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Fluid inclusion evidence for the physicochemical conditions of sulfide deposition in the Olympias carbonate-hosted Pb-Zn(Au, Ag) sulfide ore deposit, E. Chalkidiki peninsula, N. Greece

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Abstract

The Olympias Pb-Zn(Au, Ag) sulfide ore deposit, E. Chalkidiki, N. Greece, is hosted by marbles of the polymetamorphic Kerdilia Formation of Paleozoic or older age. The geologic environment of the ore also comprises biotite-hornblende gneisses and amphibolites intruded by Tertiary pegmatite-aplite dikes, lamprophyre dikes, the 30-Ma Stratoni granodiorite, and porphyritic stocks. Only limited parts of the deposit display shear folding and brecciation; most of it is undeformed. Microthermometry of fluid inclusions in gangue syn-ore quartz indicates three types of primary and pseudosecondary inclusions: (1) H2O-rich, 1–18 wt.% NaCl equivalent, <3.6 mol% CO2; (2) H2O-CO2 inclusions, <4wt.% NaCl equivalent, with variable CO2 contents, coexisting in both undeformed and deformed ore; (3) aqueous, highsalinity (28–32 wt,% NaCl equivalent) inclusions found only in undeformed ore. Type 2 inclusions are differentiated into two sub-types: (2a) relatively constant CO2 content in the narrow range of 8–15 mol% and homogenization to the liquid phase; (2b) variable CO2 content between 18 and 50 mol% and homogenization to the vapor phase. Type 1 and 2b inclusions are consistent with trapping of two fluids by unmixing of a high-temperature, saline, aqueous, CO2-bearing fluid of possible magmatic origin, probably trapped in type 2a inclusions. Fluid unmixing and concomitant ore mineralization took place at temperatures of 350 ± 30 °C and fluctuating pressures of less than 500 bar, for both undeformed and deformed ores. The wide salinity range of type 1 inclusions probably represents a complex effect of salinity increase, due to fluid unmixing and volatile loss, and dilution, due to mixing with low-salinity meteoric waters. High solute enrichment of the residual liquid, due to extreme volatile loss during unmixing, may account for high salinity type 3 inclusions. The Olympias fluid inclusion salinity-temperature gradients bear similarities to analogous gradients related to Pb-Zn ores formed in “granite”-hosted, low-T distalskarn, skarn-free carbonate-replacement and epithermal environments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration (IGME), 1, Fragon Str., 546 26, Thessaloniki, Greece

    S. P. Kilias

  2. Rusvar Holdings BV, 4, Nikis Str., 105 62, Athens, Greece

    S. I. Kalogeropoulos

  3. University of Copenhagen, Geological Institute, Oster Voldgade 10, DK-1350, Copenhagen K, Denmark

    J. Konnerup-Madsen

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  1. S. P. Kilias
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  2. S. I. Kalogeropoulos
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  3. J. Konnerup-Madsen
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Kilias, S.P., Kalogeropoulos, S.I. & Konnerup-Madsen, J. Fluid inclusion evidence for the physicochemical conditions of sulfide deposition in the Olympias carbonate-hosted Pb-Zn(Au, Ag) sulfide ore deposit, E. Chalkidiki peninsula, N. Greece. Mineral. Deposita 31, 394–406 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00189187

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