Geology of amethyst quartz deposits from Montezuma and surrounding areas of Minas Gerais and Bahia States

Abstract

Amethyst quartz deposits occur in some regions of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, related to different geological environments. The most important are associated with hydrothermal veins crossing the Espinhaço mountain range, mainly in small and eroded mountains near its east margin, related to the Macaúbas Group. In the border region between the states of Minas Gerais (MG) and Bahia (BA), some of these deposits produce amethyst crystals that become green under heat treatments and are known in the gemmological market as “prasiolite.” The aim of the present study was to provide details of the clear structural control over the mineralized veins. The quartz veins are hosted in quartzites, which have long been the subject of controversy regardingtheir stratigraphic position. In this study, they are inserted into the Santo Onofre (MG) and Serra de Inhaúma (BA) sequences of unknown ages. These quartzites show a folded subvertical foliation, indicating a posterior deformational phase that had not been observed in rocks from the Macaúbas Group in other regions of MG state. At the Montezuma mine (MG), the main veins are around 0.70-1.10 m thick with steep dips to the NE, perpendicular to the NE-SW foliation; bedding orientation is approximately N-S, dipping to the E. In the Coruja mine area (BA), host quartzites have foliation attitudes varying between N35-45°E/ subvertical, and mineralized veins are around 1 m thick, nearly concordant with the foliation. At Tibério’s mine (BA), the mineralization is related to narrow fractures, less than 30 cm wide, and perpendicular to the host quartzite foliation, with directions/dips around N20°W/80°SW. In described deposits, amethyst veins occur structurally related to axial surfaces in foliation folds.