Pyrite-polymetallic VMS type mineralization of the Rudny Altai on the example of the Zaitsevskoe ore fi (Zmeinogorsky ore district)

The features of ore-containing volcanogenic sedimentary rocks and pyrite-polymetallic mineralization of the VMS type within the Zaitsevskoe ore field are considered. The ore-bearing rocks belong to the lower (early cycle of volcanism) ore-bearing formation – basalt-containing rhyolite calcareous-siliceous-terrigenous. Within the Zaitsevskoe ore occurrence, the Zaitsevskaya and Ryazanovskaya ore zones were identified, in which pyrite-polymetallic, pyrite, copper-pyrite and pyrite-copper-zinc mineral types of ores were identified. According to the textural features of the ore: interspersed, veined-interspersed, breccia and massive. The main mass of sulfides within the stratiform ore bodies was formed at an early stage – as a result of the processes of subseafloor replacement. Sulfides formed by hydrothermal sedimentation and as a result of exposure to new portions of hydrothermal solutions are present in a subordinate amount. Sulfides are also formed, which develop along the cement of ore breccias and in veined-interspersed mineralization zones. The distribution of ore breccias with textures characteristic of collapse breccias indicates the existence of a hydrothermal sulfide structure on the seabed surface, which is clearly distinguished within the Ryazanovskaya ore zone.