The La Lucette Sb-Au-(W) vein-deposit (Armorican Massif, France): New time and genetic constraints to decipher the 310–295 Ma Sb-Au metallogenic peak in the Variscan Belt

Abstract

In the French Armorican Massif, La Lucette is the most important late Variscan Sb deposit with an uncommon Sb-Au-(W) ore. Detailed mineralogical investigations, fluid inclusion study in gangue and ore combined with in-situ apatite LA-ICP-MS U/Pb dating were carried out to decipher the Sb-Au-W relationships, and metallogenic processes. The mineralization consists of sigmoidal quartz lenses. Four stages of ore deposition have been identified, consisting in the following mineral assemblages: i) scheelite, ii) arsenopyrite, pyrite, iii) base-metals and iv) stibnite-Au. An initial aqueous-carbonic hot-fluid (350 to 250 °C) from a metamorphic source is involved for the early scheelite to base-metals stages, and fluid/rock interaction could be responsible for the scheelite crystallization. Cooling and mixing of the initial fluid with an aqueous cold meteoric fluid (∼200 to 130 °C), are key factors for the late Sb-Au ore-deposition. P-T conditions express a shallow emplacement level (3.5 to 6 km) in a single and progressive crystallization-deformation event. No significant exhumation, and no additional magmatic source from late Variscan felsic or early Carboniferous mafic magmatic events are needed for the Sb-Au-(W) ore genesis. Structural features and new LA-ICP-MS U/Pb apatite dating associated with a regional synthesis show that all major Sb-Au mineralizations of the Armorican Massif, and most from the European Variscan Belt districts have a relatively similar genetic model. In the French Variscan massifs those deposits have been emplaced during the same mineralizing peak, which operated at around 310–295 Ma, and was controlled by the late-orogenic Variscan post-thickening tectonic event.