Geological setting, isotope studies (C, O and Pb) and associated metals in the Tocantinzinho gold deposit, Tapajós domain, Tapajós-Parima Province

Abstract

The Tocantinzinho ore deposit is located along a NW-SE-trending lineament, southwestern of Itaituba (Pará, Brazil), and is the largest known gold deposit of the Tapajós Province. The host Tocantinzinho granite is essentially isotropic and dominated by syenogranites and monzogranites that have been weakly to moderately altered by hydrothermal fluids. Microclinization (earliest), chloritization, sericitization, silicification and carbonatization (latest) are the main types of alteration. Most mineralization was contemporaneous with the sericitization/silicification and is represented by sulfide- and gold-bearing veinlets which locally occur as stockwork. Pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena are the most common sulfides. Among the ore metals, Cu, Pb and Zn present the highest contents, but Mo, As and Bi locally show anomalous concentrations. The relationship of Au with Cu, Pb or Zn is at random and the Au/Ag ratios range from 0.05 to 0.5. The higher the sulfide contents, the higher the Au concentrations, though it occurs mainly included in pyrite. Zircon monocrystals from the Tocantinzinho granite yielded an average Pb-Pb age of 1982 ± 8 Ma and may represent an earlier event of the Creporizão magmatic arc. δ13C PDB values for calcite from the carbonatization stage fall dominantly between -3.45 and -2.29‰, being compatible with a deep crustal source that may include carbonatite reservoirs. In turn, δ18O SMOW values vary from +5.97 to +14.10‰, being indicative of magmatic derivation, although the less positive values suggest contribution from surficial waters. Unpublished fluid inclusion study reveals the presence of aquo-carbonic fluids, whose CO2 could have been dissolved in the granitic magma rather than being related to the shear zone. The available data allow the Tocantinzinho deposit to be classified as a granite-hosted, intrusion-related gold deposit.