6: Classification of VMS deposits: Lessons from the South Uralides

VMS deposits of the South Urals developed within the evolving Urals palaeo-ocean between Silurian and Late Devonian times. Arc-continent collision between Baltica and the Magnitogorsk Zone (arc) in the south-western Urals effectively terminated submarine volcanism in the Magnitogorsk Zone with which the bulk of the VMS deposits are associated. The majority of the Urals VMS deposits formed within volcanic-dominated sequences in deep seawater settings. Preservation of macro and micro vent fauna in the sulphide bodies is both testament to the seafloor setting for much of the sulphides but also the exceptional degree of preservation and lack of metamorphic overprint of the deposits and host rocks. The deposits in the Urals have previously been classified in terms of tectonic setting, host rock associations and metal ratios in line with recent tectono-stratigraphic classifications. In addition to these broad classes, it is clear that in a number of the Urals settings, an evolution of the host volcanic stratigraphy is accompanied by an associated change in the metal ratios of the VMS deposits, a situation previously discussed, for example, in the Noranda district of Canada.Two key structural settings are implicated in the South Urals. The first is seen in a preserved marginal allochthon west of the Main Urals Fault where early arc tholeiites host Cu–Zn mineralization in deposits including Yaman Kasy, which is host to the oldest macro vent fauna assembly known to science. The second tectonic setting for the South Urals VMS is the Magnitogorsk arc where study has highlighted the presence of a preserved early forearc assemblage, arc tholeiite to calc-alkaline sequences and rifted arc bimodal tholeiite sequences. The boninitc rocks of the forearc host Cu–(Zn) and Cu–Co VMS deposits, the latter hosted in fragments within the Main Urals Fault Zone (MUFZ) which marks the line of arc-continent collision in Late Devonian times. The arc tholeiites host Cu–Zn deposits with an evolution to more calc-alkaline felsic volcanic sequences matched with a change to Zn–Pb–Cu polymetallic deposits, often gold-rich. Large rifts in the arc sequence are filled by thick bimodal tholeiite sequences, themselves often showing an evolution to a more calc-alkaline nature. These thick bimodal sequences are host to the largest of the Cu–Zn VMS deposits.The exceptional degree of preservation in the Urals has permitted the identification of early seafloor clastic and hydrolytic modification (here termed halmyrolysis sensu lato) to the sulphide assemblages prior to diagenesis and this results in large-scale modification to the primary VMS body, resulting in distinctive morphological and mineralogical sub-types of sulphide body superimposed upon the tectonic association classification.It is proposed that a better classification of seafloor VMS systems is thus achievable using a three stage classification based on (a) tectonic (hence bulk volcanic chemistry) association, (b) local volcanic chemical evolution within a single edifice and (c) seafloor reworking and halmyrolysis.     

6: Classification of VMS deposits: Lessons from the South Uralides

VMS deposits of the South Urals developed within the evolving Urals palaeo-ocean between Silurian and Late Devonian times. Arc-continent collision between Baltica and the Magnitogorsk Zone (arc) in the south-western Urals effectively terminated submarine volcanism in the Magnitogorsk Zone with which the bulk of the VMS deposits are associated. The majority of the Urals VMS deposits formed within volcanic-dominated sequences in deep seawater settings. Preservation of macro and micro vent fauna in the sulphide bodies is both testament to the seafloor setting for much of the sulphides but also the exceptional degree of preservation and lack of metamorphic overprint of the deposits and host rocks. The deposits in the Urals have previously been classified in terms of tectonic setting, host rock associations and metal ratios in line with recent tectono-stratigraphic classifications. In addition to these broad classes, it is clear that in a number of the Urals settings, an evolution of the host volcanic stratigraphy is accompanied by an associated change in the metal ratios of the VMS deposits, a situation previously discussed, for example, in the Noranda district of Canada.Two key structural settings are implicated in the South Urals. The first is seen in a preserved marginal allochthon west of the Main Urals Fault where early arc tholeiites host Cu–Zn mineralization in deposits including Yaman Kasy, which is host to the oldest macro vent fauna assembly known to science. The second tectonic setting for the South Urals VMS is the Magnitogorsk arc where study has highlighted the presence of a preserved early forearc assemblage, arc tholeiite to calc-alkaline sequences and rifted arc bimodal tholeiite sequences. The boninitc rocks of the forearc host Cu–(Zn) and Cu–Co VMS deposits, the latter hosted in fragments within the Main Urals Fault Zone (MUFZ) which marks the line of arc-continent collision in Late Devonian times. The arc tholeiites host Cu–Zn deposits with an evolution to more calc-alkaline felsic volcanic sequences matched with a change to Zn–Pb–Cu polymetallic deposits, often gold-rich. Large rifts in the arc sequence are filled by thick bimodal tholeiite sequences, themselves often showing an evolution to a more calc-alkaline nature. These thick bimodal sequences are host to the largest of the Cu–Zn VMS deposits.The exceptional degree of preservation in the Urals has permitted the identification of early seafloor clastic and hydrolytic modification (here termed halmyrolysis sensu lato) to the sulphide assemblages prior to diagenesis and this results in large-scale modification to the primary VMS body, resulting in distinctive morphological and mineralogical sub-types of sulphide body superimposed upon the tectonic association classification.It is proposed that a better classification of seafloor VMS systems is thus achievable using a three stage classification based on (a) tectonic (hence bulk volcanic chemistry) association, (b) local volcanic chemical evolution within a single edifice and (c) seafloor reworking and halmyrolysis.     

对北祁连山火山喷溢型贱金属硫化物矿床区域成矿的探讨

北祁连山加里东优地槽褶皱山系由厚层海相火山岩系和沉积建造组成。其内已经发现数十个火山岩型块状硫化物矿床,可划分为三种类型,即Cu(Fe)型(或红沟型)、Cu-Zn型(或蛇绿岩套型)及Cu-Pb-Zn型(或白艰厂型)。不同类型矿床分别形成于不同地质环境且趋向于在特定时-空范围产出:Cu(Fe)型矿床集中分布在南部达坂山成矿带,成矿与晚奥陶世双峰态细碧角斑岩系有关,矿床形成于弧间或弧后盆地环境;Cu-Zn型矿床分布在北部九个泉—错沟、猪嘴哑吧一银硐沟矿带,与早—中奥陶世蛇绿岩套有关,矿床形成于大洋扩张构造环境;Cu-Pb-Zn型矿床集中分布在祁连、白银成矿区,矿床产出与中寒武世中酸性石英角斑凝灰岩有关,形成于优地槽发展早期阶段裂谷岛弧环境。     

Tellurium-bearing minerals in zoned sulfide chimneys from Cu-Zn massive sulfide deposits of the Urals, Russia

Tellurium-bearing minerals are generally rare in chimney material from mafic and bimodal felsic volcanic hosted massive sulfide (VMS) deposits, but are abundant in chimneys of the Urals VMS deposits located within Silurian and Devonian bimodal mafic sequences. High physicochemical gradients during chimney growth result in a wide range of telluride and sulfoarsenide assemblages including a variety of Cu-Ag-Te-S and Ag-Pb-Bi-Te solid solution series and tellurium sulfosalts. A change in chimney types from Fe-Cu to Cu-Zn-Fe to Zn-Cu is accompanied by gradual replacement of abundant Fe-, Co, Bi-, and Pb- tellurides by Hg, Ag, Au-Ag telluride and galena-fahlore with native gold assemblages. Decreasing amounts of pyrite, both colloform and pseudomorphic after pyrrhotite, isocubanite ISS and chalcopyrite in the chimneys is coupled with increasing amounts of sphalerite, quatz, barite or talc contents. This trend represents a transition from low- to high sulphidation conditions, and it is observed across a range of the Urals deposits from bimodal mafic- to bimodal felsic-hosted types: Yaman-Kasy → Molodezhnoye → Uzelga → Valentorskoye → Oktyabrskoye → Alexandrinskoye → Tash-Tau → Jusa.     

Correlation between compositions of ore and host rocks in volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits of the Southern Urals

The geology and typification of volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits of the Southern Urals are considered. The mineralogical-geochemical types of these deposits correlate with the composition of the underlying igneous rocks: Ni-Co-Cu deposits correlatedwith serpentinites (Ivanovka type); (Co)-Cu deposits, with basalts (Dombarovka type); Cu-Zn deposits, with basalt-rhyolite and basalt-andesite-rhyolite complexes (Ural type); and Au-Ba-Pb-Zn-Cu deposits, with basalt-andesite-rhyolite complexes with predominance of andesitic and felsic volcanics (Baimak type). The Ural-type deposits are subdivided into three subtypes: I, underlain by basalts (Zn-Cu deposits); II, hosted in felsic volcanic rocks of bimodal complexes (Cu-Zn deposits); and III, hosted in felsic volcanic rocks of continuously differentiated complexes (Zn-Cu deposits with Ba, Pb, and As). The above types and subtypes bearing local names are compared with global types of VMS deposits (MAR, Cyprus, Noranda, and Kuroko), to which they are close but not identical.     

Spatial-temporal Frame,Evolution and Mineralization of the Northern Qilian Metallogenic Province

Four metallogenic epochs occurred in different tectonic environments during theevolution of the Northern Qilian metallogenic province through the geological time. The Mid-dle Proterozoic metallogenic epoch witnessed the tectonic environment of crustal breakupcaused by mantle diapirism, in which ultramafic-mafic rocks were intruded along beep faultbelts and the superlarge Jinchuan magmatic Cu-Ni sulphide deposit was formed. In theMiddle-Late Proterozoic metallogenic epoch the crust was further broken to form anintracontinental rift, in which the Chenjiamiao style massive Cu-Fe sulphide deposits hosted bybasic volcanic tuff were formed in the lower volcano-sedimentary sequence, while the largesedex type Jingtieshan style Fe-Cu deposits were formed within the upper abyssal carbon-richargillaceous sedimentary sequence. The Early Palaeozoic saw the aulacogen environment, with-in which the Baiyinchang style superlarge massive base and precious metal sulphide depositshosted by quartz keratophyric tuff were formed in the Middle-Late Cambrian rifted island arcand the massive Cu-Zn sulphide deposits and magmatic chromite deposits associated with theophiolite suite were formed in the Early-Middle Ordovician, and the Honggou style massiveCu-Fe sulphide deposits hosted by spilite were formed in the Late Ordovician back-arc basinenvironment. In the Late Palaeozoic-Meso-Cenozoic, the metallogenic province went into anintracontinental orogenic stage characterized by compressive tectonic environment, in whichthere occurred carbonate-quartz vein type and tectono-alteration gold deposits associated withductile-shear structures.     

加拿大拜韦尔特半岛金-铜矿集区成矿地质背景与矿床特征

拜韦尔特半岛矿产资源主要包括铜、金和石棉,区域地层和构造是控制矿床形成、发展和叠加改造的主要因素。这些矿产资源主要赋存在拜韦尔特海洋带达利吉带圣母玛利亚亚带的早奥陶世潜次火山岩中,包括起源于超俯冲作用带的蛇绿岩套和火山岩盖层。其蛇绿岩套超镁铁堆积岩的热液蚀变岩中产出石棉,火山成因的块状硫化物型(VMS型)铜±金矿产在基性和双峰式火山岩中,金矿产在基性和超基性的热液蚀变岩中。而蛇绿岩套火山岩盖层中则产出与条带状含铁建造(BIF)有关的后生金矿,石英脉型或相关的交代型矿床则大多赋存在蚀变和变形的基性岩中。拜韦尔特半岛的构造样式和几何结构非常复杂。     

Geologic and tectonic setting of Deseado Massif epithermal deposits, Argentina, based on El Dorado-Monserrat

Middle–Late Jurassic bimodal volcanism, typical of a retroarc setting, developed during widespread extensional tectonism within the Deseado Massif, southern Argentina. This geologic environment led to the formation of numerous low-sulfidation epithermal deposits that are spatially and temporally related to the volcanic activity. The lack of significant high-sulfidation epithermal deposits may be because the tectonic and volcanic settings do not favor the formation of these types of deposits. El Dorado-Monserrat is a low-sulfidation epithermal prospect located near the southern boundary of the Deseado Massif. Mineralization is genetically linked to the Late Jurassic Chon Aike Formation and hosted by volcanic rocks of the middle Late Jurassic Bajo Pobre Formation. Two different mineralization areas have been identified. The Monserrat area is the most important, with veins hosted in a north-striking, left-lateral shear zone. The average thickness is 0.85 m, and the average metal content is 6.2 ppm gold and 153 ppm silver. The El Dorado area has discontinuous echelon veins within a right-lateral shear zone with low gold and silver grades. Hydrothermal alteration of the host rocks includes an inner zone of quartz-adularia and illite alteration and an outer zone of propylitic alteration. The main gangue mineral is quartz, which formed in successive pulses, plus adularia, pyrite, hematite, magnetite, and barite. Precious metals occur as zoned electrum. Ore mineral precipitation took place between 200 and 280 °C from low salinity fluids due to boiling.     

Supergene sulphides and related minerals in the supergene profiles of VHMS deposits from the South Urals

The mineralogy and structure of the supergene profile in recently-exploited volcaniс hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) deposits of Cyprus, Uralian and Kuroko type in the South Urals, Russia, have been studied. Specific subzones enriched in secondary sulphides and associated minerals have been distinguished in residual pyrite and quartz–pyrite sands at the Gayskoye, Zapadno-Ozernoye, Dzhusinskoye and Alexandrinskoye deposits. Besides minerals which are common to the cementation subzones (covellite, chalcocite and acanthite), non-stoichiometric colloform and framboidal pyrite, pyrite–dzharkenite, pyrrhotite-like and jordanite-like minerals, metacinnabar, sphalerite, selenium-enriched tetrahedrite and unidentified As-, Sb sulphosalts of Pb or Hg and Ag, sulphur-bearing clausthalite, naumannite and tiemannite were also found. Secondary sulphide minerals in VHMS deposits of the South Urals region are characterized by light sulphur isotope compositions (− 8.1 to − 17.2‰). Superposition of the advanced oxidation of colloform pyrite, an enrichment in impurities (sphalerite, galena, and tennantite) from the primary ores, stagnant water conditions, an elevation of the water table during oxidation, and bacterial activity led to supergene concentrations of the base metals as sulphide, selenides or sulphosalts.     

The Wyoming gold deposits: volcanic-hosted lode-type gold mineralisation in the eastern Lachlan Orogen,Australia

The eastern Lachlan Orogen in southeastern Australia is noted for its major porphyry–epithermal–skarn copper–gold deposits of late Ordovician age. Whilst many small quartz vein-hosted or orogenic lode-type gold deposits are known in the region, the discovery of the Wyoming gold deposits has demonstrated the potential for significant lode-type mineralisation hosted within the same Ordovician volcanic stratigraphy. Outcrop in the Wyoming area is limited, with the Ordovician sequence largely obscured by clay-rich cover of probable Quaternary to Cretaceous age with depths up to 50 m. Regional aeromagnetic data define a north–south trending linear belt interpreted to represent the Ordovician andesitic volcanic rock sequence within probable Ordo-Silurian pelitic metasedimentary rocks. Drilling through the cover sequence in 2001 to follow up the trend of historically reported mineralisation discovered extensive alteration and gold mineralisation within an andesitic feldspar porphyry intrusion and adjacent volcaniclastic sandstones and siltstones. Subsequent detailed resource definition drilling has identified a substantial mineralised body associated with sericite–carbonate–albite–quartz–(±chlorite ± pyrite ± arsenopyrite) alteration. The Wyoming deposits appear to have formed as the result of a rheological contrast between the porphyry host and the surrounding volcaniclastic rocks, with the porphyry showing brittle fracture and the metasedimentary rocks ductile deformation. The mineralisation at Wyoming bears many petrological and structural similarities to orogenic lode-style gold deposits. Although the timing of alteration and mineralisation in the Wyoming deposits remain problematic, a relationship with possible early to middle Devonian deformation is considered likely.     

Brine pool deposition for the Zn–Pb–Cu massive sulphide deposits of the Bathurst mining camp, New Brunswick, Canada. I. Comparisons with the Iberian pyrite belt

The Ordovician Zn–Pb–Cu massive sulphide ore deposits of the Bathurst mining camp share many features with those of the Devonian/Carboniferous Iberian pyrite belt, particularly the tendency to large size (tonnage and metal content); shape, as far as can be determined after allowing for deformation; metal content, particularly Fe/Cu, Pb/Zn and Sn; mineral assemblages (pyrite + arsenopyrite ± pyrrhotite and lack or rarity of sulphates); sulphide textures (particularly framboidal pyrite); lack of chimney structures and rubble mounds; irregular metal or mineral zoning; and the low degree of zone refining compared to Hokuroku ores. The major differences between the provinces are the lack of vent complexes and the presence of Sn–Cu ores in the Iberian pyrite belt. There are also similarities in the geological setting of the two camps: both lie within continental terranes undergoing arc-continent and continent–continent collision, and in each case massive sulphide mineralisation followed ophiolite obduction; the ore deposits are associated with bimodal volcanic rocks derived from MORB and continental crust and marine shales; and mineralisation was locally accompanied or followed by deposition of iron formations.Fluid inclusion data from veins in stockworks from at least six of the Iberian massive sulphide deposits point to sulphide deposition having taken place in basins containing mostly spent saline, ore-forming fluids (brine pools), and it is suggested that most of the major features of the Bathurst deposits can be explained by similar processes. The proposed model is largely independent of ocean sulphate and O₂ content, whereas low values of each are requisites for the current, spreading-plume model of sulphide deposition in the Bathurst camp.     

内蒙古狼山—渣尔泰山中元古代被动陆缘热水喷流成矿特征

狼山—渣尔泰山中元古代被动陆缘产有东升庙、炭窑口、霍各乞和甲生盘等热水喷流沉积矿床 ,与世界中元古代的SEDEX型矿集区有许多相似之处 :①矿床的产出受华北古陆北缘裂陷槽内三级断陷盆地控制 ;②各大矿床都具有鲜明的层控特征 ,所有矿体总体呈层产在中元古界的白云石大理岩、碳质千枚岩 (或片岩 )中 ;③矿石具有细纹层状、条带状构造 ,喷流沉积成矿特征十分明显 ;④成矿过程中伴有明显的同生断裂活动 ,它在一定程度上控制了矿体的空间分布及其组合 ;但不同矿床同生断裂活动的强度、时限、规模都不同 ,从而导致不同矿床在相同含矿岩组中矿体产出的先后顺序不同和大量层间砾岩与同生角砾状矿石的形成 ;⑤厚大Zn ,Pb ,Cu复合矿体具有明显的分带性 ,自下至上 ,Cu/ (Zn +Pb +Cu)比值由高→低 ;⑥重晶石层发育 ,多与黄铁矿层互层状产出 ,也有与闪锌矿层互层 ,但与世界典型SEDEX型矿床又有重要差别。成矿期间火山活动明显 ,在霍各乞、东升庙、炭窑口矿床惟一容矿的狼山群第二岩组中先后发现了具有变余斑状或聚斑状结构、变余杏仁构造的基性火山岩、钠质“双峰式”火山岩和钾质“双峰式”海相火山岩及凝灰岩夹层。结合①各种硫化物的铅同位素主要分布在地幔和下地壳铅演化曲线附近 ;②部分黄铁矿的Co/Ni值远     

Ordovician volcanic and plutonic complexes of the Sakmara allochthon in the southern Urals

The Ordovician terrigenous, volcanic–sedimentary and volcanic sequences that formed in rifts of the active continental margin and igneous complexes of intraoceanic suprasubduction settings structurally related to ophiolites are closely spaced in allochthons of the Sakmara Zone in the southern Urals. The stratigraphic relationships of the Ordovician sequences have been established. Their age and facies features have been specified on the basis of biostratigraphic and geochronological data. The gabbro–tonalite–trondhjemite complex and the basalt–andesite–rhyolite sequence with massive sulfide mineralization make up a volcanic–plutonic association. These rock complexes vary in age from Late Ordovician to Early Silurian in certain structural units of the Sakmara Allochthon and to the east in the southern Urals. The proposed geodynamic model for the Ordovician in Paleozoides of the southern Urals reconstructs the active continental margin, whose complexes formed under extension settings, and the intraoceanic suprasubduction structures. The intraoceanic complexes display the evolution of a volcanic arc, back-, or interarc trough.     

The Palaeoproterozoic Kristineberg VMS deposit, Skellefte district, northern Sweden, part I: geology

The Kristineberg volcanic-hosted massive sulphide (VMS) deposit, located in the westernmost part of the Palaeoproterozoic Skellefte district, northern Sweden, has yielded 22.4 Mt of ore, grading 1.0% Cu, 3.64% Zn, 0.24% Pb, 1.24 g/t Au, 36 g/t Ag and 25.9% S, since the mine opened in 1941, and is the largest past and present VMS mine in the district. The deposit is hosted in a thick pile of felsic to intermediate and minor mafic metavolcanic rocks of the Skellefte Group, which forms the lowest stratigraphic unit in the district and hosts more than 85 known massive sulphide deposits. The Kristineberg deposit is situated lower in the Skellefte Group than most other deposits. It comprises three main ore zones: (1) massive sulphide lenses of the A-ore (historically the main ore), having a strike length of about 1,400 m, and extending from surface to about 1,200 m depth, (2) massive sulphide lenses of the B-ore, situated 100–150 m structurally above the A-ore, and extending from surface to about 1,000 m depth, (3) the recently discovered Einarsson zone, which occurs in the vicinity of the B-ore at about 1,000 m depth, and consists mainly of Au–Cu-rich veins and heavily disseminated sulphides, together with massive sulphide lenses. On a regional scale the Kristineberg deposit is flanked by two major felsic rock units: massive rhyolite A to the south and the mine porphyry to the north. The three main ore zones lie within a schistose, deformed and metamorphosed package of hydrothermally altered, dominantly felsic volcanic rocks, which contain varying proportions of quartz, muscovite, chlorite, phlogopite, pyrite, cordierite and andalusite. The strongest alteration occurs within 5–10 m of the ore lenses. Stratigraphic younging within the mine area is uncertain as primary bedding and volcanic textures are absent due to strong alteration, and tectonic folding and shearing. In the vicinity of the ore lenses, hydrothermal alteration has produced both Mg-rich assemblages (Mg-chlorite, cordierite, phlogopite and locally talc) and quartz–muscovite–andalusite assemblages. Both types of assemblages commonly contain disseminated pyrite. The sequence of volcanic and ore-forming events at Kristineberg is poorly constrained, as the ages of the massive rhyolite and mine porphyry are unknown, and younging indicators are absent apart from local metal zoning in the A-ores. Regional structural trends, however, suggest that the sequence youngs to the south. The A- and B-ores are interpreted to have formed as synvolcanic sulphide sheets that were originally separated by some 100–150 m of volcanic rocks. The Einarsson zone, which is developed close to the 1,000 m level, is interpreted to have resulted in part from folding and dislocation of the B-ore sulphide sheet, and in part from remobilisation of sulphides into small Zn-rich massive sulphide lenses and late Au–Cu-rich veins. However, the abundance of strongly altered, andalusite-bearing rocks in the Einarsson zone, coupled with the occurrence of Au–Cu-rich disseminated sulphides in these rocks, suggests that some of the mineralisation was synvolcanic and formed from strongly acidic hydrothermal fluids. Editorial handling: P. Weihed     

伊比利亚型——一种新类型块状硫化物矿床地质地球化学及成因

块状硫化物矿床主要有两种类型：火山岩容矿型（如日本黑矿）和沉积岩容矿型（如加拿大苏利文矿床）。近年来,在西班牙和葡萄牙的伊比利亚区发现了一条长２５０ｋｍ,宽２５～７０ｋｍ的黄铁矿带,其中产有若干世界级的超大型锡多金属块状硫化物矿床。根据对这些矿床的地质特征、成矿流体包裹体、Ｈ、Ｏ、Ｓ、Ｐｂ同位素及成矿环境和成矿模式的研究表明,它们具有明显不同于火山岩深矿型沉积岩容矿型块状硫化物矿床的特征,而一种新     

Sediment geochemistry and base metal sulphide mineralisation in the Quidong area,Southeastern New South Wales,Australia

Geochemically anomalous, pyritic sediments occur directly above a Mid Silurian unconformity in the Quidong area of southeastern New South Wales. The composition of these sediments reflects derivation from a mixture of: (a) feldspar- and mica-depleted detritus reworked from underlying quartz-rich flysch; (b) Mg-rich clay or chlorite precipitated from hydrothermal exhalations; and (c) pyrite formed by reaction of iron in clays or oxides with reduced sulphur derived largely from sea-water sulphate and possibly a magmatic source. Three types of base metal sulphide mineralisation occur at Quidong including: (a) weak syngenetic concentrations in the pyritic sediments; (b) stratabound and fault-controlled bodies of massive sulphides hosted by the pyritic sediments and containing higher grade Pb, Zn and Cu; and (c) small vein and cavity fillings of galena, barite and other minor sulphides in overlying limestones. All types of mineralisation are related to hydrothermal activity which occurred during and after deposition of the pyritic facies. The geochemistry of the immediately underlying basement rocks and Pb isotope data indicate that the source of the metal-bearing fluids was deeper in the crust and probably related to widespread partial melting and magmatic processes. The sulphidic sediments and stratabound sulphide deposits represent syngenetic-epigenetic, sediment hosted mineralisation developed in a shallow marine environment, distal from major volcanic centers. This style of mineralisation has not previously been described from the region. It has some similarities to the Irish-Alpine type spectrum of deposits best known in Europe.     

A new sulphur isotopic study of some Iberian Pyrite Belt deposits: evidence of a textural control on sulphur isotope composition

The sulphide deposits of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB) represent an ore province of global importance. Our study presents 113 new sulphur isotope analyses from deposits selected to represent the textural spectrum of ores. Measured ³⁴S values range from −26 to +10‰ mostly for massive and stockwork ores, in agreement with data previously published. In situ laser ³⁴S analyses reveals a close correlation of ³⁴S with texture. Primary diagenetic textures are dominated by relatively low ³⁴S (−8‰ to −2‰), whereas stockwork feeder textures are dominated by higher ³⁴S (∼+3‰ to +5‰). Intermediate textures (mainly coarse textures in stratiform zones) have intermediate ³⁴S, although they are mostly dominated by the high ³⁴S component. Rare barite has a homogeneous ³⁴S around +18‰, which is consistent with direct derivation from Lower Carboniferous seawater sulphate. A dual source of sulphide sulphur in the IPB deposits has been considered. A hydrothermal source, derived from reduction of coeval seawater sulphate in the convective systems, is represented by sulphide in the feeder zones. Here variations in ³⁴S are caused by variations in the extent of the sulphate reduction, which governs the SO₄:H₂S ratio. The second end-member was derived from the bacterial reduction of coeval seawater sulphate at or near the surface, as reflected in the primary textures. A distinct geographical variation in ³⁴S and texture from SW (more bacteriogenic and primary textures) to NE (more hydrothermal textures and ³⁴S) which reflects a variation in the relative input of each source was likely controlled by local geological environments. Given that the sulphur isotope characteristics of the IPB deposits are unlike most VMS and Kuroko deposits, and noting the dominance of a mixed reduced sedimentary and volcanic environment, we suggest that the IPB could represent an ore style which is intermediate between volcanic and sedimentary hosted massive sulphide types. Received: 8 October 1997 / Accepted: 14 May 1998     

Massive Sulphide Deposits Related to the Volcano-Passive Continental Margin in the Altay Region

The Devonian volcano-passive continental margin in southern Altay is a significant volcanogenic massive sulphide metallogenic belt. Acidic volcanism has been dominant on the inner side of the volcano-passive continental margin, i.e., near the old land, resulting in a Pb-Zn metallogenic sub-belt, in which the ore deposits are hosted by sedimentary rocks in volcanic series, as represented by the large Koktal Pb-Zn deposits. In the central part of the margin far away from the old land, bimodal volcanic formations are well developed, forming volcanics-hosted Cu-Zn metallogenic sub-belts, e.g., the large-scale Ashele Cu-Zn deposit. The Qiaoxiahala sub-belt on the outer side of the margin near the ocean ridge is located at the spreading central trough, where ophiolite suites are developed. This type of deposits is rich in gold and copper, similar to the Cyprus-type Fe-Cu-Au metallogenic sub-belt in metallogenic environment (represented by the Qiaoxiahala medium-scale Fe-Cu-Au deposit). From the old land to th     

The Rammelsberg massive sulphide Cu-Zn-Pb-Ba-Deposit, Germany: an example of sediment-hosted, massive sulphide mineralisation

The Rammelsberg polymetallic massive sulphide deposit was the basis of mining activity for nearly 1000 y before finally closing in 1988. The deposit is hosted by Middle Devonian pelitic sediments in the Rhenohercynian terrane of the Variscan Orogen. The deposit consists of two main orebodies that have been intensely deformed. Deformation obscures the original depositional relationships, but the regional setting as well as the geochemistry and mineralogy of the mineralisation display many characteristics of the SHMS (sediment-hosted massive sulphide) class of ore deposits. Rammelsberg is briefly compared to the other massive sulphide deposits in the European Variscan, including Meggen and those deposits in the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Received: 28 September 1998 / Accepted: 5 January 1999     

Hydrothermal Mineralization on the Mesoproterozoic Passive Continental Margins of China： A Case Study of the Langshan-Zha＇ertaishan Belt, Inner Mongolia, China

Most ore-forming characteristics of the Langshan-Zha‘ertaishan hydrothermal exhalation belt, which consists of the Dongshengmiao, Huogeqi, Tanyaokou and Jiashengpan large-superlarge Zn-Pb-Cu-Fe sulfide deposits, are most similar to those of Mesoproterozoic SEDEX-type provinces of the world. The characteristics include: (1) All deposits of this type in the belt occur in third-order fault-basins in the Langshan-Zha‘ertaishan aulacogen along the northern margin of the North China Platform; (2) these deposits with all their orebodies hosted in the Mesoproterozoic impure dolomite-marble and carbonaceous phyllite (or schists) have an apparent stratabound nature; ores display laminated and banded structures, showing clear depositional features; (3) there is some evidence of syn-sedimentary faulting, which to a certain extent accounts for the temporal and spatial distribution and the size of the orebodies in all deposits and the formation of intrabed conglomerates and breccias; (4) they show lateral and vertical zonation of sulfides; (5) The Cu/(Pb Zn Cu) ratio of the large and thick Pb Zn Cu orebodies gradually decreases from bottom to top; and (6) barite is interbedded with pyrites and sometimes with sphalerite. However, some characteristics such as the Co/Ni radio of the pyrites, the volcanism, for example, of the Langshan-Zha‘ertalshan metallogenic belt, are different from those of the typical SEDEX deposits of the world. The meta-basic volcanic rock in Huogeqi, the sodic bimodal volcanic rocks in the Dongshengmiao and potassic bimodal-volcanic rocks with blastoporphyfitic and blasto-glomeroporphyritic texture as well as blasto-amygdaloidal structure in the Tanyaokou deposits have been discovered in the only ore-bearing second formation of the Langshan Group in the past 10 years. The metallogeny of some deposits hosted in the Langshan Group is closely related to syn-sedimentary volcanism based on the following facts: most of the lead isotopes in sphalerite, galena, pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite plot on both sides of the line for the mantle or between the lines for the mantle and lower crust in the lead isotope composition diagram; cobalt content of some pyrites samples is much higher than the nickel content (Co/Ni= 11.91-12.19). Some volcanic blocks and debris have been picked out from some pyritic and pyrrhotitic ores. All Zn-Pb-Cu-Fe sulfide orebodies in these deposits occur in the strata overlying metamorphic volcanic rocks in the only ore-bearing second formation. In the Jiashengpan deposit that lacks syn-sedimentary volcanic rocks in the host succession only Pb and Zn ores occur without Cu ore, but in the Dongshengmiao, Tanyaokou and Huogeqi deposits with syn-sedimentary volcanic rocks in the host succession Cu ores occur. This indicates a relatively higher ore-forming temperature. The process of synsedimentary volcanic eruption directly supplied some ore-forming elements, and resulted in secular geothermal anomaly favorable for the circulation of a submarine convective hydrothermal system, which accounts for the precipitation of deep mineralizing fluids exhaling into anoxidic basins along the syn-sedimentary fault system in the Langshan-Zha‘ertai rift. The Dongshengmiao, Tanyaokou, and Huogeqi deposits hosted in the Langshan Group appear to be a transitional type of mineral deposit between SEDEX and VMS-types but with a bias towards SEDEX, while the Jiashengpan deposit hosted in the Zha‘ertai Group is of a characteristic SEDEX type. This evidence, together with other new discoveries of Mesoproterozoic volcanic rocks and the features of lithogeny and metallogeny of the Bayun Obo deposit in the neighborhood emphasize the diversity, complexity and uniqueness of the Mesoproterozoic Langshan-Zha‘ertal-Bayun Obo ore belt.