The Tocantinzinho gold deposit, Tapajós province, state of Pará: host granite, hydrothermal alteration and mineral chemistry

Abstract

This paper presents geological, petrographic and mineralogical data about the granite that hosts the Tocantinzinho gold deposit and aimed at contributing to the understanding of the hydrothermal processes related to the ore genesis. The host granite is a late to post-tectonic biotite monzogranite that fits in the oxidized sub-type of the ilmenite series. It was emplaced at depths of 6 - 9 km and reveals no deformation other than fracturing and brecciation. This intrusion has undergone mild to moderate hydrothermal alteration that generated two main rock varieties (salami and smoky), with no significant mineralogical or chemical differences, though quite distinct macroscopically. Several types of hydrothermal alteration have been recognized in the granitic rocks, greatly represented by filling veins and/or replacement of primary minerals. The hydrothermal history started with microclinization, during which the granitic protolith was in part transformed into the salami variety. This process was followed by chloritization when the temperature dropped to ~330 ºC producing chamosite with XFe in the 0.55 - 0.70 range. Then it evolved to sericitization, at the same time that ore-bearing fluids precipitated pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena and gold. As alteration advanced, solutions saturated in silica and formed quartz veinlets. At the latest stage (carbonatization), aqueous and aqueous-carbonic fluids might have mixed, allowing Ca2+ e CO2 to react to form calcite. Most sulfides are present in veinlets that crosscut the granite, some arranged as stockwork. Gold is normally very fine-grained and occurs mainly as submicroscopic inclusions or along microfractures in pyrite and quartz. The Tocantinzinho deposit is very similar to the Batalha, Palito and São Jorge deposits, and to those of the Cuiú-Cuiú goldfield. Topologically, it has been classed as an intrusion-related gold deposit.