The Shepherd Mountain Iron Ore Deposit in Southeast Missouri, USA – an Extension of the Pilot Knob Magmatic-Hydrothermal Ore System: Evidence from Iron Oxide Chemistry

The Southeast Missouri Iron Metallogenic Province in the Midcontinent USA contains seven major and several minor IOA/IOCG-type deposits and a series of shallow vein-type deposits/prospects, all of which are spatially and temporally associated with early Mesoproterozoic (1500–1440 Ma) magmatism in the St. Francois Mountains terrane. One of the vein-type deposits is the Shepherd Mountain deposit, which consists of two northeast-trending ore veins dominated by magnetite and lesser amounts of hematite. Here we report the findings of a study that investigates the origin of the Shepherd Mountain deposit and a possible genetic link to the nearby (i.e., away) magmatic to magmatic-hydrothermal Pilot Knob ore system that comprises the massive-to-disseminated Pilot Knob Magnetite deposit and the overlying bedded and brecciated Pilot Knob Hematite deposit. Petrographic observations, whole-rock data and the trace element and Fe isotope composition of magnetite and hematite show that the Shepherd Mountain deposit formed from at least five pulses of magmatic-hydrothermal fluids with different compositions and physicochemical parameters. Integration of the data for the Shepherd Mountain deposit with new and published data from the Pilot Knob Magnetite and Pilot Knob Hematite deposits shows that the three deposits are genetically linked through two local faults. The Ironton and Pilot Knob faults provided fluid pathways that connected the Pilot Knob Magnetite deposit to the shallower Shepherd Mountain and Pilot Knob Hematite deposits. Consequently, we argue that the Shepherd Mountain and Pilot Knob Hematite deposits are near-surface extensions of the same magmatic to hydrothermal plumbing system that formed the Pilot Knob Magnetite deposit at depth

Genesis Of The 1.45 Ga Kratz Spring Iron Oxide-Apatite Deposit Complex In Southeast Missouri, USA: Constraints From Oxide Mineral Chemistry

Seven major and numerous lesser Fe oxide occurrences within the 1.47 Ga St. Francois Mountains terrane in Missouri (USA) have previously been described as iron oxide-apatite (IOA) and iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits. Researchers speculate that these contain significant amounts of critical minerals, most notably rare earth elements and cobalt. One of the less-studied deposits in the region is the 1.455 Ga Kratz Spring deposit. The deposit consists of two steeply dipping magnetite bodies beneath 450 m of sedimentary cover. The genesis of the Kratz Spring deposit and its relationship to nearby IOA-IOCG deposits remains poorly constrained. To better understand the formation of the Kratz Spring deposit, the authors integrated stratigraphic, petrographic, and bulk rock studies within situ trace element and Fe isotope chemistry of magnetite and hematite. These data show that the Kratz Spring deposit is hydrothermal in origin but is divided into two sub deposits according to different fluid sources and formation conditions: (1) a deep but cooler hydrothermal Kratz Spring South deposit with a juvenile fluid source and (2) a shallow but hotter magmatic-hydrothermal Kratz Spring North deposit with variable fluid sources. Our genetic model suggests the two Kratz Spring deposits are local expressions of the same mineralization system, i.e., the Kratz Spring South deposit is a distal, lower-temperature offshoot of the feeder system that formed the Kratz Spring North deposit. Understanding the magmatic-hydrothermal plumbing system that formed Missouri\u27s IOA-IOCG deposits is important to guiding critical mineral exploration efforts in the region

A Cycle-Jumping Method for Multicyclic Hubbert Modeling of Resource Production

The amount of ultimately recoverable resources and/or timing of peak production have been the central purpose of numerous studies. One broadly applied method is Hubbert modeling, subsequently extended as multicyclic Hubbert modeling. This paper explores a modification to conventional multicyclic Hubbert modeling that we term cycle-jumping wherein the overlap of multiple curves is limited and explicitly accounted for. The model is designed in a way that each curve is described by the same three parameters as a multicyclic Hubbert model, and every two curves are connected through an explicit transition. The transition width indicates the time of the shift from one curve to the next and is controlled by a weighting parameter for the respective curves. Cycle-jumping provides a superior data fit compared to the conventional cycle-addition model and, more important, reflects historical production data more realistically as socioeconomic and political factors important to resource production vary in time. Recommendations for Resource Managers Conventional multicyclic Hubbert modeling poorly reflects transitions in production trends. Cycle-jumping with a finite transition period practically and mathematically provides a superior model for historical resource production by limiting the overlap of multiple curves. Cycle-jumping with a finite transition period reflects more realistically the production profile affected by external factors including capturing inherent asymmetry in different cycles

The Shepherd Mountain Iron Ore Deposit in Southeast Missouri, USA -- An Extension of the Pilot Knob Magmatic-Hydrothermal Ore System: Evidence from Iron Oxide Chemistry

The Southeast Missouri Iron Metallogenic Province in the Midcontinent USA contains seven major and several minor IOA/IOCG-type deposits and a series of shallow vein-type deposits/prospects, all of which are spatially and temporally associated with early Mesoproterozoic (1500–1440 Ma) magmatism in the St. Francois Mountains terrane. One of the vein-type deposits is the Shepherd Mountain deposit, which consists of two northeast-trending ore veins dominated by magnetite and lesser amounts of hematite. Here we report the findings of a study that investigates the origin of the Shepherd Mountain deposit and a possible genetic link to the nearby (i.e., \u3c 5 km away) magmatic to magmatic-hydrothermal Pilot Knob ore system that comprises the massive-to-disseminated Pilot Knob Magnetite deposit and the overlying bedded and brecciated Pilot Knob Hematite deposit. Petrographic observations, whole-rock data and the trace element and Fe isotope composition of magnetite and hematite show that the Shepherd Mountain deposit formed from at least five pulses of magmatic-hydrothermal fluids with different compositions and physicochemical parameters. Integration of the data for the Shepherd Mountain deposit with new and published data from the Pilot Knob Magnetite and Pilot Knob Hematite deposits shows that the three deposits are genetically linked through two local faults. The Ironton and Pilot Knob faults provided fluid pathways that connected the Pilot Knob Magnetite deposit to the shallower Shepherd Mountain and Pilot Knob Hematite deposits. Consequently, we argue that the Shepherd Mountain and Pilot Knob Hematite deposits are near-surface extensions of the same magmatic to hydrothermal plumbing system that formed the Pilot Knob Magnetite deposit at depth

The Pilot Knob Iron Ore Deposits in Southeast Missouri, USA: A High-to-Low Temperature Magmatic-Hydrothermal Continuum

The Mesoproterozoic St. Francois Mountains igneous terrane in southeast Missouri, USA, contains eight major and several minor IOA/IOCG-type deposits. This study focuses on the Pilot Knob deposits, i.e., the largely massive Pilot Knob Magnetite (PKM) deposit and the Pilot Knob Hematite (PKH) deposit, which is located 240 m stratigraphically above the PKM and consists of variably mineralized bedded hematite and ore hosted in brecciated volcanic agglomerates. The PKM deposit was previously shown to be of magmatic and magmatic-hydrothermal origin, although its formation has not been precisely dated. The origin of the PKH deposit (i.e., sedimentary vs. hydrothermal) and its genetic relationship to the PKM, remain controversial. We present new U-Pb data on apatite intergrown with massive magnetite in the PKM deposit and provide the first precise age for the formation of the PKM ore at 1437.7 ± 5.8 Ma. Petrographic observations of PKH ore, bulk rock compositions, and the mineral chemistry of hematite, which contains up to 2.7% Ti, suggest that the hematite in the PKH deposit crystallized from acidic and hypersaline hydrothermal fluids at a temperature between 200 and 250 °C. The Fe isotopic composition of 9 bedded (δ56Fe = 0.05-0.30‰, average 0.13‰) and 3 brecciated hematite samples (δ56Fe = −0.19 to 0.01‰, average −0.06‰) from the PKH deposit are slightly lighter than the published δ56Fe results of magnetite from the PKM deposit (δ56Fe = 0.06-0.27‰, average 0.17‰). However, all isotopic signatures fall within the magmatic range, indicating that iron in both deposits was originally sourced from a magma. Because of the hydrothermal origin of the PKH deposit, the iron isotopic compositions of the PKM and PKH ores that imply a shared/similar iron source, and the spatial proximity of both deposits, we argue that the PKM and PKH deposits are genetically related and represent two endmembers of a high-to-low temperature magmatic-hydrothermal continuum. In this scenario, ore fluids exsolved from the magma that facilitated the formation of the PKM deposit migrated upwards, infiltrated existing sedimentary structures near the surface, and precipitated hydrothermal hematite ore while preserving the original bedded and brecciated structures. Geochemical signatures of the rhyolites/rhyodacites that host the PKM deposit imply that these rocks are A2-type felsic rocks that were emplaced in a post-collisional extensional setting. Bulk silicate Earth normalized patterns of the PKM deposit and wall rocks display a negative slope from Cs to Lu with negative Nb and Ta anomalies, indicating a hydrous source for the rhyolites and rhyodacites, possibly a subduction-modified subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). These geochemical signatures support a proposed tectonic setting of the St. Francois Mountains, wherein the igneous terrane developed on a growing continental margin. Episodic mafic-to-intermediate magmatism, and subsequently exsolved hydrothermal fluids, may have formed the cluster of IOA/IOCG-type deposits in the igneous terrane between ~1500 and ~1440 Ma. Within such a context, the PKM and PKH deposits may represent a shallow, small-scale snapshot of processes similar to the ones that form the IOA-IOCG continuum: a deeper magmatic event that exsolved a hydrothermal fluid that forms an overlying ore body