Dolomitization and the genesis of the Woodcutters lead-zinc prospect, Northern Territory, Australia (original) (raw)

Abstract

The Woodcutters L. 5 lead-zinc prospect in the Northern Territory, Australia, occurs in the Golden Dyke Formation, a sequence of carbonaceous siltstone, dolomite, and greywacke forming part of the Lower Proterozoic Goodparla Group, which was deposited on an Archaean granitic basement. An attempt has been made to show how those factors which are considered to have been significant in the formation of dolomite were also important in the genesis of the Woodcutters deposit. These factors are: 1. An evaporitic environment which favoured dolomite formation concentrated lead and zinc in the overlying solutions. 2. The base metals were further concentrated, and fixed in the sediments, by co-precipitation with the precursors of dolomite, Mg-calcite and/or aragonite. 3. The formation of dolomite during diagenesis resulted in either a structural change if the precursor was aragonite, or an ordering if the precursor was Mg-calcite. The dolomite could not accommodate the relatively large amount of base metal associated with its precursors, and as a consequence, during dolomitization these were released to the pore solutions. The metals in the pore solutions possibly complexed with organic materials such as those from the degradation of algal protein, and so remained in solution during lithification. During folding, the metal-enriched solutions were transported to fractures, and metal sulphides precipitated when the organic complexes became unstable. After lithification the carbonate-quartz-sulphide veins were zones of weakness along which shearing took place, probably over a considerable period of time. This shearing, as well as slight rise in temperature, resulted in fracturing, recrystallization, and reaction between the first-formed simple sulphides to produce the ore in its present form.

Zusammenfassung

Die Woodcutters L. 5 Blei-Zink-Lagerstätte im Northern Territory, Australien, tritt in der Golden Dyke Formation auf, die aus kohlenstoffhaltigem Siltstein, Dolomit und Grauwacke besteht. Dieselbe bildet einen Teil der Unter-Proterozoischen Sedimente der Goodparla group, welche auf einem Archaischen Granit-Untergrund abgelagert wurden. In dieser Arbeit ist der Versuch gemacht worden, zu zeigen, wie diese Faktoren, welche also wichtig in der Bildung von Dolomit betrachtet werden, auch bedeutend in der Genesis der Woodcutters Lagerstätte waren. Diese Faktoren sind: 1. Die evaporitische Umgebung, welche die Bildung von Dolomit begünstigt, konzentriert ebenfalls Blei-Zink in den darüberliegenden Lösungen. 2. Die Metalle wurden weiter angereichert und mit den Sedimenten durch Co-Precipitation mit den Vorläufern des Dolomits, Mg-Calcit oder Aragonit, verbunden. 3. Die Bildung von Dolomit während der Diagenese führte entweder zu einem strukturellen Wechsel, wenn Aragonit der Vorläufer war, oder zu einem Einbau im Falle von Mg-Calcit. Der gut geordnete Dolomit war nicht in der Lage, die verhältnismäßig große Menge von Blei-Zink, verbunden mit seinen Vorläufern, zu behalten und demzufolge wurden diese während der Dolomitisierung an die Porenlösungen abgegeben. Die Metalle in den Porenlösungen, möglicherweise zusammengesetzt mit organischem Material, wie diejenigen von der Degradation von Algen Protein, verblieben löslich während der Konsolidation. Während der Faltung wurden die mit Metall angereicherten Lösungen zu Spalten transportiert und als Metall-Sulphide niedergeschlagen, als die organischen Komplexe instabil wurden. Nach der Verfestigung wurden die Karbonat-Quarz-Sulphid-Gänge Schwächezonen, entlang denen Scherung stattfand, wahrscheinlich über eine große Zeitspanne hinweg. Sowohl diese Scherung als auch ein leichter Temperaturanstieg verursachten Brüche, Rekristallisationen und Reaktion zwischen den zuerst geformten einfachen Sulphiden, um das Erz in seiner jetzigen Form zu bilden.

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   W. M. B. Roberts

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Published by permission of the Director, Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, Canberra, Australia.

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Roberts, W.M.B. Dolomitization and the genesis of the Woodcutters lead-zinc prospect, Northern Territory, Australia.Mineral. Deposita 8, 35–56 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00203348

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• Received: 04 January 1972
• Issue Date: March 1973
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00203348

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