A Research Review of Iron Oxide Copper-Gold Deposits

Iron oxide copper-gold(IOCG) deposits are a research focus of the current ore deposit geology, and have attracted much attention among the worldwide geologists and exploration experts due to their shallow depth, a wide variety of mineral species and large scale. This paper presents a review of the present IOCG deposits research, which includes the definition of IOCG deposits, temporal and spatial distribution, ore-forming environments, ore-forming magmatic rocks, their geological features, ore-controlling structures and ore-bearing rocks, mineralized alteration zoning, and their genesis and ore-forming process. This work also proposed the ore prospecting direction of IOCG deposits from a trinity model of metallogenic geological bodies, metallogenic structure surface and metallogenic information signs, and discussed the existing problems of the IOCG deposits research.     

扬子地块西南缘拉拉IOCG矿床矿化蚀变元素地球化学研究

拉拉IOCG矿床是我国西南地区著名的大型铁铜矿床,矿床中与铜(钼)矿化密切相关的钠长石化、碳酸盐化、钾长石化、黑云母化、萤石化等蚀变作用广泛发育。本文在对该矿床中黑云母片岩系列和钠长石变粒岩系列大量赋矿岩石样品进行岩相学研究的基础上,选取典型蚀变与矿化样品进行主、微量元素分析测试,通过质量比簇判别法和等浓度公式元素定量迁移计算研究矿床中蚀变元素特征及其与矿化的关系。质量比簇判别法和等浓度图解法确定了两个系列岩石共有的主量元素不活动组分为SiO_2,微量元素不活动组分为Yb。主量元素定量迁移计算表明黑云母片岩系列铜矿化与钠长石化和碳酸盐化成正相关关系,钠长石变粒岩系列铜矿化与钾长石化和碳酸盐化成正相关关系,且变粒岩系列碳酸盐化程度较片岩系列更强。稀土元素和金属元素定量迁移计算发现拉拉IOCG矿床中U、Co、Mo、Ni等成矿金属元素在蚀变过程中随Cu矿化大量带入,说明热液蚀变是拉拉Fe-Cu-Au-U-Mo-REE多金属矿床形成的主要原因。蚀变与矿化关系分析表明二者基本是同步发生,蚀变的过程也是矿化的过程,即蚀变的标志也是找矿的标志。拉拉IOCG矿床中蚀变元素地球化学特征及其与矿化关系的研究,对于矿床成矿理论的丰富及矿区进一步找矿勘探工作都具有重要意义。     

中国铁氧化物-铜-金(IOCG)矿床的基本特征及研究进展

铁氧化物-铜-金(Iron Oxide-Copper-Gold,IOCG)矿床是Hitzman et al.(1992)提出的一个新矿床类型。该概念的提出与澳大利亚Olympic Dam超大型矿床的发现有关,一定程度上促进了世界上同类新矿床的发现,引起工业界和学术界的广泛关注。中国IOCG矿床的研究起步较晚,在IOCG概念提出后很长一段时间内,并没有国内外公认的IOCG矿床报道。近年来,通过对一些Fe-Cu矿床的实例研究,目前已初步确立中国西南康滇地区、东准噶尔北缘和东天山阿齐山-雅满苏等Fe-Cu成矿带具有类似于IOCG的成矿特征,并且在矿床形成时代、机制及构造背景等成因问题上取得诸多进展。成矿时代上,康滇Fe-Cu成矿省形成于元古代,包括有～1. 65和～1. 0Ga两期主成矿事件,分别对应于区域上的两期板内岩浆作用,说明Fe-Cu矿化与大陆裂谷背景相关。东准噶尔北缘和东天山阿齐山-雅满苏成矿带均形成于古生代,分别为295～320Ma和～380Ma,被认为可能与陆缘盆地闭合有关。三个成矿带中Fe-Cu矿床围岩均为火山-沉积地层、均具有早期Fe矿化和晚期Cu矿化为主的特征且大部分矿床与同期侵入岩体没有明显空间关系,但在蚀变矿物组合及金属元素富集程度、流体特征等方面仍存在一些差别。例如康滇成矿省的蚀变组合以成矿前区域Na化、Fe矿化期Fe-Na-(Ca)化及铜矿化期K化和碳酸盐化等为特点;矿体在空间上常与大小不等的热液角砾岩筒共生;各矿床不同程度地富集REE、Mo、Au、Co等金属;成矿流体上早期以高温、中高盐度的岩浆热液为主,而成矿晚期则有更多非岩浆流体(盆地水、地层水或大气降水等)的加入。这些特点与世界上典型的IOCG矿床(特别是前寒武纪矿床)基本一致,因此目前为止,康滇成矿省作为中国的典型IOCG矿床而受国内外认可的程度相对较高。东准噶尔北缘与东天山阿齐山-雅满苏成矿带矿化特征较为相似,最新研究显示这些矿床中非岩浆流体(如盆地卤水、地层水等)对Fe-Cu矿化的贡献更大、成矿发生于陆缘盆地闭合期等,可能与南美中安第斯成矿带IOCG矿床更为类似。但是,部分矿床在成矿前均显示有明显的矽卡岩化,甚至个别矿床中矿体、岩体和矽卡岩具紧密时空关系而类似于矽卡岩矿床;多数矿床除Fe和Cu外,所含金属元素比较单一。这些特点一定程度上导致这两个矿带Fe-Cu矿床归属于矽卡岩还是IOCG矿床的问题上仍存在不少争议,尚待进一步的探索和讨论。基于目前的研究现状,本文也对中国IOCG矿床今后研究中值得关注的问题提出了一些设想和展望,包括不少矿床Fe-Cu矿化空间上分离的原因、不同地球化学行为差异较大的成矿元素(如Co、Ni与REE、U、Mo等)在矿床中均有富集的原因等方面。     

Alteration paragenesis and mineral chemistry of the Tjårrojåkka apatite–iron and Cu (-Au) occurrences, Kiruna area, northern Sweden

The northern Norrbotten area in northern Sweden, is an important mining district and hosts several deposits of Fe-oxide Cu-Au-type. One of the best examples of spatially, and possibly genetically, related apatite–iron and copper–gold deposits in the region is at Tjårrojåkka, 50 km WSW of Kiruna. The deposits are hosted by strongly sheared and metamorphosed intermediate volcanic rocks and dolerites and show a structural control. The Tjårrojåkka iron deposit is a typical apatite–iron ore of Kiruna-type and the Tjårrojåkka copper occurrence shows the same characteristics as most other epigenetic deposits in Norrbotten. The host rock has been affected by strong albite and K-feldspar alteration related to mineralisation, resulting in an enrichment of Na, K, and Ba. Fe and V were depleted in the altered zones and added in mineralised samples. REE were enriched in the system, with the greatest addition related to mineralisation. Y was also mobile associated with albite alteration and copper mineralisation. The Tjårrojåkka iron and copper deposits show comparable hydrothermal alteration minerals and paragenesis, which might be a product of common host rock and similarities in ore fluid composition, or overprinting by successive alteration stages. Mineralogy and mineral chemistry of the alteration minerals (apatite, scapolite, feldspars, amphiboles, and biotite) indicate a higher salinity and Ba/K ratio in the fluid related to the alterations in the apatite–iron occurrence than in the copper deposit, where the minerals are enriched in F and S. The presence of hematite, barite, and in SO₄ in scapolite suggests more oxidising-rich conditions during the emplacement of the Tjårrojåkka-Cu deposit. From existing data it might be suggested that one evolving system created the two occurrences, with the copper mineralisation representing a slightly later product.     

Carbon and oxygen isotope constraints on fluid sources and fluid–wallrock interaction in regional alteration and iron-oxide–copper–gold mineralisation, eastern Mt Isa Block, Australia

The source of metasomatic fluids in iron-oxide–copper–gold districts is contentious with models for magmatic and other fluid sources having been proposed. For this study, δ ¹⁸O and δ ¹³C ratios were measured from carbonate mineral separates in the Proterozoic eastern Mt Isa Block of Northwest Queensland, Australia. Isotopic analyses are supported by petrography, mineral chemistry and cathodoluminescence imagery. Marine meta-carbonate rocks (ca. 20.5‰ δ ¹⁸O and 0.5‰ δ ¹³C calcite) and graphitic meta-sedimentary rocks (ca. 14‰ δ ¹⁸O and −18‰ δ ¹³C calcite) are the main supracrustal reservoirs of carbon and oxygen in the district. The isotopic ratios for calcite from the cores of Na–(Ca) alteration systems strongly cluster around 11‰ δ ¹⁸O and −7‰ δ ¹³C, with shifts towards higher δ ¹⁸O values and higher and lower δ ¹³C values, reflecting interaction with different hostrocks. Na–(Ca)-rich assemblages are out of isotopic equilibrium with their metamorphic hostrocks, and isotopic values are consistent with fluids derived from or equilibrated with igneous rocks. However, igneous rocks in the eastern Mt Isa Block contain negligible carbon and are incapable of buffering the δ ¹³C signatures of CO₂-rich metasomatic fluids associated with Na–(Ca) alteration. In contrast, plutons in the eastern Mt Isa Block have been documented as having exsolved saline CO₂-rich fluids and represent the most probable fluid source for Na–(Ca) alteration. Intrusion-proximal, skarn-like Cu–Au orebodies that lack significant K and Fe enrichment (e.g. Mt Elliott) display isotopic ratios that cluster around values of 11‰ δ ¹⁸O and −7‰ δ ¹³C (calcite), indicating an isotopically similar fluid source as for Na–(Ca) alteration and that significant fluid–wallrock interaction was not required in the genesis of these deposits. In contrast, K- and Fe-rich, intrusion-distal deposits (e.g. Ernest Henry) record significant shifts in δ ¹⁸O and δ ¹³C towards values characteristic of the broader hostrocks to the deposits, reflecting fluid–wallrock equilibration before mineralisation. Low temperature, low salinity, low δ ¹⁸O (<10‰ calcite) and CO₂-poor fluids are documented in retrograde metasomatic assemblages, but these fluids are paragenetically late and have not contributed significantly to the mass budgets of Cu–Au mineralisation.     

Sulfur-poor intense acid hydrothermal alteration: A distinctive hydrothermal environment

A fundamentally distinct, sulfide-poor variant of intense acid (advanced argillic) alteration occurs at the highest structural levels in iron oxide-rich hydrothermal systems. Understanding the mineralogy, and geochemical conditions of formation in these sulfide-poor mineral assemblages have both genetic and environmental implications. New field observations and compilation of global occurrences of low-sulfur advanced argillic alteration demonstrates that in common with the sulfide-rich variants of advanced argillic alteration, sulfide-poor examples exhibit nearly complete removal of alkalis, leaving a residuum of aluminum-silicate + quartz. In contrast, the sulfur-poor variants lack the abundant pyrite ± other sulfides, hypogene alunite, Al-leached rocks (residual “vuggy” quartz) as well as the Au-Cu-Ag ± As-rich mineralization of some sulfur-rich occurrences. Associated mineralization is dominated by magnetite and/or hematite with accessory elements such as Cu, Au, REE, and P. These observations presented here indicate there must be distinct geologic processes that result in the formation of low-sulfur advanced argillic styles of alteration.Hydrolysis of magmatic SO₂ to sulfuric acid is the most commonly recognized mechanism for generating hypogene advanced argillic alteration, but is not requisite for its formation. Low sulfur iron-oxide copper-gold systems are known to contain abundant acid-styles of alteration (e.g. sericitic, chloritic), which locally reaches advanced argillic assemblages. A compilation of mapping in four districts in northern Chile and reconnaissance observations elsewhere show systematic zoning from near surface low-sulfide advanced argillic alteration through chlorite-sericite-albite and locally potassic alteration. The latter is commonly associated with specular hematite-chalcopyrite mineralization. Present at deeper structural levels are higher-temperature styles of sodic-calcic (oligoclase/scapolite – actinolite) alteration associated with magnetite ± chalcopyrite mineralization. These patterns are in contrast to the more sulfur-rich examples which generally zone to higher pyrite and locally alunite-bearing alteration.Fluid inclusion evidence from the systems in northern Chile shows that many fluids contain 25 to >50 wt% NaCl_eq with appreciable Ca, Fe, and K contents with trapping temperatures >300 °C. These geological and geochemical observations are consistent with the origin of the low-sulfur advanced argillic assemblages from HCl generated by precipitation of iron oxides from iron chloride complexes from a high-salinity fluid by reactions such as 3FeCl₂ + 4H₂O = Fe₃O₄ + 6HCl + H₂. Such HCl-rich (and relatively HSO₄⁼-poor) fluids can then account for the intense acid, Al-silicate-rich styles of alteration observed at high levels in some iron-oxide-coppe-gold (IOCG) systems. The geochemical differences between the presence of sulfide-rich and sulfur-poor examples of advanced argillic alteration are important to distinguishing between system types and the acid-producing capacity of the system, including in the modern weathering environment. They have fundamental implications for effective mineral exploration in low-sulfur systems and provide yet another vector of exposed alteration in the enigmatic IOCG clan of mineral deposits. Furthermore, understanding the geochemistry and mineralogy of this distinct geologic environment has applications to understanding the acid generating capacity and deleterious heavy metals associated with advanced argillic alteration.     

云南武定迤纳厂铁-铜-金-稀土矿床成矿流体与成矿作用

武定迤纳厂铁-铜-金-稀土矿位于我国云南省中部,在大地位置上处于扬子板块西缘,康滇地轴云南段.其铁-稀土矿体主要以似层状、浸染状产出,铜金矿体以脉状、块状产于角砾岩内部和铁-稀土矿体内.根据围岩蚀变、矿物组合和矿化特征的差异,将其矿化作用划分为矿化前期、主矿化期和矿化后期三个成矿期,其中主成矿期又分为铁氧化物-稀土矿化阶段和硫化物-金矿化阶段.流体包裹体岩相学特征、成分特征、同位素特征等研究表明,矿化前期为富含碱质和挥发分的高氧化性岩浆,具有高温(500～600℃)高压(150 ～ 200MPa)的特点并发生了流体不混熔,从而分离出高温高钠的岩浆热液,与围岩发生钠化反应后富铁;主矿化期铁氧化物-稀土矿化阶段流体为中高温(170 ～550℃)中高压(75～ 155MPa),与围岩碳酸岩发生降压交代反应,导致铁质和稀土沉淀,并使碳酸岩脱水而演化为变质热液.主矿化期硫化物-金矿化阶段流体由岩浆热液变为变质热液,并与大气降水发生混合作用(均一温度120～360℃,压力31～112MPa),导致pH、Eh、fo2、fs等物理化学条件发生变化,流体中的铜、金不再以络合物的形式稳定与流体中,从而发生沉淀.至矿化后期,主要流体转化为单一低温(95 ～270℃)、低盐度(1.0％～17.9％ NaCleqv)的低温大气降水,矿化结束.武定迤纳厂铁-铜-金-稀土矿在具有铁氧化物-铜-金(IOCG型)矿床的成矿环境、矿体特征、矿物组合、蚀变特征以及包裹体特征和流体演化成矿过程,属于滇中地区代表性IOCG矿床,具有重要的成矿理论和区域找矿意义.