Origin of Au-bearing rodingite in the Karabash massif of alpine-type ultramafic rocks in the southern Urals
The rodingite belt in the Karabash massif situated 40 km north of Miass is continuously traced for 2.5 km along its central part. Rodingites bear up to 1% sulfide disseminations and gold particles with high Cu content (up to 40 wt %) throughout the belt. The central part of the rodingite belt is especially rich in gold, which was mined at the Zolotaya Gora (Gold Mountain) deposit. The Au-bearing rodingite belt is zonal and was formed during three stages. The inner zone is composed of chlorite-andradite-diopside rock of the first stage, which is crosscut by diopside veinlets of the second stage and calcite veinlets of the third stage. The intermediate zone consists of fine-grained chloritolite of the first stage and coarse-grained chlorite veinlets of the second stage. The outer zone of the metasomatic column is occupied by antigorite and chrysotile-lizardite serpentinites. No relict rocks or minerals of the replaced protolith have been established except sporadic Cr-spinel grains. Native gold was being deposited during all periods of rodingite formation. In terms of the currently adopted concept of evolution of the Ural Foldbelt, the Sm-Nd isochron age of rodingite estimated at 369.4 ± 8.8 Ma corresponds to the period of collisional compression of Silurian-Devonian oceanic and island-arc complexes and upward pushing out of a block of the melanocratic basement underlying these complexes. A proposed model of rodingite formation is based on ore mineralogy, REE geochemistry, and thermobarogeochemical and isotopic study of minerals. It is suggested that in contrast to the barren bimetasomatic rodingite replacing dikes, the studied rodingite are considered to be fissure veins accompanied by metasomatic alteration of host serpentinite. The estimation of initial isotopic composition of fluid components indicates that the ore-bearing fluid is of metamorphic origin (δDfl = −4 to −13‰ and δ18Ofl = 5.9 to 8.3‰). The fluid was formed as a product of dehydration of oceanic serpentinite at the base of melanocratic rocks and related gabbroids that moved out to the surface. These rocks were a source of gold and other components (Ca, Al, Ti, Cu, Ni, REE, P, etc.).