A gold-copper association in ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal sulfides from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Murphy, P. J.; Meyer, G.

doi:10.2113/gsecongeo.93.7.1076

Cited by 57 publications

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“…Gold in Cu-rich assemblages is present as micrometric grains included in massive chalcopyrite. This gold is primary, and is not the result of seafloor oxidation, as has been reported from the TAG (Hannington et al 1988) and Logatchev (Murphy & Meyer 1998) hydrothermal fields. The neutral AuHS° complex is considered the most important carrier of gold in the PACMANUS hydrothermal system.…”

Section: Transport Of Gold In Seafloor Hydrothermal Systemssupporting

confidence: 61%

“…However, these copper minerals at TAG are secondary, resulting from oxidation processes on the seafloor (Hannington et al 1988, Herzig et al 1993, and are not comparable to the primary association found in eastern Manus Basin. A gold-copper association occurs in the ultramafic-rock-hosted Logatchev hydrothermal field at 14°45' N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Murphy & Meyer 1998). Here, gold mineralization is found both as primary grains of native gold included in chalcopyrite associated with sphalerite and isocubanite, and as secondary gold associated with a chalcopyrite -bornite -covellite assemblage.…”

Section: Mineralogical Associations Of Native Goldmentioning

confidence: 92%

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Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Gold-Rich Hydrothermal Precipitates From the Eastern Manus Basin, Papua New Guinea

Moss

Scott

2001

The Canadian Mineralogist

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Three of the five hydrothermal vent fields currently known in the Manus back-arc basin of Papua New Guinea are enriched in gold. Samples of precipitates from the PACMANUS and Susu Knolls hydrothermal fields in eastern Manus Basin contain up to 56.8 ppm gold, and average 11.3 ± 13 (1) ppm (n = 103). Chimney samples dominated by sphalerite, barite and chalcopyrite have significantly higher contents of gold than sulfide-poor samples. Gold in the sulfide chimneys occurs as micrometric grains of silver-poor (1.4 to 4.2 wt.% Ag) native gold in three distinct associations. In copper-rich chimney samples, gold occurs as inclusions in chalcopyrite associated with tennantite, bornite and covellite. In zinc-rich chimney samples, gold is present mainly as inclusions in tennantite associated with chalcopyrite and sphalerite. A high activity of sulfur is indicated for the gold-rich eastern Manus Basin precipitates by the sulfide assemblages, the low iron content of sphalerite (average = 2.3 ± 3 mole % FeS), and the silver-poor nature of gold grains. Evaluation of possible complexes of gold indicates that AuHS° is the dominant complex, which is consistent with the high activity of sulfur in the hydrothermal system. According to available experimental data, AuHS° is the dominant complex up to 325°C. This complex thus is the only one required for gold enrichment in both the Zn-Au and the Cu-Au associations. Gold transport as the AuHS° complex is likely to be equally important in other seafloor hydrothermal systems with acidic end-member hydrothermal fluids.

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Section: Transport Of Gold In Seafloor Hydrothermal Systemssupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Mineralogical Associations Of Native Goldmentioning

confidence: 92%

Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Gold-Rich Hydrothermal Precipitates From the Eastern Manus Basin, Papua New Guinea

Moss

Scott

2001

The Canadian Mineralogist

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“…Documented examples of high contents of cobalt in deposits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge are all in settings underlain by ultramafic rocks, including in the Rainbow vent field (Bogdanov and others, 2002), in the Logatchev field (Mozgova and others, 1999), and in the Nibelungen field (Melchert and others, 2008). Samples of massive sulfide rock from the Logatchev field have as much as 1,310 ppm cobalt (Murphy and Meyer, 1998). None of these modern deposits has been explored sufficiently for resource delineation, however, because of their occurrence at relatively deep water depths of 3,000 m or more, which are considered unfavorable for the profitable mining of such deposits (Herzig and others, 2002).…”

Section: Modern Sea-floor Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Depositsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cobalt

Slack¹,

Kimball²,

Shedd³

2017

Professional Paper

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“…Zn-rich hydrothermal sulfide. Sulfide data in the oblique line area from Kuriyama et al [10], Fouquet et al [1, 2], Moss and Scott [11], Hekinian et al [12], Bischoff et al [13], Zierenberg et al [14], Hannington et al [15], Barrett et al [16], Bendel et al [17], Binns and Scott [18], Halbach et al [19], Koski et al [20], Langmuir et al [21], Lisitsyn et al [22], Marchig et al [23], Mozgova and Meyer [24], Murphy et al[25] and Petersen et al[26].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Elemental and isotopic compositions of the hydrothermal sulfide on the East Pacific Rise near 13°N

Zeng

Chen

Yin

et al. 2010

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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The mineralogical, elemental, and isotopic characteristics of a hydrothermal sulfide sample from one dredge station (12°42.30′N, 103°54.48′W, water depth 2655 m) on the East Pacific Rise near 13°N were analyzed. The hydrothermal sulfide was composed mainly of sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite and was a Zn-rich sulfide; in layer ep-s-1, goethite formed by secondary oxidation was found. The concentrations of rare elements, such as Li (0.15×10 −6 -0.30×10 −6 ), Be (0.01×10 −6 -0.05×10 −6 ), Zr (73.8×10 −9 -1344×10 −9 ), Nb (8.14×10 −9 -64.7×10 −9 ), Hf (2.54×10 −9 -28.0×10 −9 ), and Ta (0.203×10 −9 -1.21×10 −9 ), were far lower in the hydrothermal sulfide than in the ocean crust, whereas the content of Au was higher and the contents of Co, Ni, Sr, Cs, Ba, Bi, and U were low. The correlations between Zn and Cr, Cd and Ga, Cu and P, P and In (R 2 > 0.8) were positive, whereas those between Zn and Fe, Cu, and Ba (R 2 > 0.8) were distinctly negative. From low-temperature mineral assemblages to high-temperature mineral assemblages, the spatial distributions of dispersive and rare elements (e.g. In, Li, Cs) in the hydrothermal sulfide displayed corresponding variations. The variations observed in some elements (e.g., Cd, Cs, P) are controlled by Zn, Fe, and Cu sulfides, respectively. Seafloor weathering accounts for the enrichment of V, Mn, and rare earth elements (REE) in the henna sulfide-oxidation layer that bears the secondary oxide mineral, leading to identical REE patterns for this layer (ep-s-1) and seawater. Seafloor weathering also distinctly affects the correlations between the element ratios of the hydrothermal sulfide. From high-temperature mineral assemblages to low-temperature mineral assemblages, Fe content and δ 34 S value of the hydrothermal sulfide increase gradually, and Zn content and lead isotopic ratios decrease gradually on the contrary, which indicate the influences of seawater on elements and the sulfur and lead isotopic compositions enhance gradually during the formation of hydrothermal sulfides. variation, element, isotopic composition, hydrothermal sulfide, East Pacific Rise 13ºNCitation:Zeng Z G, Chen D G, Yin X B, et al. Elemental and isotopic compositions of the hydrothermal sulfide on the EastThe history of some submarine hydrothermal activities is recorded in seafloor hydrothermal sulfides. Thus, studies of the structure and the mineral, elemental, and isotopic composition of seafloor hydrothermal sulfides can help us understand the fluid evolution that occurs during the formation of hydrothermal sulfides and to elucidate the characteristics of the interaction between deep fluid and rock as well as the material contributions of seawater, it is one of the important research directions of submarine hydrothermal geology (submarine hydrothermal geology includes hydrothermal geochemistry (objects of study, including vent fluid, hydrothermal plume and subseafloor fluids, etc.), hydrothermal

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A gold-copper association in ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal sulfides from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Cited by 57 publications

References 0 publications

Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Gold-Rich Hydrothermal Precipitates From the Eastern Manus Basin, Papua New Guinea

Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Gold-Rich Hydrothermal Precipitates From the Eastern Manus Basin, Papua New Guinea

Cobalt

Elemental and isotopic compositions of the hydrothermal sulfide on the East Pacific Rise near 13°N

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