Geological features, hydrothermal alterations, and cryptic mineralogical zonation of the Kyzyk-Chadr porphyry copper deposit (Tyva Republic)

The altered rocks of the Kyzyk-Cha dr deposit are predominantly composed of quartz and potassic dioctahedral micas of the phengite–muscovite series, that dominate in almost all zones of the alteration halo. Parageneses of albite with chlorite and epidote are only characteristic of peripheral sections of the halo, subjected to the propylite-type alteration. Quartz-potassium feldspar alterations are distributed in the central and deep-seated sections of the halo. Petrographic investigations of hydrothermal alterations and results of the X-ray structural analysis and infrared (IR) spectroscopy of micas from the mineralized quartz-sericite metasomatites were applied to reveal a cryptic mineralogical zonation of the Kyzyk-Chadr porphyry copper deposit. Elements of the cryptic mineralogical zonation, revealed based on results of the X-ray study and IR spectroscopy of light-colored micaceous metasomatites of the deposit, are caused by variable proportions of the phengite and muscovite components in their composition. The phengite component predominates in the central and deep-seated sections of the alteration-mineralization halo of the deposit, while the muscovite component progressively increases toward its flanks and upper sections. This tendency correlates with the general vector of the mineralogical alteration-mineralization zonation and are supposedly explained by changing PT conditions within the porphyry copper ore-magmatic system. The indicator of the cryptic mineralogical zonation by the “phengite-muscovite” relationship can be applied for prospecting and preliminary evaluation of porphyry copper type deposits, being used as an objective guide for correlation of already obtained ore-grade interceptions and forecasting the ore bodies.