Journal article
Hydrothermal fluid processes and evolution of the giant serra norte jaspilite-hosted iron ore deposits, carajás mineral Province, Brazil
RCF E Silva, S Hagemann, LM Lobato, CA Rosière, DA Banks, GJ Davidson, T Vennemann, J Hergt
Economic Geology | SOC ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS, INC | Published : 2013
Abstract
The Serra Norte Carajás banded iron-formation (BIF)-hosted iron ore deposits are located in the Carajás mineral province. The deposits are hosted in the ca. 2.7 Ga Grão Pará Group, a metamorphosed volcanic-sedimentary sequence where jaspilites are under- and overlain by basalts, both at greenschist facies conditions. They represent one of the largest high-grade (>60 wt % Fe) BIF iron ore deposits and resources in the world, with hypogene iron mineralization considered to be Paleoproterozoic. Four main open pits have, to date, produced about 1.2 billion metric tons (Bt) of high-grade iron ore with additional resources of 10 Bt. Ore types at the Serra Norte deposits include soft and hard ore; ..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This paper presents results of a Ph.D. thesis by the first author at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil, and in part at the University of Western Australia in Perth, under the sponsorship of Vale and scholarship of Coordenagdo de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior-CAPES. The authors wish to acknowledge Vale for their technical, logistical, and financial support. Our special thanks to all technicians, helpers, and geologists who throughout the years made this work possible. LML is grateful to the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico-CNPq for continuing financial support. Thanks are due to the research staff and support of the various isotopic laboratories at Centre for Exploration Targeting-CET, University of Western Australia; Centro de Pesquisas Prof. Manoel Teixeira da Costa-CPMTC and Laboratorio de Microanalises (LMA) at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Institute of Mineralogy and Geochemistry, University of Lausanne; School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds; and ACR for Ore Deposits (CODES COE), University of Tasmania, namely from technicians and geologists, especially Zsofia Waczek. We also wish to thank Franciscus Jacobus Baars for detailed revisions of an earlier version of the manuscript and Marcia Zucchetti for assisting in the stable isotope and fluid inclusion investigations. We also thank the Economic Geology reviewers, who provided very extensive and detailed comments.