Sulfate Saturated Hydrous Magmas Associated with Hydrothermal Gold Ores

Hydrothermal ore deposits associated with arc magmatism represent important sulfur anomalies. During degassing of magmatic systems the volatile may transport metals and sulfur and produce deposits. The ultimate origin of the magma-derived sulfur is still uncertain. The Yanacocha high-sulfidation epithermal Au deposit, Peru, is hosted by a Miocene volcanic succession (ca. 16 to 8 Ma). Magmatic rocks are highly oxidized >NNO+2 and show a range of composition from andesite to dacite. Two populations of amphibole occur in the Yanacocha dacitic ignimbrite deposits (~7 and 12 wt% Al2O3). Low Al amphiboles crystallized at ~ 1.5-2 kbar and 800°C (Plag-Hb thermobarometry) in equilibrium with plagioclase and pyroxene. High Al amphiboles only contain inclusions of anhydrite associated with apatite (up to 1.2 wt% SO3), and have a higher Cr2O3 content (up to 1000 ppm). We estimate these amphiboles form near the magma's liquidus at P(H2O)> 3kbar and 950 to 1000°C of a basaltic, basaltic andesite ascending magma. Low Al amphibole presents an REE pattern with negative anomalies in Sr, Ti and Eu, characteristic of plagioclase and titanite fractionation in the magma. High Al amphiboles are less enriched in REE and have no Sr, Ti, or Eu anomaly. Rare crystals of high Al amphibole display a low Al rim marked by higher REE contents compared to the core and a negative Eu anomaly. Magmatic sulfate occurrences have been discovered through the 8 m.y. volcanic sequence. Rounded anhydrite crystals are found included within clinopyroxene and both high and low Al amphibole. The rare high Al amphiboles (from the sample RC6) contain up to ~10 vol.%, ~5-80 micrometer-long anhydrite as irregularly shaped (amoeboid) blebs that do not show crystallographic forms and do not follow host cleavages. Extremely rare sulfide inclusions are found in plagioclase (Brennecka, 2006). The major and trace element contents of Yanacocha magmatic anhydrite have been analyzed by electron microprobe and LA-ICP-MS. Yanacocha anhydrite, hosted by amphiboles, are enriched in FeO (up to 0.6 wt%) and present positive anomalies in Eu and SrO (up to 8000ppm in anhydrite blebs hosted by high Al amphibole of the sample RC6). Anhydrite hosted by clinopyroxene (CPx) and low Al amphibole present higher Ce2O3 content (up to 2000ppm in CPx). In comparison, hydrothermal anhydrite analyzed from El Salvador, Butte and Ajo ore deposits contain less SrO (~ 2000 ppm) and no FeO. Pinatubo anhydrite phenocrysts and inclusions from the 1991 Pinatubo dacite yield low FeO contents, except anhydrite included in amphibole. These data suggest FeO in anhydrite is a product of subsolidus diffusion from the host. The breakdown of abundant anhydrite crystals "stored" in the magma may source of SO2-rich hydrothermal fluids that produced the sulfur enrichment (>500 M Tonnes) observed the Yanacocha hydrothermal gold deposits. The two populations of amphibole are evidence of magma mixing in the Yanacocha magmatic rocks. A sulfate-saturated oxidized dacitic magma chamber resided at about 4 to 8 km depth and 800°C was periodically underplated or fed by hydrous sulfate-rich oxidized basaltic-andesite magma. The shape of the irregular anhydrite blebs suggest that these inclusions could have been trapped as an immiscible sulfate- phosphate rich melt, despite the fact that anhydrite normally has a liquidus temperature of 1450°C and the host amphiboles crystallized at no more than 1050°C based on experiments on andesites and dacites.