Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Re–Os and Pb–Pb geochronology of the Archean Salobo iron oxide copper–gold deposit, Carajás mineral province, northern Brazil

  • Article
  • Published:
Mineralium Deposita Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Rhenium–osmium ages were determined for two molybdenite samples and a Pb–Pb age was derived from bornite–chalcopyrite–magnetite at the Salobo iron oxide copper–gold deposit to determine the timing of mineralization and its relation to the nearby Old Salobo Granite. Rhenium–osmium dating of molybdenite spatially associated with copper sulfide minerals yields ages with weighted means of 2576±8 and 2562±8 Ma. Removing the error multiplier introduced by the decay constant uncertainty, appropriate for comparing ages from the same isotopic system, these data convincingly argue for two temporally separated pulses of molybdenite deposition at 2576.1±1.4 Ma (n=2) and 2561.7±3.1 Ma (n=3). The 2576±8 Ma age coincides with a previously published U–Pb age of 2573±2 Ma for the Old Salobo Granite, suggesting that main stage ore formation may have been contemporaneous with granite magmatism. The slightly younger 2562 Ma age most likely represents new molybdenite precipitation associated with the development or reactivation of local shear zones. Lead–lead stepwise leaching of copper sulfide minerals yields a less precise isochron age of 2579±71 Ma, and supports an Archean age for the Salobo ores. This is the first documentation of an Archean iron oxide copper–gold deposit, and the Re–Os and Pb–Pb geochronology herein support 2580–2550 Ma estimates for basement reactivation and regional granite magmatism associated with the development of brittle–ductile shear zones.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2. a
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Almeida F, Hasui I, Brito Neves BB, Fuck RA (1981) Brazilian structural provinces. Earth Sci Rev 17:1–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Araújo OJB, Maia RGN (1991) Programa Grande Carajás, Serra dos Carajás, Folha SB.22-Z-A, Estado do Pará. DNPM/CPRM, Brasília

  • Avelar VG, Lafon JM, Correia FCJr, Macambira EMB (1999) O magmatismo arqueano da regiao de Tucuma, Provincia Mineral de Carajás, Amazônia Oriental, Brasil: novos dados geocronologicos. Rev Bras Geociê 29:453–460

  • Barros CEM, Barbey, P (2000) Significance of garnet-bearing metamorphic rocks in the Archean supracrustal series of the Carajás Mining Province, northern Brazil. International Congress of Geology, Rio de Janeiro, vol 31, part 3, pp 367–370

  • Bingen B, Stein H (2003) Granulite facies biotite dehydration melting determined by the Re–Os dating of molybdenite, Rogaland, S. Norway. Earth Planet Sci Lett (in press)

  • Birck JL, Barman MR, Capmas F (1997) Re–Os isotopic measurements at the femtomole level in natural samples. Geostand Newsl 20(1):19–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Brauns CM (2001) A rapid, low-blank technique for the extraction of osmium from geological samples. Chem Geol 176:379–384

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cordani U (1981) Comentários sobre as determinações geocronológicas da região da Serra dos Carajás. Report,Universidade de São Paulo-Docegeo

  • Dias GS, Macambira MJB, Dall'Agnol R, Soares ADV, Barros CEM (1996) Datação de zircões de sill de metagabro: comprovação da idade arqueana da Formação Águas Claras, Carajás, Pará. Simpósio de Geologia da Amazonia, 5, Extended Abstracts, Belém, SBG, pp 376–379

  • Docegeo (1988) Revisão litoestratigráfica da Província Mineral de Carajás. Congr Brasileiro de Geologia, 35, Belém. SBG, Anexo aos anais, pp 11–54

  • Frei R, Kamber BS (1995) Single mineral Pb–Pb dating. Earth Planet Sci Lett 129:261–268

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Frei R, Pettke T (1996) Mono-sample Pb–Pb dating of pyrrhotite and tourmaline: Proterozoic vs. Archean gold mineralization in Zimbabwe. Geology 24:823–826

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Frei R, Villa IM, Nagler TF, Kramers JD, Przybylowicz WJ, Prozesky VM, Hofmann BA, Kamber BS (1997) Single mineral dating by Pb–Pb step leaching method: assessing the mechanisms. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 61: 393–414

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hannah J, Stein H, Zimmerman A, Markey R, Sarkar SC, Pal AB (2002) Late Archean–Early Proterozoic formation and reworking of a porphyry Cu(Mo) deposit recorded in molybdenite: Re–Os dating at Malanjkhand, central India. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 66(15A):A308

    Google Scholar 

  • Hitzman MW (2000) Iron oxide–Cu–Au deposits: what, where, when and why. In: Porter TM (ed) Hydrothermal iron oxide copper–gold and related deposits: a global perspective. Australian Mineral Foundation, Adelaide, pp 9–26

  • Holdsworth R, Pinheiro R (2000) The anatomy of shallow-crustal transpressional structures: insights from the Archean Carajás fault zone, Amazon, Brazil. J Struct Geol 22:1105–1123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huhn SRB, Nascimento JAS (1997) São os depósitos cupríferos de Carajás do tipo Cu–Au–U–ETR? In: Costa ML, Angelica RS (coord) Contribuicões à Geologia da Amazonia, SBG, Belém, pp 142–160

  • Huhn SRB, Macambira MJB, Dall'Agnol R (1999) Geologia and geochronologia Pb–Pb do granito alcalino Planalto, região da Serra do Rabo, Carajás, PA. Simpósio de Geologia da Amazônia, 6, Manaus, pp 463–466

  • Hutchinson RW (1979) Trace element mobility during hydrothermal alteration of oceanic basalts. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 42:127–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamber BS, Blenkinsop TG, Villa IM, Dahl PS (1995) Proterozoic transpressive deformation in the Northern Marginal Zone, Limpopo Belt, Zimbabwe. J Geol 103:493–508

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kreissig K, Holzer L, Frei R, Villa IM, Kramers JD, Kroner A, Smit CA, van Reenen DD (2001) Geochronology of the Hout River Shear Zone and the metamorphism in the Southern Marginal Zone of the Limpopo Belt, Southern Africa. Precambrian Res 109:145–173

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lindenmayer ZG (1990) Salobo Sequence, Carajás, Brazil: geology, geochemistry and metamorphism. PhD Thesis, University of Western Ontario

  • Lindenmayer Z (1998) O depósito de Cu (Au–Ag–Mo) do Salobo, Serra dos Carajás, Revisitado.Workshop Depósitos Minerais Brasileiros de Metais-Base. ADIMB-CPGG-UFBA-CAPES-PADCT, Salvador, Bahia, pp 29–37

  • Lindenmayer ZG, Laux JH, Viero AC (1995) O papel da alteração hidrotermal nas rochas da Bacia Carajás. Bol Mus Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Sér Ciênc Terra 7:125–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludwig KR (2000) User's manual for ISOPLOT/EX version 2.2: a geochronological toolkit for Microsoft Excel. Berkeley Geochronology Center, Spec Publ no 1a

  • Machado N, Lindenmayer Z, Krogh TE, Lindenmayer D (1991) U–Pb geochronology of Archean magmatism and basement reactivation in the Carajás area, Amazon shield, Brazil. Precambrian Res 49:239–354

    Google Scholar 

  • Markey RJ, Stein HJ, Morgan JW (1998) Highly precise Re–Os dating of molybdenite using alkaline fusion and NTIMS. Talanta 45:935–946

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marschik R, Leveille R (2001) Iron oxide Cu–Au deposits in South America: Candelaria, Chile, and Sossego, Brazil. GSA Annual Meeting, Boston, Abstracts with programs 33(6), p A-2

  • Marschik R, Mathur R, Spangenberg JE, Ruiz J, Leveille R, De Almeida AJ (2001) The Serra Verde Cu–Mo–Au deposit, Carajás Mineral Province, Pará state, Brazil. GSA Annual Meeting, Boston, Abstracts with programs 33(6), p A-418

  • Mellito KM, Tassinari C (1998) Aplicaçao dos métodos Rb–Sr e Pb–Pb à evoluçao da mineralizaçao cuprifera do deposito de Salobo 3 A, Provincia Mineral de Carajas, PA. Congresso Brasileiro de Geologia, 40, Proceedings, Belo Horizonte, SBG, p 119

  • Morgan JW, Golightly DW, Dorzapf AF Jr (1991) Methods for the separation of rhenium, osmium, and molybdenum applicable to isotope geochemistry. Talanta 38:259–265

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro RVL, Holdsworth RE (1997) Reactivation of Archean strike-slip fault systems, Amazon region, Brazil. J Geol Soc Lond 154:99–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Raith JG, Stein HJ (2000) Re–Os dating and sulfur isotope composition of molybdenite from tungsten deposits in western Namaqualand, South Africa: implications for ore genesis and the timing of metamorphism. Miner Deposita 35:741–753

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Requia K (1995) O papel do metamorfismo e fases fluidas na gênese da mineralização de cobre de Salobo, Província Mineral de Carajás, Pará. MSc Thesis, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, São Paulo

  • Requia K (2002) The Archean Salobo iron oxide copper–gold deposit, Carajás Mineral Province, Brazil. PhD Thesis, University of Geneva

  • Requia K, Fontboté L (1999) Hydrothermal alkali-metasomatism in the host amphibolites of the Salobo iron oxide Cu (–Au) deposit, Carajás Mineral Province, northern Brazil. In: Stanley CJ et al. (eds) Mineral deposits: processes to processing. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 1025–1028

  • Requia K, Fontboté L (2000a) The Salobo iron oxide Cu (–Au) deposit, Carajás Mineral Province, northern Brazil: evidences of hydrothermal alkali-metasomatism in the host amphibolites. International Geological Congress, 31, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Abstracts, CD-ROM, 1 p

  • Requia K, Fontboté L (2000b) The Salobo iron oxide copper-gold deposit, Carajás, northern Brazil. In: Porter TM (ed) Hydrothermal iron oxide copper–gold and related deposits: a global perspective. Australian Mineral Foundation, Adelaide, pp 225–236

  • Requia K, Fontboté L (2001) The Salobo iron oxide copper–gold hydrothermal system, Carajás Mineral Province, Brazil. GSA Annual Meeting, Boston, Abstracts with programs, 33(6), p A-2

  • Requia K, Xavier RP (1995) Fases fluidas na evolução metamórfica do depósito polimetálico de Salobo, Província Mineral de Carajás, Pará. Rev Escola Minas, Ouro Preto, 49(2):117–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Requia K, Xavier RP, Figueiredo B (1995) Evolução paragenética, textural e das fases fluidas no depósito polimetálico de Salobo, Província Mineral de Carajás, Pará. Bol Mus Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Sér Ciênc Terra 7:27–39

  • Rodrigues ES, Lafon JM, Scheller T (1992) Geocronologia Pb–Pb da Província Mineral de Carajás: primeiros resultados. Congresso Brasileiro de Geologia, 37, São Paulo. SBG, Resumos expandidos 2, pp 183–184

  • Selby D, Creaser RA (2001) Re–Os geochronology and systematics in molybdenite from the Endako porphyry molybdenum deposit, British Columbia, Canada. Econ Geol 96:197–204

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Siqueira JB (1996) Aspectos litoestruturais e mineralizações do depósito Salobo 3A, Serra dos Carajás, Pará. PhD Thesis, Federal University of Pará, Brazil

  • Smoliar MI, Walker RJ, Morgan JW (1996) Re–Os isotope constraints on the age of Group IIA, IIIA, IVA, and IVB iron meteorites. Science 271:1099–1102

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stein HJ, Morgan JW, Markey RJ, Hannah JL (1998a) An introduction to Re–Os: what's in it for the mineral industry? SEG Newsl 32(1):8–15

  • Stein HJ, Sundblad K, Markey RJ, Morgan JW, Motuza G (1998b) Re–Os ages for Archean molybdenite and pyrite, Kuittila-Kivisuo, Finland and Proterozoic molybdenite, Kabeliai, Lithuania: testing the chronometer in a metamorphic and metasomatic setting. Miner Deposita 33:329–345

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stein HJ, Morgan JW, Scherstén A (2000) Re–Os dating of low-level highly-radiogenic (LLHR) sulfides: the Harnäs gold deposit, southwest Sweden records continental scale tectonic events. Econ Geol 95:1657–1671

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stein HJ, Markey RJ, Morgan JW, Hannah JL, Scherstén A (2001) The remarkable Re–Os chronometer in molybdenite: how and why it works. Terra Nova 13(6): 479–486

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Souza LJ, Vieira EA (2000) Salobo 3 Alpha deposit: geology and mineralization. In: Porter TM (ed) Hydrothermal iron oxide copper–gold and related deposits: a global perspective. Australian Mineral Foundation, Adelaide, pp 213–224

  • Souza SRB, Macambira MJB, Scheller T (1996) Novos dados geochronológicos para os granites deformados do Rio Itacaiúnas (Serra dos Carajás, PA): implicações estratigráficas. Simpósio de Geologia da Amazônia, 5, Belém, Boletim de Resumos Expandidos pp 380–383

  • Suzuki K, Kagi H, Nara M, Takano B, Nozaki Y (2000) Experimental alteration of molybdenite: evaluation of the Re–Os system, infrared spectroscopic profile and polytype. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 64:223–232

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki K, Feely M, O'Reilly C (2001) Disturbance of the Re–Os chronometer of molybdenites from the late-Caledonian Galway granite, Ireland, by hydrothermal fluid circulation. Geochem J 35:29–35

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tassinari CCG, Mellito K (2001) Evidências isotópicas de Sr, Pb e Nd de fontes continentais para os fluidos das mineralizações do depósito de Cu (Au, Mo, Ag) Salobo 3-A, Serra dos Carajás, Brasil. Congresso de Geoquimica dos Países de Língua Portuguesa, 6, Faro, Portugal, Actas, pp 201–204

  • Trendall AF, Basei MAS, De Laeter JR, Nelson DR (1998) SHRIMP zircon U–Pb constraints on the age of the Carajás formation, Grão Pará Group, Amazon craton. J S Am Earth Sci 11:265–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Villas RN, Santos MD (2001) Gold deposits of the Carajás Mineral Province: deposit types and metallogenesis. Miner Deposita 36:300–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watanabe Y, Stein HJ (2000) Re–Os ages for the Erdenet and Tsagaan Suvarga porphyry Cu–Mo deposits, Mongolia, and tectonic implications. Econ Geol 95(7):1537–1542

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wirth KR (1986) The geology and geochemistry of the Grão Pará Group, Serra dos Carajás, Pará, Brazil. MSc Thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to G. Brown and N. Grant from Anglo-American Plc for financing the initial Re–Os analyses of the two molybdenite samples. We also appreciate the CVRD's logistic support during the field campaign. Richard Markey, AIRIE-Colorado State University, provided the Re–Os analyses. This work was supported by a Swiss SNF grant and was supplemented by funds from NSF EAR-0087483 (Stein) for added replicate analyses needed to establish the separation of ages for the two molybdenites. Journal reviewers David Selby and Pat Williams, as well as Richard Goldfarb, provided insightful and helpful comments.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Massimo Chiaradia

    Present address: Center for Geochemical Mass Spectrometry, School of Earth Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section des Sciences de la Terre, Université de Genève, Rue des Maraîchers 13, 1211 , Genève 4, Switzerland

    Karin Requia, Lluís Fontboté & Massimo Chiaradia

  2. AIRIE Program, Department of Earth Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO , 80523-1482, USA

    Holly Stein

Authors
  1. Karin Requia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Holly Stein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lluís Fontboté
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Massimo Chiaradia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karin Requia.

Additional information

Editorial handling: L. Meinert

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Requia, K., Stein, H., Fontboté, L. et al. Re–Os and Pb–Pb geochronology of the Archean Salobo iron oxide copper–gold deposit, Carajás mineral province, northern Brazil. Miner Deposita 38, 727–738 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-003-0364-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-003-0364-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation