Quartz textures - potential clues to position and or process in LS systems

Primary Growth Textures

chalcedonic, saccharoidal,comb,zoned crystals, colloform, crustiform

Recrystallisation Textures
Moss, microplumose

Replacement Textures
Mold, Bladed

Forms of Silica and Quartz

Amorphous Silica
Lacks crystalline structure

Cryptocrystalline Silica
Crystals too small to distinguish under normal microscope egs chalcedony - agate (banded chalcedony)-opal

Crystalline
Needle Prismatic Equant Aqueous silica concentrations are directly influenced by presence of solid silica phases (AMORPHOUS / CHALCEDONY / QUARTZ) and temperature. In long lived sytems quartz controls silica solubility >1800C and chalcedony controls silica solubility <900C to 1400C.
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Buchanan/Morrison/Corbett & Leach

Buckskin Mt

Broadlands Geothermal

broad_geotherm.ppt

Vera Nancy - Textural Paragenesis

Champagne Pool and sinter

Champagne Pool Amorphous silica /mineralised ooze

80 ppm Au 175 ppm Ag 2%As 2%Sb

320 ppm Tl
170 ppm Hg

White Sinter Terraces Waimangu

Sinter - Waiotapu NZ

Columnar Growth Structures perpendicular to Sinter Laminations

Mud cracks in sinter near Ivanhoe

Chalcedonic silica Gwenivere Hg Mine (Ivanhoe)

Coarse carbonate-mold replacement amorphous silica (Calcatreu)

Lattice Bladed Carbonate Replacement Texture - Ovacik

Indicative of boiling

Red Bluff Midas Lattice Bladed Texture

Indicative of boiling

Geothermal Pipe Scale

Colloform chalcedonic silica, gold, sulphide, adularia (Hishikari)

82405g/t Au 34400 g/t Ag

Midas colloform high grade with lattice bladed bands

Indicative of boiling

Hishikari Colloform = Ginguro fine silica-adularia-sulphide

Indicative of boiling

Vein Textural Relationships

Faure et al 2002

Banding and Sedimentary textures in Veins

Simpson et al 1995 describe apparent sedimentary textures such as grading of sulphides/quartz plus ripple marks in banded vertical veins at Golden Cross NZ. Banding within the quartz veins is primarily a result of variation in quartz grain size. Sulphide minerals and kaolinite are most abundant in fine grained quartz bands that may have been deposited in an amorphous silica state. These NZ workers interpret observed textures in the following way. System pressure is breached by fault dilation or hydrothermal eruption resulting in amorphous silica saturation of a rapidly moving fluid. This event is accompanied by upward surge of sulphide rich fluid from deeper in the system. As system pressure resumes via mineral deposition in veins, temperature increases and silica saturation levels return toward quartz. Eventually the higher T/P system deposits sulphide barren quartz from more slowly moving fluid. Repeated system rupturing leads to formation of banded veins.

Schematic Relationship Quartz Grain Size and Sulphide/Kaolinite Abundance

Grain sizes <2 to ~ 60 microns

From Simpson et al 1995

Fluid flow textures in vein from Waihi

Pajingo Scott Lode - Moss texture

Recrystallisation of silica gel globules

Crustiform banding-Adularia stained

(Sodium Cobaltinitrite Solution)

Needle Adularia Mold

Bonanza Ore Karangahake with crustiform comb quartz

Victoria Lepanto Comb Quartz - crustiform banded

Calcatreu Terminal breccia single phase crystalline quartz

Amethyst - Vera Nancy Pajingo

Indicative of vapour phase?

Sacharroidal drusy quartz

Generally associated with late hydrothermal activity

Temperature Overlap Quartz and Chalcedony

Faure et al 2002

Multiphase Breccia (Wirralie Qld)

Cockade texture (Calcatreu V49)

Useful Textures
Sinter- marks paleo-surface and paleo-watertable. Textures distinguish from silicified tuff or lake sediment. NB. no Sinter in HS environment. Chalcedony - low temperature silica (120o-200oC) usually at shallow depths above an upflow zone and possibly overlying mineralisation. Colloform banding -in chalcedonic quartz-kidney like or rounded external surface from original silica gel. Close association with ore. Downgrade potential if these textures dont carry grade. Crystalline quartz -usually occurs in deeper/ hotter part of system at > 180oC though the temperature overlap between quartz and chalcedony means both can occur in same part of a vein. Crystalline Quartz alone likely indicates hot/deep environment > 250oC. Drusy cavities - void spaces partly filled with terminated crystals (calcite or quartz) are commonly last vestiges of hydrothermal activity. Lattice textures are indicative of boiling conditions. Cockade and comb textures - indicate open space filling.

By careful observation a great deal can be learnt about processes operating and likely spatial relationships to ore.