Chapter FIVE

Supergene and Secondary Enrichment

Deposits

1
 Definition
 Definition from Evans, 1993: “leaching of valuable
elements from the upper parts of mineral deposits and
their precipitation at depth to produce higher
concentration

 Definition from Gilbert and Park, 1985: Supergene

enrichment occur when oxidizing acid dissolve metal
ions from the “protore” and re-deposits it in more
reducing, basic areas, i.e. below the water table. This
result in an oxidized zone on top (gossan), a supergene
zone beneath and the hypogene (protore) beneath that.
2
 Secondary or supergene enrichment where leaching of
materials occurs and precipitation at depth produces
higher concentration
 from:
 Concentrating mineral by chemical weathering
processes.
 Residual mineral deposits

 An existing mineral deposit can be turned into a more

highly concentrated mineral deposit by weathering
process.
 Remarkable special case of weathering
3
4
 Generally it is natural upgrading of buried sulfide
deposits by the secondary or subsequent deposition of
metals that are dissolved as sulfates in waters
percolating through the oxidized mineral zone near
the surface.

 The ore thus enriched forms the secondary, or

supergene sulfide, zone and overlies the primary, or
hypogene, zone. The phenomenon is most common in
arid or semi-arid regions.

5
When ore deposits become exposed to the oxidation
zone, they are weathered and altered along with the
enclosing rocks.

The surface waters oxidize many ore minerals and

yield solvents that dissolve other minerals.

An ore deposit thus becomes oxidized and generally

leached of many of its valuable materials down to the
ground water table, or to a depth where oxidation
cannot take place.

6
The oxidized part of the ore is called the zone of
oxidation. The effects of oxidation, however, may
extend far below the zone of oxidation.

As the cold, dilute, leaching solutions trickle

downward they may lose a part or all of their metallic
content within the zone of oxidation and give rise to
oxidized ore deposits.

If the down-trickling solutions penetrate the water

table, their metallic content may be precipitated in the
form of secondary sulphides to give rise to a zone of
secondary or supergene sulphide enrichment.
7
The lower, unaffected part of the deposit is called
the primary or hypogene zone

This zonal arrangement is characteristic of many

mineral deposits that have undergone long-continued
weathering.

In places the supergene sulfide zone may be absent,

and in rare cases the oxidized zone is shallow or
lacking, as in some glaciated areas or regions
undergoing rapid erosion.

8
 Zones
 Different zones can be identified at different depths.
From the surface down they are gossan cap, leached
zone, oxidized zone, water table, enriched zone
(supergene enriched zone) and primary zone
(hypogene zone)
1. Gossan cap
 Pyrite FeS2 is generally abundant, and near the
surface it oxidizes to insoluble compounds such as
goethite FeO(OH) and limonite, forming a porous
covering to the oxidized zone known as gossan or
iron hat. Prospectors take gossan as an indication that
there might be reserves of ore underneath.
9
 Gossan is the leached, oxidized surface exposure of
weathered sulphide deposits.

 It is heavy concentration of limonitic material,

derived from massive sulfide minerals or from their
iron yielding gossan, which has been leached in place
and transported downward.

 They are limited to the surface but may extend some

distance below the surface (in some cases the gossan
has contained sufficient economic mineralization to
warrant mining)

10
2. Leached zone
 The groundwater contains dissolved oxygen and carbon
dioxide, and as it travels downwards it leaches out the
minerals in the rocks to form sulfuric acid, and other
solutions that continue moving downward

3. Oxidized zone
 Above the water table the environment is oxidizing,
and below it is reducing. Solutions travelling
downward from the leached zone react with other
primary minerals in the oxidized zone to form
secondary minerals such as sulfates and carbonates,
and limonite, which is a characteristic product in all
oxidized zones
11
4. Water table
 At the water table the environment changes from an
oxidizing environment to a reducing one
5. Enriched zone
 Copper ions that move down into this reducing
environment form a zone of supergene sulfide
enrichment. Covellite CuS, chalcocite Cu2S and
native copper Cu are stable in these conditions and
they are characteristic of the enriched zone.

 The net effect of these supergene processes is to

move metal ions from the leached zone to the
enriched zone, increasing the concentration there to
levels higher than in the unmodified primary zone,
possibly producing a deposit worth mining
12
6. Primary zone
 The primary zone contains unaltered primary minerals
Mineral alterations
 Chalcopyrite CuFeS2 (primary) readily alters to the
secondary minerals bornite Cu5FeS4, covellite CuS
and brochantite Cu4SO4(OH)6.
 Galena PbS (primary) alters to secondary anglesite
PbSO4 and cerussite PbCO3
 Sphalerite ZnS (primary) alters to secondary
hemimorphite Zn4Si2O7(OH)2.H2O, smithsonite
ZnCO3 and manganese-bearing willemite Zn2SiO4
 Pyrite FeS2 (primary) alters to secondary melanterite
FeSO4.7H2O.
13
 zone of
oxidation.

zone of secondary or
supergene sulphide
enrichment

Diagram of zones of weathered vein, with oxidized

supergene enrichment and primary zones 14
 Conditions that influence supergene
enrichment
 Active chemical weathering with ground level
lowered by erosion

 Weathering under acidic (carbonated water) and

oxidizing conditions

 Permeability and porosity

 Composition of the ore from the standpoint of

chemistry of the solution, chemical environment (may
contain abundant pyrite, and acid soluble ore metal
minerals)
15
 Structural detail of the deposit

 Time

 Deep water table imposing reducing condition

 Latitude and altitude, and depth of water level

 Climate and physiographic development

 Restricted to non- glacial terrains

16
The effect of supergene enrichment has been more far
reaching. It has added much where there was previously
little; leaner parts of veins have been made rich;
unworkable protore has been enriched to ore grade.

Indeed, many of the great copper districts would not

have come into existence except for the process of
supergene sulfide enrichment.

Oxidation and Solution in Zone of Oxidation

Supergene oxidation and reduction enrichment go hand
in hand. Without oxidation there can be no supply of
solvents from which minerals may later be precipitated in
the zones of oxidation or of supergene sulfides.
17
Oxidation:- The effects of oxidation on mineral
deposits are profound. The minerals are altered and the
structure is obliterated (destroy some thing completely)

The metallic substances are leached or are altered to

new compounds that require metallurgical treatment for
their extraction quite unlike that employed for the
unoxidized materials.

The original texture and the type of deposit are

obscured (difficult to identify)

18
Compact ores are made cavernous. Ubiquitous
(Universal) limonite obscures everything and imparts to
the gossan that familiar rusty colour which from earliest
times has attracted the curiosity of the miner.

Water with dissolved and entangled oxygen is the most

powerful oxidizing reagent, but carbon dioxide also plays
an important role. (Locally chlorides, iodides, and
bromides play a part).

These substances react with certain minerals to yield

strong solvents such as ferric sulphate and sulphuric acid.

19
Sulphuric acid, in turn, reacting with sodium chloride
yields hydrochloric acid, which with iron yields the
strongly oxidizing ferric chloride.

Bacteria also promote oxidation. they oxidize ferrous

iron at low pH to ferric sulphate.

The concentration of the hydrogen ion is expressed as

pH, which is sometimes involved in oxidation processes
and can, therefore, be used as a common reference
activity for the oxidation-reduction reactions.

The same reaction will differ in its oxidation-reduction

potential (Eh) with variations of pH. 20
 Gossans and Capping
Gossans are signboards that point to what lies beneath the
surface.

They arrest attention and incite interest as to what they may

mask (face covering to hidden identity). Most ore deposits, save
in glaciated regions, are capped by gossans; hence the finding of
one may herald the discovery of buried wealth.

Non-commercial mineral bodies, however, also yield gossans.

To distinguish between them is of vital importance; but it requires
experience, knowledge, and careful observation. The distinctions
involve delicate differences of colour and form

21
In summary, gossan is a heavy concentration of
"Iimonitic" material, derived from massive sulfide
minerals or from their iron-yielding gossan, which
has been leached in place and transported downward .

Capping is the leached upper part of a body or rock

that still contains disseminated sulfide minerals.

22
 ORE DEPOSITION IN THE ZONE OF
OXIDATION

Oxidized ore deposits may result within the zone of

oxidation if the down-trickling oxidizing solutions
encounter precipitants above the water table.

There is abundant evidence that such solutions are

present in the zone of oxidation.

The economic minerals redeposited within the zone of

oxidation are chiefly native metals, carbonates, silicates,
23
and oxides.
The metals of greatest commercial importance are
copper, zinc, lead, silver, vanadium, and uranium, in
place below the surface. Uranium is being leached in
the Gas Hills region, Wyoming, by using sulphuric
acid.

Less valuable deposits of cobalt, manganese, iron,

and other substances are similarly formed. For the
most part, the ores are deposited in the lower part of
the zone of oxidation.

24
 Relation of Enrichment to Water
Level
Sulfide enrichment starts at the redox interface, which
may be the water table and extends below it.

If the position of the top of the zone is controlled by

the water table, then it is similarly related to the
topography. The upper surface may be sharply separated
from the oxidized zone,

25
But generally there is an interpenetration of the
two; the surface may be gently curved or highly
irregular and deeply penetrated by long roots of
oxidized material.

The bottom of the enrichment zone is highly

irregular and is a gradual transition to the primary
ore. In places it terminates abruptly downward
against impervious faults, or it may send roots
downward along faults or other structural features.

26
 Sulfide Enrichment above the
Water Table
In masses of sulfides stranded above the water table,
the supply of oxygen may be consumed by the
exteriors, and supergene sulfides may be deposited in
the oxygen-free interiors. This has occurred at
Bingham, Utah, and at Bisbee, Arizona, although
mining operations have long since removed such
zones.

27
 Residual (Laterite) mineral deposit
 Result in the accumulation of valuable minerals
when constituents of rock or mineral deposits are
removed during weathering

 The concentration is due largely to decrease in

volume caused entirely by surfacial chemical
weathering

 The residues may continue to accumulate until their

purity and volume make them of commercial
importance
28
 During chemical weathering original body of rock is
greatly reduced in volume by the process of leaching,
which removes ions from the original rock. Elements
that are not leached from the rock, thus occur in
higher concentration in the residual rock.

 Leaching of rock leaves residual materials behind

(i.e., form by the removal of soluble minerals
(leaching))

 Insoluble minerals (residues) get concentrated at the

weathering site

29
 These deposits often form as a result of intense
chemical weathering in warm tropical climates that
received high temperature and high amounts of
rainfall which produces highly leached soils rich in
both iron and aluminum.

 In addition, an existing mineral deposit can be turned

into a more highly concentrated mineral deposit by
weathering in a process called secondary enrichment

 Resources from residual mineral deposits: Al

(Bauxite), Ni (Nickeliferous laterite), Co, Ni, Cu, Fe,
kaolinite

30
 Process of formation
 The requirement for residual concentration of
economic mineral deposit:

1. The presence of rocks or lodes containing valuable

minerals, of which the undesired substances are
soluble, and desired substances are generally insoluble
undersurface conditions

2. The climate conditions must favor chemical decay

31
3. The relief must not be too great, or the valuable
residue will be washed away as rapidly as they
formed

4. Long-continued crustal stability is essential in order

that residues may accumulate in quantity and the
deposits may not be destroyed by erosion

32
 2. Laterites
 Laterite- the resulting soil layer, typically red in color
due to the presence of iron oxides and hydroxides.
 Nodular, red to yellow or brown hematite and goethite
with as much as 20% Al2O3.
 Laterites are formed mostly in the subtropical and
tropical regions between 25 degree North and 25
degree south latitude
 Laterite deposits can be thick, up to 20m
 It is precipitated into laterite with concentration 1-3%
by weight
 Laterite deposits of aluminum, iron, nickel, cobalt,
chromium, titanium, copper and gold are also formed
33
3. Residual Bauxite Formation
Bauxite, the ore of aluminium (aluminium), is formed in residual
deposits at or near the surface under tropical or semitropical
conditions of weathering.

The most important ore of aluminium, bauxite, forms in tropical

climates where high temperatures and high water throughout,
during chemical weathering produces highly leached lateritic soils
rich in both iron and aluminium.

Most bauxite deposits are relatively young because they form

near the surface of the earth and are easily removed by erosion
acting over long periods of time
34
35
Constitution of Bauxite.

Bauxite was formerly the mineral name of

Al203.2H2O, which is no longer recognized as a
mineral species.

The present usage of the term, both mineralogical

and in commerce, is to designate a commonly
occurring substance that is a mixture of several
hydrated aluminium oxides with considerable
variation in alumina content.
36
 Mode of Formation

General: Bauxite is not a product of normal

weathering in temperate regions: it is almost entirely
lacking from soils formed there. It is, however, a
constituent of lateritic soils formed in tropical and
subtropical regions.

37
Bauxite is an accumulated product of peculiar
weathering of aluminium silicate rocks lacking in
much free quartz.

The silicates are broken down; silica is removed;

iron is partly removed; water is added; and alumina,
along with titanium and ferric oxide (and perhaps
manganese oxide), becomes concentrated in the
residuum

38
 Commercial bauxite occurs in
three forms
1. Pisolitic or oolitic, in which the kernels (grain or
seed) are as much as a centimetre in diameter and
consist principally of amorphous trihydrate;

2. Sponge ore (Arkansas), which is porous,

commonly retains the texture of the source rock,
and is composed mainly of gibbsite; and

3. Amorphous or clay ore. All three may be

intermingled (mixed).
39
Conditions for bauxite deposits formation
The conditions necessary for bauxite deposits are:

1. Humid tropical or subtropical climate:

2. Rocks high in aluminum material and susceptible of

yielding bauxite under suitable weathering conditions:

3. Available reagents, including abundant precipitation, to

bring about breakdown of the silicates and solution of
silica at specific pH and Eh conditions;

40
4. Surfaces that permit slow downward infiltration of
meteoric water:

5. Subsurface conditions that allow the removal of

dissolved waste products;

6. Long time of tectonic stability: and

7. Preservation.

41
Mode of formation

42
Source Rocks
Bauxite deposits are formed from rocks relatively high in
aluminium silicates and low in iron and free quartz.

Thus the Arkansas, Brazil, and Guinea deposits have

been formed from nepheline syenite, the Georgia-Alabama
deposits from clay, the French deposits at Baux (the source
of the name bauxite) from limestone's or clays in
limestone,

the Ghana deposits from clay shales and other aluminous

rocks, the Indian deposits from basalt, and Thailand
deposits from clay alluvium.
43
Chemical Reagents

The chemical processes involved in bauxite

formation are imperfectly understood. Because
sulphuric acid or sodium carbonate decompose
clays, these reagents have been mentioned as the
active ones.
It is likely that the ordinary reagents available in
tropical weather such as plant acids and rainfall have
been the effective agents of alteration.
44
It is probable that water, carbon dioxide, humic acids,
and tepid (lukewarm) rainwater are the reagents
involved. Carbonic and organic acids break up silicates,
and the resulting alkali carbonates are competent
solvents for silica.

Carbon dioxide in rainwater is an effective dissolver

of limestone.

45
Erosion Surfaces

Bauxite deposits characteristically lie upon, or are

part of, gently undulating surfaces of erosion. Many
are associated with old peneplains, as in the southern
United States and Ghana; most deposits mark
unconformities.

46
Time
The formation of bauxite apparently requires a
long period of time, perhaps equivalent to the
amount involved in the formation of a peneplain.
Most deposits are, however post-Cretaceous in age;
many are early to middle Tertiary.

Probably because older deposits had a higher

probability of being lost to erosion.

47
Resulting Bauxite Deposits

Classes of Deposits. Bauxite deposits formed by

residual concentration occur as

(1) Blankets at or near the surface and are

approximately horizontal;

(2) Interstratified bedded deposits lying on

erosional unconformities and consisting of beds
or lenses within sedimentary formations;
48
3. Pocket deposits or irregular masses whose
bottoms are sheathed (covered) in clay,
occupying solution or erosional depressions in
limestone or dolomite: and

4. Deposits derived from clastic deposits with

sediments derived from crystalline rocks.

5. Bauxite may also be moved from its site of

formation and be redeposited in nearby
sedimentary beds, or as rubble accumulations,
giving rise to transported deposits.
49
Age

The optimum conditions for the formation of bauxite

apparently existed between Middle Cretaceous and
middle Eocene, when most of the commercial deposits
of the world were formed.

A few were formed earlier, and some in late Tertiary

and Recent.

The only Palaeozoic bauxite known is at Tikhvin au

Leon, Spain, in Devonian rocks; the only Triassic
deposits are some in Croatia
50
Types of Bauxite Deposits

51
Summary. The features of occurrence of bauxite
deposits lead to the following conclusions:

1. They are all related to old peneplains or erosion

surfaces. This implies the necessity of considerable
time and of flattish drainage surfaces for their
formation.

2. They have mostly been formed in the-late Mesozoic

or Tertiary time under climatic conditions different
from those that prevail in the same places today,
probably the result of continental drift.
52
3. The bauxite deposits of Jamaica appear to be
localized in karst topography not from leaching
of clay, but rather from slightly impure limestone
dolostone that is about 0.036 percent alumina.
Considerable leaching could explain the residual
concentration of aluminium.

53
 4. Clay (Kaolinite) Deposits formed by
residual concentration
 Residual clays can be classified as follows:

1. Kaolins, white in color, and usually white:

a. Veins, derived from weathering of dikes
b. Blanket deposits, derived from areas of igneous of
metamorphic rocks.
c. Replacement deposits
d. Bedded deposits, derived from feldspatic sandstones

2. Red-burning residuals derived from different kinds of

rocks
54
 Source materials
 The chief source rocks of residual clays are crystalline
rocks, more especially the silicic granular rocks that
are rich feldspars and low in iron minerals, such as
granite and gneiss
 Basic igneous rocks yield much ferric oxide
 Feldspatic-rich pegmatites yield dike like masses of
high grade white kaolin, generally very low in iron and
other impurities
 Syenite yield excellent clay
 Shale, used as a clay material, but if it is weathered it
yield purer product
 Sericitized igneous rocks yield clay
55
 Mode of formation
 Clay formation result from normal weathering
processes
 Vegetation plus the atmosphere supplied CO2, and it
is noteworthy that good commonly underlies swamps.

 The formation of clay from silicate minerals is

essentially a breaking down of the silicates to form
hydrous aluminum silicates and the removal of the
soluble silica and alkalis in solution. Some free quartz
will remain and must be extracted to obtain pure
clays. The alteration of orthoclase, for example,
yields kaolinite, potassium carbonate and silica. The
last two are removed in solution and the kaolinite
persist.
56
 5. Nickel Laterite Deposits
 Peridotite is a common ultramafic rock type which
contain olivine, a greenish gray mineral, and are
known to contain very small quantities of magnesium
and nickel in the silicate lattice

 Rock containing nickel are broken down, decompose

and lose silica by intense tropical and subtropical
weathering to form a soil layer

 Weathering begins on joints and fractures in the rock

to form large blocks or boulders with a thin soil layer

57
 Further weathering and biological processes thicken
the soil layer

 Water flowing through the soil leaches nickel, iron,

and magnesium (and other metals) from the soil

 The metal (nickel, iron, magnesium, and others) then

precipitate from water as oxides, hydroxides, and
silicates in different parts of the soil layer as laterite.

58
59
 Chapter SIX
Metallogeny and Plate
Tectonics
Metallogenic Provinces and Epochs
 Many ore-deposit types have preferred, even exclusive
tectonic settings or geologic ages.

 It should therefore be no surprise that ore deposits

commonly occur preferentially in swaths (strips/belts) of
the Earth's crust that are dictated by the dynamics of Earth
history
 and that are commonly constrained in both the
geographic- geologic- tectonic distribution sense and the
geologic time sense.

 Given belts of terrain have been favourable particular place

for the formation of ore-deposit types at different geologic
ages.
 A metallogenic Province
 It is defined as a terrain containing mineral deposits
that are characterized, at least broadly, by related
mineral composition, form, style, and geologic age of
mineralization (Petrascheck, 1965).

 Bateman (1950) defined a metallogenic province as a

region characterized by relatively abundant
mineralization, one type of which predominates.

 The term can be used in both senses today.

 Con’
• Metallogenic province: refers to a region or area that
is characterized by the occurrence of significant
concentration of economically valuable mineral
deposits.

• Associated with specific geological settings &

processes such as plate tectonic, magmatic activity,
hydrothermal systems, or sedimentary processes.
 A metallogenic Epoch

 It is a time interval that was favourable for the

deposition of particular useful substances (Lindgren,
1933).

 Turneaure (1955) used the term to distinguish a

geologic period during which mineral deposition in
general was most pronounced, as did Kesler (1978)
 Common metallogenic epochs are:
Archean:- Chromite, PGM, Cu- Fe – Ni, Au, Some
VMS

Proterozoic:- Placer Au and U deposits, PGM,

Chromite, BIF, Fe - Ti oxides with anorthosite,
Diamonds in kimberlites, Sediment hosted Cu

Phanerozoic:- Phosphorites: Proterozoic-

Cambrian boundary, Podiform (Alpine type) chromite,
Coal, Carboniferous, Residual (Cretaceous – Recent).
 Several authors have emphasized the close relationship
between metallogenic provinces and metallogenic
epochs

 Although "the Canadian Precambrian Shield" is

frequently described as a single metallogenic province
formed essentially in one metallogenic epoch,
geologists who work with mineral deposits in those
areas urge that they were constructed during several
metallogenic epochs, and

 That their ore deposits were formed at several

successive times (Hutchinson, Ridler, and Suffel,
1971)
Most Generally

 A metallogenic province is a notable concentration of

deposits of a metal or metals which is in large region
or belt. Note that not all deposits in a province
formed at the same time.

 A metallogenic epoch is a period of time during

which significant concentration of deposit of one
metal formed in one or more provinces.
 The size of a metallogenic province can range from
that of a single mining district to regions that extend
hundreds to thousands of kilometres.

 The vast Canadian Shield has been defined as a

province, that have the Climax-Urad-Henderson-
Crested Butte area of central Colorado, a small
province characterized by the deposition of Climax-
type molybdenite (porphyry type) during one brief
epoch.
 Plate Tectonics and Ore Deposits
 The description of ore deposits in the context of their
plate tectonic setting has been carried out in
considerable detail in numerous publications (Mitchell
and Garson, 1981; Hutchison, 1983; Sawkins, 1990).

 A useful diagrammatic summary is presented in

Mitchell and Garson (1981),
Extensional settings
 Incipient rifting of stable continental crust is
represented in Figure below, where thinning and
extension may be related to hotspot activity.

 Comprises graben-horst structure; develops normal

faults

 Magmatism is often localized along old sutures and is

alkaline or ultrapotassic (kimberlites and lamproites)
in character.
 1. Anorogenic granites such as those of the Bushveld
Complex (Sn, W, Mo, Cu, F, etc.),
2. Pyroxenite–carbonatite intrusions such as
Phalaborwa (Cu–Fe–P–U–REE etc.), and
3. Kimberlites (diamonds)

 The above listed represent ore deposit types formed in

this setting.
 Intra-continental rifts can host Sedimentary exhalative or
SEDEX-type Pb–Zn–Ba–Ag deposits.

 As continental rifting extends to the point that incipient

oceans begin to open (such as the Red Sea; basaltic
volcanism marks the site of a mid ocean ridge and this
site is also accompanied by exhalative hydrothermal
activity and plentiful VMS deposit formation.

 Such settings also provide the environments for chemical

sedimentation and precipitation of banded iron-
formations and manganiferous sediments.

 Continental platforms commonly host organic

accumulations that on catagenesis give rise to oil
deposits.
 Also known as continental rift; undergo extension &
splitting

 Carbonate sedimentation ultimately provides the rocks

which host MVT deposits (Hydrothermal origin -
Mississippi valley type, MVT) lead–zinc deposits

 Over time, if rifting continues, the rift valley can deepen

& widen, eventually leading to new ocean basin.

 Mid-ocean ridges are the culmination of extensional

processes.
 Exhalative activity at these sites give rise to “black-
smoker” vents (such as those at 21° N on the East
Pacific Rise) that provide the environments for the
formation of Cyprus type Volcanogenic Massive
Sulfide,” or VMS deposits.

 The basalts which form at mid-ocean ridges also

undergo fractional crystallization at sub-volcanic
depths to form podiform chromite deposits as well as
Cu–Ni–PGE sulfide segregations.
Compressional settings
 The highly significant Andean type collisional
margins are represented in Figure below

 These are the sites of the great porphyry Cu–Mo

provinces of the world, while in board of the arc
significant Sn–W granitoid-hosted mineralization also
occurs.

 The volcanic regions above the porphyry systems are

also the sites of epithermal precious metal
mineralization.
A similar tectonic setting can exist between two
slabs of oceanic crust, as represented by the
island arc environment in Figure below.

Porphyry Cu–Au deposits occasionally occur

associated with the early stages of magmatism
in these settings, whereas the later, more
evolved calc–alkaline magmatism gives rise to
Kuroko-type Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide or
VMS deposits.
 The back-arc basins represent the sites of Besshi type
VMS deposition.

 Arc–arc collision in the back-arc environment can

also result in the preservation of obducted oceanic
spreading centres within which podiform Cr and
sulfide segregations might be preserved.

 In the Japanese setting, where the island arc develops

fairly close to a continent (Figure below), marginal
sedimentary basins floored by oceanic crust occur.
 This setting typically hosts Besshi- and Cyprus type
VMS deposits.

 As the arc and continent accrete, ophiolite obduction

can occur, and felsic magmatism may give rise to
large-ion lithophile element mineralization.

 Ultimately, the oceanic crust is totally consumed to

form a zone of continent–continent collision (fig.
below)
 Modern examples such as the Himalayas and Alps do
not appear to be significantly mineralized, but this
may be an expression of insufficient exhumation of
mineralized zones.

 Older examples preserve Sn–W–U mineralization in

S-type granites, whereas orogeny-driven fluids give
rise to orogenic vein-related lode Au systems and
MVT Pb–Zn deposits in suitably preserved plat form
sediments.
Summary
 Most mineral deposits can be associated with one of the following six
tectonic setting (Mitchell and Reading, 1986)

1. Ore deposits formed at continental interior basins and

intra-continental rifts

Intra-continental: geologic processes that occur within interior of a

single continent, away from where tectonic plates interact.
Continental interior: refers to the stable, central regions
within a single continent, away from its margins.

1.1. Continental basins:

 Characterized by thick accumulation of continental sediments and
occasionally shallow marine sediments.
Deposits include
 Gas fields (Oil and Gas (E.g. Algeria))
 Placer Gold deposits (e.g. Witwatersrand, South
Africa)
 Evaporates including salts of Na and K
 Banded Iron Formations (BIF)
 Sediment hosted Cu deposits (Kupferschiefer in
Germany and Poland)
 Unconformity type U deposits (e.g. Athabasca sands,
Canada)
 MVT Pb-Zn deposits in platform carbonates (if in
epicontinental basins)
 1.2. Hot spots, rifts and failed rifts
(aulacogens)

 Characterized by extensive magmatism and

volcanism due to mantle plumes and bulging of the
continental crust.

 Geomorphologically low lands, thick accumulation of

continental sediments and evaporates related
Deposits include

 Sn mineralization associated with A-type granites

 PGM and Chromite associated with mafic intrusions
(e.g. Bushveld and Great Dyke)
 Cu in Red bed type deposits
 Evaporites and associated resources e.g. Abiyata soda
ash deposit in Main Ethiopian Rift
 Kimberlites
 Cu – Fe – Ni deposits (e.g. Duluth, Minnesota)
 Epithermal precious and base metal deposits
 2. Ore deposits formed at Mid-Ocean
Ridge (MOR) settings
Mid-Ocean Ridge (MOR)

 Extensive magmatism compared to other sites of magmatic

activities.
 Magma differentiation, submarine volcanism, extensive
hydrothermal alteration and sedimentation of deep sea sediments
are common

Deposits include:- Cyprus type VMS, Alpine type

chromite deposits, Hydrothermal deposits of Cu, Zn, Ag, Sn, Pb-
Zn deposits associated with brine pools
 3. Ore deposits formed at passive
continental margins

Passive continental margins

 A continental shelf, bounded ocean wards by a slope
and landwards by a shoreline

Deposits include
 MVT Pb-Zn deposits
 Stratiform sandstone hosted Pb-Zn deposits.
 Banded Fe formations
 Beach placer deposits
 4. Ore deposits formed at subduction
related settings
Subduction
 Ocean lithosphere beneath a continental margin
 Generate partial melting of the subducting slab
 Magmatism/volcanism
 Mineralization events at different sites of the
subduction zones.
 Autochthonus deposits (mineral resources formed
within the zone)
 Allochthonous deposits (transported from outside
sources)
Deposit include
 VMS deposits (Kuroko type)

 Porphyry Cu and Mo deposits

 Skarn deposits (magnetite)

 Epithermal deposits (e.g. Ag and Au)

 Base metal lode deposits (Cu-Pb-Zn).

5. Ore deposits formed at collisional
related setting
Collision can occur between:
 Continent and continent margin
 Continent and island arch
 Two active arch system

Mineralizations related to such activities

include:
 Vein deposits (Sn and W)
 Porphyry Cu, Mo deposit related to I-type granites
 Placer deposits
6. Ore deposits formed at Strike-slip
settings
 Existence of transform faults and long tear/wrench
faults
 Cause some sort of geologic activities
 Formation of some mineral resources (though not as
abundant as in other tectonic setting)

Mineral deposits
 Kaolinite deposits
 Hypothermal Au deposits
 Oil fields (Oil and Gas)