U-Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of sericite from hydrothermal alteration zones: new constraints for the timing of Ediacaran gold mineralization in the Sukhaybarat area, western Afif terrane, Saudi Arabia
© 2017 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany The Sukhaybarat East and Red Hill deposits, in the northeastern part of the Arabian Shield, are mesothermal vein-type gold deposits hosted by late Cryogenian-Ediacaran intrusive rocks of the Idah suites (diorite, tonalite, granodiorite) and, at Sukhaybarat East, a...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Springer
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/56143 |
| _version_ | 1848759797319467008 |
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| author | Harbi, H. Ali, K. McNaughton, Neal Andresen, A. |
| author_facet | Harbi, H. Ali, K. McNaughton, Neal Andresen, A. |
| author_sort | Harbi, H. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2017 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany The Sukhaybarat East and Red Hill deposits, in the northeastern part of the Arabian Shield, are mesothermal vein-type gold deposits hosted by late Cryogenian-Ediacaran intrusive rocks of the Idah suites (diorite, tonalite, granodiorite) and, at Sukhaybarat East, also by Ediacaran metasedimentary rocks. Gold mineralization comprises quartz-arsenopyrite veins (Sukhaybarat East), quartz-carbonate-pyrite veins (Red Hill), and subordinate gold-base metal sulfide veins. In the Red Hill deposit, alteration is complicated due to multiple overprinting hydrothermal events and is characteristically affected by pervasive, pink quartz-K-feldspar-hematite alteration which is overprinted by potassic alteration characterized by a quartz-biotite-carbonate-muscovite/sericite-rutile-apatite assemblage. This assemblage is associated with molybdenite veins which appear to form late in the paragenetic sequence and may represent either evolution of the ore fluid composition, or a later, unrelated mineralized fluids. Hydrothermal alteration at the Sukhaybarat East deposit is dominated by quartz-carbonate-sericite-arsenopyrite assemblages. Zircon from ore-hosting tonalite at Sukhaybarat East yields a U-Pb age of 629 ± 6 Ma, and biotite from the same rock gives an 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age of 622 ± 23 Ma. The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age is within the uncertainty range for the U-Pb age of the host intrusion and is interpreted as a minimally disturbed cooling age for the tonalite. In the Red Hill area, granodiorite was emplaced at 615 ± 5 Ma, whereas muscovite/sericite separated from a mineralized sample of a quartz-carbonate-pyrite vein, that was overprinted by molybdenite-bearing veinlets, yields an 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age of 597 ± 8 Ma. We interpreted this age to represent the maximum age of the molybdenite mineralization and the probable minimum age of gold mineralization in the Red Hill deposit. |
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| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-56143 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:05:35Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Springer |
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| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-561432023-08-02T06:39:09Z U-Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of sericite from hydrothermal alteration zones: new constraints for the timing of Ediacaran gold mineralization in the Sukhaybarat area, western Afif terrane, Saudi Arabia Harbi, H. Ali, K. McNaughton, Neal Andresen, A. © 2017 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany The Sukhaybarat East and Red Hill deposits, in the northeastern part of the Arabian Shield, are mesothermal vein-type gold deposits hosted by late Cryogenian-Ediacaran intrusive rocks of the Idah suites (diorite, tonalite, granodiorite) and, at Sukhaybarat East, also by Ediacaran metasedimentary rocks. Gold mineralization comprises quartz-arsenopyrite veins (Sukhaybarat East), quartz-carbonate-pyrite veins (Red Hill), and subordinate gold-base metal sulfide veins. In the Red Hill deposit, alteration is complicated due to multiple overprinting hydrothermal events and is characteristically affected by pervasive, pink quartz-K-feldspar-hematite alteration which is overprinted by potassic alteration characterized by a quartz-biotite-carbonate-muscovite/sericite-rutile-apatite assemblage. This assemblage is associated with molybdenite veins which appear to form late in the paragenetic sequence and may represent either evolution of the ore fluid composition, or a later, unrelated mineralized fluids. Hydrothermal alteration at the Sukhaybarat East deposit is dominated by quartz-carbonate-sericite-arsenopyrite assemblages. Zircon from ore-hosting tonalite at Sukhaybarat East yields a U-Pb age of 629 ± 6 Ma, and biotite from the same rock gives an 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age of 622 ± 23 Ma. The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age is within the uncertainty range for the U-Pb age of the host intrusion and is interpreted as a minimally disturbed cooling age for the tonalite. In the Red Hill area, granodiorite was emplaced at 615 ± 5 Ma, whereas muscovite/sericite separated from a mineralized sample of a quartz-carbonate-pyrite vein, that was overprinted by molybdenite-bearing veinlets, yields an 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age of 597 ± 8 Ma. We interpreted this age to represent the maximum age of the molybdenite mineralization and the probable minimum age of gold mineralization in the Red Hill deposit. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/56143 10.1007/s00126-017-0751-7 Springer restricted |
| spellingShingle | Harbi, H. Ali, K. McNaughton, Neal Andresen, A. U-Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of sericite from hydrothermal alteration zones: new constraints for the timing of Ediacaran gold mineralization in the Sukhaybarat area, western Afif terrane, Saudi Arabia |
| title | U-Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of sericite from hydrothermal alteration zones: new constraints for the timing of Ediacaran gold mineralization in the Sukhaybarat area, western Afif terrane, Saudi Arabia |
| title_full | U-Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of sericite from hydrothermal alteration zones: new constraints for the timing of Ediacaran gold mineralization in the Sukhaybarat area, western Afif terrane, Saudi Arabia |
| title_fullStr | U-Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of sericite from hydrothermal alteration zones: new constraints for the timing of Ediacaran gold mineralization in the Sukhaybarat area, western Afif terrane, Saudi Arabia |
| title_full_unstemmed | U-Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of sericite from hydrothermal alteration zones: new constraints for the timing of Ediacaran gold mineralization in the Sukhaybarat area, western Afif terrane, Saudi Arabia |
| title_short | U-Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of sericite from hydrothermal alteration zones: new constraints for the timing of Ediacaran gold mineralization in the Sukhaybarat area, western Afif terrane, Saudi Arabia |
| title_sort | u-pb zircon and 40ar/39ar geochronology of sericite from hydrothermal alteration zones: new constraints for the timing of ediacaran gold mineralization in the sukhaybarat area, western afif terrane, saudi arabia |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/56143 |