(Igarapé Bahia, Serra dos Carajás)
Iron oxide-Cu-Au-(Mo-Ag-U-REE) deposit, consisting of a hydrothermally altered breccia underlain by basalt and iron-formation and overlain by siltstone and greywacke. The breccia contains clasts of altered basalt, chert and iron-formation in a matrix of chlorite, magnetite, carbonates and chalcopyrite. The orebody has a strongly weathered gossaniferous cap that extends to depths of 200 m. Gold and chalcopyrite are the main ore minerals.
The mine was started in 1990 and produced about 72 tons of gold until 1999, making it the largest gold producer in Brazil.
References:
- Revista Brasileira de Geociências 30(2):230-233.
- Thorman, C.H., DeWitt, E., Maron, M.A.C., and Ladeira, E.A. (2001): Major Brazilian gold deposits - 1982 to 1999. Mineralium Deposita 36, 218-227. DOI 10.1007/s001260100170
- Villas, R.N., and Dias Santos, M. (2001): Gold deposits of the Carajás mineral province: deposit types and metallogenesis. Mineralium Deposita 36, 300-331. DOI 10.1007/s001260100178
- Dreher, A.M., Xavier, R.P., Taylor, B.E., and Martini, S.L. (2008): New geologic, fluid inclusion and stable isotope studies on the controversial Igarapé Bahia Cu–Au deposit, Carajás Province, Brazil. Mineralium Deposita 43, 161-184.
- Grainger, C.J., Groves, D.I., Tallarico, F.H.B., and Fletcher, I.R. (2008): Metallogenesis of the Carajás Mineral Province, Southern Amazon Craton, Brazil: Varying styles of Archean through Paleoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic base- and precious-metal mineralisation. Ore Geology Reviews 33, 451-489.
Mineral List:72 entries listed. 59 valid minerals.
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