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Abstract
Dairi Zn-Pb±Ag deposit is outlined along the eastern limb of the Sopokomil dome. As an initial step
in a comprehensive study of the deposit, characterization of host rocks and orebodies is necessary.
Hand-specimen and petrographic observations reveal that the orebodies are hosted by siltstone-shale
and dolostone sequences termed as Julu and Jehe units, respectively. In Julu unit, the orebodies are
concordant and comprise massive, layering, and breccia ores. Conversely, the orebodies in Jehe unit
are discordant and consist of vein, breccia, and disseminated ores. Within these orebodies, ore min-
erals comprise sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, tetrahedrite, tennan-
tite, freieslebenite, bournonite, unnamed Ag-Sb-S and Pb-Sb-S minerals associated with coarse-
grained quartz and dolomite. Textural characteristics suggest that the ore mineral precipitation is
likely to occur in early diagenetic and epigenetic stages with reference to the host rocks in Julu and
Jehe units, respectively. The orebodies are then deformed along with the host rocks. It is postulated
that the discordant and concordant orebodies have formed from the same mineralizing fluid. Stable
isotope, mineral phase relations, and geochronology are essential to confirm this interpretation.
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V-Ju cut the host rocks and the orebod- and chalcopyrite coexist with sphalerite, ga-
ies in Julu unit. Galena and sphalerite is pre- lena, and pyrite. Locally, tennantite and tetra-
dominant. Fine-grained, euhedral pyrite is hedrite size can be up to 3 mm. In Bx ore, the
embedded on sphalerite while coarse-grained, sphalerite-galena intergrowth with minor
corroded pyrite is present in galena-rich por- chalcopyrite and pyrite occurs within quartz
tion vein. Sphalerite hosts chalcopyrite dis- cementing arenaceous dolostones.
ease. In Lae Jehe, pyrrhotite also exists in this Different to other ores in Jehe unit, Ds
ore type. in Lae Jehe does not contain galena. Sphaler-
A crosscutting relationship between a ite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite are present in the
10-cm-thick vein and PyMs-SpMs in Julu ore. In contrast, galena is abundant in Ds of
unit was observed in Lae Jehe. Toward the Basecamp. Chalcopyrite, freieslebenite, Ag-
vein, ore mineralogy is zoned according to Sb-S, and Pb-Sb-S minerals form intergrowth
mineral abundance and morphology. In the with galena.
periphery, PyMs hosts chalcopyrite-bearing
sphalerite. The amount of pyrite gradually 4. Discussion
decreases in the transition to SpMs. In SpMs, 4.1. Sedimentary Basin
the chalcopyrite disease in sphalerite intensi- Evolution of Zn-Pb±Ag deposit-hosting
fies along with the initial appearance of pyr- sedimentary basins can be divided into rift-
rhotite blebs. The pyrrhotite blebs become fill and sag-phase sequences.[5] The rift-fill
more abundant toward the vein. As the blebs consists of coarse-grained continental clastic
form aggregate, pyrite embedded on sphaler- sediments (e.g. conglomerates, red beds,
ite was replaced by pyrrhotite and started sandstones, and turbidites) while the sag-
flowing. Pyrite is intergrown by pyrrhotite phase comprises carbonate and fine-grained
and sphalerite as well as Ag-Pb-Cu sulfosalts. clastic rocks (e.g. shales and siltstones). The
In the vein edge, galena is predominant while deposits are hosted by the sag-phase se-
the center of the vein is barren. quence whose 3-10% total organic carbon
V-Je in Lae Jehe has similar ore miner- contents.[6],[7] In Dairi Zn-Pb±Ag deposit, the
alogy to V-Ju. In Basecamp, minor to abun- concordant ores are hosted by the interbed-
dant tetrahedrite, tennantite, arsenopyrite, ded dolomitic siltstones and carbonaceous
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shales as well as pyritic, dolomitic, carbona- phase of the basin in high organic carbon en-
ceous shales of Julu Unit. The host rocks sug- vironment.
gest that the deposit formed during the sag-
The presence of the sag-phase sequence syn-sedimantary faults. As the brine encoun-
also plays an important role in generating tered unconsolidated sediment in the near
metalliferous brines in the rift-fill se- seafloor environment, the brines flowed lat-
quence.[6] The trapped formational brines in erally resulting in the concordant ores.
the deep aquifer strata are compacted by the
relatively impermeable overlying sag-phase 4.2. Ore Paragenesis
strata resulting in heated brines[8] which con- In the concordant ores, the strata-bound
vectively flow within the aquifer.[9],[10] Dur- morphology of the orebodies is an indicative
ing the free convection flow, metals are of either hydrothermal fluid exhalation or
leached out and the brines become metal-rich. sub-seafloor precipitation. The multilayer na-
An extensional deformation resulting in ture of the orebodies suggests multiple pulses
deep-penetrating, syn-sedimentary faults of the metalliferous brines have reached the
provides permeable fluid conduits which en- near seafloor environment. The sulfide pre-
able the metalliferous brines to ascend to the cipitation was initiated by framboids. This
near seafloor environments.[11] Dagang unit early stage was then followed by the main
underlying Julu unit in Lae Jehe and Dang stage of subhedral and euhedral pyrite as well
Takkas unit inferred in the deeper portion of as anhedral sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite,
the basin hosting Dairi Zn-Pb±Ag deposit are pyrrhotite, tetrahedrite, and bournonite.
potential aquifer units in which the metallif- Quartz and dolomite were also precipitated
erous brines could be produced. along with the main stage sulfides. In this
The fertility of sedimentary basin that stage, pyrite was precipitated slightly earlier
hosts Dairi Zn-Pb±Ag deposit is also sup- than other sulfides and gangue minerals.
ported by regional dolomitization. This fea- Considering that the early stage is minor, tex-
ture is recorded as extensive dolostone distri- tural characteristics suggest that the ore min-
bution in Jehe unit and dolomitic composi- eral precipitation occurred in sub-seafloor
tion of sedimentary rocks in Julu unit. The re- during early diagenetic stage is more pre-
gional dolomitization is a robust event for dominant in Dairi Zn-Pb±Ag deposit.
generating a higher transmissivity carbonate In the discordant ores, the occurrence of
rocks (Large et al., 2002). Consequently, the Bx and V-Je ores indicate the escape of met-
ascending metalliferous brines could flow alliferous brines and open-space fillings. Ds
laterally in limited distance from the fluid ore around veins and breccia occurs in high
conduits resulting in ore mineral precipita- permeability portions of dolostones. Sulfide
tion within Jehe unit. In the overlying Julu paragenesis in these ores is similar to that in
unit, the brines flowed vertically through the the concordant ores with an exception that
the early stage is absent in the discordant ores.
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Euhedral pyrite was slightly earlier precipi- Zn-Pb±Ag deposit were filled by galena,
tated than galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, bournonite, quartz,
pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, tetrahedrite, tennan- and dolomite. These soft sulfides can be re-
tite, freieslebenite, Ag-Sb-S, and Pb-Sb-S mobilized into pyrite fractures. The order of
minerals. fracture filling is in accordance with the read-
It is postulated that the discordant ores iness of soft sulfides to flow.[15] In addition,
acted as a feeder zone for the overlying con- the presence of chalcopyrite as the fracture-
cordant ores. Ag-sulfosalts and Pb-sulfosalts filling mineral indicates that the remobiliza-
were mainly precipitated in the feeder zone. tion occurred in fluid-state condition[14], alt-
Above the feeder zone, massive ore com- hough solid-state remobilization for galena
monly occurs and evolve to layer ore in dis- could not be ruled out in local scale.[16]
tal.[5].[6] Stable isotope study, mineral phase
relations, and geochronology are essential to 5. Conclusions
prove this postulate. Sedimentary basin hosting Dairi Zn-
As the Sibumasu block has experienced Pb±Ag deposit is filled by sag-phase rocks
multiple compressional events[1], syn-diage- which are rich in organic carbon and have un-
netic Dairi Zn-Pb±Ag deposit has undergone dergone regional dolomitization. The ore for-
polyphase deformation and metamor- mation is predominated by precipitation dur-
phism.[12] The tilted layers of concordant ores ing early diagenetic stage in sub-seafloor en-
are considered as a mega-scale indication. In vironment. The discordant ores in Jehe Unit
hand-specimen and microscopic scales, the and the concordant ores in Julu Unit may
orebodies also record the deformation. have been precipitated from the same miner-
In hand-specimen scale, the defor- alizing fluid. In addition, the ores have been
mation is indicated by the folded ore layers, deformed and remobilized in mega-, hand-
their sulfide segregation, and pyrrhotite specimen, and microscopic scales.
piercing veins. Pyrrhotite was concentrated
in fold hinges and piercing veins as well as Acknowledgements
sphalerite-galena was concentrated in fold We would like to thank management of
limbs suggesting that the sulfide remobiliza- PT Bumi Resources Minerals, Tbk. for al-
tion occurred in ductile condition. An indica- lowing us to conduct fieldwork within the
tive of hand-specimen scale deformation and Dairi concession, to access logging data and
the sulfide remobilization are also present in supplementary documents, and to collect
the disrupted mineralized beds and offset samples from drill cores. We are also grateful
fractures filled by the sphalerite-galena inter- to the company’s geologists and local field
growth. assistants for their assistance during the field-
In metamorphic environments, pyrite work. We extend our gratitude as well to
tends to recrystallize to form exceptionally Green Asia Program which has contributed to
coarse-grained, euhedral grains.[13] This re- our research significantly.
crystallization is also supported by the pres-
ence of rounded galena matrix inclusions in References
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Dairi Zn-Pb±Ag deposit as an indicative of [3] D.T. Aldiss, R. Whandoyo, A.G. Sjaefudien,
deformation documented in microscopic Kusjono, “The Geology of the Sidikalang and
scale. (Part of) Sinabung Quadrangles, Sumatra, Scale
Another indication is the fracture-filling 1:250,000”, GDRC, 1983.
minerals of pyrite. Pyrite fractures in Dairi
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[4] M.J. Crow and T.M. van Leeuwen, in: A.J. Bar- 2001, 6, 289-312.
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