The Stibnite-Yellow Pine district of central Idaho was mined from the early 1900s until the 1990s, extracting gold, antimony, tungsten, and mercury from veins and disseminated and replacement ores in mountainous terrain along the headwaters of the Salmon River. Mining during the two World Wars supplied critical antimony and tungsten to the war efforts. Recent exploration has delineated mineral resources of over 187 metric tons Au, 274 metric tons Ag, and 93,000 metric tons Sb. Mineralization is hosted in Cretaceous Idaho batholith granitic rocks and a sequence of Neoproterozoic to Paleozoic metasedimentary strata of carbonate and siliciclastic compositions. Historical studies outlined some of the complex paragenesis but debated the absolute age of mineralization. New petrographic and geochronologic work documents a sequence of five hydrothermal events in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine district. Event 1 is related to Cretaceous magmatic and hydrothermal activity and includes events ranging in age from 86 to 75 Ma, including sparse quartz-molybdenite veins dated at 86 Ma. Disseminated gold mineralization of event 2 is associated with sericitic alteration and sulfidation of igneous biotite and replacement of plagioclase by potassium feldspar, largely in granodiorite. Gold is present in zoned arsenian pyrite in both disseminated ores and in crosscutting carbonate-quartz veins containing pyrite and arsenopyrite. The large Yellow Pine deposit, localized at a dilatant bend in the Meadow Creek fault, hosts such disseminated and vein gold. Event 2 is interpreted as the major gold-forming event; 40Ar/39Ar ages of sericite and potassium feldspar alteration range, respectively, from 70 to 59 and 66 to 56 Ma. The long span is interpreted to reflect the age of gold mineralization and local overprinting by event 3. A narrower range from 66 to 61 Ma is interpreted to date the peak of gold mineralization and alteration. Event 3, tungsten mineralization with scheelite, is texturally later than event 2 gold and localized along the Meadow Creek structure. Event 3 scheelite has been dated by isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U-Pb methods at 57 Ma. Event 4, best developed in the West End area, includes gold-silver-bearing quartz-carbonate-pyrite veins and breccias with epithermal textures and potassium feldspar alteration envelopes. Adularia from event 4 yields 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages of 52 to 51 Ma. Event 5 antimony and mercury mineralization consists of stibnite veins and breccia cements at the Yellow Pine and Hangar Flat deposits as well as cinnabar veins and replacements at the peripheral Fern and Hermes deposits; it is constrained by an LA-ICP-MS U-Pb date on scheelite (ca. 47 Ma) intergrown with stibnite. Minor propylitic and argillic alteration is evident in 47 Ma igneous dikes, which do not contain economic mineralization. The Au-Sb-W ores in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine mining district formed over an extended time period from about 70 to 45 Ma in multiple pulses that were localized along the Meadow Creek fault zone. Each event corresponds to episodes of magmatism and/or hydrothermal activity in the region. Insignificant event 1 skarn and molybdenum mineralization is similar in age to the Thompson Creek porphyry molybdenum deposit in central Idaho. Event 2 gold mineralization occurred during a magmatic gap in central Idaho but was synchronous with magmatism in the Bitterroot lobe further north; event 2 is similar in age to orogenic gold-arsenic mineralization at the Beartrack mine in eastern Idaho. Event 3 scheelite mineralization coincides with tungsten mineralization at the Quartz Creek deposit, late magmatism in the Bitterroot lobe, and rapid exhumation of the Atlanta lobe of the Idaho batholith. Event 4 gold mineralization is coincident with the onset of regional Challis magmatism and extension. Event 5 antimony and mercury mineralization is time-equivalent to epithermal gold mineralization in the nearby Thunder Mountain volcanic field and the peak of Challis magmatism.

Regional stream sediment surveys are an important exploration tool used in the search for concealed or partially concealed porphyry deposits. It is shown here that quartz contained in the coarse fraction of stream sediments can be used as an indicator mineral to supplement geochemical analyses conducted on the fine fraction, such as the measurement of the bulk cyanide leach extractable gold content. A method is proposed that allows separation of quartz grains from the coarse rejects of stream sediment samples to prepare grain mounts for petrographic analysis. Based on optical cathodoluminescence microscopy and fluid inclusion petrography, the number of porphyry quartz grains in each grain mount is then identified. Case studies conducted at Vert de Gris in Haiti and Hides Creek in Papua New Guinea show that porphyry quartz grains could be confidently identified in sediments in the catchment areas of both porphyries. Because the cost of microscopic analysis of quartz is small compared to the expense of sampling and geochemical analysis, the developed technique could be routinely used in large greenfield exploration programs. It is envisaged here that petrographic analysis of quartz grains can contribute valuable information for prioritization of targets defined based on their geochemical signatures.

Quartz trace elements record information about fluid evolution as well as metal migration and precipitation. Here, we summarize most of the reported (including this study) quartz trace element data (N = ~4,600) generated by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) on various textural types and paragenetic stages of quartz in I-type porphyry-epithermal (Cu-Mo-Au-Ag-Te) and S- and A-type granitegreisen (Sn-W and rare metal) systems in the world. The results show that Li versus Al diagrams, combined with Ti-Ge-As-Sb contents, can be used to decipher the source and evolution of fluids in magmatic-hydrothermal systems. In I-type porphyry-epithermal systems, magmatic quartz has low Li/Al ratios from 0.001 to 0.173 (N = 483) with a mean of 0.039 ± 0.032. Hydrothermal quartz has progressively higher Li and Al concentrations that are dominated by cooling along fluid pathways. Quartz evolves from Ti rich to Ge rich from early to late stages in porphyry hydrothermal veins and is As and Sb rich in epithermal veins. In S- and A-type granite-greisen systems, magmatic quartz has high Li/Al ratios from 0.007 to 0.502 (N = 604) with a mean of 0.130 ± 0.063 and from 0.009 to 0.327 (N = 325) with a mean of 0.126 ± 0.065, respectively. Hydrothermal quartz has progressively lower Li and Al concentrations that are dominated by fluid-rock reactions and cooling along fluid pathways. Quartz evolves with decreasing Ti concentrations from magmatic to hydrothermal stages. Ge is abundant in pegmatite quartz in S-type systems. Variations in pH or precipitation rate along fluid pathways have a small influence on Li/Al ratios. The variation of quartz trace elements with elevation in individual systems suggests that they can be used as a vector to guide exploration in magmatic-hydrothermal systems.

Porphyry copper deposits consist of low-grade stockwork and disseminated sulfide zones that contain characteristic vein generations formed during the evolution of the magmatic-hydrothermal systems. The present contribution proposes an interpretive framework for the formation of porphyry veins that is based on quartz solubility calculations in the H2O-NaCl system at temperatures of 100 degrees to 1,000 degrees C and pressures of 1 to 2,000 bar. The model predicts that high-temperature (greater than or similar to 500 degrees C) quartz in A veins of deep (similar to 4 km) porphyry deposits forms as a result of the cooling of ascending intermediate-density fluids at lithostatic conditions. In deposits of intermediate depths (similar to 1.5-4 km), A vein quartz is mostly formed through cooling of ascending hydrothermal fluids under closed-system conditions or quasi-isobaric cooling under open-system conditions within the two-phase field of the H2O-NaCl system. In shallow (less than or similar to 1.5 km) porphyry deposits, rapid decompression can also result in quartz precipitation, forming so-called banded veins. The high-temperature quartz in A veins is associated with potassic alteration. During continued cooling of the magmatic-hydrothermal system, quartz is formed at intermediate temperatures (greater than or similar to 375 degrees-500 degrees C). This quartz overprints earlier A veins and forms B veins. The fluid inclusion inventory of this quartz generation suggests formation at fluctuating pressure conditions, marking the lithostatic to hydrostatic transition, and the change of wall-rock behavior from ductile to brittle conditions. The quartz is precipitated because of cooling and decompression of the magmatic-hydrothermal fluids under K-feldspar-stable conditions. Textural evidence from many porphyry veins suggests that hypogene sulfide minerals present in A and B veins postdate the quartz, as contacts between quartz and sulfide minerals commonly show dissolution textures. Hypogene sulfide minerals in C veins form at conditions of retrograde quartz solubility, explaining why these veins contain little to no quartz. The quartz solubility calculations suggest that C vein formation occurs at temperatures of similar to 375 degrees to 450 degrees C from low-salinity, single-phase fluids escaping from the lithostatic to the hydrostatic environment. At the upper end of this temperature range, C veins are biotite stable. However, these veins are associated with chlorite, chlorite-K-feldspar, or chlorite-sericite alteration in most deposits. Late quartz is formed during continued cooling of the hydrothermal fluids at less than or similar to-375 degrees C within the single-phase field of the H2O-NaCl system as quartz solubility under these conditions decreases with temperature. This process is responsible for the formation of quartz in D veins and later base metal-bearing E veins, which are associated with phyllic, advanced argillic, or argillic alteration.

High-contrast backscattered electron (BSE) images and electron microprobe (EMP) analyses of pyrite from Au-Sb-W deposits in the Stibnite mining district reveal alternating growth zones that are enriched in Au, Ag, Sb, As, and Cu. Textures indicate periods of replacement, dissolution, and open-space growth. The Au and As contents show that ore fluids were generally undersaturated with Au. Such pyrite is indicative of low temperatures of formation and reducing conditions.

The Pea Ridge deposit is in a 1.48-1.44 Ga volcano-plutonic terrane consisting of rift-related, depleted mantle-derived, tholeiitic, mostly concealed basalt to andesite and voluminous subalkaline ferroan dacite to rhyolite composition igneous rocks. Eruption of the rhyolite host at similar to 1473 Ma was followed by faulting and formation of the magnetite-apatite deposit (210 Mt, 47-55% Fe) at similar to 1471 Ma. Th-rich REE breccia pipes (0.2 Mt, 12% REE oxides) formed at similar to 1465 Ma. Nd, Pb, and He in IOA and REE mineralization were derived from a mantle source. Ore and gangue minerals precipitated from fluids containing magmatic H, O, C, S, Fe, Cl and Br. The IOA deposit formed at similar to 1.5 km depth under lithostatic to hydrostatic conditions at similar to 350-750 degrees C by cooling and decompression of ascending fluids enriched in Fe, Mg, Ca, P and REE that were derived from an intermediate composition intrusion. REE breccia pipes formed under vaporstatic conditions from similar to 400-200 degrees C hypersaline brine derived from a fractionated alkalic (?) intrusion that dissolved and replaced apatite with monazite, xenotime, and thorite. The results show that IOA deposits and REE breccia pipes can be produced by the discharge of fluids from successive intrusions in an underlying igneous complex.

Sedimentary rock-hosted strata-bound copper deposits are widespread in the Kangdian region of the Central Yunnan and southern Sichuan provinces, southwest China. The deposits occur within weakly metamorphosed rocks of the late Paleoproterozoic to early Mesoproterozoic Dongchuan Group and are spatially associated with discordant breccia bodies that are interpreted as having formed from salt diapirs. The Tangdan deposit, the largest in the region, consists of stratiform and discordant orebodies predominantly hosted in dolostones immediately above hematitic sandstones and siltstones and in black shales above the dolostones. Host rocks for the deposit display a complex paragenetic sequence of alteration and mineralization. Early sodic alteration resulted in the growth of both albite and ferroan dolomite. Later potassic alteration resulted in the precipitation of potassium feldspar and locally biotite in argillaceous layers. Sulfide mineralization was temporally and spatially associated with silicification that postdated both sodic and potassic alteration. Textures suggest that silicification may have preferentially affected evaporite minerals in the dolostones. Copper sulfides form bedding-parallel disseminations, veinlets and, to a lesser extent, stockworks. Copper sulfides are dominated by chalcopyrite with lesser bornite and chalcocite. Hypogene chalcopyrite and bornite from the Tangdan deposit have δ34S values that range from −12.7 to +9.3‰ and cluster between −3 to +5‰. The values suggest derivation from Mesoproterozoic marine sulfates. The dolostone host rocks have relatively homogeneous C and O isotope values ranging from 0.2 to 1.3‰ δ13CV-PDB and from 19.1 to 22.4‰ δ18OV-SNOW. Carbonate minerals in quartz sulfide veins display both a trend toward lighter oxygen isotope values and a trend to significantly lighter carbon isotope values. The light carbon isotope values suggest involvement of organic carbon in the mineralizing process. Alteration and mineralization at Tangdan probably occurred via interaction of oxidized saline brines derived from the underlying red-bed sequence with partially to wholly lithified dolostones. Sulfide precipitation was likely due to both redox reactions and mineralizing fluid pH changes resulting from dolomite and sulfate dissolution. The styles of alteration and mineralization at the Tangdan deposit are similar to those observed in the Central African Copperbelt, particularly the dolostone-hosted orebodies in the Mines Series of the Democratic Republic of Congo.