Mineralogy and geochemistry of clastic sulfide ores from the Talgan VHMS deposit, South Urals, Russia: Signatures of diagenetic alteration

Abstract

Diagenetically altered thin-layered sulfide ores from the Talgan volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposit (South Urals) represent an intercalation of thin sulfide and hyaloclastite layers up to 3 and 0.5 cm thick. Their mineralogy and trace element, including rare earth elements (REE), and S, C and O isotopic geochemistry are considered in this work. They occur at the slopes of ore bodies and pinch outside them within hyaloclastites and their thickness increases towards the flanks of the ore bodies. The sulfide layers are mostly composed of authigenic pyrite, which forms zoned nodules, anhedral aggregates, euhedral crystals and pseudomorphs after pyrrhotite crystals. The pyrite nodules and anhedral aggregates host inclusions of authigenic chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, barite, cotunnite, native gold, stromeyerite, tellurobismutite and hessite. The trace element content of sulfide layers widely varies and depends on the amount of non-sulfide minerals (chlorite, illite, calcite, quartz, rutile, scheelite), which formed as a result of alteration of dacitic hyaloclastite components mixed with sulfide clasts. The sulfide layers are enriched in REEs (up to 561 ppm) due to the presence of REE-bearing minerals (bastnaesite, parisite, synchysite, galgenbergite, REE-bearing xenotime), which do not occur in massive sulfide ores. A narrow range of δ34S values of pyrite (1.41–3.27 ‰) from sulfide layers is explained by equilibrium or kinetic dissolution–precipitation processes of redeposition of sulfide ore clasts during diagenetic processes. The δ13C values of bulk samples of sulfide layers (–5.29 to –17.89 ‰) indicate that the authigenic carbonates formed from pore fluids circulated in former organic-rich hyaloclastite layers. The δ18O values of the same samples (+4.00 to + 8.36 ‰) are higher compared to seawater δ18O values due to diagenetic isotopic exchange between the hyaloclastitic components and pore fluids at elevated temperatures of burial process. The positive δ34S–Mn, δ13C–Mn, δ13C–As, δ13C–Sb, δ18O–Mn and δ18O–U correlations reflect organic matter consumption during the evolution of authigenic minerals. Data presented in this study helps to define the origin of diagenetically altered layered sulfide ores in volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits and are important for understanding diagenetic REE accumulations in sulfide-rich sediments of these deposits.