Abstract
The Niederschlag fluorite-barite vein deposit in the Western Erzgebirge, Germany, has been actively mined since 2013. We present the results of a first comprehensive study of the mineralogy, petrography, fluid inclusions, and trace element geochemistry of fluorite related to the Niederschlag deposit. Two different stages of fluorite mineralization are recognized. Stage I fluorite is older, fine-grained, associated with quartz, and forms complex breccia and replacement textures. Conversely, the younger Stage II fluorite is accompanied by barite and often occurs as banded and coarse crystalline open-space infill. Fluid inclusion and REY systematics are distinctly different for these two fluorite stages. Fluid inclusions in fluorite I reveal the presence of a low to medium saline (7–20% eq. w (NaCl+CaCl2)) fluid with homogenization temperatures of 140–180 °C, whereas fluorite II inclusions yield distinctly lower (80–120 °C) homogenization temperatures with at least two high salinity fluids involved (18–27% eq. w (NaCl+CaCl2)). In the absence of geochronological data, the genesis of the earlier generation of fluorite-quartz mineralization remains enigmatic but is tentatively related to Permian magmatism in the Erzgebirge. The younger fluorite-barite mineralization, on the other hand, has similarities to many fluorite-barite-Pb-Zn-Cu vein deposits in Europe that are widely accepted to be related to the Mesozoic opening of the northern Atlantic Ocean.
Highlights
The Niederschlag fluorite-barite mine is located close to the town of Oberwiesenthal in the Western Erzgebirge of Germany
The two underground exposures that were available for this study reflect full horizontal profiles from the host rock through the Niederschlag vein with a width of about 4 m
Consistent with observation reported by Kuschka (2002), host rock alteration is characterized by strong silification
Summary
The Niederschlag fluorite-barite mine is located close to the town of Oberwiesenthal in the Western Erzgebirge of Germany. It commenced operation in 2013 and is owned and operated by the Erzgebirgische Fluß- und Editorial handling: H. As the only active fluoritebarite mine in the Erzgebirge, the Niederschlag deposit produces around 100,000 t of raw fluorite concentrate per year, corresponding to ca. 20,000 t of acid grade fluorite product. Barite was exploited from the shallower parts of the deposit and processed at the Clara mine, Schwarzwald (Kuhn and Duba 2017). The production of barite concentrates has, been discontinued
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