Discussion on “Syn-metamorphic sulfidation of the Gamsberg zinc deposit, South Africa” by Stefan Höhn, Hartwig E. Frimmel, and Westley Price

Höhn et al. ( 2021 ) proposed that the giant Gamsberg Zn deposit, South Africa, initially formed as a sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) deposit during the Mesoproterozoic and was subsequently oxidized near surface. The oxidized ore was then supposedly sulfidized by sulfur-rich metamorphic fluids during and after upper amphibolite facies metamorphism. We view this model as untenable for various reasons and suggest that the Gamsberg deposit and others in the Aggeneys-Gamsberg district (Swartberg, Broken Hill-Deeps, Big Syncline) are metamorphosed clastic SEDEX deposits rather than having formed by synmetamorphic sulfidation processes.