Rhenium enrichment in the Muratdere Cu-Mo (Au-Re) porphyry deposit, Turkey: evidence from stable isotope analyses (δ34S, δ18O, δD) and LA-ICP-MS analysis of sulfides

McFall, K., Roberts, S., McDonald, I., Boyce, A. J. , Naden, J. and Teagle, D. (2019) Rhenium enrichment in the Muratdere Cu-Mo (Au-Re) porphyry deposit, Turkey: evidence from stable isotope analyses (δ34S, δ18O, δD) and LA-ICP-MS analysis of sulfides. Economic Geology, 114(7), pp. 1443-1466. (doi: 10.5382/econgeo.4638)

Abstract

The Muratdere Cu-Mo (Au) porphyry deposit in western Turkey contains elevated levels of rhenium and is hosted within granodioritic intrusions into an ophiolitic mélange sequence in the Anatolian belt. The deposit contains several stages of mineralization: early microfracture-hosted molybdenite and chalcopyrite, followed by a quartz-pyrite-chalcopyrite vein set associated with Cu-Au grade, a quartz-chalcopyrite-pyrite-molybdenite vein set associated with Cu-Mo-Re grade, and a later polymetallic quartz-barite-sphalerite-galena-pyrite vein set. The rhenium in Muratdere is hosted within two generations of molybdenite: early microfracture-hosted molybdenite and later vein-hosted molybdenite. In situ laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry analysis of sulfides shows that the later molybdenite has significantly higher concentrations of Re (average 1,124 ppm, σ = 730 ppm, n = 43) than the early microfracture-hosted molybdenite (average 566 ppm, σ = 423 ppm, n = 28). Pyrite crystals associated with the Re-rich molybdenite have higher Co and As concentrations than those in other vein sets, with Au associated with As. The microfracture-hosted sulfides have δ34S values between −2.2‰ and +4.6‰, consistent with a magmatic source. The vein-hosted sulfides associated with the high-Re molybdenite have a δ34S signature of 5.6‰ to 8.8‰, similar to values found in peridotite lenses in the Anatolian belt. The later enrichment in Re and δ34S-enriched S may be sourced from the surrounding ophiolitic country rock or may be the result of changing redox conditions during deposit formation.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was funded by the University of Southampton Mayflower Scholarship and by National Environmental Research Council (NERC) SoS Consortium grant NE/M010848/1, “TeaSe: Tellurium and selenium cycling and supply,” awarded to Cardiff University, and stable isotope work was funded by NERC facility grant [IP-1373-0513]. AJB is funded by NERC support of the Isotope Community Support Facility at SUERC, and JN publishes with the permission of the executive director of the British Geological Survey (NERC).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Boyce, Professor Adrian
• Authors: McFall, K., Roberts, S., McDonald, I., Boyce, A. J., Naden, J., and Teagle, D.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre
• Journal Name: Economic Geology
• Publisher: Society of Economic Geologists
• ISSN: 0361-0128
• ISSN (Online): 1554-0774
• Published Online: 25 April 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 Economic Geology
• First Published: First published in Economic Geology 114(7):1443-1466
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License