内,隐爆角砾岩的胶结物由富锰碳酸盐类矿物(含锰白云石-锰白云石-菱锰矿-含锰方解石)-石英-白云母-含银硫盐(黝铜矿-硫银锗矿)-硫化物(辉银矿、方铅矿、半透明闪锌矿和黄铁矿)-自然银组成,成矿具有中硫化型特征.年代学研究表明,年坑银矿床形成于三叠纪(印支期),是华南地区首例印支期中硫化型的浅成低温热液矿床.对该矿的成矿时代和成矿特征的详细研究,指示华南地区具有寻找印支期同类型浅成低温热液银矿及相关斑岩钼或锡矿床的潜力.     

Gold Mineralization in Izu Peninsula,Central Japan,during Crustal Extension in Response to Double Subduction

Izu Peninsula in central Japan, the northern tip of the Izu‐Bonin arc, hosts numerous epithermal Au–Ag vein deposits of low‐sulfidation style. All have similar vein textures, mineralogy, and alteration. Geochemical data from fluid inclusions in vein quartz, the mineralogy and mineral chemistry of alteration, and stable isotope data indicate that auriferous hydrothermal activity occurred under subaerial conditions. The K–Ar ages of auriferous vein minerals are <1.5 Ma, indicating that the mineralization took place after extensive submarine volcanism for the host rocks. These observations suggest that Au–Ag mineralization was synchronous with the development of an extensional regime of the Izu block after its collision with the Honshu arc after 1.5 Ma. This collision resulted in the shifting of the Izu block far from the trench to the rear position, and the subduction of the Izu block along the Suruga trough to the west and along the Sagami trough to the east. The reararc position of the Izu block and double subduction resulted in crustal extension, upwelling of asthenospheric mantle, and tholeiitic magmatism reflected by mafic dyke swarms and subsequent monogenetic volcanic activity in the Izu peninsula. The timing of the Au mineralization in the Izu Peninsula during the beginning of lithospheric extension is similar to that of the Sado Au–Ag deposit on Sado island in the Japan Sea. Two mineralization events coincide with extensive tholeiitic mafic volcanism and injections of dyke swarms related to the back‐arc opening of the Japan Sea. The geological setting of the Au–Ag mineralization in Izu and Sado is also similar to that of the epithermal Au–Ag deposits in northern Nevada, where mineralization was contemporaneous with crustal extension and tholeiitic mafic magmatism derived from the asthenospheric mantle. This study suggests that epithermal Au mineralization at shallow crustal depths is a product of large‐scale lithospheric evolution.     

新疆阿希金矿:古生代的低硫型浅成低温热液金矿床

新疆阿希金矿床为一形成于古生代的低硫型浅成低温热液金矿床,矿床产于伊犁—中天山板块北部中天山北缘活动大陆边缘的吐拉苏火山岩断陷盆地中。其赋矿围岩为大哈拉军山组安山质火山岩和火岩碎屑岩,矿体呈脉状产于古火山口外围的环形断裂带中,主要金属矿物有自然金、银金矿、黄铁矿、白铁矿、毒砂、赤铁矿、褐铁矿以及微量的浓红银矿、硒银矿、硫锑铜银矿、角银矿等,非金属矿物有石英、玉髓、菱铁矿、方解石、绢云母、冰长石等,围岩蚀变作用主要有硅化、绢云母化、碳酸盐化和青盘岩化。矿床以富集Au、Ag、As、Sb、Bi、Hg、Se、Te、Mo元素组合为特征,Ag/Au比值小,为0.46～11.1。氢、氧、碳、硫及稀有气体同位素组成特征显示其成矿流体主要为循环大气降水;成矿流体盐度主要为0.7%～3.1%NaCl_(eqv),平均为2.2%NaCl_(eqv);成矿温度为120～240℃,平均190℃;最大成矿深度约700 m。沸腾作用是引起成矿流体中矿质发生沉淀富集的主要成矿机制,成矿作用过程中流体处于近中性pH值的还原环境,成矿时代介于晚泥盆世晚期((363.2±5.7)Ma)到早石炭世维宪期。其一系列特征显示该矿是一个典型的、形成于古生代的低硫型浅成低温热液型金矿床。矿床得以保存与矿床形成后很快被阿恰勒河组沉积盖层覆盖有关,从上新世开始由于印度板块对欧亚板块的碰撞挤压作用,天山造山带被快速抬升遭受风化剥蚀作用使矿床重新露出地表而被发现。阿希金矿的发现对于在中、新生代以前的造山带中寻找浅成低温热液型金矿床具有重要的借鉴和指导意义。