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Mineralogical and geochemical characterization of supergene Cu–Pb–Zn–V ores in the Oriental High Atlas, Morocco

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Abstract

In the Moroccan High Atlas, two sulfide deposits hosted by Jurassic dolostones underwent significant weathering. In the Cu deposit of Jbel Klakh, several stages of supergene mineralization are distinguished: (1) the replacement of hypogene sulfides in the protolith (chalcopyrite) by secondary sulfides in the cementation zone (bornite, digenite, chalcocite, covellite), (2) the formation of oxidized minerals in the saprolite (malachite, azurite, brochantite) where the environment becomes more oxidizing and neutral, and (3) the precipitation of late carbonates (calcite) and iron (hydr-)oxides in the laterite. The precipitation of carbonates is related to the dissolution of dolomitic host rocks, which buffers the fluid acidity due to the oxidation of sulfides. In the Jbel Haouanit Pb–Zn deposit, the mineral assemblage is dominated by typical calamine minerals, Cu minerals (chalcocite, covellite, malachite), and a Cu–Pb–Zn vanadate (mottramite). Galena is successively weathered in anglesite and cerussite. Sphalerite is weathered in smithsonite, which is rapidly replaced by hydrozincite. Late iron (hydr-)oxides are mainly found at the top of both deposits (laterite). Both deposits are thus characterized by specific mineral zoning, from laterite to protolith, related to variations in the mineralogy and ore grades and probably caused by varying Eh-pH conditions.

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Acknowledgements

Michèle Verhaert thanks the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) for providing a FRIA PhD grant. We thank the administration of Bou Arfa for field access and facilities to the mines. Many thanks are due to Georges Zaboukis (ULB) and Patrick Kubben (ULB) for the confection of polished sections and the first part of XRD analyses and to Gaëtan Rochez (UNamur) for field support and pictures and the other parts of the XRD analyses. We also express our gratitude to the reviewers for their constructive comments that significantly improved the manuscript.

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  1. Département de Géologie, ILEE, Université de Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000, Namur, Belgium

    Michèle Verhaert, Augustin Dekoninck & Johan Yans

  2. Département des Sciences de la Terre et de l’Environnement, Laboratoire de Minéralogie et Géochimie Appliquée, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, 1050, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Alain Bernard

  3. Département des Sciences de la Terre, Relief et Bassin, Université Paris Sud—11, UMR 8148 GEOPS, Bâtiment 504, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France

    Ludovic Lafforgue

  4. Laboratoire Géosciences, Université Hassan II, BP 5366, Maârif, Casablanca, Morocco

    Omar Saddiqi

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Verhaert, M., Bernard, A., Dekoninck, A. et al. Mineralogical and geochemical characterization of supergene Cu–Pb–Zn–V ores in the Oriental High Atlas, Morocco. Miner Deposita 52, 1049–1068 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-017-0753-5

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