Geological structure and mineralogy of the Mechnikovskoe gold deposit, thе Southern Urals

Abstract

Subject. The article presents the results of study of Mechnikovskoe gold deposit associated with listvenites and beresites of the Miass region of the Southern Urals.Materials and methods. Materials were sampled during the field work of 2010– 2012. The chemical composition of rocks is analyzed by methods of classical chemistry (rock-forming oxides) and ICP MS (trace elements). The mineral composition is determined on an electron microscope with EDS.Results. The deposit is composed of tectonic sheets of serpentinites, carbonatized serpentinites and listvenites (sheet I), metadiabases and plagioclase metabasalts of the Irendyk Formation and beresites and volcanosedimentary rocks and metabasalts of the Karamalytash Formation (sheet II). In the central part of the deposit, the volcanic rocks are intruded by a dike of finegrained island-arc granites. Chromites of serpentinites are characterized (on average) by high Cr# (89) and low Mg# (29) values and low contents of Al2O3 (6.94 wt %) and MgO (5.5 wt %). Gold-bearing rocks include listvenites, beresites and carbonaceous shales. The major ore mineral is pyrite; accessory minerals are Au and Ag minerals, chalcopyrite, fahlores, galena, sphalerite, pyrrhotite, cubanite, vaesite, melonite, secondary copper sulfides, barite, rutile, monazite and xenotime. Gold of the deposit contains low Ag contents (3.52 wt %) and minor amount of Cu and Hg (<1 wt % in most analyses).Conclusions. The listvenites and beresites of the deposit were formed after ultramafic and mafic rocks, respectively. The discovery of gold in various rocks indicates that gold mineralization was deposited after the formation of the geological structure of the deposit. The source of gold was most likely related to a magmatic fluid.