CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The role of structurally controlled fluid flow during epithermal ore-shoot formation is addressed through a structural study of the high grade Martha Mine epithermal deposit (Deseado Massif, Patagonia, Argentina). Martha is a silver-rich deposit, characterised by a complex mineralogy dominated by Ag-As-Sb sulphosalts and Cu-Pb-Zn sulphides. Mineralised veins can be subdivided into two groups: master structures that trend approximately NW-SE, and second-order structures that trend E-W and coalesce into the master structures. The Martha vein system is interpreted as a hard-linked step-over zone between two NW-SE trending fault segments. Furthermore, the geometry of ore-shoots at Martha Mine suggests a first-order structural control on their location and orientation. At the deposit scale, mineralisation is concentrated in the step-over zone. Mineralisation, and presumably hydrothermal fluid flow, was concentrated at the intersection between the two main vein groups. Finally, at the scale of single veins, jogs and subordinate step-overs were important channels for hydrothermal fluids and the formation of high-grade ore-shoots.

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