Fahlores compositional zoning in a porphyry-epithermal system: Biksizak occurrence, South Urals, Russia as an example
文摘
Variations in the chemical composition of fahlores at the Biksizak occurrence, Birgilda-Tomino ore cluster, South Urals has been studied. Carbonate replacement base-metal mineralization is related to the Paleozoic porphyry-epithermal system. The composition of fahlores ranges from Fe-rich tennantite to Znrich tetrahedrite with variable content of Ag. The grains of fahlores are complexly zoned with a progressively increasing concentration of Sb and Ag over time. A strong positive correlation between Sb and Ag has been established. On a diagram of Ag/(Ag + Cu) versus Sb/(Sb + As), the compositions of fahlores are fitted by lines with individual slope for each sample. The slope of lines corresponding to the samples from the eastern location located close to the intrusion of porphyry diorite that is the center of porphyry-epithermal system is the lowest, whereas that corresponding to the samples from the western location more than one km distant of the center is the highest. It is shown that the composition of fahlores and its evolution could be used as an important exploration guide for porphyry-epithermal ore-forming systems.