Features of Ore Mineralization of Alyarmaut Rise (Western Chukotka)

Abstract

The Au mineralization of Alyarmaut Rise was formed from the ore-forming fluids of two types strongly differing in pressure. The first type of fluid is similar to fluids of the orogenic Au–quartz deposits in terms of the physicochemical parameters and composition. These fluids were formed at a high pressure from heterogeneous, carbon dioxide–aqueous fluids with a low salinity at a depth of 5–7 km. The second type of fluid, which is also heterogeneous, has a shallower origin with a wide range of salinity variation and a small amount of carbon dioxide. This type of fluid is similar to the fluids of epithermal deposits. The wide range of pressure variation characterizing the mineralization of the rise indicates the vertical displacement of the block of the host rocks followed by erosion. Judging by the presence the secondary halos of Au, Ag, As, Sb, Pb, Zn, and Cu in the Upper Paleozoic carbonate–terrigenous rocks of the Alyarmaut Rise, there are prospects to reveal sites with new epithermal Au–Ag mineralization, which are essential for the area and unusual for the Anyui-Chukotka Fold System.