Carbonate Replacement Deposits Research Articles

Cinco de Mayo: A new silver, lead, and zinc discovery in northern Mexico

Cinco de Mayo is a carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) style mineral exploration project in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Drilling, since November 2007, has confirmed a large zone of high-grade silver, lead, and zinc mineralization. This new, buried mineral deposit is called the Jose Manto (a manto is coherent massive sulphide sheet). The deposit is hosted by the fossiliferous limestone Finlay Formation, with the thickest and most uniform high-grade massive sulphide intersections occurring near its upper and lower contacts. CRD deposits account for roughly 4 billion ounces or 40% of the 10 billion total silver ounces produced in Mexico. They are second only to Mexico's epithermal veins in historic silver production.

The Nonsulfide Zinc Deposit at Accha (Southern Peru): Geological and Mineralogical Characterization

The Accha-Yanque zinc belt is located in the southern Altiplano of Peru, a major zinc-rich metallogenic province hosting a number of economic mineral deposits (porphyry copper and skarn ores). Several nonsulfide-type occurrences, showings, and mineral deposits are situated in a belt, peripheral to the northern, northeastern, and northwestern edge of the Oligocene-(Miocene?) Yauri-Apurimac batholith. Mineralization is hosted in breccias of both sedimentary and tectonic origin in the limestones of the Middle to Upper Cretaceous Ferrobamba Formation. Primary ores belong to the carbonate replacement deposit type and are at least in part structurally controlled. Currently, the Zn mineralization is almost fully oxidized: the Accha deposit can be assigned to both direct replacement and wall-rock replacement types. The mineralized zone (indicated resources 5.1 Mt @ 8.2% Zn and 0.9% Pb) occupies the hinge of an anticlinal dome that has been exposed by erosion. The southern limb of the structure dips about 55° to the south-southwest, whereas its northern limb is truncated by faults. The nonsulfide concentrations, consisting of a mineralized zone 5 to 20 m thick, are continuous along strike to the west for at least 700 m. The mineralogy of the Accha deposit shares many characteristics with that of the typical carbonate-hosted calamine-type nonsulfide Zn ores. The nonsulfide mineral association consists mainly of smithsonite and hemimorphite replacing both primary ore minerals and carbonate host rocks. Hydrozincite has been detected only in samples near the surface. Smithsonite occurs in zoned concretions with goethite, Mn (hydr)oxides and Zn clays, as well as replacive cement in the limestone intervals. One of the most peculiar nonsulfide Zn minerals at Accha is a sauconite-like, zincian smectite, variably concentrated throughout the deposit. Locally sauconite occurs as replacement of detrital feldspars and/or detrital fragments occurring in marly sediments or in infills of karst cavities. It also replaces both hemimorphite and smithsonite deposited during earlier stages. The age of the supergene products in the whole belt is poorly constrained, although there is geomorphologic evidence that the formation of supergene minerals postdates by more than 10 m.y. the last large-scale secondary enrichment event that terminated with central Andean climatic desiccation at ~15 Ma. The age of the Accha deposit may be consistent with a Pliocene K-Ar date of 3.3 ± 0.2 Ma obtained for supergene alunite from the top part of the leached cap in the nearby Cotabambas Cu deposit.

Geochemical modelling of a Zn–Pb skarn: Constraints from LA–ICP–MS analysis of fluid inclusions

The Bismark deposit (northern Chihuahua, Mexico) is one of several base metal-rich high-temperature, carbonate-replacement deposits hosted in northern Mexico. Previous fluid inclusion studies based on microthermometry and PIXE have shown that the Zn-rich, Pb-poor Bismark deposit formed from a moderate salinity magmatic fluid [Baker, T. and Lang, J.R., 2003. Reconciling fluid inclusion types, fluid processes, and fluid sources in skarns: an example from the Bismark Deposit, Mexico. Mineralium Deposita 38(4), 474–495; Baker, T., van Achterberg, E., Ryan, C.G. and Lang, J.R., 2004. Composition and evolution of ore fluids in a magmatic-hydrothermal skarn deposit. Geology 32(2), 117–120]. The exact precipitation mechanisms are unclear and may have due to cooling, salinity decrease and wall rock reaction. Furthermore, PIXE data suggested that Pb and Zn concentrations were comparable and inconsistent with the Zn-rich nature of the ore. However, Pb was commonly below the limit of detection for PIXE and the data presented by Baker et al. [Baker, T., van Achterberg, E., Ryan, C.G. and Lang, J.R., 2004. Composition and evolution of ore fluids in a magmatic-hydrothermal skarn deposit. Geology 32(2), 117–120] are regarded as the maximum concentrations of Pb in the fluid. In this study new LA ICP MS analysis was carried out on the same fluid inclusion population to compare with the PIXE data in order to constrain the uncertainty related to the Pb data and the new results are used to model possible ore deposition mechanisms. The new laser ablation data reveal overall lower concentrations of Pb in the ore fluid (average value ~ 285 ppm) than previously indicated by PIXE analysis (average value ~ 713 ppm). Chemical modelling using the new laser ablation data tested the following ore deposition processes: 1) cooling; 2) fluid–rock reaction at constant temperature; 3) cooling and simultaneous fluid–rock interaction. Modelling results show that the gangue and ore minerals observed at Bismark are best reproduced by fluid–rock interaction and simultaneous cooling. Results from the simulations strongly indicate that ore deposition was mainly driven by a pH increase due to the neutralization of the acidic ore fluid (pH = 3.9) as the result of the reaction with the limestone. Modelling results also suggest that the deposit likely formed under cooling conditions, but do not support the hypothesis of a temperature decrease as the principal ore-forming process.

Geological features and origin of the Huize carbonate-hosted Zn–Pb–(Ag) District, Yunnan, South China

The Huize Zn–Pb–(Ag) district, in the Sichuan–Yunnan–Guizhou Zn–Pb–(Ag) metallogenic region, contains significant high-grade, Zn–Pb–(Ag) deposits. The total metal reserve of Zn and Pb exceeds 5 Mt. The district has the following geological characteristics: (1) high ore grade (Zn + Pb ≥ 25 wt.%); (2) enrichment in Ag and a range of other trace elements (Ge, In, Ga, Cd, and Tl), with galena, sphalerite, and pyrite being the major carriers of Ag, Ge, Cd and Tl; (3) ore distribution controlled by both structural and lithological features; (4) simple and limited wall-rock alteration; (5) mineral zonation within the orebodies; and (6) the presence of evaporite layers in the ore-hosting wall rocks of the Early Carboniferous Baizuo Formation and the underlying basement. Fluid-inclusion and isotope geochemical data indicate that the ore fluid has homogenisation temperatures of 165–220 °C, and salinities of 6.6–12 wt.% NaCl equiv., and that the ore-forming fluids and metals were predominantly derived from the Kunyang Group basement rocks and the evaporite-bearing rocks of the cover strata. Ores were deposited along favourable, specific ore-controlling structures. The new laboratory and field studies indicate that the Huize Zn–Pb–(Ag) district is not a carbonate-replacement deposit containing massive sulphides, but rather the deposits can be designated as deformed, carbonate-hosted, MVT-type deposits. Detailed study of the deposits has provided new clues to the localisation of concealed orebodies in the Huize Zn–Pb–(Ag) district and of the potential for similar carbonate-hosted sulphide deposits elsewhere in NE Yunnan Province, as well as the Sichuan–Yunnan–Guizhou Zn–Pb–(Ag) metallogenic region.

Reconciling fluid inclusion types, fluid processes, and fluid sources in skarns: an example from the Bismark Deposit, Mexico

The Bismark deposit (8.5 Mt at 8% Zn, 0.5% Pb, 0.2% Cu, and 50 g/t Ag) located in northern Mexico is an example of a stock-contact skarn end member of a continuum of deposit types collectively called high-temperature, carbonate-replacement deposits. The deposit is hosted by massive sulfide within altered limestone adjacent to the Bismark quartz monzonite stock (~42 Ma) and the Bismark fault. Alteration concurrently developed in both the intrusion and limestone. The former contains early potassic alteration comprising K-feldspar and biotite, which was overprinted by kaolinite-rich veins and alteration and later quartz, sericite, and pyrite with minor sphalerite and chalcopyrite. Prograde exoskarn alteration in the limestone consists of green andradite and diopside, and transitional skarn comprising red-brown andradite, green hedenbergite and minor vesuvinite, calcite, fluorite, and quartz. The main ore stage post-dates calc-silicate minerals and comprises sphalerite and galena with gangue pyrite, pyrrhotite, calcite, fluorite, and quartz. The entire hydrothermal system developed synchronously with faulting. Fluid inclusion studies reveal several distinct temporal, compositional, and thermal populations in pre-, syn- and post-ore quartz, fluorite, and calcite. The earliest primary fluid inclusions are coexisting vapor-rich (type 2A) and halite-bearing (type 3A; type 3B contain sylvite) brine inclusions (32 to >60 total wt% salts) that occur in pre-ore fluorite. Trapping temperatures are estimated to have been in excess of 400 °C under lithostatic pressures of ~450 bar (~1.5 km depth). Primary fluid inclusions trapped in syn-ore quartz display critical to near critical behavior (type 1C), have moderate salinity (8.4 to 10.9 wt% NaCl equiv.) and homogenization temperatures (Th) ranging from 351 to 438 °C. Liquid-rich type 1A and 1B (calcite-bearing) inclusions occur as primary to secondary inclusions predominantly in fluorite and show a range in Th (104–336 °C) and salinity (2.7–11.8 wt% NaCl equiv.), which at the higher Th and salinity ranges overlap with type 1C inclusions. Oxygen isotope analysis was carried out on garnet, quartz, and calcite (plus carbon isotopes) in pre-, syn-, post-ore, and peripheral veins. Pre-ore skarn related garnets have a δ18Omineral range between 3.9 and 8.4‰. Quartz from the main ore stage range between 13.6 and 16.0‰. Calcite from the main ore stage has δ13C values of –2.9 to –5.1‰ and δ18O values of 12.3 to 14.1‰, which are clearly distinct from post-ore veins and peripheral prospects that have much higher δ18O (16.6–27.3‰) and δ13C (1.3–3.1‰) values. Despite the numerous fluid inclusion types, only two fluid sources can be inferred, namely a magmatic fluid and an external fluid that equilibrated with limestone. Furthermore, isotopic data does not indicate any significant mixing between the two fluids, although fluid inclusion data may be interpreted otherwise. Thus, the various fluid types were likely to have formed from varying pressure–temperature conditions through faulting during exsolution of magmatic fluids. Late-stage hydrothermal fluid activity was dominated by the non-magmatic fluids and was post-ore.

Self-Ordering and Complexity in Epizonal Mineral Deposits

Epizonal base and precious metal deposits makeup a range of familiar deposit styles including porphyry copper-gold, epithermal veins and stockworks, carbonate-replacement deposits, and polymetallic volcanic rock-hosted (VHMS) deposits. They occur along convergent plate margins and are invariably associated directly with active faults and volcanism. They are complex in form, variable in their characteristics at all scales, and highly localized in the earth’s crust.More than a century of detailed research has provided an extensive base of observational data characterizing these deposits, from their regional setting to the fluid and isotope chemistry of mineral deposition. This has led to a broad understanding of the large-scale hydrothermal systems within which they form. Low salinity vapor, released by magma crystallization and dispersed into vigorously convecting groundwater systems, is recognized as a principal source of metals and the gases that control redox conditions within systems. The temperature and pressure of the ambient fluid anywhere within these systems is close to its vapor-liquid phase boundary, and mineral deposition is a consequence of short timescale perturbations generated by localized release of crustal stress.However, a review of occurrence data raises questions about ore formation that are not addressed by traditional genetic models. For example, what are the origins of banding in epithermal veins, and what controls the frequency of oscillatory lamination? What controls where the phenomenon of mineralization occurs, and why are some porphyry deposits, for example, so much larger than others?The distinctive, self-organized characteristics of epizonal deposits are shown to be the result of repetitive coupling of fracture dilation consequent on brittle failure, phase separation (“boiling”), and heat transfer between fluid and host rock. Process coupling substantially increases solute concentrations and triggers fast, far-from-equilibrium depositional processes. Since these coupled processes lead to localized transient changes in fluid characteristics, paragenetic, isotope, and fluid inclusion data relate to conditions at the site of deposition and only indirectly to the characteristics of the larger-scale hydrothermal system and its longer-term behavior. The metal concentrations (i.e. grade) of deposits and their internal variation is directly related to the geometry of the fracture array at the deposit scale, whereas finer-scale oscillatory fabrics in ores may be a result of molecular scale processes.Giant deposits are relatively rare and develop where efficient metal deposition is spatially focused by repetitive brittle failure in active fault arrays. Some brief case histories are provided for epithermal, replacement, and porphyry mineralization. These highlight how rock competency contrasts and feedback between processes, rather than any single component of a hydrothermal system, govern the size of individual deposits. In turn, the recognition of the probabilistic nature of mineralization provides a firmer foundation through which exploration investment and risk management decisions can be made.

Trace Element Determination of Single Fluid Inclusions in Quartz by Laser Ablation ICP‐MS

Single fluid inclusions in quartz from a Pb‐Zn‐Ag carbonate replacement deposit were selected for trace element determination by laser ablation ICP‐MS. Spikes in element intensities were noted between first breached fluids versus subsequent analyses, suggesting that accurate element concentrations may not be determined in smaller fluid inclusions when only one analysis is obtained before the fluid is exhausted. Elemental concentrations in the fluid inclusions were determined by external standardisation using solutions sealed in microcapillary tubes. Standards and single natural inclusion analyses give repeatabilities (%RSD) of ˜ 20% for Rb and Sr. Rubidium and strontium concentrations range from 0.56‐5.07 μg ml‐1 and 1.12‐27.4 μg ml‐1, respectively, whereas Zn and Ag are below detection limits (< 10 ng ml‐1). The results suggest that nearly all Zn and Ag are removed by the time hydrothermal fluids precipitate gangue minerals.

Stable isotope and fluid inclusion investigations of epithermal vein and porphyry molybdenum mineralization in the Rico mining district, Colorado

The Rico mining district, western San Juan Mountains, Colorado, contains epithermal vein deposits, carbonate replacement deposits, and a large zone of porphyry-style molybdenum mineralization. Historically, the vein and replacement deposits have produced significant amounts of silver, lead, and zinc, with minor gold and copper. All the mineralization formed nearly contemporaneously about 5 m.y. ago. The veins and replacement deposits occur in Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks that have been uplifted into the Rico dome, which is cored by a horst of Precambrian greenstone and quartzite. The porphyry molybdenum mineralization (40 million tons of 0.31% Mo) is 1,500 m beneath the surface in the east end of the district and consists of stockwork veining in Precambrian quartzite and greenstone and in Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks. The epithermal veins occur above and peripheral to the porphyry mineralization. Widespread high silica, alaskite porphyry dikes were also emplaced at the same time as the porphyry mineralization and are probably related to the source intrusion for the molybdenum mineralization and the heat source for the hydrothermal system that produced the epithermal and replacement deposits. Fluid inclusions in quartz from the veins homogenize at temperatures in the range 200 degrees to 300 degrees C and yield salinities less than 5 equiv wt percent NaCl. The delta D values of quartz inclusion fluids (- 112 to - 121ppm) and calculated delta 18 O values of fluids in equilibrium with the quartz (-3 to -17ppm) show that the epithermal vein fluids were 18 O-shifted meteoric waters. Vein samples with large 18 O shifts also exhibit very saline fluid inclusions, indicating that the fluids which experienced the greatest degree of water-rock interaction contain the highest concentration of dissolved components. The porphyry fluid (delta D = -90 to -104ppm, delta 18 O = +2ppm) was derived from mixed magmatic and meteoric sources. Primary inclusions in the porphyry veinlets homogenize to both liquid and vapor in the temperature range 350 degrees to 420 degrees C, suggesting that boiling occurred during their formation. Trains of secondary inclusions are abundant in the veinlets and show that a later lower temperature fluid encroached upon the porphyry system. No evidence for mixing of magmatic and meteoric fluids was found in any of the epithermal veins. The porphyry mineralization formed early in the history of the Rico hydrothermal system. Epithermal vein formation occurred later than the porphyry mineralization, and the meteoric-hydrothermal fluid collapsed into the porphyry core of the system during the retrograde stages of the hydrothermal system.

Skarn zonation and fluid evolution in the Groundhog Mine, Central mining district, New Mexico

The Groundhog mine contains one of the largest and best exposed Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag skarn deposits in the United States. Skarn is formed in Carboniferous limestones spatially associated with a nearly vertical swarm of Early Tertiary granodiorite porphyry dikes. Metal ratios, mineralogy, composition, and fluid inclusion characteristics of the skarn are systematically zoned from northeast to southwest along the >3-km strike length of the system and relative to the original dike-limestone contact. Zn/Cu, Zn/Ag, Pb/Cu, Pb/Zn, and Pb/Ag ratios all increase toward the distal southwest end of the mine where highest Zn, Pb, and total metal grades also occur. Endoskarn is zoned in terms of the relative proportions and manganese content of epidote and chlorite. In the Northeast zone, skarn is zoned away from dikes in the sequence: garnet to pyroxene to pyroxenoid to marble. In the Central skarn zone, garnet is absent and pyroxene begins the zonation sequence at the dike contact. In the Southwest zone, pyroxene is less abundant and pyroxenoid locally begins the zonation sequence. Sphalerite-galena-pyrite-quartzcarbonate are present in all skarn zones and in carbonate replacement mantos and chimneys beyond skarn. Distal mineralogical zones (e.g., pyroxenoid and manto) are more extensive to the southwest. In general, the skarn zonation sequence is wider and more fully developed in pure, coarse-grained limestone than in silty, carbonaceous, or fine-grained limestone. High permeability and water/rock ratio are considered the dominant controls on skarn size. Most skarn minerals, including garnet, pyroxene, pyroxenoid, ilvaite, amphibole, chlorite, carbonate, and sphalerite, are enriched in manganese. Pyroxene becomes more manganese rich (up to 85 mole % johannsenite):(1) marble, (2) along strike to the southwest, (3) at higher elevations, and (4) in coarser grained, cleaner limestones. The more manganese-rich pyroxenes formed from fluids which are distal in the overall zonation sequence. In contrast, pyroxene formed in proximal locations (dike contact, Northeast skarn zone, low elevation, fine-grained, impure limestone) is enriched in magnesium. Pyroxene-forming fluids are depleted first in Mg, then in Fe, and finally in Mn, as proposed by Burt (1977). Fluid inclusion homogenization temperatures are lower than for most zinc skarns. In the Northeast skarn zone the average homogenization temperature is 337oC and salt daughter minerals are present in garnet and pyroxene (inclusions without daughter minerals average 8.5 wt % NaCI), whereas salt daughter minerals are absent in the Central and Southwest skarn zones and average homogenization temperatures and salinities are 320oC, 7.3 wt percent NaC1, and 293oC, 6.2 wt percent NaC1, respectively. Pressure estimates from rare clusters of fluid inclusions with evidence for boiling are between 155 and 175 bars. Skarn thermal gradients calculated from fluid inclusion homogenization temperatures are 35oC from dike to marble front and 50oC from dike to the limit of alteration (carbonate replacement mantos and chimneys). The calculated average thermal gradient along strike ranges from 8oC/km along the dike contact to 23oC/km along the marble front. The calculated thermal gradients and measured pyroxene compositions are in general agreement with published experimental studies of clinopyroxene stability relations. The variations in skarn metal ratios, mineralogy, composition, and fluid inclusion characteristics have been incorporated into a general model for zinc skarn formation which can be applied to the hierarchy of zinc skarns summarized by Einaudi et al. (1981) and as a guide to exploration. The distal end of this zinc skarn hierarchy is transitional to manto and chimney carbonate replacement deposits which contain few, if any, calc-silicate minerals.

Fluid inclusions in skarns (carbonate replacement deposits)

Abstract Fluid inclusions in ore skarn minerals reflect the physiochemical nature of the solutions present during the skarn‐forming process. Because of the dense nature of skarn minerals and the dynamic processes operative during skarn genesis, sufficient primary fluid inclusions are usually present. Ore skarn solutions, as opposed to metamorphic skarn or ore vein solutions, have much higher CaCl2 contents and usually very high formation temperatures (>500°C) and salinities (>40 wt % T.D.S.). Temperatures and salinities generally decrease away from the solution source, both in time and space. The gradients found at greater distances from the source in distal (far from contact) skarns tend to be less (e.g. 210–350°C) for a particular skarn stage to that in proximal (near contact) skarns (e.g. 400–650°C). This information is useful for delineating the parts of such a hydrothermal system. Temperatures also tend to decrease with time, which is reflected by the superimposition of various overprinting, retrograde mineral stages. In a few areas (e.g. Naica, Mexico) intermittent boiling of ore solutions occurs, periodically elevating both temperatures and salinities, but commonly boiling only occurs early in skarn genesis just after an early, commonly lower temperature, phase.Most fluid inclusions represent a mix of‘exhaust’or reacted solutions with minor unreacted or new (pre‐) ore solution components. Limited data on the distribution of elements present in fluid inclusions that do not normally take part in skarn genesis (Na, K and Cl) indicate that their proportions reflect the nature of the associated pluton. High KC1 contents are found in skarns adjacent to high K granitoids, whereas high NaCl contents are found in skarns adjacent to calcic granitoids.In many examples, daughter minerals present in minor proportions in opened fluid inclusion cavities reflect the metal characteristics of the ore solution. Small rare‐earth metal, tungsten, zinc and copper daughter(?) minerals have been identified. The temperature and (or) salinity data for skarns of different metal or geological type is not particularly useful to delineate whether a skarn locality is part of a more complex, as yet unexplored system. Solutions in Pb–Zn skarns tend to be lower‐temperature (150–400°C) and more dilute (<30 wt % T.D.S.) than in other skarn types, but exceptions occur.

Metallogeny and tectonic development of the tasman fold belt system in tasmania

In western Tasmania, Precambrian sedimentary sequences form the basement for narrow trough accumulations of Eocambrian and younger sequences. The main trough, the meridional Dundas Trough, is flanked to the west by the Rocky Cape region of Precambrian rocks within which major, apparently stratiform, exhalative magnetite-pyrite deposits are intercalated with metabasaltic volcanics and ultramafic bodies. The Eocambrian-Cambrian troughs apparently developed during extension of Precambrian continental crust. Early shallow-water deposition includes thick dolomite units in some troughs. Deepening of the troughs was accompanied by turbidite sedimentation, with minor limestone, and submarine basaltic volcanism with associated minor disseminated native copper. Ultramafic and related igneous rocks were tectonically emplaced in some troughs during a mild compressional phase. They contain only minor platinoids, copper-nickel sulphides and asbestos, but are source rocks for Tertiary secondary deposits of platinoids, chromite and lateritic nickel. In the Dundas Trough, Eocambrian-Early Cambrian rocks are separated by an inferred erosional surface from structurally conformable overlying Middle to Late Cambrian fossiliferous turbidite sequences. The structural conformity continues through overlying Ordovician to Early Devonian terrestrial and shallow-marine stable shelf deposits. A considerable pile of probable Middle Cambrian felsic volcanics accumulated between the sedimentary deposits of the Dundas Trough and the Tyennan region of Precambrian rocks to the east. A lava-dominated belt within the volcanics hosts major volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, including those of the exhalative type, which in the south are enriched in copper, gold and silver, whereas in the north they are rich in zine, lead, copper, gold and silver. Cambrian movements along faults near the margin of the Tyennan region resulted in erosion of the mineralized volcanics, locally exposing sub-volcanic granitoids. Above the local unconformities occur unmineralized volcaniclastic sequences that pass conformably into Ordovician to Early Devonian shelf deposits. Ordovician limestone locally hosts stratabound disseminated and veined base metal sulphide deposits. Pre-Middle Devonian rocks of western Tasmania differ, for most part, from those in the northeast where deeper marine turbidite quartz-wacke sequences were deposited during the Ordovician and Early Devonian. The Eocambrian to Early Devonian rocks of Tasmania were extensively deformed in the mid-Devonian. The Precambrian regions of western Tasmania behaved as relatively competent blocks controlling early fold patterns. In northeastern Tasmania, folding is of similar age but resulted from movements inconsistent with those affecting rocks of equivalent age in western Tasmania. The final metallogenic event is associated with high-level granitoid masses emplaced throughout Tasmania during the Middle to Late Devonian. In northeastern Tasmania, extensive I-type granodiorite and S-type granite, with alkali-feldspar granites, are associated with mainly endogranitic stanniferous grelsens and wolframite ± cassiterite vein deposits. In contrast, scheelite-bearing skarns and cassiterite stannite pyrrhotite carbonate replacement deposits are dominant in western Tasmania, associated mainly with S-type granites. Several argentiferous lead-zinc vein deposits occur in haloes around tin-tungsten deposits. A number of gold deposits are apparently associated with I-type granodiorite, but some have uncertain genesis. The contrasting regions of western and northeastern Tasmania have probably been brought together by lateral movement along an inferred fracture. Flat-lying, Late Carboniferous and younger deposits rest on the older rocks, and the only known post-Devonian primary mineralization is gold associated with Creta ceous syenite.

A magnetic signature for tin deposits in south-east Australia

The major hardrock tin deposits in south-east Australia have a characteristic magnetic signature in the vicinity of each deposit. This magnetic signature is due to the high temperatures of intrusion, being close to the Curie point of magnetite, imposing a remanent effect within the meta-morphic aureole.The tin deposits are intimately related to the ilmenite series granitoids of Ishihara (1978) which have been linked with the S-type granitoids of Chappell and White (1974). These granites are usually non-magnetic and circumscribed by magnetic aureoles in the country rock. These magnetic parameters can be explained by the temperature - oxygen fugacity characteristics of the parent melt.The non-tin-mineralized granitoid suite, labelled magnetite series by Ishihara and l-type by Chappell and White, are moderately to strongly magnetic in south-east Australia. Non-magnetic l-type granitoids are common elsewhere, and can be caused by the replacement of Ti-magnetite by secondary sphene. The l-type granitoids (magnetite + sphene series) have a Cu - Mo - W mineral association.The relationship of tin mineralization to the S-type granitoids is that the deposits are found peripheral to the granitoids, in close association with their late and fine grained derivatives. The S-type granitoids may themselves be quite barren (Strong 1981). The mineralized late phase intrusions of north-west Tasmania exhibit a similar magnetic aureole to that surrounding the granitoids, as evidenced near the carbonate-replacement deposits at Mt Lindsay, Cleveland and Severn at Zeehan.Examples are given from north-west Tasmania to illustrate the signature of the Renison-Bell, Cleveland, Mt Lindsay and Severn deposits. Regional and local geophysical data from central New South Wales are presented to further illustrate the model for granites and mineralization at Ardlethan, Kikoira and Tallebung.

The nomenclature of carbonate replacement deposits, with emphasis on Sn‐F(‐Be‐Zn) ‘wrigglite’ skarns

Abstract The nomenclature of replacement deposits is reviewed in terms of two processes, namely those involving the reaction between: (a) carbonate and siliceous rocks and (b) carbonate and unusual solutions, commonly, but not always, related to granitoids. ‘Wrigglite’ skarn is an example of a replacement deposit produced by process (b). It is highly characteristic rock consisting of alternating light layers of fluorite ± other F‐rich minerals and dark layers composed usually of Fe‐rich minerals or, rarely, Be‐rich minerals. The layers formed parallel or sub‐parallel to fractures, which are now veins, by a Leisegang‐type diffusion process. Repeated periods of fracturing, with growth away from sequentially produced fractures, produced an apparently chaotic ‘wrigglite’ skarn. The skarn is invariably enriched in Fe, F, Sn, Be, W, Bi and Zn. For ‘wrigglite’ to form, fluorine must be greater than 9 weight percent in the rock, and the intrusion of a Sn‐leucogranite ('A‐type') high into the crust is needed. Recognition of ‘wrigglite’ is important because (1) in some areas it is an ore of Sn (Mt Bischoff, Tas.), rare earth metals (Bayan Obo, China) or Be (Lost River, Alaska); (2) it indicates a high‐level environment of emplacement of a Sn‐granitoid; and (3) it indicates clearly that intricate layering can be produced by a diffusional process and not only by primary sedimentation.