New data on age of ore-hosting sequence of the Saf’yanovka deposit, Central Urals, based on foraminifers

The Saf’yanovka copper massive sulfide deposit is situated 10 km northeast from the town of Rezh, on the eastern slope of the Central Urals. The ore-hosting plagiorhyolite-dacitic sequence consists of tephrites and tuffites with interlayers of dark gray siliceous-carboniferous pelites and psephytes from 0.1 to 1.5 m thick. The shells of the Parathurammina tamarae L. Petrovae, 1981 foraminifer were identified in one of the lightened interlayers in the siliceous-carboniferous sequence. The samples for study were taken from the southern part of the orebody in the open-pit between prospecting lines 2 and 3, horizons 170 and 157. The inner part of the shell is composed of quartz and apatite, and the wall, by apatite with rare calcite grains. One shell contains a tacking disk allowing us to refer these foraminifers to the attached benthos typical of the shallow marine basin (sublitoral). In the Urals, the Parathurammina tamarae L. Petrovae, 1981 foraminifer is known in limestones from the Eifel-Givetian (Langurskii and Vysotinskii Horizons); the siliceous-carboniferous rocks from the ore-hosting sequence from the Saf’yanovka deposit has the same age.