Age, origin and tectonothermal modification of the Falun pyritic Zn-Pb-Cu-(Au-Ag) sulphide deposit, Bergslagen, Sweden

The Falun pyritic Zn-Pb-Cu-(Au-Ag) sulphide deposit, situated in the Palaeoproterozoic (1.9–1.8 Ga) Bergslagen lithotectonic unit in the south-western part of the Fennoscandian Shield, is one of the major base and precious metal sulphide deposits in Sweden. Felsic volcanic rocks and limestone hosting the deposit, as well as their hydrothermally altered equivalents and the mineralization, were affected by heterogeneous ductile strain and metamorphism under low-pressure, lower amphibolite-facies conditions during the Svecokarelian orogeny (2.0–1.8 Ga). These processes reworked the mineral assemblages of the original hydrothermal system and the mineralization, and also reshaped the structural geometry of the deposit. A three-dimensional modelling approach has been used in order to evaluate geometric relationships between lithologies at the deposit. The polyphase character (D1 and D2) of the strong ductile deformation at Falun is apparent. The main rock-forming minerals in the altered silicate-rich rocks are quartz, biotite and anthophyllite with porphyroblasts of cordierite and garnet, as well as retrogressive chlorite. Major static grain growth occurred between D1 and D2, inferred to represent the peak of metamorphism, as well as after D2 with growth (or recrystallization) of anthophyllite. A major shear zone with chlorite, talc and disseminated sulphides bounds the pyritic Zn-Pb-Cu-rich massive sulphide mineralization to the north, the latter being surrounded elsewhere by disseminated to semi-massive Cu-Au mineralization. F2 sheath folding along axes plunging steeply to the south-south-east is suggested as a key deformation mechanism, accounting for the cone-shaped mineralized bodies, which pinch out at depth, and explaining the similar character of intensely altered rocks on all sides of the massive sulphide mineralization. Immobile-element lithogeochemistry suggests that they share a common volcanic precursor. These relationships are consistent with a model in which the pyritic massive sulphide mineralization is located in the core of a sheath fold structure, surrounded by the same altered stratigraphic footwall rocks with Cu-Au mineralization. The geological evolution in the metavolcanic inlier that hosts the Falun deposit, constrained by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) U–Pb (zircon) geochronology, involved emplacement of a felsic volcanic and sub-volcanic rock suite at 1894±3 Ma, followed by hydrothermal alteration and mineralization. Subsequent burial and intrusion of late- to post-mineralization dykes occurred between 1896±3 Ma and 1891±3 Ma, followed by further burial and emplacement of plutons with variable composition during the time span 1894±3 Ma to 1893±3 Ma. The age determinations for all these magmatic suites overlap within their uncertainties, indicating a rapid sequence of continuous burial and different magmatic pulses. A metamorphic event, herein dated at 1831±8 Ma and 1822±5 Ma (SIMS U–Pb monazite), falls in the age range of a younger Svecokarelian metamorphic episode (M2). U-Th-Pb isotope systematics in monazite was completely reset during this event. During hydrothermal alteration and mineralization, a hot, reducing and acidic fluid carrying metals and sulphur together flowed upward along syn-volcanic faults, leading to intense chloritization, sericitization and silicification of calc-alkaline volcanic rocks in the stratigraphic footwall to the deposit. This resulted in proximal siliceous associations including Fe-rich chlorite, and dominant Mg-rich chlorite and sericite in more peripheral parts. Cu-Au stockwork mineralization formed in the siliceous core of the hydrothermal system as result of fluid cooling. Neutralization of the metal-bearing fluids upon carbonate interaction stratigraphically higher in the sub-seafloor regime led to formation of Zn-Pb-Cu-rich massive sulphide mineralization, the space for which was created by a combination of carbonate dissolution, primary porosity in the overlying volcanic rocks and secondary porosity produced during syn-volcanic faulting. A hybrid model for mineralization is suggested by alteration styles, metal zoning and textures indicating replacement of carbonate rock or highly porous pumice breccia by pyritic massive sulphide. Aspects of a sub-seafloor volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) system and carbonate replacement are both present. Partly Zn-Pb-(Ag) mineralized skarns comprise a separate and subordinate type of mineralization, probably formed after burial of the hydrothermal system to the contact-metasomatic regime. Textures and microstructures in the massive sulphide mineralization indicate that the ductile deformation and metamorphism resulted in internal mechanical and chemical remobilization of sulphide minerals. Laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis of the main sulphide minerals suggests, for example, that trace elements (including Au) were liberated from pyrite during metamorphism. A system of auriferous quartz veins, affected by D2 ductile strain, occurs in intensely altered and mineralized rocks on the eastern side of the deposit. It is suggested that they formed after the peak of metamorphism and prior to the completion of the D2 tectonic event, as a result of fluid-assisted remobilization of sulphides and Au in the disseminated to semi-massive Cu-Au mineralization and possibly also the massive sulphide mineralization.Structural evolution, hydrothermal alteration and tectonic setting of the Falun base metal and gold deposit, Bergslagen region, Swede