Geochemical Evidence for the Depositional Environment of the Esfandaghe Manganese Deposit, Kerman Province, Iran

Abstract

The Esfandaghe manganese deposit is located in the east of Esfandaghe village, Kerman province in Iran. Late Jurassic basalt, lithic tuff, radiolarian chert, shale, flysch turbidite, sandstone, mudstone and dark shale as well as mid-early Jurassic volcanic rocks of rhyolitic crystal tuff and tuffaceous sandstone are the typical stratigraphic units in the study area. Mn ore occurs as interlayers with radiolarian chert and shale overlaying the late Jurassic volcanic rocks. Mn/Fe ratio in manganese ore bodies varies from 0.10 to 43.82 and the position of samples on Fe–Si × 2-Mn, Mn–Fe–(Co + Ni + Cu) × 10, Ni–Zn–Co and (Co + Ni)–(Zn + Cu + Pb + V) diagrams reveals that hydrothermal activity was the main process responsible for mineralization in the Esfandaghe manganese deposit. Cu, Zn, Ni, Co and HREEs are enriched in Esfandaghe manganese relative to Post-Archean Australian Shale. REE contents in the Esfandaghe Mn deposit vary from 22 to 313 ppm, conformable with REE concentration ranges of hydrothermal ferromanganese deposits.