Diversity of supergene gold expressions and implications for gold targeting in an equatorial regolith (AMG’s Couriège exploration prospect, French Guiana)

The Couriège prospect (French Guiana) provides key examples of the diversity of gold distribution related to supergene processes. The nature of gold in two contrasted weathering profiles is examined as a function of the weathering lithofacies. The autochthonous profile hosts weathered Au-bearing quartz veins whereas the pediment profile is enriched in free gold issued from dismantled gold-bearing quartz veins. The gold distribution is controlled by: (i) the preservation of primary gold as free gold in both transported and autochthonous horizons and as electrum inclusions in detrital pyrite, and (ii) the formation of secondary gold through dissolution/precipitation processes, expressed as gold spherulites on free gold grain surface, Ag-depleted rim around transported free gold grains and Ag-depleted gold micro-inclusions hosted by oxidised autochthonous pyrite. Gold enrichment through supergene chemical processes remains limited within the truncated autochthonous profile. A new conceptual model is proposed for the area, defining the role of chemical and physical processes in gold endowment, and accounting for the geomorphological context. The overall evolution includes (i) deep weathering and peneplenation, (ii) dismantlement and transport of lateritic material, and (iii) development of a latosol cover. This study highlights that gold exploration in tropical environments must consider the residual vs transported nature and the inheritance of targeted pedogenic horizons.Supplementary material at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5476187

Mineralogie křemenných žil ložiska cínových rud Hřebečná u Abertam v Krušných horách (Česká republika)

An extraordinary rich mineral assemblage (more than 35 determined mineral species) has been discovered in quartz greisen mineralization found at dump material of the abandoned Mauritius mine. This mine is situated about 1 km N of the Hřebečná village, 16 km N of Karlovy Vary, Krušné hory Mountains, Czech Republic. The studied mineralization with its textural and mineralogical character differs significantly from the usual fine-grained greisens mined in this area. The primary mineralization is represented by coarse-grained quartz and fluorapatite with sporadic zircon, monazite-(Ce), xenotime-(Y) and very rare cassiterite. Besides common sulphides (arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, sphalerite, tetrahedrite-group minerals), Bi-sulphosalts (aikinite, bismuthinite, berryite, cuprobismutite, emplectite, wittichenite) were determined. Members of the tetrahedrite group also contain increased amounts of Bi - in addition to Bi-rich tennantite-(Zn) and tennantite-(Fe), microscopic zones represented by the not approved Bi-dominant analogue of tennantite („annivite-(Zn)“) were also found. The primary mineralization was intensively affected by supergene processes. Chalcopyrite and sphalerite are replaced by Cu sulphides - especially anilite and digenite, and more rarely by geerite, spionkopite and covellite. Some of the fluorapatite grains in the vein quartz were decomposed and mrázekite, mixite, libethenite, pseudomalachite, hydroxylpyromorphite, metatorbernite as well as rare dzhalindite crystallized in the resulting cavities. However, the most abundant supergene phases are the minerals of the alunite supergroup - crandallite, goyazite, plumbogummite, svanbergite and waylandite. The detailed descriptions, X-ray powder diffraction data, refined unit-cell parameters and quantitative chemical composition of individual studied mineral phases are presented.

Měděná mineralizace z Horní Halže u Měděnce v Krušných horách (Česká republika)

An interesting copper mineralization has been discovered in fragments of hydrothermal quartz gangue found in dump material of the abandoned unnamed gallery 1.5 km S from Horní Halže (now part of the Měděnec village), the Krušné hory Mts., Czech Republic. The primary mineralization represented by fine-grained quartz, hematite, pyrite and probably also djurleite was intensively affected by supergene processes. Djurleite and pyrite are partly replaced by Cu sulphides - roxbyite, anilite, spionkopite and covellite. The origin of association bornite/half-bornite/anilite found in some samples can be analogous, although in this case it cannot be ruled out that it may be the result of decomposition of the original solid solution (against the ideal bornite clearly enriched in Cu) formed in the hydrothermal stage. The formation of other Cu minerals (malachite, brochantite, libethenite and pseudomalachite) and goethite is already clearly bound to supergene conditions, part of malachite and brochantite was then formed by (sub)recent weathering of Cu-sulphides in the mine dump material. The detailed descriptions, X-ray powder diffraction data, refined unit-cell parameters and quantitative chemical composition of individual studied mineral phases are presented.

Mineral chemistry and formation conditions of calc-silicate minerals of Qozlou Fe skarn deposit, Zanjan Province, NW Iran

The Qozlou Fe skarn deposit is located at the Abhar–Mahneshan belt of the Central Iranian Zone. It is associated with Upper Eocene porphyritic granite that intruded into the Upper Cretaceous impure carbonaceous rocks. The Qozlou granite has high-K calc-alkaline affinity and is classified as subduction-related metaluminous I-type granitoids. Skarn aureole in the Qozlou is composed of endoskarn and exoskarn zones, with the exoskarn zone being the main skarn and mineralized zone. It includes garnet skarn, garnet-pyroxene skarn, pyroxene skarn, epidote skarn, and pyroxene-bearing marble sub-zones. The Qozlou Fe deposit is 300 m long and 5–30 m wide. Magnetite is the main ore mineral associated to pyrite, chalcopyrite, and pyrrhotite. Garnet, clinopyroxene, actinolite, epidote, calcite, and quartz occur as gangue minerals. Covellite, hematite, and goethite were formed during the supergene processes. The ore and gangue minerals have massive, banded, disseminated, brecciated, vein–veinlets, replacement, and relict textures. EPMA data indicate that garnets have andradite–grossularite compositions (Ad39.97–100–Gr0–49.62) and clinopyroxenes have diopsidic composition (En29.43–42.5–Fs14.31–20.99–Wo43.08–50.17). Based on mineralogical and textural criteria, skarnification processes in the Qozlou skarn can be categorized into three discrete stages: (1) isochemical (metamorphic–bimetasomatic), (2) metasomatic prograde, and (3) metasomatic retrograde. Anhydrous calc-silicate minerals (garnet and clinopyroxene) were formed during the prograde metasomatic stage, while ore minerals and hydrous calc-silicate minerals were formed during the retrograde ore-forming sub-stage. Temperature and ƒO2 conditions range between 430 and 550 °C and 10−26 and 10−23, respectively, for the metasomatic prograde stage. The retrograde metasomatizing fluids had likely ƒS2 = 10−6.5 and temperatures < 430 °C at the beginning of the ore-forming sub-stage.

Unusual Mineral Diversity in a Hydrothermal Vein-type Deposit: the Clara Mine, SW Germany, as a Type Example

The Clara baryte-fluorite-(Ag-Cu) mine exploits a polyphase, mainly Jurassic to Cretaceous, hydrothermal unconformity vein-type deposit in the Schwarzwald, SW Germany. It is the type locality for 13 minerals, and more than 400 different mineral species have been described from this occurrence, making it one of the top five localities for mineral diversity on Earth. The unusual mineral diversity is mainly related to the large number and diversity of secondary, supergene, and low-temperature hydrothermal phases formed from nine different primary ore-gangue associations observed over the last 40 years; these are: chert/quartz-hematite-pyrite-ferberite-scheelite with secondary W-bearing phases; fluorite-arsenide-selenide-uraninite-pyrite with secondary selenides and U-bearing phases (arsenates, oxides, vanadates, sulfates, and others); fluorite-sellaite with secondary Sr- and Mg-bearing phases; baryte-tennantite/tetrahedrite ss-chalcopyrite with secondary Cu arsenates, carbonates, and sulfates; baryte-tennantite/tetrahedrite ss-polybasite/pearceite-chalcopyrite, occasionally accompanied by Ag±Bi±Pb-bearing sulfides with secondary Sb oxides, Cu arsenates, carbonates, and sulfates; baryte-chalcopyrite with secondary Fe- and Cu-phosphates; baryte-pyrite-marcasite-chalcopyrite with secondary Fe- and Cu-sulfates; quartz-galena-gersdorffite-matildite with secondary Pb-, Bi-, Co-, and Ni-bearing phases; and siderite-dolomite-calcite-gypsum/anhydrite-quartz associations. The first eight associations are of Jurassic to Cretaceous age and are related to at least eight different pulses of hydrothermal fluids (plus the meteoric fluids responsible for supergene oxidation); the last association is of Neogene age. Spatial juxtaposition of the various primary associations produces overlaps of the secondary associations. In addition to natural oxidation processes, two anthropogenic additions led to specific mineral associations: (1) lining of the adit walls with concrete resulted in high-pH assemblages of mainly Ca-rich phases, including arsenates and sulfates; and (2) the addition of hydrofluoric acid to counterbalance the high-pH fluids produced by power plant ashes introduced into the exploited parts of the mine resulted in fluoride assemblages of alkali and alkaline earth metals. This contribution describes for the first time all types of assemblages and associations observed and physicochemical considerations and models of formation for some of the supergene associations. The meteoric fluids responsible for element mobilization and redistribution, and for the formation of new, secondary phases, interacted with wall rocks prior to and during percolation through the actual hydrothermal associations. Depending on the amount of reaction with ore, gangue, and host rock phases, the chemical composition of the meteoric fluids and its redox potential may vary over short distances. Hence different mineral assemblages and zoned associations record fluid compositional changes, even on the millimeter to centimeter scale. Unusual mineral diversity at the Clara mine therefore develops from a combination of diverse primary hydrothermal mineralization stages, an unusual number of fluid flow events involving compositionally different fluids, and local equilibrium conditions that change within centimeters during supergene processes involving meteoric fluids and anthropogenic additions.

Genetic aspects of barite mineralization related to rocks of the teschenite association in the Silesian Unit, Outer Western Carpathians, Czech Republic

Barite is a relatively uncommon phase in vein and amygdule mineralizations hosted by igneous rocks of the teschenite association in the Silesian Unit (Western Carpathians). In macroscopically observable sizes, it has been reported from 10 sites situated only in the Czech part of the Silesian Unit. Microscopic barite produced by the hydrothermal alteration of rock matrix and also by the supergene processes is more abundant. We examined four samples of barite by mineralogical and geochemical methods. Electron microprobe analyses proved pure barites with up to 0.038 apfu Sr and without remarkable internal zonation. Fluid inclusion and sulphur isotope data suggests that multiple sources of fluid components have been involved during barite crystallization. Barite contains primary and secondary aqueous all-liquid (L) or less frequent two-phase (L+V) aqueous fluid inclusions with variable salinity (0.4-2.9 wt. % NaCl eq.) and homogenization temperatures between 77 and 152 °C. The higher-salinity fluid endmember was probably Cretaceous seawater and the lower-salinity one was probably diagenetic water derived from surrounding flysch sediments during compaction and thermal alteration of clay minerals. The δ34S values of barite samples range between -1.0 ‰ and +16.4 ‰ CDT suggesting participation of two sources of sulphate, one with a near-zero δ34S values probably derived from wall rocks and another with high δ34S values being most probably sulphate from the Cretaceous seawater. All results underline the role of externally derived fluids during post-magmatic alteration of bodies of rock of the teschenite association.

Distribution of elements among minerals of a single (muscovite-) biotite granite sample – an optimal approach and general implications

The petrography and mineral chemistry of the coarse-grained, weakly porphyritic (muscovite-) biotite Říčany granite (Variscan Central Bohemian Plutonic Complex, Bohemian Massif) were studied in order to assess the distribution of major and trace elements among its minerals, with consequences for granite petrogenesis and availability of geochemical species during supergene processes. It is demonstrated that chemistry-based approaches are the best suited for modal analyses of granites, especially methods taking into account compositions of whole-rock samples as well as their mineral constituents, such as constrained least-squares algorithm. They smooth out any local variations (mineral zoning, presence of phenocrysts, schlieren…) and are robust in respect to the presence of phenocrysts or fabrics. The study confirms the notion that the accessory phases play a key role in incorporation of many elements during crystallization of granitic magmas. Especially the REE seem of little value in petrogenetic modelling, unless the role of accessories is properly assessed and saturation models for apatite, zircon, monazite±rutile carefully considered. At the same time, the presence of several P-, Zr- and LREE-bearing phases may have some important consequences for saturation thermometry of apatite, zircon and monazite.