• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.753-765
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• 2021

The Dongwon Au-Ag deposit is located within the Paleozoic Taebaeksan province, Okcheon belt. Mineral paragenesis can be divided into two stages (stage I, ore-bearing quartz veins; stage II, barren carbonate veins) by major tectonic fracturing. Stage I, at which the precipitation of major ore minerals occurred, is further divided into three substages(early, middle and late) with paragenetic time based on minor fractures and discernible mineral assemblages: early, marked by deposition of pyrite with minor magnetite, pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite; middle, characterized by introduction of electrum and base-metal sulfides with minor sulfosalts; late, marked by argentite, Cu-As (and/or Sb) and Ag-Sb sulfosalts with base-metal sulfides. Fluid inclusion data show that stage I ore mineralization was deposited between initial high temperatures (≥430℃) and later lower temperatures (≤230℃) from fluids with salinities between 6.0 to 0.4 wt. percent equiv. NaCl. The relationship of salinity and homogenization temperature suggest that ore mineralization at Dongwon was deposited mainly due to fluid boiling, cooling and dilution via influx of cooler, more dilute meteoric waters. Changes in stage I vein mineralogy reflect decreasing temperature and fugacity of sulfur by evolution of the Dongwon hydrothermal system with increasing paragenetic time. The Dongwon deposit may represents a Korean-type and/or Au-Ag type mesothermal/epithermal gold-silver deposit.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.109-122
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• 1986

Mn-Pb-Zn-Ag deposits of the Janggun mine are hosted in the Cambro-Ordovician Janggun limestone mostly along the contacts of the Jurassic Chunyang granite. The deposits are represented by several ore pipes and steeply dipping lenticular bodies consisting of lower Pb-Zn-Ag sulfide ores and upper manganese carbonate and oxide ores. The former consists mainly of arsenic, antimony, silver, manganese, and tin-bearing sulfides, whereas the latter are characterized by hypogene rhodochrosite, and superficial manganese oxides including todorokite, nsutite, pyrolusite, cryptomelane, birnesite and janggunite. Origin of the upper manganese ore deposits has been a controversial subject among geologists for this mine: hydrothermal metasomatic vs. syngenetic sedimentary origin. Syngenetic advocators have proposed a new sedimentary rock, rhodochrostone, which is composed mainly of rhodochrosite in mineralogy. In the present study, carbon, oxygen and sulfur isotopic compositions were analayzed obtaining results as follows: Rhodochrosite minerals, (Mn, Ca, Mg, Fe) $CO_3$, from hydrothermal veins, massive sulfide ores and replacement ores in dolomitic limestone range in isotopic value from -4.2 to -6.3‰ in ${\delta}^{13}C$(PDB) and +7.6 to +12.9‰ in ${\delta}^{18}O$(SMOW) with a mean value of -5.3‰ in ${\delta}^{13}C$ and +10.7‰ in ${\delta}^{18}O$. The rhodochrosite bearing limestone and dolomitic limestone show average isotopic values of -1.5‰ in ${\delta}^{13}C$ and +17.5‰ in ${\delta}^{18}O$, which differ from those of the rhodochrosite mentioned above. This implies that the carbon and oxygen in ore fluids and host limestone were not derived from an identical source. ${\delta}^{34}S$ values of sulfide minerals exhibit a narrow range, +2.0 to +5.0‰ and isotopic temperature appeared to be about $288{\sim}343^{\circ}C$. Calculated initial isotopic values of rhodochrosite minerals, ${\delta}^{18}O_{H_2O}=+6.6$ to +10.6‰ and ${\delta}^{13}C_{CO_2}=-4.0$ to -5.1 ‰, strongly suggest that carbonate waters should be deep seated in origin. Isotopic data of manganese oxide ores derived from hypogene rhodochrosites suggest that the oxygen of the limestone host rock rather than those of meteoric waters contribute to form manganese oxide ores above the water table.