Weathering profile of the Cerro de Maimon VMS deposit (Dominican Republic): textures, mineralogy, gossan evolution and mobility of gold and silver

摘要

Cerro de Maimon, in the central Dominican Republic, is currently the only VMS deposit under production in the Caribbean region. It is hosted in the Maimon Formation, of early Cretaceous age, which is part of the oldest and chemically most primitive island-arc in the Caribbean. From bottom to top, this deposit can be divided into (i) a primary sulfide zone, (ii) a supergene enrichment zone and (iii) an oxidized zone. This study reports new data on the textural and mineralogical characteristics of the oxidized zone (gossan/leached capping zone) with emphasis in the Au-Ag-bearing phases.