Occurrence and chemistry of supergene sulfide and oxide minerals in Mahour polymetal ore deposit, west of Nehbandan

Mahour polymetal ore deposit is located in the eastern margin of Lut block، 130 Km west of Nehbandan. The supergene mineralization mainly occurs as a north-south trend in the Tertiary altered volcanic rocks. The supergene minerals mainly occur as iron hydroxide، Cu-carbonates، Cu and Pb sulfates and Cu sulfides. Goethite، malachite، azurite، chalcosite، covellite، linarite and atacamite are common supergene minerals in the Mahour ore deposit that were formed by oxidation of the hypogene sulfides. Some of these minerals were analyzed by electron probe microanalyses (EPMA). Ag content is considerable in most of these minerals. Covellite from the Mahour has high Pb، Zn and Ag contents. The chemistry of the supergene minerals and the way of their formation will be discussed in this paper.