Antimony in hydrothermal processes: solubility, conditions of transfer, and metal-bearing capacity of solutions

Abstract

Based on data on the composition of ore-bearing hydrothermal solutions and parameters of ore-forming processes at various antimony and antimony-bearing deposits, which were obtained in studies of fluid inclusions in ore minerals, we investigated the behavior of Sb(III) in the system Sb–Cl–H 2S–H 2O describing the formation of these deposits. We also performed thermodynamic modeling of native-antimony and stibnite dissolution in sulfide (m HS − = 0.0001−0.1) and chloride (m Cl − = 0.1−5) solutions and the joint dissolution of Sb (s) 0 and Sb 2S 3(s) in sulfide-chloride solution (m HS − = 0.01; m Cl − = 1) depending on Eh, pH, and temperature. All thermodynamic calculations were carried out using the Chiller computer program. Under the above conditions, stibnite precipitates in acid, weakly acid to neutral, and medium redox solutions, whereas native antimony precipitates before stibnite under more reducing conditions in neutral to alkaline solutions. The metal-bearing capacity of hydrothermal solutions (200–250 °C) of different compositions and origins has been predicted. We have established that the highest capacity is specific for acid (pH = 2–3) high-chloride solutions poor in sulfide sulfur and alkaline (pH = 7–8) low-chloride low-sulfide solutions.