Ma.I. Hermo et al.

Ore Geology Reviews 143 (2022) 104724

Fig. 11. Sample containing Au-Ag-Cu-Te (gold telluride). (a) Gold telluride grain in between chalcopyrite (ccp) and bornite (bn), the latter altered by digenite (dg) in
the fractures (reflected light). (b) The symplectite texture of the chalcopyrite and bornite intergrowth (reflected light). (c) EPMA compositional map from DDDH83
319.7 showing gold-tellurium grain in between chalcopyrite and bornite contact.

occurrence of native gold with hessite and silver with Bi-bearing min­
Table 5
erals (e.g., wittichenite, CuBiS) in QBX-FP, QBX-Act and QBX-Un. Te-
EPMA composition of gold grains found in QBX-FP and QBX-Un.
rich mineralization along with the presence of Au, Bi, and Se is strongly
Sample DDDH255 79.6 DDDH255 97.01 DDDH083 386.80 associated with hydrothermal fluids from alkaline magmatism (Jensen
QBX Facies QBX-FP QBX-FP QBX-Un and Barton, 2000; Cook and Ciobanu, 2005; Goldfarb et al., 2017). Cook
Number of points 17 18 3 and Ciobanu (2005) attributed the Te-enrichment with the incorpora­
Average weight%
tion of melted Te-rich sediments to mantle-sourced alkaline magmas in a
Au 93.07 88.06 95.04
Ag 7.82 12.00 4.73 subduction setting.
Total 100.89 100.06 99.77

5.3. Conditions of ore formation

proximity to magmatic activity (Roedder, 1984). Hence, these most
likely represent a magmatic fluid. The fluid was probably exsolved from
the Quan porphyry and Bufu syenite, the mineralizing stocks associated
with the quartz-sulfide stockwork and quartz-calcite assemblage of the
QBX (Wolfe and Cooke, 2011).
The fluid inclusions associated with the stage 4 epithermal assem­
blages are low salinity and moderate to high temperature, consistent
with a low salinity magmatic source that had undergone slight cooling
(Harlaux et al., 2017). The low salinity could also be explained by
mixing of hypersaline magmatic and low-salinity fluids, the source of
which can be confirmed through the O–H isotope study (Heinrich,
2005).
Looking at the precious metal mineralization, Te and Bi are found to
be intimately associated with Ag and native gold. This is shown by the
In this study, the paragenetic stage 1 represents the alteration of the
diorite rocks prior to its brecciation. In stage 1, the early potassic
alteration during which biotite and magnetite were replaced by primary
ferromagnesian minerals signifies a high temperature (400–600 ◦ C)
environment (Seedorff et al., 2005; Watanabe et al., 2018). Diorite
breccia (QBX-Dio) clasts generated during stage 1 contain no sulfide
minerals.
In stage 2, a calc-potassic assemblage of K-feldspar, actinolite, per­
thite, quartz, bornite, and chalcopyrite cemented the QBX-Dio (distal
facies). The mineral pair bornite-chalcopyrite in the quartz-perthite
veins suggests high temperatures ranging from 450 ◦ C to 550 ◦ C (Mas­
terman, 2003). The bornite and chalcopyrite in the QBX-Dio cement
exhibit symplectitic and exsolution textures which are produced when

14
Ma.I. Hermo et al.
two solid components separate from a solid solution (Li et al., 2018).
This is typically produced by fluid-driven solid-state reaction linked to
slow cooling (Durazzo and Taylor, 1982; Augustithis, 1995; Li et al.,
2018).
Gold telluride (Au-Ag-Cu-Te) grains typically formed along bornite-
bornite and bornite-chalcopyrite boundaries. The association of tellu­
rides with early-formed bornite indicates a relatively modest tempera­
ture of about 300 ◦ C (Bogdanov et al., 2005). Bornite is known to play an
important role as host to many mineral phases such as Au, Ag and more
rarely Bi, Te, and Se (Simon et al., 2000; Bogdanov et al., 2005). The
presence of gold-telluride blebs within bornite and along symplectite
contacts suggests that this gold phase may have been initially locked in
chalcopyrite and bornite during its formation at high temperatures and
was later exsolved during cooling.
The stage 3 alteration assemblage of chlorite, muscovite, and quartz
veins observed in the monzonite, syenite, and feldspar porphyry intru­
sive rocks indicates a slight decrease in temperature (200–360 ◦ C) and
more acidic environment (Masterman, 2003). In comparison, the ho­
mogenization temperatures from fluid inclusions associated with stage 3
quartz ranges from 410 to 440 ◦ C. The discrepancy between tempera­
tures from the mineral assemblage and fluid inclusion data may be due
to the fluid inclusions being secondary in nature.
The last paragenetic stage, that is stage 4, is observed only in the
upper contact facies and central facies. It is represented by a core of late-
stage, carbonate-sericite infill associated with high-grade copper–gold-
telluride mineralization. Gold occurs as invisible gold associated with
15
Ore Geology Reviews 143 (2022) 104724
Fig. 12. Photomicrographs (reflected light) and back-
scattered electron images illustrating the relationships
between native gold and minerals of the Ag-Te-Pb-Se
system: (a) an aggregate of native gold (au), hessite
(hs), tetradymite (ttd), and un unidentified CuBiS
phase infilling a fracture in pyrite (py); (b) tetrady­
mite found in pyrite; (c) intergrowth of hessite (hs),
wittichenite (wi), clausthalite (cls), and a vanadium
oxide (VO); (d) native gold (au) intergrown with un­
identified chalcogenides (gray phases) hosted in
chalcopyrite (ccp) (e) subhedral-euhedral pyrite with
invisible gold; and (f) Au-barren pyrite.
early-formed pyrite and as native gold associated with hessite.
In the second gold mineralization event (stage 4A), represented by
QBX-FP quartz-sulfide veins, native gold coprecipitated with hessite.
This assemblage suggests a lower temperature of formation based on
several geothermometric studies (Afifi et al., 1988; Bortnikov et al.,
1988; Prokof’ev et al., 2013) indicating that vein-hosted telluride is
typically deposited at temperatures between 100 and 350 ◦ C. In QBX-Un
(stage 4B), native gold and hessite are accompanied by tetradymite and
are associated with chalcopyrite, Fe-poor sphalerite (characterized by its
yellow color and low reflectance), and Se-bearing galena. This mineral
assemblage suggests a temperature of 200◦ to 280 ◦ C (Bogdanov et al.,
2005; Komuro and Nakata, 2017).
The homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions associated with
stage 4 have a wide range (304–443 ◦ C). The modal range of lower
temperatures, 300 to 320 ◦ C, in the histogram is interpreted as the
trapping temperature while the higher temperatures are the results of
entrapment of vapor phase from the boiling fluids (Fig. 14a). Comparing
the temperatures inferred from mineral assemblage and fluid inclusion
data, the difference may be due to the fluid inclusions being secondary
in nature and therefore potentially representing a different time within
the hydrothermal fluid evolution. In other words, the central facies may
have been mineralized by hydrothermal fluids with a wide temperature
range, interpreted here as the expression of a relatively high tempera­
ture fluid that upon cooling precipitated low temperature minerals.
The second (stage 4A) and third (stage 4B) gold mineralization
events are both associated with minerals of the Bi-Cu-Pb-Se-S system,