Sulfide

Base metal mineralization in the Rinkian Orogen of central West Greenland

Sulfide
Strongly weathered sulfide mounts, dominated by pyrite and pyrrhotite

The Rinkian Orogen in central West Greenland is a Paleoproterozoic orogen that was recently investigated by targeted expeditions organized by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (https://eng.geus.dk/mineral-resources/economic-geology/structural-controls-on-ore-formation/). Massive sulfide mineralization is common in volcanic and volcanoclastic host rocks but also in black shales. Current discoveries are however, pyrite-pyrrhotite dominated. Another base metal sulfide mineralization style is manifested by the Black Angel Zn-Pb-Ag deposit (https://www.govmin.gl/images/Documents/Geology_and_Ore/Geology_and_Ore_02_The_Black_Angel_lead-zinc_mine_at_Maarmorilik_in_West_Greenland_-_2003.pdf External Link). The genesis of all these hydrothermal sulfide deposits is unclear and a matter of debate in the scientific community. Outcrops near the now closed Black Angel mine indicate that at least in this case, the hydrothermal mineralization is contemporaneous with compressive rock deformation and metamorphism. We study the petrology and geochemistry of the mineralized rocks in order to shed light on the hydrothermal mineral systems that are responsible for the various styles of mineralization and whether these are genetically related.