Mineralogical and geochemical features of the ores of the Verkhnelekeletskoye gold-quartz-sulfide occurrence in the Polar Urals (Manitanyrd ridge)

The Verkhnelekeletskoye gold occurrence of gold-quartz-sulfide type is localized in the marginal part of the gabbro-dolerite dike of the Lower Ordovician Lekvozhsky complex. The ore zone is composed of pyrite-sericite-quartz metasomatites with quartz-vein and vein-disseminated mineralization. The gold-sulfide ores are represented by pyrite with a subordinate amount of arsenopyrite and, to a lesser extent, sphalerite. Galena and chalcopyrite are present as microinclusions in pyrite and arsenopyrite. Characteristic impurity elements in sulfides are arsenic and antimony, nickel is also found. We identified rare minerals - tetrahedrite, lead sulphosalts, ulmannite, gersdorfite. The main form of gold occurrence is submicron and micron segregations in pyrite and arsenopyrite. Impurity elements in gold are silver, mercury is rare. Gold is moderately high-grade and medium-grade, in the presence of mercury - low-grade. In terms of the mineral composition of ores, including rare minerals, the Verkhnelekeletskoye ore occurrence is very similar to the Verkhneniyayuskoye 2 deposit. The sulfides of the Verkhnelekeletskoye occurrence are characterized by a light sulfur isotopic composition ( 34S = -0.2 ÷ -3.5 ‰), close to the meteorite standard, which indicates the participation of deep sulphur sources in ore formation and its association with magmatic processes.