Magmatic-dominated fluid evolution in the Jurassic Nambija gold skarn deposits (southeastern Ecuador) |
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| Authors: | Jean Vallance Lluís Fontboté Massimo Chiaradia Agnès Markowski Susanne Schmidt Torsten Vennemann |
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| Institution: | 1.Section des Sciences de la Terre et de l’Environnement,Université de Genève,Geneva,Switzerland;2.Pan American Silver Peru SAC,Lima,Peru;3.Isotopengeologie und Mineralische Rohstoffe, ETH-Zentrum,Zurich,Switzerland;4.Institut de Minéralogie et Géochimie,Université de Lausanne,Lausanne,Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | The Jurassic (approximately 145 Ma) Nambija oxidized gold skarns are hosted by the Triassic volcanosedimentary Piuntza unit
in the sub-Andean zone of southeastern Ecuador. The skarns consist dominantly of granditic garnet (Ad20–98) with subordinate pyroxene (Di46–92Hd17–42Jo0–19) and epidote and are spatially associated with porphyritic quartz-diorite to granodiorite intrusions. Endoskarn is developed
at the intrusion margins and grades inwards into a potassic alteration zone. Exoskarn has an outer K- and Na-enriched zone
in the volcanosedimentary unit. Gold mineralization is associated with the weakly developed retrograde alteration of the exoskarn
and occurs mainly in sulfide-poor vugs and milky quartz veins and veinlets in association with hematite. Fluid inclusion data
for the main part of the prograde stage indicate the coexistence of high-temperature (500°C to >600°C), high-salinity (up
to 65 wt.% eq. NaCl), and moderate- to low-salinity aqueous-carbonic fluids interpreted to have been trapped at pressures
around 100–120 MPa, corresponding to about 4-km depth. Lower-temperature (510–300°C) and moderate- to low-salinity (23–2 wt.%
eq. NaCl) aqueous fluids are recorded in garnet and epidote of the end of the prograde stage. The microthermometric data (Th
from 513°C to 318°C and salinity from 1.0 to 23 wt.% eq. NaCl) and δ18O values between 6.2‰ and 11.5‰ for gold-bearing milky quartz from the retrograde stage suggest that the ore-forming fluid
was dominantly magmatic. Pressures during the early retrograde stage were in the range of 50–100 MPa, in line with the evidence
for CO2 effervescence and probable local boiling. The dominance of magmatic low-saline to moderately saline oxidizing fluids during
the retrograde stage is consistent with the depth of the skarn system, which could have delayed the ingression of external
fluids until relatively low temperatures were reached. The resulting low water-to-rock ratios explain the weak retrograde
alteration and the compositional variability of chlorite, essentially controlled by host rock compositions. Gold was precipitated
at this stage as a result of cooling and pH increase related to CO2 effervescence, which both result in destabilization of gold-bearing chloride complexes. Significant ingression of external
fluids took place after gold deposition only, as recorded by δ18O values of 0.4‰ to 6.2‰ for fluids depositing quartz (below 350°C) in sulfide-rich barren veins. Low-temperature (<300°C)
meteoric fluids (δ18Owater between −10.0‰ and −2.0‰) are responsible for the precipitation of late comb quartz and calcite in cavities and veins and
indicate mixing with cooler fluids of higher salinities (about 100°C and 25 wt.% eq. NaCl). The latter are similar to low-temperature
fluids (202–74.5°C) with δ18O values of −0.5‰ to 3.1‰ and salinities in the range of 21.1 to 17.3 wt.% eq. CaCl2, trapped in calcite of late veins and interpreted as basinal brines. Nambija represents a deep equivalent of the oxidized
gold skarn class, the presence of CO2 in the fluids being partly a consequence of the relatively deep setting at about 4-km depth. As in other Au-bearing skarn
deposits, not only the prograde stage but also the gold-precipitating retrograde stage is dominated by fluids of magmatic
origin. |
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| Keywords: | Gold Skarn Aqueous-carbonic fluids Oxygen isotope Chlorite Nambija Ecuador |
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