Caracterización mineralógica de las vetas del depósito polimetálico Pingüino, Macizo del Deseado

JOVIC, S.; GUIDO, D.; DEL BLANCO, M.; BODAÑO, M.; LORENTI BORDA, M.; JOVIC, N.; SCHALAMUK, I.

Río Cuarto

Congreso; 10º Congreso de Mineralogía y Metalogenia 2010; 2010

AMA

The Pingüino deposit, located 40 km northwest Cerro Vanguardia mine, has two different veintypes: sulfide veins and quartz veins. The sulfide veins are characterized by three different pulses: the first (S1) composed by arsenopyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, quartz, cassiterite, wolframite and Sn sulfides (ferrokersterite and stannite); the second (S2) is manly composed by sphalerite and galena with tetrahedrite, freibergite and Sn-Ag sulphosalts. The third pulse (S3) is integrated by sphalerite and greenockite with banded botroidal textures. The quartz veins have also three pulses: The first quartz pulse (Q1) is integrated by grey quartz with pyrite, galena, sphalerite, and various Ag-bearing minerals: argentite, silver, ruby silver, freibergite, and naumonite; The second pulse (Q2) is characterized by banded Fe-Mn carbonates and quartz; The last pulse (Q3) is composed by white quartz with comb and breccia texture. The polymethalic sulfide veins have Cu, Au, As, Sn, W, Bi, Zn, In, Pb, Ag, Cd y Sb anomalies, representing a complex polimetalic mineral paragenesis. The most important elements in the polymetallic sulfide veins are Au, Ag (in oxidizedzone mostly as native elements) and Au, Ag, Zn, Pb and In in the primary zone, related with sphalerite, galena, tetrahedrite and greenockite. In the quartz veins, Au and Ag are the most important metals, which appear as native elements or electrum in the oxidized zone, and as As-pyrite and/or arsenopyrite (Au), and as freibergite, ruby silver and acantite (Ag) in the primary zone.