Carbonate-hosted lead-zinc ore deposits and pyrite thus form. Commonly MVT deposits form by the combination of hydrocarbon pyrolysis liberating zinc-lead ions and sulfur to form an acidic solution which dissolves the host carbonate formation and replaces it with massive sulfide accumulations. This may also take the morphology of fault-hosted stockworks, massive tabular replacements and so forth. Porous limestones may form disseminated ores, however most MVT deposits are massive sulfides with knife-like margins between carbonate and sulfide mineralogies. Ore minerals in carbonate replacement deposits are typically lead sulfide, galena, and zinc sulfide sphalerite. Weathered equivalents form anglesite, cerussite, smithsonite, hydrozincite and secondary galena and sphalerite
Broken Hill ore deposit hornblende schists. The ore consists of massive, recrystallised sphalerite-rich, galena-sphalerite and galena-rich sulfide lenses in folded horizons, known as No. 2 Lens Formation and No.3 Lens Formation. Both have distinctive metal ratios and gangue minerals. The ore boundaries are parallel to the bedding planes. According to Gustafson, "There is evidence that the ore has been introduced into an old, already folded, rock and has replaced certain favourable layers of that rock, particle by particle, with large tonnages of garnet, rhodonite, fluorite, marmatite (and wurtzite), galena, and other minerals that constitute the orebodies." The Potosi-Footwall Gneiss is found on both sides