The Talgan massive sulfide deposit, the southern Urals, Russia, as an example of subseafloor ore deposition from magmatic fluid

Abstract

The sequence of orebody formation at the Talgan massive sulfide deposit; morphology of sulfide orebodies; mineralogy, texture, and structure of ore; chemical composition of minerals; and fluid inclusions and relationships between stable isotopes (S, C, O) in sulfides from ores and carbonate rocks are discussed. The deposit is localized in the Uzel’ga ore field of the northern Magnitogorsk Megazone. The sulfide ore is hosted in the upper felsic sequence of the Middle Devonian Karamalytash Formation, composed of basalt, basaltic andesite, and rhyodacite. Orebodies are irregular lenses lying conformably with host rocks. Pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and fahlore are the major ore minerals; galena, bornite, and hematite are of subordinate abundance. Sulfide mineralization bears attributes of deposition under subseafloor conditions. The carbonate and rhyolite interlayers at the roofs of orebodies and the supraore limestone sequence served as screens. Zoning typical of massive sulfide deposits was not established. The study of fluid inclusions has shown that the temperature of the hydrothermal solution varied from 375 to 110°C. δ34S‰ ranges from −2.4 to +3.2‰ in pyrite, from −1.2 to +2.8‰ in chalcopyrite, and from −3.5 to +3.0‰ in sphalerite (CDT). These parameters correspond to an isotopic composition of magmatic sulfur without a notable percentage of sulfate sulfur. δ13C and δ18O of carbonates vary from −18.1 to +5.9‰ (PDB) and from +13.7 to +27.8‰ (SMOW), respectively. The carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of carbonates from ores and host rocks markedly deviate from the field of marine carbonates; a deep source of carbon is suggested. The results obtained show that the main mass of polysulfide ore at the Talgan deposit was formed beneath the floor of a paleoocean. The ore-forming system was short-lived and its functioning did not give rise to the formation of zonal orebodies. Magmatic fluid played the leading role in mineral formation.