Fluid Inclusion and Stable Isotope Study at the Southeastern Martabe Deposit: Purnama, Barani and Horas Ore Bodies, North Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

AbstractThe Martabe Au–Ag deposit, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia, is a high sulfidation epithermal deposit, which is hosted by Neogene sandstone, siltstone, volcanic breccia, and andesite to basaltic andesite of Angkola Formation. The deposit consists of six ore bodies that occurred as silicified massive ore (enargite–luzonite–pyrite–tetrahedrite–tellurides), quartz veins (tetrahedrite–galena–sphalerite–chalcopyrite), banded sulfide veins (pyrite–tetrahedrite–sphalerite–galena) and cavity filling. All ore bodies are controlled by N–S and NW–SE trending faults. The Barani and Horas ore bodies are located in the southeast of the Purnama ore body.Fluid inclusion microthermometry, and alunite‐pyrite and barite‐pyrite pairs sulfur isotopic geothermometry show slightly different formation temperatures among the ore bodies. Formation temperature and salinity of fluid inclusions of the Purnama ore body range from 200 to 260 C and from 6 to 8 wt.% NaCl equivalent, respectively. Formation temperature and salinity of fluid inclusions of the Barani ore body range from 200 to 220 °C and from 0 to 2.5 wt.% NaCl equivalent and those of the Horas ore body range from 240 to 275 °C and from 2 to 3 wt.% NaCl equivalent, respectively. The Barani and Horas ore bodies are less silicified and sulfides are less abundant than the Purnama ore body.A relationship between enthalpy and chloride content indicates mixing of hot saline fluids with cooler dilute fluids during the mineralization of each of the ore bodies. The δ18O values of quartz samples from the southeast ore bodies exhibit a wide range from +4.2 to +12.9‰ with an average value of +7.0‰. The δ18O values of H2O estimated from δ18O values of quartz, barite and calcite confirm the oxygen isotopic shift to near meteoric water trend, which support the incorporation of meteoric water. Salinity of the fluid inclusions decrease from >5 wt.% NaCl equivalent in the Purnama ore body to <3 wt.% NaCl equivalent in the Barani ore body, indicating different fluid systems during mineralization.The δ34S values of sulfide and sulfate in Purnama range from − 4.2 to +5.5‰ and from +1.2 to +26.7‰, those in the Barani range from − 4.3 to +26.4‰ and from +3.9 to +18.5‰ and those in the Horas ore body range from − 11.8 to +3.5‰ and from +1.4 to +25.7‰, respectively. The δ34S of total bulk sulfur in southeastern ore bodies (Σδ34S) was estimated to be approximately +6‰.The estimated sulfur fugacity during formation of the Purnama and Horas ore bodies is relatively high. It was between 10−4.8 and 10−10.8 atm at 220 to 260 °C. Tellurium fugacity was between 10−7.8 and 10−9.5 atm at 260 °C and between 10−9 and 10−10.6 atm at 220 °C in the Purnama ore body. The Barani ore body was formed at lower fS2, lower than about 10−14 atm at 200 to 220 °C based on the presence of arsenopyrite and pyrrhotite in the early stage, and between 10−14 and 10−12 atm based on the existence of enargite and tennantite in the last stage. © 2016 The Society of Resource Geology