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Volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits, also known as VMS ore deposits, are a type of metal sulfide ore deposit, mainly copper-zinc which are associated with and produced by volcanic-associated hydrothermal events in submarine environments. [2] [3] [4] These deposits are also sometimes called volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) deposits
Sedimentary exhalative deposits (SEDEX or SedEx deposits) are zinc-lead deposits originally interpreted to have been formed by discharge of metal-bearing basinal fluids onto the seafloor resulting in the precipitation of mainly stratiform ore, often with thin laminations of sulfide minerals.
Massive sulfide deposits are ore deposits that have significant stratiform ore bodies consisting mainly of sulfide minerals.Most massive sulfide ore deposits have other portions that are not massive, including stringer or feeder zones beneath the massive parts that mostly consist of crosscutting veins and veinlets of sulfides in a matrix of pervasively altered host rock and gangue.
Mineral associations may vary (1) in different mineralized structures, either syngenetic (namely, passive precipitation in chimneys, mounds and stratiform deposits) or epigenetic (structures that correspond to feeder channels, and replacements of host rocks or pre-existing massive sulfide bodies), or structural zonation, (2) from proximal to ...
The three main families of sulfide polymetallic ores are identified as volcanogenic massive sulphide family, the sedimentary exhalative family, and the Mississippi Valley type family. The classification of lead-zinc deposits in particular has been varied and resulted in a number of different organizations schemes. [ 1 ]
The descending meteoric waters oxidize the primary (hypogene) sulfide ore minerals and redistribute the metallic ore elements. Supergene enrichment occurs at the base of the oxidized portion of an ore deposit. Metals that have been leached from the oxidized ore are carried downward by percolating groundwater, and react with hypogene sulfides at ...
In 2005, Neptune Resources NL, a mineral exploration company, applied for and was granted 35,000 km 2 of exploration rights over the Kermadec Arc in New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone to explore for seafloor massive sulfide deposits, a potential new source of lead-zinc-copper sulfides formed from modern hydrothermal vent fields.
World-wide distribution of MVT deposits (red), clastic sediment-hosted (green), and unclassified (blue) lead-zinc deposits. Source: USGS. Carbonate-hosted lead-zinc ore deposits are important and highly valuable concentrations of lead and zinc sulfide ores hosted within carbonate (limestone, marl, dolomite) formations and which share a common genetic origin.