Trace elements in pyrite and pyrrhotite in the Pitangui Orogenic Au deposit, Pitangui greenstone belt, São Francisco Craton: Implications for the ore-forming fluids and metal sources

Abstract

Orogenic Au deposits represent one of the largest sources of gold in the world and in Brazil, particularly at the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, southeastern portion of the São Francisco Craton. In the last decades, advances in in-situ analytical techniques allowed a detailed investigation of the chemistry of sulfides. This can reveal information about the origin and composition of the mineralizing fluids, potential sources of metals and sulfur and the fluid-rock interaction during the ore-forming processes. In this paper we combine Electron Microprobe Analysis and LA-ICP-MS analyses to put constraints on the nature and evolution of the Pitangui gold deposit. The Pitangui deposit represents an important Orogenic Au deposit hosted in clastic metasedimentary rocks of the Pitangui greenstone belt, northwestern portion of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero. Detailed drill hole, petrographic observations and in-situ chemical analyses of the hydrothermal alteration zones show that pyrite is the dominant ore mineral in the deposit and two possible origins are suggest including (i) syngenetic pyrite development at the early stages of the greenstone belt evolution and (ii) epigenetic pyrite, which is associated with hydrothermal processes during the Orogenic Au event. Syngenetic pyrite (PyI) has high Co, Bi, Pb, Sb, Te, Se, Ag and Au concentrations. The PyI could represent an important source of metals, a set of trace elements and likely sulfur for the later Orogenic Au mineralization. Epigenetic pyrites (PyII, PyIII and PyIV), conversely, are mainly found in association with hydrothermal minerals and within the mineralized carbonate-quartz-vein. The variations at Co, Ni, Pb, Te, Sn, Se, As, Bi, Sb, Ag, Mo and W in the epigenetic pyrite indicate that the dehydration PGB sequences during orogenesis constitutes the main fluids sources. The PyV, in turn, only appears at metamafic dyke, but its origin remains unclear.