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The origin of the Avram Iancu U–Ni–Co–Bi–As mineralization, Băiţa (Bihor) metallogenic district, Bihor Mts., Romania

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Abstract

The Băiţa metallogenic district in the Bihor Mountains is a historically important mining area in Romania. Uranium mining took place between 1952 and 1998 from various deposits, but very little is known about the geology and mineralogy of these deposits. In this paper, we describe geology and mineralogy of uranium mineralization of the Avram Iancu uranium mine from waste dump samples collected before complete remediation of the site. Texturally and mineralogically complex assemblages of nickeline, cobaltite–gersdorffite solid solution, native Bi, Bi-sulfosalts, molybdenite, and pyrite–chalcopyrite–sphalerite occur with uraninite, “pitchblende,” and brannerite in most of the ore samples. The association of nickel, cobalt, and arsenic with uranium is reminiscent of five-element association of vein type U–Ni–Co–Bi–As deposits; however, the Avram Iancu ores appear to be more replacement-type stratiform/stratabound. Avram Iancu ore samples contain multistage complex, skarn, uranium sulfide, arsenide assemblages that can be interpreted to have been formed in the retrograde cooling stages of the skarn hydrothermal system. This mineralizing system may have built-up along Upper Cretaceous–Paleogene “Banatite” intrusions of diorite-to-granite composition. The intrusions crosscut the underlying uraniferous Permian formations in the stacked NW-verging Biharia Nappe System. The mineralization forms stacked, multilayer replacement horizons, along carbonate-rich lithologies within the metavolcanic (tuffaceous) Muncel Series. Mineral paragenesis and some mineral chemistry suggest moderate-to-high <450, i.e., 350–310 °C, formation temperatures for the uranium sulfide stage along stratigraphically controlled replacement zones and minor veins. Uranium minerals formed abundantly in this early stage and include botryoidal, sooty and euhedral uraninite, brannerite, and coffinite. Later and/or lower-temperature mineral assemblages include heterogeneous, complexly zoned arsenide–sulfarsenide solid solutions associated with minute but abundant uranium minerals. Within the later arsenide–sulfarsenide mineral assemblage, there is great variation in Ni, Co, and S content with generally increasing arsenic content. Uranium minerals in this late-stage assemblage include very fine euhedral uraninite and brannerite inclusions in arsenide–sulfarsenide minerals. Native bismuth and Bi-sulfosalt krupkaite are observed in this As–S-rich assemblage strongly associated with cobaltite.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the technical assistance of Mr. Norbert Bűdi and Dr. György Lovas for some XRD and Mr. Árpád Kovács for some EDX analyses. Dr. Tamás Váczi is kindly acknowledged for providing a CLSM map of brannerite. Mr. Jim Sweeney is kindly acknowledged for native English proofreading of the manuscript. We also thank the more helpful comments and suggestions of our reviewers Prof. Ferenc Molnár and Prof. Harald Dill, which improved our paper. Some WDX standards were provided by the Department of Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, USA. The described work was carried out as part of the TÁMOP-4.2.2.A-11/1/KONV -2012-0005 project as a work of Center of Excellence of Sustainable Resource Management, in the framework of the New Széchenyi Plan. The realization of this project is supported by the European Union, cofinanced by the European Social Fund.

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  1. Institute of Mineralogy and Geology, Miskolc University, Miskolc, Hungary

    Norbert Zajzon, Sándor Szakáll & Ferenc Kristály

  2. MINART Mineral Exploration Limited, Budapest, Hungary

    Krisztián Szentpéteri

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  1. Norbert Zajzon
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Zajzon, N., Szentpéteri, K., Szakáll, S. et al. The origin of the Avram Iancu U–Ni–Co–Bi–As mineralization, Băiţa (Bihor) metallogenic district, Bihor Mts., Romania. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 104, 1865–1887 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-015-1175-1

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