The Karamken gold-silver deposit (Magadan Oblast, Russia): Mineralogical and geochemical characteristics and the metal distribution pattern in the Glavnaya vein

Chemical compositions of Au, Ag, and Sri minerals have been studied with th e help of detailed electron microprobe analyses. The sequence of their crys tallization has been defined more precisely. Distribution maps of native go ld and native silver, sulfostannates, tetrahedrite-tennantite minerals, sil ver selenides and tellurides, Ag-Sb sulfosalts, and acantite in a vertical section of the vein were compiled. The ore body is shown to have formed dur ing two mineralization stages: (1) the cassiterite-sulfide stage, and (2) t he gold-silver stage. The mineral aggregates crystallized during these stag es are spatially overprinted. The bonanza distribution of ores and the mosa ic-block zonality of a stadial and facies nature resulted from this phenome non. On the basis of a paragenetic study of mineral assemblages, the variab ility of the physicochemical environment has been established.