Sedimentary copper mineralization in the upper red formation, Yakhab area, central Iran

Abstract

ABSTRACTCopper mineralization in the Yakhab area, Central Iran, appears as disseminated copper sulfides along a redox boundary in gray sandstone of Upper Red Formation (URF). The URF formation section was investigated in the study area and report copper mineralization. Geochemical analyses of the Yakhab deposits showed maximum of 7.5 wt. % copper, 1.6 wt. % molybdenum and 116 mg/kg silver in the gray sandstone. In Yakhab section URF exposer reaches a thickness of as much as 1400 m that often copper mineralization is found in Midsection (261-681 m) in the grey sandstone in the form of patches inside plant fossils. Based on X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses, microscopic studies and field observation paratacamite, atacamite, covellite and chalcocite were identified as major copper minerals and Powellite is the major molybdenum mineral in URF sandstone. The main phase of the copper mineralization in the Yakhab area was developed during diagenesis.