Altered and mineralized rocks at the Falun pyritic Zn-Pb-Cu-(Au-Ag) sulphide deposit, situated in the Palaeoproterozoic Bergslagen ore district in the southwestern part of the Fennoscandian Shield, have been metamorphosed at low-pressure, amphibolite-facies conditions and affected by ductile deformation. Using combined surface mapping of lithology and structure, drill core logging and microstructural work, the polyphase (D 1 and D 2 ) ductile deformation is demonstrated and a 3D model for the deposit created. Mineral associations include quartz, biotite, cordierite, anthophyllite, and minor almandine, andalusite and chlorite in silicate-rich altered rock, calcite or dolomite in marble and tremolite-actinolite or diopside-hedenbergite in skarn. The silicate minerals show varying growth patterns during the different phases of the tectonothermal evolution, with considerable static grain growth occurring between D 1 and D 2 , and even after D 2 . F 2 sheath folding along axes that plunge steeply to the SSE, parallel to a mineral stretching lineation and the dip direction of the S 2 foliation, is suggested as a key deformation mechanism forming steeply plunging, cone-to rod-shaped mineralized bodies. This contrasts with a previous structural model invoking fold interference. A major shear zone with talc-chlorite-(quartz-biotite) mineral association separates the northern and southern structural domains at the deposit and bounds the polymetallic massive sulphides to the north.

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The Paleoproterozoic Falun Zn-Pb-Cu-(Au-Ag) pyritic sulfide deposit in the Bergslagen ore district, Sweden, is enveloped by hydrothermally altered rocks metamorphosed to the lower amphibolite facies. Immobile-element ratios suggest that the alteration precursors were volcanic rocks of mainly rhyolitic to dacitic composition. Least altered examples of these rocks plot along magmatic fractionation trends outlined by late-to post-ore feldsparphyric metadacite dikes and post-ore granitoid plutons, consistent with a comagmatic relationship between these calc-alkaline, coeval (<10-m.y.) suites. Dolomite or calcite marble, as well as diopside-hedenbergite or tremolite skarn, form subordinate but important lithologic components in the hydrothermally altered zone. Marble occurs as fragments in the massive pyritic sulfide mineralization, suggesting that at least some mineralization formed by carbonate replacement. Mass-change calculations suggest that the hydrothermally altered volcanic rocks gained Mg and Fe and generally lost Ca, K, and Na. Proximal, quartz-anthophyllite-rich altered rocks additionally gained Si, whereas several types of biotite-rich altered rocks lost this element. These mass changes along with mineral chemical data for anthophyllite, biotite, cordierite, and garnet, and the common occurrence of quartz indicate that chloritization, sericitization, and silicification were the dominant premetamorphic alteration styles. A zonation from distal sericitized and silicified volcanic rocks to intermediate sericitized rocks, partly overprinted by chloritization (Mg-rich chlorite), and proximal siliceous and intensely chloritized (Fe-rich chlorite) rocks has been identified. Furthermore, mass changes in more peripheral parts of the altered zone toward the southeast of the deposit suggest that the alteration weakens gradationally toward the volcanic and subvolcanic rocks surrounding the deposit. These patterns represent vectors toward mineralization. Intensely chloritized rocks, largely represented by a single, rhyolitic precursor, envelop the central pyritic massive sulfide bodies to the east, south, and west, supporting a structural model in which the massive sulfide mineralization formed the stratigraphically highest preserved unit in the center, surrounded in a tubular manner by stratigraphic footwall rocks. The northern side represents a portion of the footwall, which was separated by a major shear zone. These spatial relationships also have implications for near-mine exploration, since quartz-rich footwall rocks locally host disseminated to semimassive stockwork Cu-Au mineralization. Cooling of a hot (300°-400°C), acidic (pH ≤4) and reducing fluid carrying metals and sulfur is suggested for formation of stockwork Cu-Au vein mineralization and hydrothermal alteration in the stratigraphic footwall. The Zn-Pb-Cu-rich massive sulfide mineralization is inferred to have formed by fluid neutralization upon interaction with carbonates and mixing with cooler seawater upon fluid entry into porous pumice breccia in a su...

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a b s t r a c t U-Th-Pb (zircon and monazite) ion probe data have provided constraints on the timing of emplacement and metamorphism of magmatic rocks close to the Palaeoproterozoic, Falun base metal sulphide deposit in the Bergslagen lithotectonic unit, Fennoscandian Shield, Sweden, and, thereby the timing of mineralisation. Hydrothermal alteration and mineralisation at Falun are constrained to a short interval of several million years between a 207 Pb/ 206 Pb weighted average age of 1894 ± 3 Ma for a rhyolitic sub-volcanic rock in the felsic volcanic to sub-volcanic host rock suite, and a 207 Pb/ 206 Pb weighted average age of 1891 ± 3 Ma for a post-sulphide, porphyritic dacite dyke. Magmatism also included the emplacement of granite plutons with igneous crystallization ages of 1894 ± 3, 1894 ± 2 Ma and 1893 ± 3 Ma. The felsic sub-volcanic to volcanic activity and the emplacement of dacite dykes and granite plutons overlap in age within their respective analytical uncertainties, indicating hydrothermal alteration and sulphide mineralisation inside a narrow time span of intense magmatic activity, and burial of the supracrustal rocks. Two distinct patchy and homogeneous metamorphic monazite types in a felsic volcanic rock around and hydrothermally altered rocks at the Falun deposit yield 207 Pb/ 206 Pb weighted average ages of 1831 ± 8 Ma and 1822 ± 5 Ma, respectively. These ages fall well within the temporal range of a younger 1.84-1.81 Ga (M 2 ) metamorphic episode during the 2.0-1.8 Ga Svecokarelian orogeny, with the older episode (M 1 ) inside the Bergslagen lithotectonic unit at around 1.86 Ga. This shows the major influence of the M 2 event in the north-western part of this unit, leading to a complete resetting of the U-Th-Pb isotope system in monazite.