V. V. Maslennikov

Sulfur isotopes in sediment-hosted orogenic gold deposits: Evidence for an early timing and a seawater sulfur source

We report sulfur isotopic compositions of sulfides of various paragenetic stages in the giant Sukhoi Log sediment-hosted orogenic Au deposit in Russia. The overall mean value and the significant variability in early pyrite indicate that the sulfur was from the reduction of seawater sulfate. The later generations of sulfide have δ34S values in successively smaller ranges, coincident with the mode that is around the median value of the whole data set. Together with textural evidence, sulfide trace element data, and gold occurrence, the data demonstrate that metamorphism has gradually homogenized the early sulfur, accompanied by the segregation of quartz and the release of Au from the lattice of early pyrite and its reprecipitation as inclusions in later pyrite. The S isotopic compositions of sulfides in Sukhoi Log, and many other major orogenic Au deposits hosted in sedimentary rocks of various ages, show a pattern generally parallel to the seawater sulfate curve through geologic time, indicating that the sulfur in most sediment-hosted orogenic Au deposits was probably also originally from the reduction of seawater sulfate. We conclude that sulfidation and gold mineralization in many sediment-hosted orogenic gold deposits was early during basin evolution when seawater was the principal active fluid, rather than later, during or after basin inversion, as proposed in current models.

The fossil record of hydrothermal vent communities

Abstract There are 19 known fossiliferous volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits which range in age from the Silurian to the Eocene. Most of these are in the Ural Mountains, Russia. The deposits contain assemblages of inarticulate and rhynchonellid brachiopods; gastropod, bivalve and monoplacophoran molluscs; and a small diversity of worm tube morphologies, some of which may be attributable to alvinellid polychaetes and vestimentiferans. The fossils are preserved mainly as external moulds of pyrite, which is consistent with biomineralization processes occurring at modern vent sites. Most of the fossil taxa are new to science, but the lack of original shells and organic tubes makes placement in existing phylogenetic schemes difficult. A comparison between modern vent communities and fossil vent assemblages shows that vestimentiferans, alvinellid polychaetes, bivalves, gastropods, monoplacophorans and perhaps brachiopods are shared at higher taxonomic levels, but that arthropods are found only in the modern communities. There are no direct ancestor-descendant relationships between the fossil and modern vent molluscs and brachiopods. This demonstrates that the modern vent environment is not a refuge for the known Palaeozoic and Mesozoic shelly vent taxa. Hence, taxonomic groups have moved in and out of the vent ecosystem through time. These findings are discussed in relation to alternative hypotheses for the origins of modern vent communities.

Ancient vent chimney structures in the Silurian massive sulphides of the Urals

Abstract Exceptionally well preserved volcanogenic massive sulphide ores at Yaman Kasy in the Silurian of the southern Urals have yielded not only well-preserved sulphidized vent macrofauna but also fragments of vent chimneys. All fragments show a broad 3-fold mineralogical zonation. An outer zone which forms the chimney/conduit wall comprises largely pyrite and marcasite which is laminated or collomorphic and is commonly porous. In one fragment this zone is characterized by a honeycomb-like structure in the pyrite, infilled by barite, sphalerite and chalcopyrite. Dendrite growth textures branch outwards towards the chimney wall. The middle of the three zones comprises largely pyrite with chalcopyrite and sphalerite as thin veinlets and infillings. The innermost zone is dominated by chalcopyrite. Minor gold and bismuth tellurides occur at the boundary between the middle and the inner zones. The inner zone is interpreted as the hydrothermal conduit lining and in all cases is defined by bladed chalcopyrite, which shows a texture consistent with growth toward an inner open space. The central part of the conduit is now infilled with sphalerite or in one case pyrite, chalcopyrite, silica and minor barite. Fluid inclusion studies indicate the presence of high-temperature (> 350°C) fluids of around 3.5 0.000000e+00quivalent NaCl in the basal parts of the massive sulphide mound with cooler temperatures (< 100°C) recorded in barite from the upper part of the mound. Barite is associated with chimney fragments, as worm tube infillings and as later cross-cutting veins. Preliminary S and Sr isotope data from sulphides and sulphates supports both igneous and seawater sources for sulphur in the hydrothermal system with evidence for seawater circulation and sulphate precipitation beneath the sulphide mound. The results are consistent with a similar model of chimney growth to that proposed for modern vent sites. It is proposed that a high temperature fluid flux through open conduits fed black smoker activity accompanied by lateral fluid diffusion through the chimney wall which mixed with seawater. The result of this is a combination of conductive cooling and fluid mixing leading to precipitation of distinctively zoned mineral assemblages across the vent conduit wall. The occurrence of tellurium, bismuth and precious metal-bearing phases indicates some similarities with the geochemistry of sulphides from other Palaeozoic massive sulphide deposits associated with felsic volcanic centres.

Hydrothermal activity and segmentation in the Magnitogorsk-West Mugodjarian zone on the margins of the Urals palaeo-ocean

Abstract The Magnitogorsk-West Mugodjarian zone is interpreted to have developed as a marginal rift to the main Urals palaeo-ocean. In this zone, seven distinct tectonic segments each with a strike extent between 140 and 220 km have been identified. These segments can be distinguished on the basis of volcanic facies and features of hydrothermal activity. In the three southernmost segments the volcanics comprise basaltic and rhyolite-basalt complexes. The former contain massive sulphides of Cyprus-type and cherty iron-formation whilst the latter contain massive sulphides of ‘Uralian’ type, cherty iron-formation and manganese oxide deposits. In the two central segments rhyolite-basalt complexes are developed associated with giant massive sulphide deposits (Sibay > 100 million tonnes massive sulphides). In the two northernmost segments rhyolite-basalt and andesite-basalt complexes are developed, both associated with cherty iron-formation and manganese oxide deposits. It is proposed that the variations in frequency, size and composition of the metalliferous deposits between the segments are a result of differences in the sequence of Palaeozoic oceanic development. Rifting started during the Eifelian in the south (current position) and in Late Givetian times in the north. This diachronous rifting and tectonic development has influenced the major geological features of the segments.

Physicochemical parameters of magmatic and hydrothermal processes at the Yaman-Kasy massive sulfide deposit, the southern Urals

Melt and fluid inclusions in minerals have been studied and physicochemical parameters of magmatic processes and hydrothermal systems estimated at the Yaman-Kasy copper massive sulfide deposit in the southern Urals. It was established that relatively low-temperature (910–945°C) rhyodacitic melts belonging to the tholeiitic series and containing 2.7–5.2 wt % water participated in the formation of the igneous complexes that host the Yaman-Kasy deposit. As follows from ion microprobe results, these silicic magmas had a primitive character. In the distribution of trace elements, including REE, the rhyodacites are closer to basaltic rather than silicic volcanic rocks, and they are distinguished in this respect from the igneous rocks from other massive sulfide deposits of the Urals and the Rudny Altai. Two types of solutions actively took part in the formation of hydrothermal systems: (1) solutions with a moderate salinity (5–10 wt % dissolved salts) and (2) solutions with a low salinity (a value close to that of seawater or even lower). Concentrated fluids with more than 11.5 wt % dissolved salts were much less abundant. Hydrothermal solutions heated to 130–160, 160–270, or occasionally 280–310°C predominated in ore formation. The sequence of mineral-forming processes at the Yaman-Kasy deposit is demonstrated. Mineral assemblages were formed with an inversion of the parameters characterizing ore-forming solutions. An increase in the temperature and salinity of solutions at the early stages was followed by a decrease at the final stages. The evolution of the hydrothermal system at the Yaman-Kasy deposit has much in common with the parameters of black smokers in the present-day Pacific backarc basins.

Chemical evolution of pyrite at the Kopylovsky and Kavkaz black shale-hosted gold deposits, Bodaybo district, Russia: Evidence from EPMA and LA-ICP-MS data

The Kopylovsky and Kavkaz gold deposits in the Artemovskiy ore cluster, Bodaybo district, hosted in terrigenous carbonaceous sequence of the Dogaldyn formation of the Upper Proterozoic Bodaybo group, are localized in cores of high-order anticlines. These deposits contain gold-sulfide and gold-sulfide-quartz ore types. Pyrite is the predominant ore mineral; copper, zinc, nickel, and cobalt sulfides are minor. Native gold is found as free grains, and inclusions and ultrafine stingers in pyrite. A few morphological varieties of pyrite are identified: (1) framboidal and fine-grained pyrite resulting from sedimentation and diagenesis; (2) fine-grained subhedral to euhedral pyrite corresponding to catagenesis, metamorphism, and dynamometamorphism; and (3) coarse-crystalline euhedral gold-free pyrite occurring in the host rocks beyond ore bodies and deposits. According to electron microprobe and LA-ICP-MS data, the contents of Au, Ag, Co, Pb, Sb, Bi, Ba, Mo, and Tl decrease from sedimentary-diagenetic to metamorphic pyrite, while Ni, Cu, As, Se and especially U contents increase in the same direction. Primary gold is suggested to have accumulated during sedimentation as species associated with carbonaceous matter and cogenetic pyrite and redeposited as a result of catagenesis and metamorphism as native species with crystallization of the latest pyrite and associated sulfides of base metals.

Sequence of mineral formation in clastic ores of the Saf’yanovka volcanic-hosted copper massive sulfide deposit, the Central Urals

The bedded clastic ore widespread on the slopes and flanks of the deeply eroded sulfide mound at the Saf’yanovka volcanic-hosted copper massive sulfide deposit consists of products of destruction of the Paleozoic black smoker along with diverse newly formed sulfides. The size of ore clasts gradually decreases with distance from the massive ore mound, from more than tens of centimeters to a few millimeters. The clastic sediments are characterized by good preservation of sulfide material composed of hydrothermal sedimentary colloform pyrite, chalcopyrite with lamellae of relict isocubanite, and concentrically zoned sphalerite. Numerous pyrite framboids, nodules, and euhedral crystals; chalcopyrite segregations; and twinned sphalerite are typical of sulfide-bearing black shale. Enargite, tennantite, and galena were formed after pyrite, filling interstices between nodules or partially replacing and corroding the previously formed minerals. The interrelations between minerals show that the fine-clastic sulfide-bearing black shale underwent diagenesis in the presence of organic matter.

Banded sulfide-magnetite ores of Mauk copper massive sulfide deposit, Central Urals: Composition and genesis

The results of investigation of metamorphosed sulfide-magnetite ores from the Mauk deposit located within the Main Ural Fault at the junction of Tagil and Magnitogorsk massive sulfide zones are discussed. The ore-hosting sequence comprises metamorphic rocks formed from basalt, carbonaceous and carbonaceous-cherty siltstone, and lenticular serpentinized ultramafic bodies. The ores of the deposit are represented by banded varieties and less frequent breccia. The clastic origin of the banded ore is indicated by load casts at the bottom of sulfide beds, alternation of sulfide and barren beds, and the truncation of the growth zones of pyrite crystals. Pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and magnetite are the major minerals of the banded ores. The internal structure of the listed minerals testifies to the deep metamorphic recrystallization of primary hydrothermal-sedimentary ores accompanied with deformation. Cubanite, pyrrhotite, mackinawite, greigite, and gold are enclosed in metacrysts of pyrite, magnetite, and chalcopyrite. The accessory minerals of the Pb-Bi-Te, Bi-Te, and Ag-Te systems as well as uraninite have been found at the Mauk deposit for the first time. Magnetite predominantly replaces pyrite and less frequently chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and gangue minerals. It was established that the major carriers of As and Co are crystals of metamorphic pyrite. Chalcopyrite is the major carrier of Zn, Sn, Te, Pb, Bi, and Ag. Admixture of Fe and Cu is typical of sphalerite, and Se and Ni are characteristic of pyrrhotite. Ti, V, Mn, Sb, As, Ba, and U are concentrated in magnetite. The banded ores of the Mauk deposit are suggested as having been transformed in several stages: diagenesis, anadiagenesis, epidiagenesis (t < 300°C), and amphibolite facies metamorphism (t > 500°C).