The Ore Potential of the Late Mesozoic Ariadnensky Massif of Ultramafic, Mafic, and Granitoid Rocks (Sikhote-Alin Orogenic Belt)

Abstract

In the south of the Russian Far East, a new promising type of source of strategic and critically important metals (titanium, gold, platinum, niobium, hafnium, copper, antimony, etc.) has been discovered: these are complex ores and placers that are spatially and genetically related to the Late Mesozoic (Cenomanian?) synorogenic intrusions of ultramafic–mafic rocks of the Sikhote-Alin orogenic belt. One example is the Ariadnensky massif of ultramafic, mafic and granitoid rocks with gold-titanium mineralization in its mafic part, gold-antimony mineralization at the exocontact, and gold-copper mineralization in the circum-intrusive zone. The main mineralogical and geochemical features of these ore formations have been determined. The typomorphic properties of native gold from ultramafic rocks have been revealed. It is shown that mantle and crustal processes were involved in the formation of different types of ore. The materials we obtained provide new opportunities for the reassessment of potential of strategic metal resources in Primorye.