The chemical compositions and crystal structures of Mn3+-containing minerals from the epidote group in Greenland rocks are investigated and described in detail. They occur in hydrothermally altered Archaean mafic sequences within the gneissic complex of the North Atlantic craton of West Greenland.
The Mn-containing minerals have a characteristic red to pink colour. A detailed microchemical study shows a significant inter- and intra-sample variation in Mn content. The samples from different parageneses can be classified as Mn-bearing epidote and Mn-bearing clinozoisite. The intra-sample variation in the content of Al, Fe and Mn is on a very fine scale, but still allows for identification of a negative correlation between Mn and Fe. Textures indicate different stages of growth.
Crystal chemical data are compared with literature data and illustrate the basic systematic differences between the influence of Fe and Mn on the crystal structure of the epidote group minerals.
Abstract Copper–gold mineralization at the world‐class Batu Hijau porphyry deposit, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia, is closely related to the emplacement of multiple stages of tonalite porphyries. Petrographic examination indicates that at least two texturally distinct types of tonalite porphyries are currently recognized in the deposit, which are designated as “intermediate tonalite” and “young tonalite”. They are mineralogically identical, consisting of phenocrysts of plagioclase, hornblende, quartz, biotite and magnetite ± ilmenite, which are set in a medium‐coarse grained groundmass of plagioclase and quartz. The chemical composition of the rock‐forming minerals, including plagioclase, hornblende, biotite, magnetite and ilmenite in the tonalite porphyries was systematically analyzed by electron microprobe. The chemical data of these minerals were used to constrain the crystallization conditions and fluorine–chlorine fugacity of the corresponding tonalitic magma during its emplacement and crystallization. The crystallization conditions, including temperature (T), pressure (P) and oxygen fugacity ( f O 2 ), were calculated by applying the hornblende–plagioclase and magnetite–ilmenite thermometers and the Al‐in‐hornblende barometer. The thermobarometric data indicate that the tonalite porphyries were emplaced at 764 ± 22°C and 1.5 ± 0.3 × 10 5 kPa. If the pressure is assumed to be lithostatic, it is interpreted that the rim of hornblende and plagioclase phenocrysts crystallized at depths of approximately 5.5 km. As estimated from magnetite–ilmenite thermometry, the subsolidus conditions of the tonalite intrusion occurred at temperatures of 540–590°C and log f O 2 ranging from −20 to −15 (between Ni‐NiO and hematite–magnetite buffers). This occurred at relatively high f O 2 (oxidizing) condition. The fluorine–chlorine fugacity in the magma during crystallization was determined on the basis of the chemical composition of magmatic biotite. The calculation indicates that the fluorine–chlorine fugacity, represented by log ( f H 2 O)/( f HF) and ( f H 2 O)/( f HCl) in the corresponding tonalitic magma range from 4.31 to 4.63 and 3.62 to 3.79, respectively. The chlorine fugacity (HCl) to water (H 2 O) is relatively higher than the fluorine fugacity (HF to water), reflecting a high activity of chlorine in the tonalitic magma during crystallization. The relatively higher activity of chlorine (rather than fluorine) may indicate the significant role of chloride complexes (CuCl 2 − and AuCl 2 − ) in transporting and precipitating copper and gold at the Batu Hijau deposit.
The Navachab gold mine in the Damara belt of central Namibia is characterized by a polymetallic Au-Bi-As-Cu-Ag ore assemblage, including pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, arsenopyrite, bismuth, gold, bismuthinite, and bismuth tellurides. Gold is hosted by quartz sulfide veins and semimassive sulfide lenses that are developed in a near-vertical sequence of shelf-type metasedimentary rocks, including marble, calcsilicate rock, and biotite schist. The sequence has been intruded by abundant syntectonic lamprophyre, aplite, and pegmatite dikes, documenting widespread igneous activity coeval with mineralization.
The majority of quartz from the veins has δ 18O values of 14 to 15 per mil (V-SMOW). The total variations in δ 18O values of the biotite schist and calcsilicate rock are relatively small (12–14‰), whereas the marble records steep gradients in δ 18O values (17–21‰), the lowest values being recorded at the vein margins. Despite this, there is no correlation between δ 18O and δ 13C values and the carbonate content of the rocks, indicating that fluid-rock interaction alone cannot explain the isotopic gradients. In addition, the marble records increased δ 13C values at the contact to the veins, possibly related to a change in the physicochemical conditions during fluid-rock interaction. Gold is interpreted to have precipitated in equilibrium with metamorphic fluid ( δ 18O = 12–14‰ δ D = −40 to −60‰) at peak metamorphic conditions of ca. 550°C and 2 kbars, consistent with isotopic fractionations between coexisting calcite, garnet, and clinopyroxene in the alteration halos. The most likely source of the mineralizing fluid was a midcrustal fluid in equilibrium with the Damaran metapelites that underwent prograde metamorphism at amphibolite- to granulite-facies grades. Although there is no isotopic evidence for the contribution of magmatic fluids, they may have been important in contributing to the overall hydraulic regime and high apparent geothermal gradients (ca. 80°C/km−1) in the mine area.
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