Volume 59, Nº 1 (2017)

Gold deposits and occurrences small in reserves and high in Au grade conventionally determine the line of prospecting in terrigenous sequences of the Verkhoyansk–Kolyma region. In this paper, the geological structure of such gold objects is considered with the example of the deposits and prospects making up the Zhdaninsky ore–placer cluster in the Republic of Sakha (Yakuia). From lithological, structural, and mineralogical–geochemical data, the formation conditions of ore-bearing complexes are specified, the geological evolution history of the northern Ol’chan Zone of the Kular–Nera Belt is reconstructed, and the zonal distribution of mineralization within the ore–placer cluster is revealed. The structural–compositional complexes were formed in the following succession: (1) sedimentation at the shelf of the passive margin accompanied by synsedimentation deformations; (2) metagenesis of sediments and the development of bedding-plane intraformational detachments of collision stage D₁ under conditions of tangential compression and accompanied by the formation of carbon dioxide–aqueous metamorphic fluid at a temperature of 300°C and under a pressure of 1.4 kbar; (3) folding and faulting of orogenic stage D₂ with the formation of synkinematic magmatic bodies, metasomatic alteration, and Au-bearig mineral assemblages. Small Au-bearing objects with veined mineralization and high Au grade are localized in structures of stage D₂ transverse to bedding-plane schistosity S₁. They form at the collision stage above intraformational detachment surfaces and are controlled by shear structures of the orogenic stage with misalignment of these deformations. The ore zoning is determined by the distribution of Co and Ni minerals and by variations in the anionic composition of ore (S, As, Sb).

The metasomatic nature of magnesite formation, sequence and timing of geological processes, and solution sources have been established by comprehensive geological and geochemical study of the typical Satka and Ismakaevo deposits of sparry magnesite in the South Ural province. The hydrothermal metasomatic formation of magnesite is related to injection of high-Mg evaporite brine into heated carbonate rocks within permeable rift zones. The numerical physicochemical simulation of solution–rock interaction allowed us to determine the necessary prerequisites for sparry magnesite formation: the occurrence of marine salt solutions with a high Mg/Ca ratio and heating of solutions before or during their interaction with host carbonate rocks. The contribution of compositionally various solution sources, the temperature variation regime, proportions of CO₂ and H₂S concentrations in solution created specific features of particular deposits.

The study of base-metal massive sulfide and tin–sulfide deposits in Siberia and the Russian Far East has revealed that the indium content in ores exceeding the average statistical value at similar deposits worldwide could be economically important. Sphalerite and chalcopyrite and chalcopyrite, bornite, and sphalerite are the major indium carriers in the base-metal massive sulfide and tin–sulfide ores, respectively. In addition, base-metal massive sulfide ores have high Cd, Ag, and Te contents, whereas tin–sulfide ores have elevated Ge, Ga, and Nb contents. This has stimulated the investment attractiveness of these deposits.