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

Abstract

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 500°C).