ZINC IN THE EPITHERMAL ENVIRONMENT

Richard H. Sillitoe
Society of Economic Geologists Inc. - England

SUMMARY
Zinc deposits are well known in a variety of sedimentary settings as well as in
association with igneous centers, but have attracted little attention in the
epithermal environment. Nevertheless, zinc accompanied by goldsilver occurs
in several styles of both high- and intermediate-sulfidation epithermal
mineralization; however, low-sulfidation deposits are everywhere zinc-poor.
High-grade epithermal zinc deposits are hosted by carbonate rocks in transition
zones between the HS and IS environments, whereas large tonnages of lowgrade epithermal zinc mineralization of either HS or IS type occur in diatreme
breccias or impregnate lacustrine sedimentary rocks around volcanic centers.
These and potentially other styles of epithermal zinc mineralization are
commonly deficient in quartz and, hence, are likely to crop out poorly and
constitute subtle exploration targets.

INTRODUCTION
Many of the worlds largest zinc deposits are amagmatic in origin and may be
subdivided into shale-hosted SEDEX (e.g. Mt. Isa, Queensland, Australia),
carbonate-hosted Mississippi Valley type (e.g. San Vicente, Peru), carbonatehosted Irish type (e.g. Navan, Ireland), sandstone-hosted (e.g., Lanping,
Yunnan, China), metasedimentary rock-hosted (e.g. Broken Hill, New South
Wales, Australia), and modern brines (e.g. Salton Sea, California, U. S. A.).
Major production is derived from the shale-, carbonate-, and metasedimentary
rock-hosted classes.

Major zinc concentrations related genetically to igneous rocks are also well
known, and include skarn (e.g. Antamina, Peru), carbonate-replacement (e.g.
Santa Eulalia, Mexico), and VMS (e.g. San Nicols, Mexico) types. To these

may be added several styles of less well-known zinc mineralization of

epithermal type, the subject of this note.
ZINC IN INTRUSION-CENTERED SYSTEMS
Zinc, along with lead and silver, is characteristically concentrated peripherally in
intrusion-centered systems. This is evident at the district scale, where zinc-rich
carbonate-replacement or vein deposits may fringe porphyry copper (e.g.
Bingham, Utah, USA) or tin/tungsten deposits. Peripheral zinc concentration is
also commonplace at the deposit scale, for example in the outer parts of copper
skarns (e.g. Antamina) or near the tops of many VMS deposits.

The preferred peripheral position of zinc at both the district and deposit scales
is, with the possible exception of VMS deposits, not normally due to its being
scavenged from host-rock sequences because high zinc contents occur in
magmatic brines. For example, Ulrich et al. (1999) determined that high-salinity
fluid inclusions in quartz veinlets from K-silicate alteration zones at major
porphyry copper-gold deposits contain more zinc (~1.3-1.4 wt %) than copper,
although essentially none of this was precipitated within the confines of the
copper-gold deposits themselves.

The absence of zinc in these porphyry copper-gold deposits, as well as its

concentration on the peripheries of a variety of districts and deposits, is due to
the relative stability of the zinc chloride complex and the need for zinc-bearing
fluids to attain fairly low temperatures before intersecting their saturation curves
(Hemley and Hunt, 1992). Hence, copper and gold are generally precipitated
before zinc from chloride brine that is cooling during outward or upward flow.

Seward and Barnes (1997) reviewed the mechanisms that may be responsible
for especially efficient precipitation of zinc from chloride brines in the igneous
environment. Among these, neutralization of an acidic fluid on contact with
carbonate rock is probably responsible for zinc concentration in carbonatereplacement deposits and on the edges of skarn deposits. In the case of VMS

deposits, however, peripheral zinc enrichment is more likely due to mixing of

metal-bearing fluid and ambient seawater and the concomitant cooling.
ZINC IN EPITHERMAL DEPOSITS
Three broad categories of epithermal preciousbase-metal deposits are
distinguished: high-sulfidation (HS), intermediate-sulfidation (IS), and lowsulfidation

(LS).

The

newly

introduced

term

intermediate-sulfidation

(Hedenquist et al., 2000) is equivalent to the sulfide-rich LS category of Sillitoe

(1993).

HS epithermal gold/silver deposits commonly contain appreciable copper, but

are typically zinc-poor. LS deposits are generally deficient in all sulfides and,
hence, zinc and other base metals. In contrast, IS deposits contain more sulfide
minerals than those of the LS type, and commonly contain appreciable amounts
of zinc, subordinate lead, and elevated Ag/Au ratios. Higher chloride contents in
the ore fluid facilitate the more effective transport of zinc, lead, and silver in IS
systems. Zinc has been recovered, albeit in relatively minor amounts, from
many IS epithermal vein deposits, including Comstock Lode in Nevada, western
U. S. A., Fresnillo in Mexico, Arcata and Orcopampa in Peru, and El Bronce in
Chile.

At least 30% of advanced argillic lithocaps, the sites of HS epithermal deposits,

are associated just beyond their edges with IS mineralization, typically in the
form of veins (Sillitoe, 1999). The IS mineralization is similar to the preciousand base-metal-bearing veins around porphyry copper deposits, which have
already been exhumed from beneath their overlying lithocaps. A topical
example of an IS vein system alongside a HS Au-Ag-enargite deposit and its
subjacent porphyry Cu-Au deposit is provided by Victoria at Lepanto in the
Philippines (Claveria et al., 1999; Hedenquist and Claveria, this CD-ROM). The
quartz-manganoan carbonate-gypsum-anhydrite vein swarm contains a current
resource of 17.3 Mt @ 7.71 g/t Au, 0.35% Cu, and ~1% Zn.

The zinc-free HS mineralization within and Zn-bearing IS mineralization around

lithocaps are typically separated by metal-poor intervals rather than displaying
obviously transitional relations. Nevertheless, vein fillings and halos in the Butte,
Montana (Meyer et al., 1968) and Pyramid, Nevada (Wallace, 1980) districts,
western USA, display well-defined zoning from centrally located enargite
(hypogene copper sulfides) with advanced argillic alteration to peripheral
sphalerite-galena with sericitic alteration, in concert with a progressive decrease
in Cu/Zn+Pb ratios. Therefore, it seems likely that the acidic fluid responsible for
HS mineralization undergoes neutralization as a result of wallrock interaction,
and concomitant decrease in sulfidation state, to produce fluid capable of
producing IS mineralization (Sillitoe, 1999). The cooling that accompanied the
fluid neutralization was instrumental in Zn precipitation.

MAJOR EPITHERMAL ZINC DEPOSITS

Several bulk-tonnage epithermal deposits, several of them newly recognized,
contain zinc as the principal or a major commodity. These deposits are
generated in the HS or IS environments or near the transition between them.

High-grade zinc deposits are formed on approach to transitions between the HS

and IS environments in systems where carbonate rocks are cut by felsic stocks
or domes (and associated diatremes). Examples are provided by the Colquijirca
district in central Peru (Vidal et al., 1997; Fontbot and Bendez, this CD-ROM)
and the Tintic district in Utah, western USA (Lindgren and Loughlin, 1919). In
the Colquijirca district, the San Gregorio orebody contains 70 Mt @ 7.3% Zn,
2.2% Pb, and 17.7 g/t Ag, whereas the Colquijirca orebody has reserves of 14
Mt @ 6.0% Zn, 2.6% Pb, 113 g/t Ag. Tintic was mined primarily for its highgrade oxide silver ore, although gold and high-grade zinc and lead bodies were
also extracted.

Massive to semimassive sulphide replacements of carbonate rock are

generated distally in these systems, beyond proximal quartz-pyrite replacement
bodies containing enargite and gold. Sinuous, tubular replacement bodies mark

the former conduits for outward fluid flow. Advanced argillic alteration within the
igneous centers persists outward as alunite, dickite, and kaolinite into the San
Gregorio and Colquijirca zinc orebodies, whereas massive jasperoid is the main
alteration effect in the zinc-rich zone at Tintic. Hence, San Gregorio and
Colquijirca may be considered as HS deposits (Bendez and Fontbot, 2000)
formed on approach to the HS-IS transition, whereas the Tintic zinc zone may
lie on the IS side of the transition. The pyrite-poor sphalerite body at San
Gregorio is extraordinarily fine-grained (Fontbot and Bendez, 1999),
suggestive of dumping, whereas the Tintic sphalerite is poorly documented
because of the effects of extremely deep supergene oxidation.

By comparison with the likely mechanism of formation of carbonatereplacement deposits around intrusions, the efficient precipitation of zinc and
accompanying metals in the shallower epithermal environment may likewise be
attributed to the enhanced neutralization capacity of carbonates compared with
that of igneous and siliciclastic wallrocks. Nevertheless, prior to its contact with
carbonate wallrocks, the epithermal fluid, with its adsorbed magmatic volatile
content, is appreciably more acidic than the magmatic brine responsible for zinc
mineralization around deeper intrusions. The carbonate dissolution at Tintic was
accompanied by massive quartz deposition as jasperoid, whereas quartz is a
relatively minor alteration component at Colquijirca.

Several felsic diatremes are associated with low-grade, bulk-tonnage zinc

mineralization of IS epithermal type, in which gold and/or silver are the principal
economic components. Disseminated or stockwork mineralization occurs within
and/or around the diatreme vents. The diatreme breccia at Montana Tunnels in
Montana, western USA, contained 65 Mt @ 0.58 g/t Au, 0.61% Zn, 12.2 g/t Ag,
and 0.22% Pb in association with manganocalcite gangue in sericitized tuffbreccia; quartz is notable by its absence (Sillitoe et al., 1985).

Lacustrine siliciclastic sedimentary rocks act as hosts for large, low-grade zinc
resources in which precious metals will be the principal revenue earners. Such

deposits are of HS type at Pueblo Viejo (70 Mt @ 4.18 g/t Au, 25.1 g/t Ag,
0.91% Zn) in the Dominican Republic (Kesler et al., 1981) and IS type at San
Cristbal (240 Mt @ 62 g/t Ag, 1.7 % Zn, 0.6 % Pb) in Bolivia (Buchanan,
2000). The mineralized sedimentary rocks at San Cristbal accumulated within
the confines of a dome complex, whereas the setting (dome complex, maardiatreme system, or regional extent) of the carbonaceous sequence at Pueblo
Viejo is still under discussion. Sphalerite and accompanying sulphide minerals
are present in disseminated and veinlet forms, accompanied by pervasive
pyrophyllite alteration at Pueblo Viejo and adularia-illite alteration at San
Cristbal. The sphalerite is apparently not a paragenetically late addition to
either of these deposits.

Buchanan (2000) proposed that mineralization at San Cristbal took place

during sedimentation, before lithifaction was complete, and may possess
affinities with shallow-water VMS systems. A similar environment of
mineralization may also have prevailed at Pueblo Viejo if the sinuous form of
pyrite-sphalerite-enargite veinlets implies that the host mudstone was
incompetent at the time of mineralization and if some of the strata-bound
massive pyrite is syngenetic. If hydrothermal activity did indeed take place while
the host sedimentary packages were water-saturated and, potentially, still
overlain by lakes, fluid mixing of the type responsible for zinc fixation in VMS
systems may account for the high zinc contents. Notwithstanding the preferred
explanation for zinc enrichment, the predominance of zinc over copper at
Pueblo Viejo - the worlds second largest HS gold deposit - is highly unusual.

CONCLUSIONS
Although zinc is not a commodity that is usually explored for in the epithermal
environment, this short review suggests that several styles of zinc
mineralization may merit more attention than they have received in the past.
High-grade, carbonate-replacement zinc mineralization accompanied by
precious metals may form distally with respect to advanced argillic lithocaps
containing HS gold and/or copper mineralization. Large tonnages of low-grade

zinc and precious-metal mineralization may occur in and around diatreme

breccias or dispersed through lacustrine sedimentary sequences near igneous
centers. Yet other styles of epithermal zinc mineralization may await definition.

One of the reasons that epithermal zinc deposits have not been widely
recognized may be the low quartz content of many of them. Hence, the deposits
do not resist erosion, tend to be topographically recessive, and are commonly
covered by superficial deposits. This explanation clearly applies to San
Gregorio and San Cristbal, discovered only during the last decade, and is
likely to be applicable elsewhere. Furthermore, supergene leaching of zinc from
pyritic systems may further camouflage zinc-rich epithermal deposits and render
them difficult to detect directly by geochemical means. A variety of HS and IS
epithermal settings, especially those containing carbonate wallrocks, are
considered prospective for concealed zinc and accompanying precious-metal
deposits.

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