Trace and critical metal behaviour in seafloor massive sulfide deposits: A mineralogical and geochemical assessment

Actively-forming modern seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposits are analogous to ancient volcanogenic-hosted massive sulfide (VMS) deposits which are major sources of Zn, Cu, Pb, Ag, and Au, and significant sources for Co, Sn, Se, Mn, Cd, In, Bi, Te, and Sb. Growing interest in the mining potential of major, trace, and critical metals in SMS deposits has not taken into account sub-seafloor mineralogical characterization which is crucial to the metal budgets. The majority of SMS samples are from the surface or very shallow-subsurface and trace element concentrations are not representative of the entire sub-seafloor deposit. A three-part approach in this thesis investigated the distribution and mineralogical residence of trace elements in sub-seafloor submarine hydrothermal systems, in order to understand metal budgets and determine whether the behaviour and residence of trace elements can be systematically predicted