Mon
25 Apr 2011Diverse Mineralization and Alteration Styles at the Pitarrilla, Silver-Zinc-Lead Deposit, Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico: an Example of a Vertically Zoned Magmatic-Hydrothermal Ore System
Authors: Claire M. J. Somers1, Harold L. Gibson1, Daniel J. Kontak1, and Ron Burk2
1Laurentian University, Sudbury, Canada, 2Silver Standard Resources Inc. (SSRI), Vancouver, Canada
• Mineralization shows spatial/temporal association with Oligocene rhyolitic dome and related felsic dike-sill complex
• Vertical stacking of different mineralization types over several hundreds of meters • Styles of mineralization dictated by structural/lithological/ chemical control on host rocks
• Iron oxide-associated mineralization can indicate underlying sulfide-associated mineralization. Oxide resources are likely under-appreciated and could represent potentially significant resources
• If the tourmaline at Pitarrilla is a product of an early or contemporaneous porphyry system, the mineralization and alteration styles at Pitarrilla may have resulted from a hybrid epithermal-porphyry system
• Occurrence of buddingtonite or ammonium anomalies, tourmaline alteration, and iron oxide-associated mineralization may be important
