The Proterozoic Vazante Hypogene Zinc Silicate District, Minas Gerais, Brazil: A Review of the Ore System Applied to Mineral Exploration
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Tectonic and Geological Setting
3. Stratigraphic Controls
4. Structural Controls and Ore Body Geometry
5. Hydrothermal Alteration and Ore: Mineralogy and Geochemistry
6. Hydrothermal Fluids: Fluid Inclusion and Isotopic Constraints
7. Ore System Model (Source to Trap)
8. Exploration Guidelines
- Thrust and fold belt tectonic setting.
- Sequence of shallow marine carbonate rocks (which host the mineralization), overlying thick sequence of immature, and organic carbon-bearing siliciclastic rocks. Siliciclastic rocks from felsic volcanic source may be to be pre-enriched in metals during diagenesis and prior to the main orogenic events and are likely one of the source rocks for the metals that were later concentrated in the dolomite rocks during the orogenic mineralizing event.
- Low grade greenschist facies metamorphism (during ore formation).
- Presence of other base-metal deposits in the region.
- Favorable host units with dolomitized rocks interbedded with thin layers of immature siliciclastic rocks (e.g., similar to Serra do Poço Verde Formation).
- Evidence of metal enrichment in the underlying thick sequence of siliciclastic rocks (source of metals) at the district scale (as reported in Serra do Garrote Formation).
- Permeable structures (e.g., brittle fault zones and breccias associated with regional folds and faults) to allow the flow of hot, acidic and metalliferous fluids and of the oxidizing, alkaline meteoric water. These main structures can be identified using the first vertical derivative of the total magnetic intensity from the airborne geophysical survey.
- Hydrothermal alteration: Incipient Fe-carbonate alteration in distal zones to intense Fe-carbonate alteration in the intermediate zone and hematite and willemite at the core of the mineralized system.
- Geochemical anomalies of Zn and ore-related elements (e.g., As, Be, Cd, Fe, Ge, Hg, In, Mo, Ni, Pb, S, Sb, U, V, and W) in Fe-carbonate altered dolomites and increasing abundance towards hematite and willemite-rich ore. These element abundances could be used to vector to the zones of high grade mineralization. Willimite ore is associated with the highest concentrations in SiO2. Silver and Cu are mainly associated with the late sulfide veinlets.
- Lower δ13C and δ18O values of hydrothermally altered carbonate rocks indicating mixing of metalliferous fluids that interacted with organic-rich matter and meteoric water, respectively.
- Although detection of the willemite ore body is challenging, McGladrey et al. [3] showed that the integration of magnetic and gravimetric surveys could allow for detection of the hematite-rich willemite ore bodies.
9. Future Studies: Prospective Settings
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Olivo, G.R.; Monteiro, L.V.S.; Baia, F.; Slezak, P.; Carvalho, I.; Fernandes, N.A.; Oliveira, G.D.; Botura Neto, B.; McGladrey, A.; Silva, A.M.; Moura, M.A.; Layton-Matthews, D. The Proterozoic Vazante Hypogene Zinc Silicate District, Minas Gerais, Brazil: A Review of the Ore System Applied to Mineral Exploration. Minerals 2018, 8, 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/min8010022
Olivo GR, Monteiro LVS, Baia F, Slezak P, Carvalho I, Fernandes NA, Oliveira GD, Botura Neto B, McGladrey A, Silva AM, Moura MA, Layton-Matthews D. The Proterozoic Vazante Hypogene Zinc Silicate District, Minas Gerais, Brazil: A Review of the Ore System Applied to Mineral Exploration. Minerals. 2018; 8(1):22. https://doi.org/10.3390/min8010022
Chicago/Turabian StyleOlivo, Gema R., Lena V. S. Monteiro, Fernando Baia, Paul Slezak, Igor Carvalho, Neil A. Fernandes, Gustavo D. Oliveira, Basilio Botura Neto, Alexandra McGladrey, Adalene M. Silva, Márcia A. Moura, and Daniel Layton-Matthews. 2018. "The Proterozoic Vazante Hypogene Zinc Silicate District, Minas Gerais, Brazil: A Review of the Ore System Applied to Mineral Exploration" Minerals 8, no. 1: 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/min8010022