Paleovolcanism and the prospecting indicators and outlooks for discovery of new economic-grade copper-zinc massive sulfide ore deposits in the Verkhneuralsk ore region, Southern Urals

Abstract

The principal regularities of distribution of the VMS type mineralization in the Verkhneuralsk ore region in the Southern Urals are characterized. Metallogenic factors of the first kind (stratigraphic, magmatic, lithological, and tectonic) and of the second kind (geotectonic and paleovolcanic) are shown. A combined convective-postmagmatic ore formation model for the VMS is briefly described, that takes into account a genetic relationship of the VMS ore formation to silicic magmatism of the basalt-rhyolite (“contrast”) volcanic formation, four types of such relationship being distinguished, the spatial, temporal, energetic, and compositional ones. The geological, geochemical, and geophysical prospecting indicators for the Ural type VMS mineralization are presented separately for various classes of forecasting metallogenic areas (ore regions, ore clusters, and ore fields and deposits). In the southern portion of the ore district, a site promising for revealing a new ore deposit has been identified, for which the category P2 forecasted resources have been estimated and a recommendation has been given for the geological exploration.