Ninth Annual V. M. Goldschmidt Conference 7377.

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STRATA-BOUND COPPER OCCURRENCES AT THE BASE OF THE MIOCENE IN NORTHWEST SARDINIA

(ITALY). M. Fiori, Centro Studi Geominerari e Mineralurgici del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza
d'Armi, 09123 Cagliari, Italy.

Studies concerning Tertiary metallogeny related to the References

calk-alkali volcanism during the Oligo-Miocene in Sardinia (1) Fadda S., Fiori M.,Pretti S. (1998) Ore Geology Re-
have produced evidence of strata-bound deposits containing view, 12, 355-377
prevalently copper and to a lesser extent lead (1) associated (2) Orrù D. (1997) Ph.D. Thesis
with the bottom sediments of the marine transgression dur- (3) Beccaluva l., Civetta L., Macciotta G. & Ricci A.
ing the Miocene (W. Sardinia) (1985). Rend. Soc. Ital. Min. Petrol. 40, 57-72
Prospecting studies in the Logudoro region (NW Sar- (4) Samama J.C. (1973) Ores sediments. Springer, 247-
dinia) (2) have led to the discovery of a number of areas of 265
interest for their mineralised formations.
The Logudoro region forms the northern part of the tec-
tonic trough that extends from N to S Sardinia. This trough
can be linked with the process that initiated during the Oli-
gocene and resulted in the detachment of the Sard-Corse
microplate and its rotational-translation shift eastwards (3).
Within the graben thus formed intense volcanic activity took
place, with products having calk-alkali affinity, typical of
plate convergence zones. The ingression during the Miocene
then contributed to its infilling. The terrigenous sediments
show textural and compositional immaturity and contain a
clastic component derived from the abundant volcanic rocks
(lava and pyroclasts). They are usually have lenticular bed-
ding and sometimes exhibit sedimentary structures such as
laminations, indicative of low-energy depositional environ-
ments.
The mineralised formation occurs at the passage from
pyroclasts to sediments and is hosted in the above detrital
lithofacies, overlain by organogenic marine deposits again of
the Miocene. The mineral assemblage consists of azurite,
malachite, chalcopyrite, tennantite, enargite, covellite, py-
rite, digenite. The presence of mineralogical phases con-
taining sulphides and oxidates of apparently primary origin
suggests fluctuation between oxidizing and reducing depo-
sitional environments.
Fields observations and laboratory analysis indicated
that the mineral deposit is always associated with the hori-
zon, of a transitional-littoral nature, forming the bottom of
the Miocene transgression. Thus a paleogeographic control
exists, recognisable not only at the local but also at a re-
gional scale. They also indicated that the morphology of the
layer beneath the mineralised horizon suggests the presence
of emerged paleoreliefs, composed of the volcanites, at the
margins of which are located the mineralised areas.
The presence in the study area of calk-alkali volcanic
rocks and of low sulphidation epithermal gold deposits as-
sociated there to, whose mineral assemblage contains vari-
ous metals including copper and arsenic, suggests that the
introduction of metals and the clasts making up the miner-
alised layers can be associated with the volcanic rocks
themselves.
Suitable climatic conditions (4) may have resulted in the
preconcentration of some metals and the leaching of others
contained in the volcanic rocks.