Mineral and S-Isotope Compositions of Cu-Sulfide Deposits in Southern Siberia (Kodar–Udokan Region), Russia

Abstract

The Kodaro–Udokan region is a huge Cu metallogenic province in Southern Siberia, one of the largest on Earth. It contains world-class copper sandstone-hosted Udokan (Cu reserves of 26.7 Mt) and PGE-Ni-Cu Chineysky deposits related to gabbro–anorthosite pluton (Cu—10 Mt; Fe-Ti-V, 30 Gt of ore). Furthermore, there are many small deposits of sulfide ores in sedimentary and igneous rocks in this region as well. For many decades, their genesis has been hotly debated. We studied the mineral composition and the sulfur isotopes in several deposits located at different levels of the stratigraphic sequence and in gabbro intruded in sandstones of the Udokan complex. The differences in ore compositions were found. The Burpala and Skvoznoy deposits consisting of the chalcocite–bornite association are characterized only by negative δ34S. The δ34S values for the Udokan deposits are mostly <0 (up to −28‰). The positive δ34S data characterize the ores of the Chineysky and Luktursky intrusions. Two Cu sandstone-hosted deposits are characterized by complex ore composition, i.e., the Krasny deposit, comprising chalcopyrite–pyrrhotite ores, is enriched in Co, Ni, Bi, Sb, Mo, Pb, Zn, Se, Te, and U and has a wide range of δ34S = −8.1–+13.5‰, and the Pravoingamakitsky deposit (Basaltovy section), consisting of quartz–chalcopyrite veins, has high PGE contents in ores with δ34S = +2.9–+4.0‰. These deposits are located near the gabbro massifs, and it is supposed that their ore compositions were influenced by magmatic fluids. The general regularities of the localization of the deposits in rift zones, and the proximity of mineral and isotopic composition allow us to conclude that the main source of copper could be rocks of basic composition because only they contain high Cu contents. Fluids from deep zones could penetrate to the surface and form Cu sandstone-hosted deposits.