Sorkhe-Dizaj Iron Oxide-Apatite Ore Deposit in the Cenozoic Alborz-Azarbaijan Magmatic Belt, NW Iran

Abstract

The Sorkhe-Dizaj iron oxide-apatite deposit in the Cenozoic Alborz-Azarbaijan magmatic belt, NW Iran, is hosted mainly by a Late Eocene to Oligocene quartz-monzonitic body, and subordinately in the Eocene volcanic and volcanoclastic sequences. The Sorkhe-Dizaj intrusive body is an I-type granitoid of the calc-alkaline series. Mineralization is associated with actinolization, K-feldspar, sericitic, propylitic, and tourmaline alteration types. The orebodies are massive, banded, stockwork, and breccia in shape and occur mainly along the fault zones within the quartz-monzonitic intrusion, volcanic, and volcanoclastic rocks. Ore minerals dominantly comprise magnetite, apatite, and monazite, as well as minor amounts of chalcopyrite, bornite, and pyrite. Four major paragenetic stages are discriminated in the mineralization including early, oxide, sulfide, and late stage. The Sorkhe-Dizaj deposit is similar in the aspects of host rock lithology, alteration, and mineralogy to the Kiruna-type deposits associated with minor Cu sulfide minerals. Spatial and temporal association of the mineralization with the Late Eocene-Early Oligocene quartz-monzonite intrusive body suggests that the ore fluid was probably related to magmatic activity. © 2012 The Authors; Resource Geology © 2012 The Society of Resource Geology.