Metalliferous paragenesis of the San José mine, Oruro, Bolivia

The San José silver–tin deposit, Oruro, is located in the Cordillera Oriental, which contains most of the metalliferous mineralizations of Bolivia and is related to a quartz-latite dome of Miocene age. The mineral paragenesis encountered in this study is composed of cassiterite, stannite, miargyrite, pyrargyrite, andorite and Bi-rich andorite, jamesonite, pavonite/benjaminite, boulangerite, owyheeite, ramdohrite and Bi-rich ramdohrite, bismuthinite, besides pyrite, chalcopyrite, Ag-rich tetrahedrite, galena and sphalerite, all of which are analyzed by electron microprobe analysis. With semi-quantitative SEM/EDS and XRD analyses, rhodostannite and kësterite/ferrokësterite were found in association with andorite, and chalcostibite was determined by XRD, in association with zinkenite, tetrahedrite and pyrite.