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Mineral Zoning in Sediment-Hosted Copper-Iron Sulfide Deposits — A Quantitative Kinetic Approach

  • 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

The zoning typical of many sediment-hosted copper-iron sulfide deposits cannot be well accounted for by equilibrium approaches, which lead to inconsistencies and which are inherently ill-suited to describe a spatial, nonequilibrium process such as zoning. Much better is a kinetic approach that consists of differential equations representing dissolution, nucleation, growth, flow, and diffusion, all of which are clearly involved in ore genesis. In this kinetic model, time and spatial coordinates appear explicitly, and the equations automatically incorporate feedbacks among mechanisms. Numerical solutions of the equations for many combinations of reasonable values of the parameters involved (such as velocity and composition of the mineralizing water, equilibrium and reaction-rate constants, initial amount of pyrite in the rock, diffusion and nucleation constants, and others) can yield mineral zoning of several types, including the typical chalcocite-bornite-chalcopyrite-pyrite found at the White Pine deposit.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geo-Chem Research Assoc., 400 E. First St., Bloomington, IN, 47401, USA

    E. Merino, C. Moore, P. Ortoleva & E. Ripley

  2. Department of Geology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    E. Merino, P. Ortoleva & E. Ripley

  3. Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    P. Ortoleva

Authors
  1. E. Merino
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  2. C. Moore
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  3. P. Ortoleva
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  4. E. Ripley
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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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Merino, E., Moore, C., Ortoleva, P., Ripley, E. (1986). Mineral Zoning in Sediment-Hosted Copper-Iron Sulfide Deposits — A Quantitative Kinetic Approach. 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_40

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70902-9_40

  • 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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