Contrasting Fluids in the Svetlinsk Gold-Telluride Hydrothermal System, South Urals

Abstract

The large gold-telluride Svetlinsk deposit (~135 t Au) is considered to be a nontraditional one in the Urals and its origin is debated. A specific feature of the deposit is the abundance of various tellurides, such as tellurides of Fe, Ni, Pb, Sb, Bi, Ag, and Au. The new data of microthermometry, Raman spectroscopy, LA-ICP-MS, and crush-leach analysis (gas and ion chromatography, ICP-MS) for fluid inclusions as well as O-isotope data for quartz were obtained for the construction of PTX parameters of ore-formation and fluid sources in the deposit. Mineralisation was formed at a wide range of temperature and pressure (200–400 °C, 1–4 kbar) and from contrasting fluids with multiple sources. At the early stages, the magmatic fluid evolved during its ascent and phase separation and the fluid derived from the host rock decarbonation and dehydration were involved in the hydrothermal system. In addition, mantle-derived fluid might be involved in the ore-forming process during gold-telluride precipitation as well as heated meteoric waters during the late stages. Early fluids were rich in H2S, S⁰, and CH4, while the Au-Te mineralisation was formed from N2-rich fluid.