The recently discovered Biely Vrch deposit in the Western Carpathian magmatic arc is the most extreme example of a porphyry gold deposit, being practically free of copper, molybdenum or any other sulfide minerals. Microanalytical data on fluid inclusions in quartz veinlets, including a characteristic type of banded veinlets, show that this deposit formed from nearly anhydrous Fe-K-Na-Cl salt melts containing ~10 ppm Au, coexisting with hydrous vapor of very low density. This exceptional fluid evolution required an Fe-rich dioritic source magma that was emplaced at shallow subvolcanic depth (<3.5 km), directly exsolving a hypersaline liquid and magmatic vapor at high temperature (~850 °C). During ascent to the level of the porphyry intrusion (0.5-1 km), fluid expansion at high temperature but low pressure led to halite precipitation and further water loss to the vapor, generating an increasingly Fe-K-rich salt melt that transported high concentrations of Au but negligible Cu into the fractured porphyry stock. The low sulfur fugacity resulting from fluid expansion suppressed precipitation of sulfide, explaining the gold-only enrichment in this globallyrecurring but rather rare type of gold ore.
The Neogene Central Slovakia Volcanic Field in the Carpathian arc contains various Au deposits, hosted by central zones of large andesite stratovolcanoes. Fluids involved in mineralization have bee n studied at three different types of deposit, mostly by fluid inclusion and stable isotope techniques. Rozália mine in the Štiavnica stratovolcano hosts intermediate sulphidation style Au-Ag epithermal mineralization in subhorizontal veins, related to hydrothermal activity during an early stage of caldera collapse. Associated fluids of low salinity underwent extensive boiling at 280-330°C on transition from suprahydrostatic towards hydrodynamic conditions at shallow depths (~550 m) from fluids of mixed magmatic and meteoric origin. Kremnica ore field hosts a large system of low sulphidation style Au-Ag veins contemporaneous with rhyolite magmatism and situated on resurgent horst faults. Fluids were of low salinity, predominantly of meteoric origin and showed gradual decrease in temperature along the system (~270-140°C) related to decrease in erosion level from ~500 to ~50 m. Biely Vrch Au-porphyry deposit in the Javorie stratovolcano is associated with quartz stockwork in diorite porphyry intrusion. The major type of ore-bearing fluid was high temperature magmatic vapour (720 to <380°C) accompanied by Ferich salt melt. Gold precipitated in a high-temperature but low-pressure subvolcanic environment.
AbstractThe effect of magmatic sulfide precipitation on the potential of magmatic systems to produce porphyry-type ore deposits is still a matter of debate. In particular, we need to know whether magmatic sulfide precipitation has an impact on the Cu and Au content of the exsolving magmatic volatile phases and, by this way, on the Cu/Au ratio of porphyry deposits. The Javorie volcano is a perfect place to explore these questions. First, it hosts several Au-only porphyry-type mineralized occurrences which have among the lowest Cu/Au ratios reported in the literature. Secondly, the geology of the Javorie volcano and the timing of porphyry Au mineralization are well established.The evolution of the Javorie magmatic system was reconstructed by detailed petrographic studies and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis of minerals, melt inclusions and sulfide inclusions. The Javorie volcano was formed during the post-subduction magmatic activity affecting the Western Carpathians. It is a typical stratovolcano, composed dominantly of basaltic andesites and andesites which were intruded by several small stocks of dacitic to dioritic composition. According to our thermobarometric data, the volcano was fed by a transcrustal magmatic system in which two levels of magma chambers could be identified. Part of the magma evolved in the lower crust as suggested by the occurrence of magmatic garnet antecrysts in some of the studied rocks. The occurrence of magmatic sulfide inclusions in garnet indicates that sulfide saturation was reached in this lower crustal magma chamber. Most of the rocks crystallized in an upper crustal magma chamber (∼2 ± 1 kbar) that was fed by a basaltic to basaltic andesite magmas. A large variation in temperatures, ranging between 820°C and 1025°C, recorded by the extrusive and intrusive rocks suggest either that the upper crustal magma chamber was thermally zoned, or that the temperature of the whole magma chamber varied dramatically during its lifetime. Magmatic sulfide inclusions are present in all minerals and rocks of the upper crustal magma chamber, independent of their timing relative to porphyry Au mineralization (pre-, syn-, post-ore). These observations suggest that the magmatic system was sulfide saturated during its entire evolution. With very few exceptions, the precipitating sulfides were composed of monosulfide solid solution containing 0·2–9·2 wt % Cu and 0·05–11 ppm Au. The presence of these magmatic sulfides, together with results of a numerical model, suggest that the primitive magma feeding the upper crustal magma chamber contained less than 2·75 wt % H2O and that only a minor part of the magmatic sulfides was fractionated out of the system. Finally, the Cu/Au ratios measured in the magmatic sulfide inclusions and the ones predicted for the exsolved aqueous fluids are 10 to 100 times higher than the Cu/Au ratios of the porphyry deposits. Therefore, the extremely low Cu/Au ratios of the porphyry deposits must have been acquired during the hydrothermal stage.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.