Abstract
Unusual, high-grade iodide mineralization comprising marshite, miersite, and iodargyrite has been discovered in the oxidation zone of the Rubtsovskoe VHMS base-metal deposit, Northwest Altai, Russia. The distribution of iodides reveals distinct zoning. Iodargyrite is widespread in the upper part of the oxidized orebody at the hypsometric level of +156 to 163 masl. The iodargyrite zone extends for more than 150 m. The content of iodargyrite in gossan occasionally reaches 1–5 vol %. Marshite is localized at the lower level (+146 to +151 masl); the zone enriched in marshite is about 50 m in extent. The marshite content in the high-grade oxidized ore with native copper and in the zone of wall-rock argillic alteration is typically close to 1 vol %, occasionally reaching 7–10 vol %. Miersite occurs sporadically in association with both iodargyrite and low-Ag marshite, which are antagonistic mineral species. Iodargyrite is stoichiometric AgI (2H polytype with a = 4.574 and c = 7.519 Å). Isostructural cubic marshite CuI and miersite (Ag,Cu)I make up an isomorphic series within compositional limits Mar100Mie0-Mar9Mie91 and a break between Mar82.5Mie17.5 and Mar57-Mie43; the a parameter of their unit cells varies from 6.050 to 6.424 Å. The crystal morphology, properties, and mode of iodide occurrence are described in the paper. According to the suggested genetic model, the source of iodine was related to exhalations of seafloor fumaroles accompanying volcanic-hydrothermal-sedimentary ore formation. Iodine is absorbed by clay in the wide zone of wall-rock argillic alteration. During the early stages of sulfide ore oxidation, sulfuric acid oxidized iodine to (I5+O3)−, and it was subsequently reduced and fixed in poorly soluble Ag+ and Cu+ iodides.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bal’ter, B.L. and Chinakov, I.G., Hydrothermal Argillic Alteration of Host Rocks at the Rubtsovskoe Deposit, Tr. Zap.-Sib. Otd. Vsesoyuzn. Mineral. O-va, 1977, no. 4, pp. 85–93.
Barclay, C.J. and Jones, J.B., The Broken Hill Silver Halides, J. Geol. Soc. Austral., 1971, vol. 18, pp. 149–157.
Burley, G., Structure of Hexagonal Silver Iodide, J. Chem. Phys., 1963, vol. 38, pp. 2807–2812.
Chekalin, V.M., Geologic and Genetic Features of the Rubtsovskoe Base-Metal Deposit in the Rudny Altai, Rudy Metally, 2002, no. 1, pp. 23–31.
Chekalin, V.M., Genesis of the Rubtsovskoe Base-Metal Massive Sulfide Deposit in the Rudny Altai, in Metallogeniya drevnikh i sovremennykh okeanov-2006 (Metallogeny of Ancient and Contemporary Oceans-2006), Miass, 2006, pp. 91–96.
Chekvaidze, V.B., Kudryavtseva, N.G., Isakovich, I.Z., and Bakuev, N.S., Formation Conditions of Metasomatic Rosks and Ores at the Rubtsovskoe Deposit in the Rudny Altai, Geol. Rudn. Mestorozhd., 1978, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 71–82.
Chinakov, I.G. and Belyaev, A.P., Main Geological Features of the Rubtsovskoe Deposit in the Rudny Altai, in Novye dannye po geologii i poleznym iskopaemym Zapadnoi Sibiri (New Data on Geology and Mineral Resources of West Siberia), Tomsk, 1973, issue 8, pp. 3–8.
Chitaeva, N.A., Miller, A.D., Grosse, Yu.I., and Chistyakova, N.I., Iodine Distribution in the Supergene Zone of the Gai Copper Massive Sulfide Deposit, Geokhimiya, 1971, vol. 9, no. 6, pp. 696–709.
Chukhrov, F.V., Some General Genetic Questions on Haloid Silver Minerals, Dokl. AN SSSR, 1940, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 697–700.
Chukhrov, F.V., Zona okisleniya sul’fidnykh mestorozhdenii stepnoi chasti Kazakhstana (Oxidation Zone of Sulfide Deposits in the Steppe Part of Kazakhstan), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1950.
Cooper, M.A. and Hawthorne, F.C., A Note on the Crystal Structure of Marshite, Canad. Mineral., 1997, vol. 35, pp. 785-786.
Fersman, A.E., Izbrannye Trudy (Selected Works), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1955.
Goronovsky, I.T., Nazarenko, Yu.P., and Nekryach, E.F., Kratkii spravochnik po khimii (Concise Handbook of Chemistry), Kiev: Naukova dumka, 1987.
Izoitko, V.M., Fedorov, S.A., Porotov, G.S., Aksenova, G.Ya., Zimina, S.N., Ushinskaya, L.A., and Yagovkina, M.A., Otchet o Geologo-tekhnologicheskom oprobovanii rud Rubtsovskogo mestorozhdeniya (Report on Geological and Technological Sampling of Ore at the Rubtsovskoe Deposit), St. Petersburg: Mekhanobr-Engineering ZAO 2003.
Johnson, Q. and Schock, R.N., The 4H Polytype of Siver Iodide, Acta Cryst. B, 1975, vol. 31, pp. 1482-1483.
Karyakina, Yu.V. and Angelov, I.I., Chistye khimicheskie veshchestva (Pure Chemical Substances), Moscow: Khimiya, 1974.
Lurie, Yu.Yu., Spravochnik po analiticheskoi khimii. 5-e izd (Handbook for Analytical Chemistry, 5th Ed.), Moscow, 1979.
Millsteed, P.W., Marshite-Miersite Solid Solution and Iodargyrite from Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia, Miner. Mag, 1998, vol. 62, no. 4, pp. 471–475.
Minerals of Broken Hill, W.D. Birch, Ed., Melbourne, 1999.
Millsteed, P.W. and Creagh, D.C., The Formation of Silver and Copper Halides at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia, in Proceedings of the 4th Intern. Conf. on Mineralogy and Museums, Melbourne, 2000, pp. 72–73.
Rosen, B.Ya., Geokhimiya broma i ioda (Geochemistry of Bromine and Iodine), Moscow: Nedra, 1970.
Smirnov, S.S., Zona okisleniya sul’fidnykh mestorozhdenii (Oxidation Zone of Sulfide Deposits), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1951.
Stroitelev, A.D., Zyryanova, L.A., and Sveshnikova, V.L., Base-Metal Deposits of the Rubtsovsk Ore District, in Rudnye mestorozhdeniya. Mineralogiya. Geokhimiya (Ore Deposits, Mineralogy and Geochemistry), Tomsk, 1996, pp. 40–56.
Sudov, B.A., Trofimov, N.N., Rychkov, A.I., and Ivanchikov, V.P., Iod i brom geokhimicheskie indikatory glubokozalegayushchikh rudnykh mestorozhdenii (Iodine and Bromine As Geochemical Indicators of Deep-Seated Ore Deposits), Moscow: Nedra, 1994.
Sveshnikova, V.L. and Stroitelev, A.D., Structure and Composition of the Rubtsovskoe Base-Metal Deposit, the Rudny Altai, in Mater. po geokhimii, petrografii i poleznym iskopaemym Zapadnoi Sibiri (Geochemistry, Petrology and Mineral Resources of West Siberia), Tomsk, 1981, pp. 46–49.
Trofimov, N.N., Rychkov, A.I., and D’yakonov, V.V., Iodine and Bromine in Endogenic Ore Formation, Izv. Vuzov, Geol. Razved., 2002, no. 3, pp. 94–98.
Wilman, H., The Structure and Orientation of Silver Halides, Proc. Phys. Soc., 1940, vol. 52, pp. 323–347.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © I.V. Pekov, I.S. Lykova, I.A. Bryzgalov, D.A. Ksenofontov, L.A. Zyryanova, N.D. Litvinov, 2010, published in Zapiski RMO (Proceedings of the Russian Mineralogical Society), 2010, No. 6, pp. 1–21.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pekov, I.V., Lykova, I.S., Bryzgalov, I.A. et al. Uniquely high-grade iodide mineralization in the oxidation zone of the Rubtsovskoe base-metal deposit, Northwest Altai, Russia. Geol. Ore Deposits 53, 683–698 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075701511080125
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075701511080125