Silver-cobalt mineralization in the Upper Seymchan ore cluster, Northeastern Russia

Abstract

This paper is focused on the Early Cretaceous Ag-Bi-Co-sulfoarsenide mineralization atypical of northeastern Asia, which contains diverse Co-Ni sulfoarsenides, Se-bearing Bi sulfotellurites, and Ag-Bi-Pb sulfosalts. The Upper Seymchan ore cluster is located at the boundary between the Paleozoic Omulevka Terrane of carbonate platform and the In’yali-Debin Synclinorium of the Kular-Nera Terrane. These ore-bearing sequences are represented by the Middle Jurassic terrigenous rocks that rest upon the Upper Triassic sandshale rocks of the upper structural stage. The sedimentary rocks are cut through by high-Al granitic plutons and younger granite-porphyry dikes. The orebodies that are superposed on igneous rocks were formed during (1) the quartz-chlorite-tourmaline stage of metasomatic alteration, (2) the main economic tourmaline-chlorite-quartz-sulfoarsenide vein stage, (3) the polysulfide-quartz stage with Ag, Se, Bi minerals, and (4) the postore quartz-calcite stage with fluorite. The epithermal veins of festoon chalcedony-like quartz with Sb-bearing arsenopyrite occupy a special position. In particular orebodies, the chlorite-quartz ore veins dominate at the upper levels, whereas the quartz-tourmaline veins occur at the lower levels. Wall-rock alteration is represented by metasomatic chloritization and tourmalinization up to the formation of monomineralic metasomatic zones. Sulfides and sulfoarsenides are distinguished by anomalous enrichment of sulfur in the light isotope (δ34S = −12.8 to −16.7‰) in contrast to the sulfur isotopic composition of Sb-asenopyrite (−1.7‰) from the genetically different epithermal veins. The oxygen isotopic composition of calcite (the third stage) is uniform at all studied deposits and reveals a tendency to updip enrichment in δ18O within a vertical interval of 200 m. Quartz from ore-bearing and epithermal veins has an almost identical δ18O value (±2‰) but differs from quartz at the tin deposits related to granites of the Canyon Complex and enriched in the light isotope in its oxygen isotopic composition. The mineralization in the Upper Seymchan ore cluster, which is genetically linked to the Early Cretaceous calc-alkaline dike suite pertaining to the period of postcollision late orogenic extension, is formed from magmatic fluids diluted with meteoric water (salinity reaches 20 wt % NaCl equiv) at temperatures varying from 400-380°C to 220-150°C and under a pressure of 970 to 60 bar. The direct vertical mineral zoning is expressed in the change of mineral species with depth and in variable compositions and properties of particular minerals.