Mineralogy and Fluid Regime of Formation of the REE-Late-Stage Hydrothermal Mineralization of Petyayan-Vara Carbonatites (Vuoriyarvi, Kola Region, NW Russia)

• Published in: Minerals
• Main Authors: Ilya Prokopyev, Evgeniy Kozlov, Ekaterina Fomina, Anna Doroshkevich, Maxim Dyomkin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020
• Subjects: magnesiocarbonatites; REE; ancylite; bastnäsite; fluid inclusion; Vuoriyarvi; Mineralogy; QE351-399.2; Northwest Russia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/min10050405; https://doaj.org/article/a9580f37c3a04e218b3ab11024cfff6d

The Vuoriyarvi Devonian alkaline–ultramafic complex (northwest Russia) contains magnesiocarbonatites with rare earth mineralization localized in the Petyayan-Vara area. High concentrations of rare earth elements are found in two types of these rocks: (a) ancylite-dominant magnesiocarbonatites with ancylite–baryte–strontianite–calcite–quartz (±late Ca–Fe–Mg carbonates) ore assemblage, i.e., “ancylite ores”; (b) breccias of magnesiocarbonatites with a quartz–bastnäsite matrix (±late Ca–Fe–Mg carbonates), i.e., “bastnäsite ores.” We studied fluid inclusions in quartz and late-stage Ca–Fe–Mg carbonates from these ore assemblages. Fluid inclusion data show that ore-related mineralization was formed in several stages. We propose the following TX evolution scheme for ore-related processes: (1) the formation of ancylite ores began under the influence of highly concentrated (>50 wt.%) sulphate fluids (with thenardite and anhydrite predominant in the daughter phases of inclusions) at a temperature above300–350 °C; (2) the completion of the formation of ancylite ores and their auto-metasomatic alteration occurred under the influence of concentrated (40–45 wt.%) carbonate fluids (shortite and synchysite–Ce in fluid inclusions) at a temperature above 250–275 °C; (3) bastnäsite ores deposited from low-concentrated (20–30 wt.%) hydrocarbonate–chloride fluids (halite, nahcolite, and/or gaylussite in fluid inclusions) at a temperature of 190–250 °C or higher. Later hydrothermal mineralization was related to the low-concentration hydrocarbonate–chloride fluids (<15 wt.% NaCl-equ.) at 150–200 °C. The presented data show the specific features of the mineral and fluid evolution of ore-related late-stage hydrothermal rare earth element (REE) mineralization of the Vuoriyarvi alkaline–ultramafic complex.