Mineralogy of metamorphic formations from the

Mănăila area (Eastern Carpathians)

Simona MOLDOVEANU1, Ovidiu Gabriel IANCU2, Gheorghe
DAMIAN3, Haino Uwe KASPER4
1
University "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" of Iasi, Department of Geology, 700505, Iasi,
Romania, iftode_simona@yahoo.com
2
University "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" of Iasi, Department of Geology, 700505, Iasi,
Romania, ogiancu@uaic.ro
3
North University of Baia Mare, Department of Mineral Resources and
Environment, 430083, Baia Mare, Romania, damgeo@ubm.ro
4
University of Cologne, Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, 50674, Cologne,
Germany, hu.kasper@uni-koeln.de

Keywords: Kuroko deposits, Mănăila area, Pyrite, XRD.

Geological setting
The Mănăila mineralization is located in the Crystalline-Mesozoic Zone of the
Eastern Carpathians, in the Tulghes terrane. The geological formations from this
area were formed during Precambrian to Upper Cretaceous. Most of the geological
formations are composed of metamorphic rocks. Sedimentary rocks occur to a small
extent, and igneous rocks occur only occasionally.
The Tulghes terrane displays a complex lithology (Balintoni et al., 2009). This
Ordovician metamorphic unit was subdivided by Vodă (1993) into four formations,
(from bottom to top): (1) the Căboaia sub-unit (Tg1) – Quartzitic formation,(2) the
Holdiţa sub-unit (Tg2) Quartzitic-graphitic formation,(3) the Leşu Ursului sub-unit
(Tg3) – Volcano (rhyolitic)-sedimentary formation, and (4) the Arşiţa Rea sub-unit
(Tg4) – Phyllitic-quartzitic formation. Only the third sub-unit occurs in the Mănăila
area and consists of a metamorphosed sedimentary volcanogenic sequence, made up
of two prevailing rock types – quartzites and quartz-feldspathic rocks (Iancu and
Popa, 2010). They contain an important accumulation of a stratiform sulphide ore
(Balintoni, 1997).
The carbonate rocks are poorly represented; they crop out especially in the
Holdiţa sub-unit, where a characteristic association is found: black quartzite, white
quartzite, carbonate rocks, chloritic and feldspar-rich green rocks, which represent
sedimentary rocks whose origin was favored by the presence of iron. Metabasites
are either scarce or absent (Balintoni, 1997).

Samples and methods

Five metamorphic rock samples from the Mănăila area were analyzed by
different methods (optical microscopy, XRD, XRF) in order to establish their nature
and mineralogical composition.
Thin and polished sections were prepared at the North University of Baia Mare.

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 The analyses were performed in the laboratories of the Institute of Geology and
Mineralogy at the University of Cologne, Germany.
A short description of the samples is provided below. Thus, sample no. 1 is a
sericite-quartzite rock, gray-green in color, slightly brittle. Sample no. 2 is a
quartzitic sericite-chlorite schist, white-gray to greenish-gray in color, slightly
brittle. The third sample represents a quartzitic sericite-chlorite schist with feldspar,
a rock with a clear schistosity, a greenish-gray color . Sample no. 4 is a compact
pyrite ore, and sample no. 5 is represented by a quartzite sericite-chlorite schist,
white-gray in color, weakly greenish, slightly brittle. All samples exhibit a
lepidogranoblastic texture.

Results and discussions

The association of ore minerals and their proportions compared to rock-forming
minerals, allowed us to set up three economic important layered accumulations: (i)
compact ore, (ii) semi-compact ore and (iii) disseminated ore altogether closely
associated revealing gradual transitions from one texture to the other . The
mineralogical composition common to all three types of ore is relatively simple:
pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena and tetrahedrite, respectively (Fig. 1) in
paragenesis with quartz, chlorite and muscovite. Pyrite is the major metallic ore
which can be found as euhedral crystals (Fig. 1A). It contains small inclusions of
bornite (Fig. 1B), commonly associated with covellite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite (Fig.
1D) and sometimes small grains of galena.
Tetrahedrite is represented by arsenic end member and intermediate arsenic-
antimony member (Damian et al., 2005).

py

Length of figure = 100µ

cc

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 bn

cc

Length of figure = 50µ

cc

Length of figure = 48µ

sp
ccp

cc

Length of figure = 25µ

Fig.1 Optical micrographs in reflected light of the main sulphides from the Mănăila area. A
pyrite (py) crystals fissured by metamorphism B bornite (bn) and chalcocite (cc)

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 C tetrahedrite (td) crystal associated with chalcopyrite (ccp) and galena (gn) D sphalerite (sp)
crystals associated with chalcopyrite

The main minerals pyrite, chalcopyrite, quartz and muscovite were identified by
XRD analysis: (Fig. 2).
In order to determine the major elements, five rock samples were analyzed by
using XRF.
The results contained in Table 1 highlight a wide range of variations of SiO2 and
Al2O3 in the analyzed rocks.
Such high values can be found in quartzitic sericite schists (from 55.29 to
80.65%, samples 1a and 5a), while lower are found in sericite-chlorite schists.
Comparing the content of major elements of samples from the studied area with
those of similar petrographic types, we notice that certain values are similar to the
Kuroko-type deposits of Honshu, Japan. (SiO2: 0 to 82.0%, Fe2O3: 1.1 to 52.3)
(Glasby et al., 2008).

Fig. 2 Diffractometry of the main components of the Mănăila ore deposit (sample 4b:
pyrite-peaks 4, 6, 12, chalcopyrite-peaks 7, 8, 9) (Radiation CuK1, λ = 15406 Ǻ) (By courtesy
of Prof. Bohaty, Köln)

Table 1. The chemical composition of the Mănăila schist

Oxides(%) Sample 1a Sample 2a Sample 3a Sample 4a Sample 5a
SiO2 80,65 14,21 9,68 3,81 55,29
Fe2O3 8,94 57,05 68,25 75,93 30,96
Al2O3 7,29 9,17 7,36 1,45 7,57

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 TiO2 0,04 0,05 0,03 0,04 0,04
CaO 0,03 0,02 0,01 0,02 0,02
MgO 0,49 8,16 6,31 1,14 0,98
MnO 0 0,05 0,04 0,01 0,01
Na2O 0,31 0,34 0,1 0,32 0,30
1a = quartzitic-sericite schist, 2a= quartzitic sericite-chlorite schist
3a = quartzitic sericite chlorite schist with feldspar, 4a = compact pyritic ore,
5a = quartzitic sericite-chlorite schist

Conclusions
According to microscopic studies the ore consists predominantly of pyrite and
chalcopyrite. The XRD determinations of quartz, pyrite and chalcopyrite were
performed with a reasonable accuracy.
The metamorphosed ore paragenesis is most likely of an initial vulcanogen
Kuroko type and it consists of pyrite, chalcopyrite, some sphalerite, galena and
tetrahedrite.

Acknowledgments
The present work was supported by the European Social Fund in Romania,
under the responsibility of the Managing Authority for the Sectoral Operational
Programme for Human Resources Development 2007-2013 (grant
POSDRU/88/1.5/S/47646). Prof. Dr. L. Bohaty, Inst. of Crystallography, University
of Cologne is acknowledged for the XRD analyses.

References
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House Cluj Napoca, 177 p.
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provenance study, Gondwana Research, 16 (1), 119-133.
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(Bonin) Arc south of Japan: Implications for mode of formation, Ore Geology Reviews, 34 (4), 547-560.
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