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The Hämmerlein skarn-hosted polymetallic deposit and the Eibenstock granite associated greisen, western Erzgebirge, Germany: two phases of mineralization—two Sn sources

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Abstract

The Hämmerlein polymetallic deposit is hosted in skarn, schists, and gneisses that reached their metamorphic peak at ~ 340 Ma during the Variscan orogeny. The deposit is spatially closely associated with one of the most voluminous granites of the Erzgebirge, the Eibenstock granite which intruded the metamorphic units at ~ 320 Ma, and locally also developed greisen mineralization. Cassiterite is the main ore mineral in the Hämmerlein skarn and in greisen mineralizations associated with the Eibenstock granite. The age of skarn formation is bracketed by multi-mineral Rb-Sr isochron ages of the gneisses (~ 340 Ma) and the end of ductile deformation (> 330 Ma). The dated calc-silicate minerals of the skarn have elevated Sn contents, which implies that some Sn was present in the system during regional metamorphism, i.e., well before the emplacement of the Eibenstock granite. Tin in the > 330 Ma old skarn silicates possibly was mobilized from the metamorphic wall rocks. Retrogression of the skarn mineral assemblage may have released some Sn that formed cassiterite in an assemblage with chlorite and fluorite. The Sr isotope signatures of fluorite indicate that this late assemblage is not related to cooling of the metamorphic rocks, but to the emplacement of the Eibenstock granite, which introduced additional Sn into the skarn. Thus, mineralization in the Hämmerlein deposit includes Sn that was introduced during two different events from different sources.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Saxore Bergbau GmbH for providing access to the outcrops and samples. We thank Bettina Hübner for her support during the chemical preparation of the samples, and Franziska Wilke and Oona Appelt for their help during EPMA analysis.

Funding

This project was supported by the German Government BMBF grant 033R134A awarded to RLR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Telegrafenberg, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Marie G. Lefebvre, Rolf L. Romer & Johannes Glodny

  2. Department of Geology, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, B.-v. -Cotta-Str. 2, D-09596, Freiberg, Germany

    Uwe Kroner

  3. Saxore Bergbau GmbH, Burgstr. 19, 09599, Freiberg, Germany

    Marco Roscher

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  1. Marie G. Lefebvre
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  2. Rolf L. Romer
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Correspondence to Marie G. Lefebvre.

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Lefebvre, M.G., Romer, R.L., Glodny, J. et al. The Hämmerlein skarn-hosted polymetallic deposit and the Eibenstock granite associated greisen, western Erzgebirge, Germany: two phases of mineralization—two Sn sources. Miner Deposita 54, 193–216 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-018-0830-4

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