The ore deposits of the Chichibu mine occurring mostly in Paleozoic limestone and basic tuff or lava flow adjacent to the quartz-diorite mass can be classified into the following two major types on the basis of their modes of occurrence, the stages of formation, the characteristics of the ore, the nature of wall-rock alteration, the mineral paragenesis, the formation temperature and other geologic features.
i) Earlier deposits (Contact-metasomatic deposits in the strict sense) : Iron-copper-zinc-iron sulfide deposits
ii) Later deposits (Hydrothermal replacement deposits and veins) : Zinc-lead-copper-gold-silver-iron sulfide-(bismuth-antimon)-manganese deposits
The Akaiwa deposits consist of both the earlier and the later deposits, and the Wanabe deposits mainly of the earlier deposits.
The earlier deposits are further subdivided into the earlier I and II deposits.
The pyrrhotite occurs mostly in the earlier deposits as one of the most important constituent minerals of the deposits. Pyrrhotite of the earlier I deposits belongs, to the hexagonal type and that of the earlier II deposits to the monoclinic type.
The hexagonal pyrrhotite is associated with magnetite and skarn minerals, and the monoclinic one with sphalerite, quartz and carbonate minerals in the deposits.
The monoclinic pyrrhotite of this type (primary monoclinic pyrrhotite) is considered to have formed directly from the ore solution at temperatures between 240° and 290°C. The mineral have been altered to marcasite widely during the later stage mineralization.
There is another type of monoclinic pyrrhotite in the mine. The mineral of this type is believed to be a hydrothermal alteration product from hexagonal pyrrhotite at temperatures between 200° and 250°C under the sulfur rich environment during the later stage mineralization and is mixed with the latter.
The chemical composition (atomic % metal) of pyrrhotite is as follows:
Hexagonal pyrrhotite (Wanabe deposits) 47.35-47.78
Primary monoclinic pyrrhotite (Akaiwa deposits) 46.51-46.71
Mixture of hexagonal and monoclinic pyrrhotite (Akaiwa deposits) 46.82-46.99
Before attempting to use pyrrhotite as a geothermometer, much attention must be payed for the modes of occurrence and the genesis of pyrrhotite.
View full abstract