The Chador-Malu iron oxide-apatite system (Bafq District, Central Iran) contains the largest known iron ore deposit in Iran (pre-mining reserve of 400 Mt @ 55 % Fe), and comprises the pipe-like northern (this study) and the sill-like southern orebodies of predominantly massive ore, and a sodic-calcic alteration envelope. The geology and geochemistry of the Chador-Malu deposit demonstrates its similar characteristics to the Kiruna-type deposits. There is circumstantial evidence for rare earth elements (REE) mobilization during apatite leaching by high-temperature fluids and associated monazite nucleation. Pervasive actinolitization of the rhyolitic country rocks led to the formation of actinolite-rich metasomatic host rocks, which represent another evidence for hightemperature fluids at Chador-Malu. Hydrothermal mineralization is suggested by small iron ore veins (2-3 cm thick) and breccias cemented by iron oxides, as well as a Fe-metasomatism which overprints all types of host rock alteration. Based on REE geochemistry and spatial relationships, it is proposed that a potential source for metals and P could be late-stage Fe-P melt differentiates of the Cambrian magmatism, which is consistent with the late Fe-metasomatism of the host rocks. The proposed Fe-P melts and the mineralization would be linked by hydrothermal media through the zones of ring fracture at Chador-Malu and similar parts of the Bafq district.
The Muteh deposit is a major Iranian gold mine that is located in the Sanadaj-Sirjan metallogenic zone. Gold deposition in Muteh has been previously interpreted to be Precambrian in age, but new studies propose the deposits may be younger and of late Eocene age. Therefore, geologic unit ages of and older than late Eocene are likely exploration targets for gold deposits. The focus of this study is to build a predictive model for mapping gold mineralization in the Muteh region. Based on the new gold mineralization concept in the Muteh deposits, the following conditions appear to be favorable for gold occurrence: (1) proximity to granite/leucogranite intrusive bodies as heat source; (2) presence of hydroxyl alteration minerals; (3) proximity to northeastoriented lineaments/faults; (4) presence of geochemical gold anomalies; (5) co-occurrence of gold pathfinder elements; and (6) presence of heavy mineral signatures. For this study, the potential heat sources were delineated from regional geological maps. The hydroxyl alteration minerals were extracted by applying the Crosta method on ETM+ satellite data, and the fusion of the ETM+ and DEM data was used to interpret structural features. The factor analysis on stream sediment data were utilized to reveal mineralization related geochemical anomalies. Mapping was carried out using a knowledge-based fuzzy logic overlay of evidential maps. Fuzzy scoring was assigned to different classes of evidential maps based on their favorability in gold potential mapping. The final gold deposition potential map generated from fuzzy integration of geo-exploration dataset suggests 4.4 % of the study area is favorable for gold mineralization. Known gold depositional environments were matched using the fuzzy logic approach, and one
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