The Agan epithermal gold-silver deposit and prospects for the discovery of high-sulfidation mineralization in northeast Russia

Abstract

The Arman volcanotectonic depression (VTD) containing the Agan deposit is distinguished as the most promising area for the discovery of high-sulfidation (HS) epithermal Au deposit during prospecting in the Central Okhotsk ore district of the Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanogenic belt (OChVB). Studies reveal that the volcanic rocks of the Agan deposit strongly differ from those of the reference HS-type epithermal deposits. It was found that quartz-alunite metasomatites in the ore field are characterized by low Au content and Sn content two orders of magnitude higher than those of Cu and Mo. The pair-correlation coefficients are Kcor (Au-Sn) = 0.73 and Kcor(Au-Cu) = 0.22. The ore bodies of the Agan deposit do not contain enargite and luzonite—the main indicator minerals for Au productive HS-type mineralization; porous (“vuggy”) quartz is weakly manifested. In terms of the mineral complex, the epithermal mineralization revealed in the metasomatites of the deposit is close to the intermediate sulfidation type. At the same time, this mineralization, in many of its features, is similar to the mineralization developed in siliceous and quartz-alunite lithocaps, which are formed above degassing intrusions. In this setting, HS-type ore-bearing fluids either are not formed in the system or do not reach epithermal depths.