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Fluid evolution of the Lindero porphyry gold deposit, NW Argentina: the critical role of salt melts in ore formation

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Abstract

The Lindero deposit is located in the Puna plateau, northwest Argentina, at the southern end of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Central Andes. The high-K calc-alkaline dioritic composition of the subvolcanic intrusions, the shallow emplacement depth (< 1.5 km), and the gold-rich and copper-depleted mineralization style suggest that the Lindero deposit is a porphyry gold deposit. Porphyry gold deposits are scarce worldwide and the factors controlling their formation are still poorly known. Here we present a detailed study of fluid inclusions in order to characterize the mineralizing fluids that precipitated the Au mineralization at Lindero. Different types of fluid inclusions in quartz veins (A-type and banded quartz), which are associated with the K-silicate alteration, were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy, microthermometry, and LA-ICP-MS (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry). Four inclusion types can be recognized in quartz veins: (i) Salt melt inclusions, which are characterized by a dense packing of daughter minerals (mainly Fe-chloride, sylvite, halite, anhydrite, and hematite), by a distorted vapor bubble, and by the lack of liquid phase; (ii) Halite-bearing inclusions which contain liquid, vapor, and halite; (iii) Two-phase aqueous inclusions that contain liquid and vapor; (iv) Vapor-rich inclusions containing only vapor. The inclusion types are related to different stages of hydrothermal evolution. Stage 1 is the main mineralization stage, characterized by vapor-rich inclusions coexisting with salt melt inclusions. Salt melt inclusions commonly show total homogenization temperature (ThL) > 1000 °C. This Na-K-Fe-Cl-rich highly saline brine (~ 90 wt% NaCl eq.) was of magmatic origin and responsible for the Au mineralization. Two later stages involving cooler fluids (ThL < 300 °C) and gradually lower salinities (from 36.1 to 0.2 wt% NaCl eq.) trapped by halite-bearing and two-phase aqueous inclusions during stages 2 and 3, respectively, correspond to a late magmatic-hydrothermal system, that is probably related to a deep supercritical fluid exsolution. Salt melt inclusions represent the most likely parental fluid of K-silicate alteration and associated Au mineralization at Lindero. This uncommon type of fluid must have played an important role in Au transport and precipitation in shallow porphyry gold deposits.

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Fig. 1

Modified from Simón et al. (2021)

Fig. 2

Modified from Simón et al. (2021)

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Modified from Koděra et al. (2017)

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Modified from Driesner and Heinrich (2007), Richards (2011), and Koděra et al. (2014)

Fig. 12

Modified from Koděra et al. (2014). Data for Biely Vrch, Kráľová, Slatinské Lazy, and Beluj Sm inclusions from Koděra et al. 2015b. Data for Grasberg Hp inclusions from Mernagh and Mavrogenes (2019)

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Acknowledgements

This contribution was made possible by the support of FORTUNA SILVER MINES INC. and their local subsidiary MANSFIELD MINERA S.A., both for funding the field costs and for allowing this research to be published. This study was carried out in collaboration with the StRATEGy – International Research Training Group IGK2018 program funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina (Project A.4.2). Support by the VEGA grant 1/0313/20 is also acknowledged. We would like to thank Guadalupe Arzadún and Raúl Becchio for their help to perform Raman spectroscopy. V. Simón especially thanks to Matias Barrionuevo for the support and help received during her research stay in Germany. She also thanks Florencia Reckziegel for her help in the geostatistical treatment of the data. We are grateful to A. van der Kerkhof, J. Chang, A.E.C. Mercer, and G. Beaudoin for providing reviews and editorial comments that significantly improved the manuscript.

Funding

The research leading to these results received funding from StRATEGy – International Research Training Group IGK2018 program funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina (Project A.4.2). Partial financial support was received from FORTUNA SILVER MINES INC. and their local subsidiary MANSFIELD MINERA SA., and from VEGA grant 1/0313/20.

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  1. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA (IBIGEO, UNSa-CONICET), Av. 9 de Julio 14, A4405BBA, Salta, Argentina

    Valeria Simόn, Marcelo Arnosio & Emilce Bustos

  2. Department of Mineralogy, Petrology and Economic Geology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovičova 6, Bratislava, 842 15, Slovakia

    Peter Koděra

  3. German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ, Telegrafenberg, Potsdam, 14473, Germany

    Volker Lüders, Robert B. Trumbull, Louis Desanois, Marta Sośnicka & Cora Wohlgemuth-Ueberwasser

  4. CSIRO Mineral Resources, 26 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington, WA, 6151, Australia

    Marta Sośnicka

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Contributions

All authors contribute to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Valeria Simón, Louis Desanois, Marta Sośnicka, Cora Wohlgemuth-Ueberwasser, and Marcelo Arnosio. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Valeria Simón and Peter Koděra, and all authors commented on subsequent versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript, that is based on the Ph.D. thesis of Valeria Simón.

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Simόn, V., Koděra, P., Lüders, V. et al. Fluid evolution of the Lindero porphyry gold deposit, NW Argentina: the critical role of salt melts in ore formation. Miner Deposita (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-024-01275-2

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