The High Sulphidation Epithermal Deposits:

An Introduction to Their Characteristics

Bronto Sutopo
Bandung, 22 November 2011
Outline

Introduction
Distribution and Economic Significance
Genetic Environment
Volcanic Setting and Associated Igneous Rocks
Deposits Forms and Control
Alteration Mineralogy and Zoning
Ore and Gangue Mineralogy
Timing Mineralization
Source Metals
Genetic Models
Implications for Exploration
Introduction

Increasing exploration for gold deposits during the late 1970s and early 1980s
Found that
A deposit type is characterized by the presence of minerals diagnostic of high
sulfidation states (e.g., enargite and luzonite) and acidic hydrothermal conditions
(e.g., alunite, kaolinite, pyrophyllite).

Enargite-gold (Ashley 1982),

Goldfield-type (Bethke 1984, after Ransome 1909),
High-sulfur (Bonham 1984, 1986),
Quartz-alunite Au (Berger 1986),
Acid sulfate (Heald et al. 1987),
Alunite-kaolinite (Berger & Henley 1989)

High Sulfidation (HS) (Hedenquist 1987) is now widely used

was proposed originally to refer to a fundamental genetic aspect, the relatively
oxidized state of sulfur contained in the hydrothermal system (i.e., initially SO2-rich).
Distribution, Age and Economic
Significance
HS deposits coincide worldwide with plutonic-volcanic arcs.
(Cenozoic deposits of the Circum-Pacific and the Balkan belt of
southeastern Europe )

These deposits occur in two main settings: (i) in island arcs and (ii) at continental
margins.

The tectonic regime during formation of the deposits seems to be dominantly

extensional (Sillitoe 1993).
Some deposits (e.g., Goldfield, Rodalquilar, Summitville) formed in intracontinental
regions during periods of extension that followed regional compression and subduction
by several m.y.

Tertiary HS deposits predominate, and only a few deposits are Mesozoic (e.g., Pueblo
Viejo, Zijinshan), Paleozoic (e.g., Temora and others in southeastern Australia), or
PreCambrian (the early Proterozoic Enasen Au deposit located in the Baltic shield of
central Sweden).
Location of the principal epithermal deposits

(from Newmont)
Distribution, Age and Economic
Significance

The youngest deposits are Pleistocene (<1.6 Ma) and occur in the central western
Pacific (Lepanto-Phillipine, and Chinkuashih-Taiwan).

The concentration of deposits in young volcanic areas is mainly a reflection of

the fact that older HS deposits are more likely to be eroded.

Gold, copper and variable amounts of silver are the main products of HS
deposits.
Examples:
Gold (Nalesbitan, Rodalquilar), occasionally with silica by-product (Nansatsu), is
the only economic metal in the smaller deposits.
No copper is produced at Paradise Peak and Pueblo Viejo.

Mercury is produced at Paradise Peak, and the Julcani district has been a source
of a remarkable polymetallic assemblage consisting of Ag, Cu, Pb, Au, W, Bi, and Zn.
 Largest Epithermal Au-Ag deposits
Yanacocha
Lihir
Cripple Creek
Baguio
Pueblo Viejo
Porgera Low sulfidation
Pascua-Veladero deposits
Round Mountain
El Indio High sulfidation
Comstock Lode deposits
Hishikari
Pierina
(modified after Cooke & Simmons, 2000)
Pachuca-Real
Waihi
Kelian Au (t)
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
 Deposit Characteristics
Low Sulfidation High Sulfidation

Ore Au-Ag Au-Ag (Cu)

Metals As, Sb, Zn, Pb, Hg, Se As, Sb, Bi, Pb, Hg, Te, Sn

Alteration Adularia-carbonate, Alunite, kaolinite,

illite (muscovite), pyrophyllite, diaspore,
smectite, chlorite, epidote illite, chlorite, epidote

Textures Open space fill (banded Replacement & void-fill,

& crustiform veins, (massive & vuggy quartz,
bladed calcite, breccias) massive veins)

Form Veins, breccias, Disseminated, veins,

disseminations breccias
Genetic Environment

Feature of HS deposits: fracture-controlled vuggy quartz rock (intensely

leached volcanic rock consisting dominantly of quartz) is the product of very
acidic conditions (pH <2 at T= ~250 C) that occur within a sulfate-rich
hydrothermal fluid formed by absorption of magmatic vapor.

In addition to SO2 disproportionate to H2SO4, significant concentration of HCl

from the magmatic vapor contributes to the acidic conditions necessary for
alumina to be soluble, leading to vuggy quartz alteration.

Neutralization of the acidic solution by reaction with the wallrock results in a

sequence of alteration zones, outward from the hydrothermal conduit, which is
indicative of decreasing acidity and is defined by the presence of alunite,
kaolinite, illite, and montmorillonite chlorite.
Genetic Environment

Cross-section of alteration zones characteristic of high-sulfidation deposits

(Summitville Au-Cu deposit, Colorado)

Diagram at left shows schematic outward zonation from a subvertical mineralized body,
shown at right (from Stoffregren 1987).
Genetic Environment
Neutralization of the
acidic solution by reaction
with the wallrock results
Massive Vuggy
Quartz Quartz
in a sequence of alteration
Qtz-alunite+dickite zones.

outward from the

hydrothermal conduit,
which is indicative of
decreasing acidity and is
defined by the presence
of alunite, kaolinite, illite,
and montmorillonite
chlorite.
Martabe, North Sumatra

Kejora Gerhana

Baskara

Purnama Pelangi

Batang Toru
HS Martabe
Martabe, North Sumatra
Martabe, North Sumatra
Martabe, North Sumatra

Purnama Fault
Silica

Kao-py-ill-hm-jar-goe lokasi
Sm-ill-kao-py-hm

Trip 1 5 Nov 2011 : martabe sipirok sigompulon

 Martabe, North Sumatra
Stasiun 1

Silica

lokasi

kaolinite limonite Volc sed.

 Martabe, North Sumatra
Purnama

Bagian tepi Purnama

Diatreme
Monomic breccia, angular
Vein LS Alterasi illite- kaolinite alunite
andesite fragment set in clay
matrix Masih terdapat ore massive-vuggy quartz
yang melensa
 Martabe, North Sumatra
Purnama pit

Massive quartz

Note :
Zona silica ore ini terlihat serupa dengan
alterasi sekitarnya
Pada bagian atas, silica barren / leaching
Ore berada sekitar 10 m dibawah outcrop
 Martabe, North Sumatra

Baskara
Foto dari Purnama
Baskara
Dome dasit / andesit kuarsa
Vuggy quartz masive quartz ore, structural control
Martabe, North Sumatra

Vuggy quartz

Hydrothermal bx,
py cement
 Martabe, North Sumatra

Massive sulphide with siliceous alteration.

Sulfides consist of luzonite (lu), enargite (en)
and pyrite (py).

A jigsaw-fit breccia with porphyritic andesite in clast.

Enargite (en) presents as cement and encrust andesite.
Quartz (qtz) fills vug.
 HS Gading Jawa Barat

Vuggy quartz with partially oxidized. Enargite, pyrite, jarosite

and goethite.
HS Gading Jawa Barat
HS Gading Jawa Barat
HS Gading Jawa Barat

Vuggy quartz

Quartz-Alunite-Kaolinite Grey Silica

HS Gading Jawa Barat

Rodalquilar high-sulfidation deposit, Spain.

Mineralized veins and cavities in vuggy silica
and qtz-alunite alteration
Arribas, 1995
Genetic Environment

The observation made here is that an alunite-enargite assemblage records

a similar geochemical environment, whether forming an epithermal deposit
or as part of the alteration zoning of an orebody formed at greater depths.

High-sulfidation deposits form in a position intermediate between

intrusions and the surface;

therefore, they may be located close to a porphyry copper deposit or in a

near-surface environment, such as the roots of an acid crater lake.
Genetic Environment
Origin of alunite or acid-sulfate alteration can be generated by different
mechanisms in (at least) three principal geologic environments (Bethke 1984; Rye et
al. 1992):

(1) by the disproportionation of magmatic SO2 to H2S04 and H2S following

absorption by groundwater (magmatic hydrothermal),

(2) by atmospheric oxidation of H2S in the vadose zone over the water table,
associated with fumarolic discharge of vapor released by deeper boiling fluids
(steam-heated), and

(3) by atmospheric oxidation of sulfides during weathering (supergene).

Genetic Environment
Magmatic hydrothermal alunite occurs with minerals such as diaspore, pyrophyllite,
kaolinite, dickite, and zunyite, which are typical of hypogene (T = 200-350 C) acidic
conditions (advanced argillic assemblage; Meyer & Hemley 1967).

This type of alunite is characteristic of HS deposits, but it may also appear in areas of
advanced argillic alteration void of ore mineralization (e.g., Iwao ,1962; Hall, 1978).

Alunite in steam-heated environments forms with kaolinite and interlayered illite

smectite at about 100 to 160 C where fumarolic vapor condenses above the boiling zone
of neutral-pH, H2S-rich fluid, typical of geothermal systems that form low-sulfidation
deposits.

Because of the relatively shallow and dynamic environment of mineralization,

overprinting among the three types of acid-sulfate alteration (including supergene) is
possible.
Volcanic Setting and Associated Igenous Rocks
The high-sulfidation deposits mostly occur within intermediate-composition volcanic rock
sequences having ages broadly similar to that of mineralization.

A common spatial association exists between the deposits and shallow, typically
porphyritic intrusions.

These intrusions are interpreted to be the (i) roots of volcanic domes or the (ii) feeders of
central-vent volcanoes or (iii) maar-diatreme complexes

Some deposits are hosted entirely within a single dome (Summitville), or within a dome
complex (Julcani).
High sulfidation deposits,
associated with magmas of limited compositional variation

No deposits have been discovered in

association with alkaline or mafic magmas
intermediate-to-felsic alkali-calcic
rocks are characteristic of the
Summitville and Laurani districts.

Intermediate calcic volcanic rocks

are limited to porphyritic intrusions
in the Lepanto and Motomboto Cu-
Au-Ag districts
Arribas, 1995
Deposits Form and Control

High-sulfidation deposits display a wide variety of styles of mineralization

that includes veins, hydrothermal breccia bodies, stockworks, and
disseminations or replacements.

This variation in the structure of the orebodies is complemented with

variations in other deposit features, including ore and alteration mineralogy,
paragenesis, and metal ratios.

White (1991) distinguished three end-member styles of HS deposits, named

after deposits of the Circum-Pacific: Temora, El Indio, and Nansatsu.
Deposits Form and Control

High-sulfidation deposits display a wide variety of styles of mineralization

that includes veins, hydrothermal breccia bodies, stockworks, and
disseminations or replacements.

This variation in the structure of the orebodies is complemented with

variations in other deposit features, including ore and alteration mineralogy,
paragenesis, and metal ratios.

White (1991) distinguished three end-member styles of HS deposits, named

after deposits of the Circum-Pacific: Temora, El Indio, and Nansatsu.
 Deposits Form and Control

Temora-style: Irregular bodies of disseminated, silicified ores dominate

El Indio-style Au deposits: Cavity-filling veins with sericitic and clay-rich haloes are
characteristic of

Nansatsu-style: wallrock-alteration zoning and by the occurrence of enargite-bearing

ores within a silica core consisting of vuggy or massive silica rock.
i.e: deposit forms irregular stratabound bodies (e.g., Nansatsu, Lepanto) or subvertical
vein-like masses or "ledges" {e.g., Chinkuashih, Goldfield, Lepanto, Rodalquilar,
Summitville).

Nansatsu-style contains breccia bodies, veins, stockworks of small veins, and

disseminated ores
 Deposits Form and Control

Local subvertical faults and fractures are the dominant control on HS mineralization and
they are present in most deposits.

Other examples of structural controls observed in some districts: moderately to shallow-

dipping faults (Goldfield), caldera ring and radial faults (Rodalquilar), the dilational jog of
a strike-slip fault (Nalesbitan), diatreme ring-faults (Lepanto, Pueblo Viejo), the contact
between a dome or volcanic conduit and country rock (Summitville), and a lithologic
unconformity (Pueblo Viejo, Lepanto).

Some deposits, the principal control is lithological (maar sediments at Pueblo Viejo, and
interbedded pyroclastic layers at Paradise Peak and Nansatsu).

A unique combination of the structural and lithological controls characteristic of HS

deposits is exhibited by the Lepanto Cu-Au-Ag deposit.
Arribas et al., 1995
 Deposits Form and Control

Hedenquist et al., 1998

The deposit is 3 km long and consists of a main zone of breccia and replacement mineralization
along the Lepanto Fault (Fig. 4A). Multiple veins associated with smaller diagonal faults branch
from the main zone and extend into both the hanging wall and footwall. The characteristic
mushroom-shaped cross-section of many of the orebodies at Lepanto is related to the
intersection of the steeply dipping Lepanto fault and branch veins with the unconformity at the
base of Imbanguila dacite. Arribas et al., 1995
 Alteration Mineralogy and Zoning

Lateral alteration zoning : reflects the reaction and neutralization of hightemperature

acidic fluids with wallrock.

The innermost zone of vuggy or massive quartz alteration commonly has sharp
boundaries with a zone that may contain quartz, alunite, kaolinite, dickite, pyrophyllite,
diaspore, and zunyite .

This advanced argillic assemblage grades into a second envelope of argillic alteration
(quartz, kaolinite, illite, sericite, and smectite) and an outermost halo of propylitic
alteration (chlorite, illite, smectite, and carbonate ).

In the majority of HS deposits, however, most of the ore is contained within the silica
core, inside the advanced argillic envelope .
 Advanced argillic slides: 11
(if scanned can be reduced to 5)

Advanced argillic alteration of Magmatic-Hydrothermal origin - Hypogene alunite

 A. Magmatic-hydrothermal

B. Steam-heated
Generalized HS Geologic Model
 Alteration Mineralogy and Zoning
The zones of alteration with increasing depth typically grade from a shallow silicic zone
through advanced argillic, argillic, argilic/sericitic, into a sericitic or phyllic zone with
quartz, sericite, and pyrite.

This alteration sequence occurs over a vertical interval that ranges from a few hundred
meters to more than 1000 m

The lateral and vertical alteration zones described above correspond to a generalized
model.

They are useful in exploration because they help in understanding the genetic
environment of a deposit and provide spatial "markers within the extinct hydrothermal
system.
 Ore and Gangue Mineralogy and
Timing of Mineralisation
Ore: Pyrite and enargite (and its low-temperature dimorph luzonite) are the dominant
sulfides in HS deposits; pyrite is abundant but the amount of enargite and luzonite is variable.

Common ore minerals, listed by decreasing abundance from variable to very minor, include
tennantite-tetrahedrite, covellite, native gold and argentian gold (electrum), marcasite,
chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and galena. Famatinite is locally abundant in some deposits
(Goldfield, La Mejicana). Sparse ore minerals include bornite, cassiterite, cinnabar,
molybdenite, orpiment, realgar, stibnite, and wolframite (the last locally important at
Julcani).

Other minerals present in minor amounts in several deposits include Pb-, Ag-Pb, Bi- and Sn-
bearing sulfosalts .

Gaunge: Fine-grained quartz is the dominant gangue in HS deposits. Other common but
minor gangue minerals include barite, kaolinite, alunite, pyrophyllite, diaspore, and Ca-,Sr-,
Pb- and REE bearing phosphate-sulfate mineral(s) such asnsvanbergite-woodhouseite or
crandallite
 Ore and Gangue Mineralogy and
Timing of Mineralisation
This observation implies that ore formation occurred under moderately acidic to acidic
conditions, which are inconsistent with transport of Au as Au(HS)2.

Recent studies of Au solubility in high-temperature acid sulfide solutions have resulted in

identification of AuHS and AuCl2-.

The number and order of mineralizing events provide critical information for reconstruction
of the hydrothermal system that results in HS mineralization.

A minimum of two stages of alteration/mineralization has been recognized in most deposits

on the basis of crosscutting relations. The most common evolutionnis from an early leaching
and alteration stage to a later ore-forming stage.

Vuggy quartz rock and the advanced argillic assemblage with disseminated pyrite form
typically early-stage acidic alteration, and are followed by Cu Au Ag deposition.
The transition from quartz-alunite pyrite alteration to enargite-pyrite and finally to
tennantite-tetrahedrite, the last typically without sulfate (alunite) but with quartz-sericite
gangue and wallrock alteration, indicates a fluid progressively more reduced and less acid.
Ore and Gangue Mineralogy and
Timing of Mineralisation
Ore and Gangue Mineralogy and
Timing of Mineralisation

In hand specimen, vuggy quartz is grey

and microcrystalline; vugs are lined by
quartz, hematite and limonite (mainly
goethite).

In thin section, quartz forms a dense

mosaic texture, vugs are lined by
quartz.
 Sources of Metals

The origin of metals in HS deposits is more speculative.

But, many workers that the bulk of the ore-forming components is contributed by magmatic
fluid, either directly by a magmatic vapor or hypersaline liquid that is incorporated into the
hydrothermal system, or indirectly by remobilization of metals from a porphyry-type
protore.
 Genetic Models

A feature of HS deposits which has been noted commonly is a change in the hydrothermal
system with time towards a fluid that is less reactive and less oxidized.

Mineralization in HS deposits does not occur under the reduced conditions of low-
sulfidation-type geothermal fluids .

The initial requirement for formation of a HS deposit is emplacement of an oxidized,

typically intermediate calc-alkaline magma to within a few kilometers of the paleosurface.
Rather than a spatially and temporally isolated magmatic event, the subvolcanic intrusions
seems to represent an late-stage feeder of a comagmatic central-vent volcano or a maar -
diatreme or flowdome complex.

Within the ascending, crystallizing, and cooling magma, a hydrothermal fluid phase
exsolves and concentrates ore-forming metals and volatiles.
Model showing the two main stages of evolution of HS deposits.
A: Early stage of advanced argillic alteration dominated by magmatic vapor. B1 and B2: Two
genetic hypotheses proposed for the stage of ore formation. B1 = absorption of high-pressure
vapor by entrainment in meteoric water cell at depth to explain low salinity, mixed magmatic-
meteoric ore fluid. B2 = ascending metal-bearing magmatic brine with shallow cooler meteoric
waters to explain high-salinity, mixed magmatic-meteoric ore fluid
High-sulfidation deposits: Exploration (1)

1. Origin of advanced argillic alteration:

- hypogene, steam-heated, supergene?

2. Alteration zoning and size:

- definition of silicic and advanced argillic zones
and margin of system
- need large silicic and advanced argillic zone

3. Ore controls:
- Lithologic (caps vs. lateral flow)
- Structural (vein vs. mineralized feeder)
 Sulfur Speciation

Low sulfidation
Reducing conditions stabilise aqueous sulfide
species (H2S(aq), HS-), reduced gases (H2S(g))

High sulfidation
Oxidising conditions stabilise aqueous sulfate
species (SO42-, HSO4-), oxidised gases (SO2 (g))

From: Cooke & Simmons, 2000

Implications for Exploration
Technical recommendations
Establish mineralization style: epithermal, HS vs LS
Understand geological & structural characteristics
Determine geometry & size in terms of ore potential
Identify location of paleoflow channels (high-grade)

Operational factors
Develop multiple working hypotheses
Test, particularly with the drill
Exploration for epithermal deposits:
Summary

Define economic objectives of company

Technological and operational expertise

Explanation geologist

Also stay curious: be driven by enthusiasm

imagine, pursue and test the unknown
Exploration geologist
Terima kasih