Fluid Inclusion Investigations of the Masjed Daghi Copper-Gold Porphyry-Epithermal Mineralization, East Azerbaijan Province, NW Iran

Abstract

The Masjed Daghi mineralization is located 30 km southeast of Jolfa city at the bank of Araxes River, northwest Iran. This area is situated in the Alborz-Azarbaijan structural zone of Iran. The most widespread rocks in the mineralization area are andesite and trachyandesite, while there are rock units of latite tuff, andesitic agglomerate, and hornblende porphyry basalt in eastern hills and Eocene flysch in the southern part of the area. Several intrusive bodies are present in the study area, from which the dominant intrusive rock hosting the mineralization is diorite porphyry. The mineralized rock units of the area are cut by different diorite ad mafic dikes. The most prevalent texture of mineralization is dissemination, while open space filling textures including veins and veinlets, are common as well. Diverse types of alteration including potassic, phyllic, argillic, silicification, and a little of carbonatization were recognized in the field and microscopic observations as well as by XRD. In addition to thick silica veins and stockwork zones, some silica, barite, sulfide, and calcite veins and veinlets have occurred in the Masjed Daghi mineralization area. In this research, 26 doubly polished thin sections (wafers) were prepared and investigated. Four samples were taken from surface veins, while 22 samples were chosen from core samples (of 6 boreholes) of white and grey-white silica, and silica-barite veins. The fluid inclusion studies on 105 primary fluid inclusions indicated five phases for inclusions including: 1) liquid or gas, 2) liquid and gas, 3) liquid, gas, and solid, 4) liquid, gas, halite, and solid, and 5) liquid, gas, halite, and two types of solids. The data gained from fluid inclusions approved two mineralization fluids which caused porphyry and epithermal mineralizations. The porphyry fluid inclusions were homogenized in temperatures of 122 ° C to 550 ° C with a maximum of 700 ° C and average salinity of 55 wt% NaCl equivalent, while the epithermal inclusions indicated an average homogenization temperature of 186 ° C with an average salinity of 6.23 wt% NaCl equivalent.