Geochemical and mineralogical evidence on genesis of the Kal-Baneh Mn deposit, north-west of Jiroft, Kerman province

The Kal-Baneh Mn deposit is located 56 km northwest of Jiroft city in the southeast of the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone. The ore mineralization occurs as layered, banded, massive, and disseminated textures within radiolarian cherts of the upper parts of the Esfandaghe ophiolitic complex. The mineralogy is simple and ores consist mainly of pyrolusite and braunite, with trace amounts of hausmannite and hematite. The main gangue minerals are quartz and calcite. Geochemical evidence, including relatively high Mn/Fe (mean=89.39), Si/Al ratios (mean=20), Ba concentrations (mean=842.3 ppm), the low contents of Cu (mean=92.07 ppm), Ni (63.38 ppm), Co (mean=13.04 ppm), Zn (mean=68.15 ppm), total REE (28.1-96.13 ppm), negative Ce (Ce/Ce*: 0.3-0.7), slightly positive Eu (Eu/Eu*: 0.64-1.35) anomalies, the REE pattern of ore samples, and geochemical data reveal a distal hydrothermal-exhalative source and indicate the combination of hydrothermal solutions with seawater. Geochemical signatures, the geometry of orebodies, the nature of the host rock, mineralogy, and the textural features of the manganese ores are consistent with the submarine hydrothermal-hydrogenous Mn deposits.