Bismuth and bismuth-antimony sulphosalts from Kutná Hora vein Ag-Pb-Zn ore district, Czech Republic

Abstract

A new, previously unknown association of Pb-Bi-Sb-Ag sulphosalt minerals has been found in samples from mine dumps of the Staročeské pásmo Lode of the Kutná Hora Ag-Pb-Zn ore district, central Bohemia, Czech Republic. These minerals form polymineral aggregates up to 1-3 cm in quartz or base sulphides. Apart from numerous members of lillianite homologous series, new occurrences of aramayoite, bismuthinite, cosalite, ikunolite, izoklakeite, matildite, galena ss , Bi-rich jamesonite, Bi-rich boulangerite, Bi-rich owyheeite and Bi-rich semseyite have been identified. An extraordinary extent of the Bi-Sb substitution is characteristic of the studied association. Bi-rich mineralization of this scope has not been previously known from the Kutná Hora ore district. The origin of this sulphosalt mineralization is related to the penetration of lower temperature fluids (c. 100-250 °C) into tectonically opened fractures in older ore veins filling. Virtually no mobilization of elements from the earlier vein filling took place; hydrothermal fluids must have been relatively rich in Ag and Pb and simultaneously poor in Cu. High Bi content was characteristic of the initial stage of the mineralization. Gradually, the Bi/Sb ratio decreased considerably with more Sb-rich minerals originating. At the final stage, Bi-rich Pb-Sb sulphosalts with lower Ag contents crystallized.

Lillianite homologues from Kutná Hora ore district, Czech Republic: a case of large-scale Sb for Bi substitution

“…1) if enough sample was available for P-XRD experiments. Unitcell parameters of Sb-rich gustavite (Pažout and Dušek 2009) and terrywallaceite (Yang et al 2013 (Pažout et al 2017). They are indistinguishable in optical microscope as well as in BSE images.…”

“…Geological situation, mineralogy and geochemistry of the ore district were described by Holub et al (1982), Malec and Pauliš (1997), Pauliš (1998) and Pažout et al (2017). The samples were collected in the material from medieval mine dumps in 1999-2015, therefore no information is available on their in-situ position in individual vein structures.…”

“…The bismuth sulphosalt assemblage originated from later stage, low-T fluids different from high-T stage of base sulphides of Fe, Zn, Cu, Sn and As; the two stages were separated by a tectonic event. Quite often, the Bi sulphosalts, native Bi and Ag,Pb-rich galena fill in fissures in older base sulphide vein filling (Pažout et al 2017). (1) Oversubstituted gustavite Gus 101-108.4 is rarer than terrywallaceite which is characterized by a similar substitution percentage but higher Sb content.…”

Ag-Pb-Sb Sulfosalts and Se-rich Mineralization of Anthony of Padua Mine near Poličany—Model Example of the Mineralization of Silver Lodes in the Historic Kutná Hora Ag-Pb Ore District, Czech Republic

“…The pyrite-rich assemblage has recently yielded a rich suite of Ag-Pb-Bi-Sb sulfosalts. Recently identified minerals from northern lodes include terrywallaceite, vikingite, treasurite, eskimoite, erzwiesite, izoklakeite, aramayoite [22,23] and new mineral staročeskéite [24]. [26].…”

Sb-Bi Alloys and Ag-Cu-Pb-Sb-Bi Sulphosalts in the Jialong Cu-Sn Deposit in North Guangxi, South China

“…Native bismuth is widely distributed in various deposits, e.g., W-Sn deposits [7,16,27,28], Pb-Zn deposits [29][30][31], and Au deposits [4,[32][33][34][35][36]. On the other hand, native Sb is less common and occurs mostly in Au-Sb or Au deposits [37][38][39][40], and in trace amounts in Pb-Zn deposits [41,42] and Sn-polymetallic deposits [43].…”