Paragenesis of cobalt and nickel in the Black Butte shale-hosted copper deposit, Belt Basin, Montana, USA

White, Joshua; Gammons, Christopher H.; Zieg, G.A.

doi:10.1007/s00126-013-0492-1

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Chalcopyrite precipitation took place after a peculiar mineralization stage comprising Co-bearing sulfarsenides and sulfosalts (i.e., cobaltite, glaucodot, alloclasite, and tennantite) that was bereft of sulfide phases [33]. We suggest that this early Co-Ni stage may have a different origin to the one presented above for chalcopyrite.…”

Section: Trigger For Precipitation Of Cumentioning

confidence: 61%

“…A second stage of mineral precipitation coincided with formation of the tube walls with rapid replacement by mottled (δ 34 S mean = +10:3 ± 12:5‰, 1 standard deviation (SD), n = 108, up to +45‰) and colloform (δ 34 S = +10:8 ± 7:1‰, 1 SD, n = 63, up to +34.0‰) pyrite [6]. Rare euhedral marcasite, hypothetically indicating some biogenically induced, transient, locally acidic and oxic conditions [6,[31][32][33], overgrows the pyrite walls. The sulfur isotopic composition of [7] and references therein) showing locations of drill cores from which samples analyzed in this study were taken (Table 1).…”

Section: Sequence Of Mineral Precipitation Sulfur Isotopementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a third stage, massive barite filled the tube structures and was in turn replaced by dolomite and quartz (Figure 2(b)). In the fourth and final stage, with increased burial and depth of mineralization within the sedimentary sequence, barite, quartz, dolomite, and all earlier pyrite generations were replaced by base metal sulfides (chalcopyrite: δ 34 S mean = -5:1 to +7.1‰; [34]; δ 34 S mean = +3:9 ± 1:2‰, 1 SD, n = 5; [6]) and coarse-grained pyrite (δ 34 S mean = +6:1 ± 4:2‰, 1 SD, n = 97) [6] accompanied by silica [6,7,33]. The base metal paragenesis, which is suggested to have formed from hotter or more oxidizing mineralizing fluids [7], is marked by a stage of Co-sulfarsenides and Cu-sulfosalts that preceded chalcopyrite mineralization [7,33].…”

Section: Sequence Of Mineral Precipitation Sulfur Isotopementioning

confidence: 99%

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Synsedimentary to Diagenetic Cu±Co Mineralization in Mesoproterozoic Pyritic Shale Driven by Magmatic-Hydrothermal Activity on the Edge of the Great Falls Tectonic Zone–Black Butte, Helena Embayment, Belt-Purcell Basin, USA: Evidence from Sulfide Re-Os Isotope Geochemistry

et al. 2021

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The ca. 1,500 to 1,325 Ma Mesoproterozoic Belt-Purcell Basin is an exceptionally preserved archive of Mesoproterozoic Earth and its paleoenvironmental conditions. The Belt-Purcell Basin is also host to world-class base metal sediment-hosted mineralization produced in a variety of settings from the rift stage of basin evolution through the subsequent influence of East Kootenay and Grenvillian orogenies. The mineral potential of this basin has not been fully realized yet. New rhenium-osmium (Re-Os) data presented here for chalcopyrite, pyrite, and black shale contribute to refine a robust genetic model for the origin of the Black Butte copper±cobalt±silver (Cu±Co±Ag) deposit hosted by the ca. >1,475 Ma Newland Formation in the Helena Embayment of the Belt-Purcell Basin in Montana, USA. Chalcopyrite Re-Os data yield an isochron age (1,488±34 Ma, unradiogenic initial 187Os/188Os composition Osi-chalcopyrite=0.13±0.11) that overlaps with the geological age of the Newland Formation. Further, the Re-Os data of synsedimentary to diagenetic massive pyrite yield evidence of resetting with an isochron age (1,358±42 Ma) coincident with the timing of the East Kootenay orogeny. The unradiogenic Osi-chalcopyrite at ca. 1,488 Ma (0.13±0.11) argues for derivation of Os from a magmatic source with a 187Os/188Os isotopic composition inherited from the upper mantle in the Mesoproterozoic (Osmantle 1,475 Ma=0.12±0.02). The unradiogenic Osi-chalcopyrite also suggests limited contamination from a continental crustal source. This source of Os and our new sulfur isotopic signatures of chalcopyrite (–4.1 to +2.1‰-VCDT) implies a dominantly magmatic source for metals. We integrate our new results and previously published geological and geochemical evidence to conceptualize a genetic model in which Cu and metals were largely contributed by moderate-temperature, reduced magmatic-hydrothermal fluids carrying reduced sulfur species with a magmatic origin and flowing as highly metalliferous fluids within the shale sequence. A subsidiary derivation of metals during thermally forced shale diagenesis is possible. Chalcopyrite mineralization replaced locally massive synsedimentary to diagenetic pyrite units close to the sediment-water interface, i.e., an ideal locus where magmatic-hydrothermal fluids could cool and the solubility of chalcopyrite would fall. We suggest that Cu mineralization was coeval with the timing of an enhanced thermal gradient in the Helena Embayment triggered until ca. 1,455 Ma by tholeiitic dike swarm that intruded into Archean basement rocks and intersected the NE-SW-trending Great Falls Tectonic Zone.

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Section: Trigger For Precipitation Of Cumentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Sequence Of Mineral Precipitation Sulfur Isotopementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sequence Of Mineral Precipitation Sulfur Isotopementioning

confidence: 99%

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Synsedimentary to Diagenetic Cu±Co Mineralization in Mesoproterozoic Pyritic Shale Driven by Magmatic-Hydrothermal Activity on the Edge of the Great Falls Tectonic Zone–Black Butte, Helena Embayment, Belt-Purcell Basin, USA: Evidence from Sulfide Re-Os Isotope Geochemistry

et al. 2021

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“…These properties can result in similar geological partitioning behavior. Ore deposits abundant in both Co and Ni have been identified in a number of places around the world (Ahmed et al, 2009;Elias et al, 1981;Marsh & Anderson, 2011;White et al, 2014;Yongue-Fouateu et al, 2006). Co and Ni have mineral evolution features in deep time in terms of global mineral abundances at the same time intervals and Co-Ni presence at the same localities (Hazen et al, 2017).…”

Section: Co In Primitive Microbial Metabolismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geological and Chemical Factors that Impacted the Biological Utilization of Cobalt in the Archean Eon

et al. 2018

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The geosphere and biosphere coevolved and influenced Earth's biological and mineralogical diversity. Changing redox conditions influenced the availability of different transition metals, which are essential components in the active sites of oxidoreductases, proteins that catalyze electron transfer reactions across the tree of life. Despite its relatively low abundance in the environment, cobalt (Co) is a unique metal in biology due to its importance to a wide range of organisms as the metal center of vitamin B12 (aka cobalamin, Cbl). Cbl is vital to multiple methyltransferase enzymes involved in energetically favorable metabolic pathways. It is unclear how Co availability is linked to mineral evolution and weathering processes. Here we examine important biological functions of Co, as well as chemical and geological factors that may have influenced the utilization of Co early in the evolution of life. Only 66 natural minerals are known to contain Co as an essential element. However, Co is incorporated as a minor element in abundant rock‐forming minerals, potentially representing a reliable source of Co as a trace element in marine systems due to weathering processes. We developed a mineral weathering model that indicates that dissolved Co was potentially more bioavailable in the Archean ocean under low S conditions than it is today. Mineral weathering, redox chemistry, Co complexation with nitrogen‐containing organics, and hydrothermal environments were crucial in the incorporation of Co in primitive metabolic pathways. These chemical and geological characteristics of Co can inform the biological utilization of other trace metals in early forms of life.

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A grid mapping algorithm for modeling with geometric transforms

Barnett

Murphy²,

Deutsch

2019

Computers & Geosciences

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Paragenesis of cobalt and nickel in the Black Butte shale-hosted copper deposit, Belt Basin, Montana, USA

Cited by 8 publications

References 29 publications

Synsedimentary to Diagenetic Cu±Co Mineralization in Mesoproterozoic Pyritic Shale Driven by Magmatic-Hydrothermal Activity on the Edge of the Great Falls Tectonic Zone–Black Butte, Helena Embayment, Belt-Purcell Basin, USA: Evidence from Sulfide Re-Os Isotope Geochemistry

Synsedimentary to Diagenetic Cu±Co Mineralization in Mesoproterozoic Pyritic Shale Driven by Magmatic-Hydrothermal Activity on the Edge of the Great Falls Tectonic Zone–Black Butte, Helena Embayment, Belt-Purcell Basin, USA: Evidence from Sulfide Re-Os Isotope Geochemistry

Geological and Chemical Factors that Impacted the Biological Utilization of Cobalt in the Archean Eon

A grid mapping algorithm for modeling with geometric transforms

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