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Physico-Chemical Conditions of Base Metal Sulphide Ore Formation

  • Conference paper
Geology and Metallogeny of Copper Deposits

Part of the book series: Special Publication No. 4 of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits ((MINERAL DEPOS.,volume 4))

Abstract

Primary base metal massive sulphide deposits are formed as a rule in seafloor depressions. Ore formation is preceded by stratification of seawaters into oxiding and reducing zones. Hydrothermal sedimentary pyritic bodies are formed in two stages. During sedimentogenesis, monosulphide iron and non-ferrous thin sediments are accumulated under thermodynamic disequilibrium conditions. During diagenesis, sea-floor sulphide sediments are crystallized as a result of their interaction with pore solutions. The latter, according the thermodynamic data, are characterized by the buffer ratio of sulphur in oxidized and reduced forms. The process of diagenesis results in standard base metal zonation. If pyrite-bearing fluids are characterized by increased total activity of sulphur, then such a zonation is complicated by an additional zonal distribution of sulphides and sulphates. The disappearance of anhydrite at the barite-polymetallic level is due to the spontaneous evolution of the external physical and chemical parameters against a background of temperature decrease and displacement of the invariant barite-calcite-anhydrite equilibrium towards to barite crystallization field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Caucasian Institute of Mineral Resources, 85 Paliashvili St., 380062, Tbilisi, USSR

    A. G. Tvalchrelidze

Authors
  1. A. G. Tvalchrelidze
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Mineralogie und Lagerstättenlehre, RWTH Aachen, Wüllnerstraße 2, 5100, Aachen, Germany

    Günther H. Friedrich

  2. CCCP/IGEM, Staromonetny, 35, 109017, Moscow, USSR

    Alexandr D. Genkin

  3. Department of Geology, University of Toronto, M5S 1A1, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Anthony J. Naldrett

  4. 1402 NW 18th Street, 32605, Gainesville, FL, USA

    John D. Ridge

  5. 8 West Hill Park, N6 6ND, Highgate Village London, England

    Richard H. Sillitoe

  6. Geologisk Institut Norges Tekniske Høgskole, Universitetet i Trondheim, 7034, Trondheim, Norway

    Frank M. Vokes

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© 1986 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Tvalchrelidze, A.G. (1986). Physico-Chemical Conditions of Base Metal Sulphide Ore Formation. In: Friedrich, G.H., Genkin, A.D., Naldrett, A.J., Ridge, J.D., Sillitoe, R.H., Vokes, F.M. (eds) Geology and Metallogeny of Copper Deposits. Special Publication No. 4 of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits, vol 4. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70902-9_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70902-9_26

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-70904-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-70902-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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