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New Copper–Precious Metal Occurrence in Gabbro of the Serebryansky Kamen Massif, Ural Platinum Belt, Northern Urals

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Abstract

This paper provides a detailed geological description of the Serebryansky Kamen gabbro massif and copper–precious metal mineralization found for the first time within it. The first data on the distribution and localization of disseminated copper–precious metal mineralization in the central part of the massif have been obtained. It was found that copper sulfides (bornite, chalcopyrite, digenite, and chalcocite) are predominantly hosted in melanocratic taxitic varieties of amphibole gabbro. Elevated precious-metal concentrations were measured and precious-metal minerals were identified for the first time in gabbro enriched in sulfides in the northern part of the Ural platinum belt. The Pd–Pt–Fe–Cu intermetallic compounds, sulfide (vysotskite), tellurides (merenskyite, Pd-melonite, kotulskite), bismuthotellurides (michenerite), arsenides, platinum and palladium arsenotellurides (sperrylite, arsenopalladinite), and native gold were identified. Based on a geochemical survey, the resources of copper and precious metals in the Serebryansky Kamen gabbro massif are 760.1 kt of Cu and 97.1 t of precious metals, dominated by Au and Pd. The identified mineralized zones are comparable to the complex Volkovsky deposit in size, structure, and composition. A geological and genetic model is proposed, which can be widely used in prospecting for copper and precious metals in the gabbroic parts of dunite–clinopyroxenite–gabbro massifs.

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Notes

  1. Results of Comprehensive Prospecting for Copper–Titanomagnetite and Titanomagnetite Ores in the Serebryansky Kamen District, V.I. Bobrov, Ed., Ural Territorial Geological Department, 1978, vol. I.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the reviewers for careful and critical reading of the manuscript. The comments by the anonymous reviewer and N.D. Tolstykh undoubtedly improved the quality of the manuscript.

Funding

Field and analytical works were supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 20-77-00073).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 620016, Ekaterinburg, Russia

    V. V. Mikhailov & S. Yu. Stepanov

  2. Institute of Earth Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, 199155, St. Petersburg, Russia

    S. Yu. Stepanov, S. V. Petrov & V. V. Shilovskikh

  3. St. Petersburg Mining University, 199106, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. V. Kozlov

  4. Institute of Mineralogy, South Ural Federal Research Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 456317, Miass, Russia

    R. S. Palamarchuk

  5. Institute of Geology of Ore Deposit, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119017, Moscow, Russia

    V. D. Abramova

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Mikhailov, V.V., Stepanov, S.Y., Kozlov, A.V. et al. New Copper–Precious Metal Occurrence in Gabbro of the Serebryansky Kamen Massif, Ural Platinum Belt, Northern Urals. Geol. Ore Deposits 63, 528–555 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075701521060040

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