The effects of sulfidation and oxidation during metamorphism on compositionally varied rocks adjacent to the Bleikvassli Zn–Pb–(Cu) deposit, Nordland, Norway

Abstract

Petrographic, electron microprobe, and bulk-rock geochemical analyses indicate that the distribution and composition of ferromagnesian silicates (biotite, garnet, and staurolite) in and adjacent to the metamorphosed Bleikvassli Zn–Pb–(Cu) volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit, Norway, are dependent upon the competing effects of f O₂–f S₂ and host-rock composition. The enrichment in magnesium content of these silicates within the orebody and at distances of as much as 5–10 m away is due to the increased f O₂ and f S₂ conditions imposed on the silicates in zones subject to minor hydrothermal alteration during regional metamorphism. Alternatively, within pelitic country rocks at distances >5–10 m from ore, the host-rock chemistry controls the composition of metamorphic silicate minerals. Also, country rocks within a few meters of ore are distinguished by the common presence of zinc-bearing staurolite (up to 9 wt% ZnO) coexisting with biotite ± garnet. Rocks in the Bleikvassli deposit were hydrothermally enriched in zinc and fluorine prior to metamorphism. The fluorine resides mainly in biotite, which is an additional contributing factor to the magnesium enrichment of that mineral due to Fe²⁺–F avoidance. Our inference that the sulfidation–oxidation halo around the Bleikvassli ore deposit is only meters in width contrasts with the view of Maiga (1983), who proposed the effects of sulfidation could be identified at distances >159 m from ore. It is evident that the delineation of a sulfidation–oxidation halo bordering a metamorphosed massive sulfide deposit must be done carefully in order to discriminate between the effects due to variations in primary rock composition versus those resulting from a sulfur and oxygen fugacity gradient between the massive sulfides and the sulfur-poor country rocks.