Importance of chalcophile element abundances in determining the sequence of sulfide mineral deposition from monoascendent ore-forming solutions

Abstract

Remarkable similarities are found in paragenetic sequences, mineral associations, and hypogene zoning in metallic sulfide deposits throughout the world. There has been no lack of theories purporting to explain these regularities; almost every conceivable sequential property of the metals or of the ore minerals has been invoked as a possible explanation (Gilbert 1924, Newhouse 1928, Lindgren 1937, Verhoogen 1938, Bandy 1940, Mackay 1946, Brown 1948, Sullivan 1954, Barnes 1956, Ringwood 1956). All that is certain, however, is that the fundamental control determining paragenetic sequence in sulfide deposits must be a simple process which operates in many types of environments under widely varying conditions. The following discussion will demonstrate that the relative abundances of the chalcophile elements in ore-bearing fluids are a major factor in fixing the order of sulfide mineral crystallization. This factor, surprisingly, has been almost completely neglected in previous general studies of paragenesis (Newhouse 1928, Lindgren 1937, Bandy 1940, McKinstry-Kennedy 1957).