Mineralization, Mineralogy, Structure and Texture of Chehrabad Sedimentary Cu Deposit, Northwest of Zanjan

Chehrabad Cu deposit is located in the Zanjan province and in the northwest corner of Central Iran. Rock units exposed in this area belong to the Cenozoic era (especially Miocene period) and include the Lower Red Formation, Qom Formation, Upper Red Formation and Quaternary deposits. In the study area, the Upper Red Formation which hosts the mineralization consists of alternating beds of marl, siltstone, oxidized red sandstone and light gray sandstone. Mineralization has occurred within the gray sandstones of bleached zone containing organic materials. In Chehrabad, copper deposit mineralization has been recognized in five horizons. Each horizon is composed of three zones including reduced zone with mineralization, bleached zone and oxidized red zone. The dominant texture in the Chehrabad Cu deposit is replacement texture which is accompanied with other textures such as disseminated, solution seams, lens like and interparticle cement texture. Lithology (sandstone host rock), sulfide mineralogy (e.g. pyrite, chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite), structure and texture, stratigraphy as well as factors controlling the mineralization (presence of plant remains performing as environment reductant and also the permeability in the host rock) suggest that this deposit is similar to the red-bed type sedimentary Cu deposits which is formed during the early to late diagenesis.