New and rare sulfosalt minerals occurrence in the Barika Deposit, east of Sardasht

Barika volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit is located about 18 km east of Sardasht in the northwestern Sanandaj–Sirjan metamorphic zone. The rocks in the Barika deposit predominantly consist of Cretaceous volcano-sedimentary sequences of phyllite, slate, andesite and tuffite, metamorphosed under greenschist facies grade. Barika deposit the only known example of gold-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit in Iran. Ore mineral assemblages of the stratiform ore are quite various and consist of pyrite, sphalerite, galena, stibnite, electrum and a variety of complex composition sulfosalt minerals. Barikaite, Ferdowsiite and Arsenquatrandoriteare silver rich sulfosalt minerals that identified in the Barika deposit, has not been reported anywhere else in the world. Mineral structure of Guettardite has also been identified based on Barika deposit samples. The Barika deposit is a suitable location for mineralogical and crystallographic researches due to its rare and trace sulfosalt minerals.