Alteration paragenesis and mineral chemistry of the Tjårrojåkka apatite–iron and Cu (-Au) occurrences, Kiruna area, northern Sweden

Abstract

The northern Norrbotten area in northern Sweden, is an important mining district and hosts several deposits of Fe-oxide Cu-Au-type. One of the best examples of spatially, and possibly genetically, related apatite–iron and copper–gold deposits in the region is at Tjarrojakka, 50 km WSW of Kiruna. The deposits are hosted by strongly sheared and metamorphosed intermediate volcanic rocks and dolerites and show a structural control. The Tjarrojakka iron deposit is a typical apatite–iron ore of Kiruna-type and the Tjarrojakka copper occurrence shows the same characteristics as most other epigenetic deposits in Norrbotten. The host rock has been affected by strong albite and K-feldspar alteration related to mineralisation, resulting in an enrichment of Na, K, and Ba. Fe and V were depleted in the altered zones and added in mineralised samples. REE were enriched in the system, with the greatest addition related to mineralisation. Y was also mobile associated with albite alteration and copper mineralisation. The Tjarrojakka iron and copper deposits show comparable hydrothermal alteration minerals and paragenesis, which might be a product of common host rock and similarities in ore fluid composition, or overprinting by successive alteration stages. Mineralogy and mineral chemistry of the alteration minerals (apatite, scapolite, feldspars, amphiboles, and biotite) indicate a higher salinity and Ba/K ratio in the fluid related to the alterations in the apatite–iron occurrence than in the copper deposit, where the minerals are enriched in F and S. The presence of hematite, barite, and in SO4 in scapolite suggests more oxidising-rich conditions during the emplacement of the Tjarrojakka-Cu deposit. From existing data it might be suggested that one evolving system created the two occurrences, with the copper mineralisation representing a slightly later product.