New Copper–Precious Metal Occurrence in Gabbro of the Serebryansky Kamen Massif, Ural Platinum Belt, Northern Urals

This paper provides a detailed geological description of the Serebryansky Kamen gabbro massif and copper–precious metal mineralization found for the first time within it. The first data on the distribution and localization of disseminated copper–precious metal mineralization in the central part of the massif have been obtained. It was found that copper sulfides (bornite, chalcopyrite, digenite, and chalcocite) are predominantly hosted in melanocratic taxitic varieties of amphibole gabbro. Elevated precious-metal concentrations were measured and precious-metal minerals were identified for the first time in gabbro enriched in sulfides in the northern part of the Ural platinum belt. The Pd–Pt–Fe–Cu intermetallic compounds, sulfide (vysotskite), tellurides (merenskyite, Pd-melonite, kotulskite), bismuthotellurides (michenerite), arsenides, platinum and palladium arsenotellurides (sperrylite, arsenopalladinite), and native gold were identified. Based on a geochemical survey, the resources of copper and precious metals in the Serebryansky Kamen gabbro massif are 760.1 kt of Cu and 97.1 t of precious metals, dominated by Au and Pd. The identified mineralized zones are comparable to the complex Volkovsky deposit in size, structure, and composition. A geological and genetic model is proposed, which can be widely used in prospecting for copper and precious metals in the gabbroic parts of dunite–clinopyroxenite–gabbro massifs.