the Kosaka mine situated in the northern part of Japan is a typical kuroko deposit mine.
Recently, oxidized ores are found in upper part of black ore, just below the Quaternary sediments in the Uchinotai-Nishi ore body. These ores are mainly composed of barite, quartz, cerussite, and goethite with small amounts of anglesite, galena, sphalerite, and malachite enriched in gold and silver.
With respect to the occurrence and mineral assemblage, four specific types can be distinguished. "A" type is sandy ore which is further subdivided into "A1" and "A2". "A1" is white colored and is composed solely of barite and quartz. "A2" includes a little goethite and cerussite in addition to the minerals of "A1" and has a brown color. The "B" type is characterized by barite, goethite, cerussite and quartz with minor amounts of anglesite and galena. It is a massive and porous ore, containing high amounts of gold and silver. The "C" type consists of barite and cerussite with anglesite, galena and sphalerite and has the highest content of gold and silver. Copper is concentrated as malachite in occasional parts of the "C" type ore. The "D" type is a sericite-rich clayey ore and contains barite, quartz and cerussite.
These ores evidently reveal zonal arrangments both vertically and laterally. In this paper it has been suggested that the ores were formed in situ by the supergene processes of black ore. By use of a Eh-pH diagram, conditions under which respective ore types were formed are inferred.
View full abstract