Structural controls on gold mineralisation and the nature of related fluids of the Paiol gold deposit, Almas Greenstone Belt, Brazil

Chemical analyses suggest that the metavolcanic rocks of the Almas Greenstone Belt (AGB), Tocantins State, Brazil have a continental affinity, possibly related to a continental rift environment. They were metamorphosed to amphibolite facies during a regional tectono-metamorphic event (D_n), retrogressed to greenschist facies assemblages and then hydrothermally altered within dextral strike–slip shear zones (D_n+1). Fracture sets related to D_n+2 intersect S_n+1.The Paiol Gold Mine is one of several mineralised zones within metabasic and meta-intermediate rocks of the AGB. It exploits shoots of sulphide–Au–quartz mineralisation that occupy dilational zones approximately perpendicular to an elongation lineation (L_n+1) within mylonitic foliation S_n+1 (S_n+1=S within the S–C fabric). The dilational zones probably formed due to dextral displacement on sinistrally en echelon C surfaces. Minor amounts of gold may have been introduced or remobilised during D_n+2.Coexisting primary and pseudosecondary fluid inclusions in mineralised quartz veins from ore shoots comprise a high-salinity three-phase type (Type II) and a lower salinity two-phase type (Type I). Homogenisation temperatures for Type II inclusions range from 200 to 410 °C and Type I from 90 to 320 °C. The inclusions and their temperature ranges are believed to reflect heat exchange and some mixing between the two fluid types under relatively constant ambient temperatures, but variable (though broadly declining) fluid temperatures. This took place late in D_n+1 in conjunction with greenschist facies retrogression and localised hydrothermally induced metasomatism.     

Water pollution in gold mining industry: a case study in Roşia Montană district, Romania

The preliminary study of streams and rivers from the Roşia Montană area revealed that the concntration of heavy metals— Cd, Mn, Cu, Pb, and Zn—are above accepted limits. The gold extraction method is based on flotation. The most important pollution sources are mine tailings. The determinations were performed for samples collected in: April 2004, July 2004, September 2004, November 2004, February 2005 and May 2005. The highest concentrations were found for cadmium in September 2004: 0.17 mg/L; for copper in September 2004: 1.38 mg/L; for manganese in July 2004: 239.4 mg/L; for lead in May 2005: 0.54 mg/L; and for zinc in September 2004: 35.37 mg/L;. This study involved three small rivers (streams) that flow into the Mureş River and finally into the Danube River, having a great impact on human health and environmental stability in the area. In May 2005, a sample of drinking water from the mining district was also collected.     

9: Processes of tectonism, magmatism and mineralization: Lessons from Europe

Metallogenic provinces in Europe range in age from the Archaean to the Neogene. Deposit types include porphyry copper and epithermal Cu–Au, volcanic-hosted massive sulphide (VMS), orogenic gold, Fe-oxide–Cu–Au, anorthosite Fe–Ti-oxide and sediment-hosted base-metal deposits. Most of them formed during short-lived magmatic events in a wide range of tectonic settings; many can be related to specific tectonic processes such as subduction, hinge retreat, accretion of island arcs, continental collision, lithosphere delamination or slab tear. In contrast, most sediment-hosted deposits in Europe evolved in extensional, continental settings over significant periods of time. In Europe, as elsewhere, ore formation is an integral part of the geodynamic evolution of the Earth's crust and mantle. Many tectonic settings create conditions conducive to the generation of water-rich magma, but the generation of ore deposits appears to be restricted to locations and short periods of change in temperature and stress, imposed by transitory plate motions. Crustal influence is evident in the strong structural controls on the location and morphology of many ore deposits in Europe. Crustal-scale fault–fracture systems, many involving strike-slip elements, have provided the fabric for major plumbing systems. Rapid uplift, as in metamorphic core complexes, and hydraulic fracturing can generate or focus magmatic–hydrothermal fluid flow that may be active for time spans significantly less than a million years. Once a hydrologically stable flow is established, ore formation is strongly dependent on the steep temperature and pressure gradients experienced by the fluid, particularly within the upper crust. In Europe, significant fracture porosity deep in the crystalline basement (1%) is not only important for magmatic–hydrothermal systems, but allows brines to circulate down through sedimentary basins and then episodically upward, expelled seismically to produce sediment-hosted base-metal deposits and Kupferschiefer copper deposits. Emerging research, stimulated by GEODE, can improve the predicting power of numerical simulations of ore-forming processes and help discover the presence of orebodies beneath barren overburden.     

Magma evolution and the formation of porphyry Cu–Au ore fluids: evidence from silicate and sulfide melt inclusions

Silicate and sulfide melt inclusions from the andesitic Farallón Negro Volcanic Complex in NW Argentina were analyzed by laser ablation ICPMS to track the behavior of Cu and Au during magma evolution, and to identify the processes in the source of fluids responsible for porphyry-Cu-Au mineralization at the 600 Mt Bajo de la Alumbrera deposit. The combination of silicate and sulfide melt inclusion data with previously published geological and geochemical information indicates that the source of ore metals and water was a mantle-derived mafic magma that contained approximately 6 wt.% H₂O and 200 ppm Cu. This magma and a rhyodacitic magma mixed in an upper-crustal magma chamber, feeding the volcanic systems and associated subvolcanic intrusions over 2.6 million years. Generation of the ore fluid from this magma occurred towards the end of this protracted evolution and probably involved six important steps: (1) Generation of a sulfide melt upon magma mixing in some parts of the magma chamber. (2) Partitioning of Cu and Au into the sulfide melt (enrichment factor of 10,000 for Cu) leading to Cu and Au concentrations of several wt.% or ppm, respectively. (3) A change in the tectonic regime from local extension to compression at the end of protracted volcanism. (4) Intrusion of a dacitic magma stock from the upper part of the layered magma chamber. (5) Volatile exsolution and resorption of the sulfide melt from the lower and more mafic parts of the magma chamber, generating a fluid with a Cu/Au ratio equal to that of the precursor sulfide. (6) Focused fluid transport and precipitation of the two metals in the porphyry, yielding an ore body containing Au and Cu in the proportions dictated by the magmatic fluid source. The Cu/S ratio in the sulfide melt inclusions requires that approximately 4,000 ppm sulfur is extracted from the andesitic magma upon mixing. This exceeds the solubility of sulfide or sulfate in either of the silicate melts and implies an additional source for S. The extra sulfur could be added in the form of anhydrite phenocrysts present in the rhyodacitic magma. It appears, thus, that unusually sulfur-rich, not Cu-rich magmas are the key to the formation of porphyry-type ore deposits. Our observations imply that dacitic intrusions hosting the porphyry–Cu–Au mineralization are not representative of the magma from which the ore-fluid exsolved. The source of the ore fluid is the underlying more mafic magma, and unaltered andesitic dikes emplaced immediately after ore formation are more likely to represent the magma from which the fluids were generated. At Alumbrera, these andesitic dikes carry relicts of the sulfide melt as inclusions in amphibole. Sulfide inclusions in similar dykes of other, less explored magmatic complexes may be used to predict the Au/Cu ratio of potential ore-forming fluids and the expected metal ratio in any undiscovered porphyry deposit.Editorial handling: B. Lehmann     

内蒙古黄花滩铜镍矿区辉长岩LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb定年及地球化学特征

在乌拉特后旗—达茂旗—四子王旗一带的内蒙古中部地区分布着超基性-酸性连续岩浆系列,开展其岩体年代学、地球化学研究可为内蒙古中部地区与超基性-基性岩有关的铜镍矿成矿规律研究提供基础地质资料,还可以推断岩浆侵位时期的区域大地构造背景。本文以达茂旗黄花滩铜镍矿区出露的辉长岩为研究对象,采用LA-ICP-MS仪器对无裂隙、高透明度、阴极发光均匀、环带清晰的锆石进行U-Pb定年,获得岩体加权平均年龄为262.4±1.1 Ma,并利用XRF和ICP-MS进行岩石地球化学分析显示黄花滩辉长岩具有后碰撞拉伸环境下的岩浆特征。综合前人相关研究认为,内蒙古中部地区于中二叠世晚期(255~275 Ma)已经进入后碰撞构造阶段,而古亚洲洋在该区域的闭合应发生在晚二叠世前(~285 Ma),此结论丰富了古亚洲洋闭合时间上限及中晚二叠世期间内蒙古中部地区构造背景方面的证据。     

浙江省绍兴市平水金矿体流体包裹体研究 与矿床成因

浙江平水铜矿位于钦杭成矿带北东段浙西北地区,是浙江省最大的铜矿床,前人研究表明其为典型的火山成因块状硫化物矿床（Chen 等, 2015）。平水铜矿体在新元古代形成之后,该地区经历了加里东的变质变形作用,在铜矿体的下盘普遍发育千糜岩带（韧性剪切带）,本项目组在研究过程中认为千糜岩带与铜矿无关,但明确提出本区可能存在造山型金矿,继而老矿山接替资源勘查在平水铜矿布置了10个坑内钻孔,其中9个见矿,成功的在平水深部发现两层金矿体和一层铜矿体。金矿体严格的受韧性剪切带的控制;金矿石有明显的宏观和微观韧性变形结构;矿石矿物主要是自然金和少量的黄铁矿,脉石矿物主要有石英、绢云母、绿泥石、碳酸盐和白云石。本文主要对平水金矿体开展流体包裹体研究,结合矿床地质特征,最终确定金矿体成因类型,为平水地区下一轮深边部找矿勘查提供依据。     

陕南羊坪湾金矿床黄铁矿标型特征研究

羊坪湾金矿位于陕西石泉-汉阴北部金矿带东部,前人曾在该地区开展过大量勘探和综合研究,并取得一定的认识成果（李会民等,1997;李福让等,2009;任小华等,2015）。羊坪湾金矿床中载金矿物主要为黄铁矿,其次为磁黄铁矿,此外还有少量褐铁矿、石英等。本次重点针对矿区内载金黄铁矿进行电子探针测试分析,探讨其同金成之间关系。     

胶东型金矿：与壳源重熔层状花岗岩和壳幔混合花岗闪长岩有关的金矿

胶东型金矿是与壳源重熔形成的层状岩浆活动和壳幔混合岩浆活动有关的金矿床,由于成矿时所处构造位置和容矿构造不同而表现为不同的类型,涵盖破碎带蚀变岩型、石英脉型等胶东地区所有金矿床类型。玲珑花岗岩是壳源物质长期处于高温高压下且熔融形成的多物质来源层状岩体,其析出的高温碱性热液溶解金等成矿物质形成初始含矿热液。岩体抬升过程中在其边部往往容易形成拆离带,在岩体中形成脆性断裂构造,均为成矿结构面。后期壳幔混合成因的郭家岭花岗闪长岩,侵入于玲珑层状花岗岩中并一起隆升,使郭家岭花岗闪长岩附近区域的成矿结构面进一步扩大,矿液浓度进一步增大,当上升到特定深度时形成金矿体。玲珑花岗岩和郭家岭花岗闪长岩共同构成成矿地质体,重熔的玲珑层状岩体是成矿基础地质体,郭家岭花岗闪长岩加强了金矿的成矿作用。该认识对开辟胶东新的找矿思路和找矿靶区有很好的指导作用,据此初步预测新的大型拆离带是金矿集中成矿区域,可能成为将来有望取得重大突破的矿集区。     

辽宁省本溪县杨家堡子金矿地质特征及成因浅析

本溪县杨家堡子金矿赋存于早古生代奥陶系马家沟组及寒武系凤山组内,矿体主要围岩为变质程度轻微的碎屑沉积岩及碳酸盐岩,矿体受断裂构造控制,金矿物及载金矿物——黄(褐)铁矿均呈稀疏浸染状分布,金成矿与燕山期二长花岗岩关系密切,具有"卡林型"金矿床地质特征。认为杨家堡子金矿是与早古生代寒武系、奥陶系地层、岩性、岩相(变质相)、断裂构造及燕山期岩浆活动有成因联系的金矿床,对矿体的矿物组合进行分析,初步确定矿化成因应属低温热液型金矿床。     

滇东南安那金矿床成矿流体地球化学研究

云南安那金矿床位于右江盆地南缘,产于二叠纪辉绿岩侵入体之中,广泛发育乳白色石英网脉,蚀变辉绿岩体即为金矿体。与右江盆地以沉积岩为容矿岩石的卡林型金矿床类似,具有硅化、粘土化、碳酸盐化和硫化物化等热液蚀变特征。本文对安那金矿床石英中的流体包裹体岩相学、显微测温学、激光拉曼光谱以及氢氧同位素组成进行了分析,发现成矿期石英中的流体包裹体主要为富含CO_2气-液两相或三相流体包裹体,其均一温度范围为208~312℃(平均254℃),盐度很低,变化范围为0~2%Na Cleqv,成矿溶液的密度为0.88~0.98g/cm~3,表明形成安那金矿床的成矿流体属于中温、低盐度、中-低密度的流体。激光拉曼光谱分析显示,石英中包裹体的气相成分富含CO_2、N_2以及微量CH_4等挥发分。成矿流体的氢氧同位素组成显示变质流体成因,结合矿石显微岩相学结构,认为流体溶蚀交代辉绿岩中的含Ti-Fe辉石或者钛铁矿,溶解Fe的硫化作用过程是含Au黄铁矿和毒砂沉淀富集的重要机制。成矿作用可能与右江盆地南缘印支期造山事件有关。