« Hypogene mineralization and alteration »

Course given by Dr. Kalin Kouzmanov (University of Geneva)

Program – 14-18/06/2021

14 August (Monday)
Morning:
Some basics: ore deposit formation, crustal fluids – origin and composition; transport and
precipitation mechanisms of metals in hydrothermal systems
Afternoon:
Hydrothermal alteration – principles, alteration styles, zonation, textures
Hypogene mineralization – principles, styles, zonation
Lab – hand samples with various alteration/mineralization styles

15 August (Tuesday)
Morning:
Fluid-rock interaction – introduction; Mass-balance calculations – principles
“Ticlio” project – introduction
Afternoon:
Lab – mass-balance calculations using dataset with major, minor and trace element analyses on the
Ticlio samples. Short personal report with main results (one page) – to be prepared for the next day.

16 August (Wednesday)
Morning:
Reading rocks – alteration and mineralization textures from various ore deposit styles – significance
and interpretation
Quantitative mineralogy (short introduction to Qemscan analysis) – applications to ore geology
Afternoon:
Porphyry systems - Hypogene mineralization and alteration

17 August (Thursday)
Morning:
Epithermal systems - Hypogene mineralization and alteration
Processes at the porphyry-epithermal transition – zoning, textures, telescoping
Afternoon:
Skarns, VMS systems - Hypogene mineralization and alteration

18 August (Friday)
Morning:
IOCG deposits - Hypogene mineralization and alteration

10:30 – 13:00 Written exam.

Materials needed: Participants should have personal laptops with Excel software (for a lab on
mass-balance calculations).