Polymetallic mineralization in Ediacaran sedimentsin the Żarki-Kotowice area, Poland

Abstract

In one small mineral vein in core from borehole 144-Ż in the Żarki-Kotowice area, almost all of the ore minerals known from related deposits in the vicinity occur. Some of the minerals in the vein described in this paper, namely, nickeline, hessite, native silver and minerals of the cobaltite-gersdorffite group, have not previously been reported from elsewhere in the Kraków-Lubliniec tectonic zone. The identified minerals are chalcopyrite, pyrite, marcasite, sphalerite, Co-rich pyrite, tennantite, tetrahedrite, bornite, galena, magnetite, hematite, cassiterite, pyrrhotite, wolframite (ferberite), scheelite, molybdenite, nickeline, minerals of the cobaltitegersdorffite group, carrollite, hessite and native silver. Moreover, native bismuth, bismuthinite, a Cu- and Ag-rich sulfosalt of Bi (cuprobismutite) and Ni-rich pyrite also occur in the vein. We suggest that, the ore mineralization from the borehole probably reflects post-magmatic hydrothermal activity related to an unseen granitic intrusion located under the Mesozoic sediments in the Żarki-Pilica area.