Zoning of ore deposits in and adjoining the Leadville District, Colorado

Abstract

The ore deposits in the heart of the Leadville district , Colorado , are divisible, as shown by Emmons, Irving, and Loughlin,2 into two main classes on the basis of mineral composition: "contact-metamorphic" silicates accompanied by iron oxides, which adjoin an obscure igneous stock, and mixed sulphides accompanied by manganosiderite and quartz gangue, which cut the "contact-metamorphic" deposits and form a broad zone extending for 2 1/2 miles to the west and for shorter distances in other directions. A detailed consideration of the mineralogy of the mixed sulphide ore deposits clearly shows that they in turn are divisible into groups, referred to as hotter and intermediate mesothermal deposits . These groups, however, because of complications in structural control, are not ideally arranged from the standpoint of zoning .Emmons, Irving, and Loughlin noted that barite was a conspicuous gangue mineral in certain outlying deposits on the west slope of the Mosquito Range. The junior author during 1928-1931 had an opportunity to study the outlying deposits over an area of twenty square miles, which includes mines near the heads of Iowa Gulch and Empire Gulch, and the Weston Pass district (Fig. 1), and found that these baritic deposits form a somewhat distinct outer zone in which the primary ore consists of galena and light-colored zinc blende, with small amounts of silver and practically no gold, in a gangue of barite, jasperoid, and crystalline quartz. There is also recognized a still more remote though poorly defined zone in which the same sulphides are present but jasperoid is less conspicuous and barite is practically absent, whereas dolomite is the characteristic gangue mineral. The deposits in these two outer zones are fissure-fillings and comparatively small replacement bodies. They contrast strongly with the sulphide deposits in the heart of the Leadville district and are assigned to the outer mesothermal and epithermal zones. As they have not been described before, general features of these deposits are given in some detail, followed by their relations to the deposits within the Leadville district . Analogies are also drawn with similar deposits in other districts. In the preparation of this paper the authors have been impressed with the confusion that may result from too simple a conception of zoning . For a proper conception of Leadville , the geologist must have sufficient regard for structural conditions, must make due allowance for successive stages of mineral deposition within a small block of ground or even within a single ore shoot, and must also allow for the reactions between minerals formed at an early stage and solutions introduced during a late stage. The effects of such complications in the Leadville district might give the impression that certain minerals found in one of the inner zones were formed at relatively high temperatures, but close study of paragenesis indicates late deposition at relatively low temperatures. Again, as already stated, there is sufficient inconsistency in the distribution of certain varieties of deposits to give a confused impression of zonal arrangement unless the influence of structure on the circulation of ore -forming solutions is appreciated. The field facts give a far more complex picture than might be anticipated from a simple statement of the theory of zoning .