Mineralogical, petrographic, and geochemical analyzes which confirm the hydrothermal origin of the sediments that overlie the peridotites of Cerro Matoso, Colombia

The Cerro Matoso deposit, one of the largest open-pit ferronickel mines in the world is formed by a sedimentary succession on top of an abducted ultramafic body that makes part of the Cauca ophiolite complex. The set of rocks was accreted in northwestern Colombia during the Cretaceous and exposed to weathering processes during the last Andean Orogeny. Sediment samples were collected and studied using petrographic microscopy, SEM, EPMA, ICP-MS, XRF, and oxygen as well as carbon isotopes analyses. Oxygen isotope results reflect pore-water temperatures reaching up to 130 degrees C during mineral precipitation, which are consistent with serpentinization-derived fluids of mantle rocks that may be related to deep-sea hydrothermal activity. Negative delta 13C values (-27.1 to -1 parts per thousand V-PDB) in bulk samples of the tabular succession correlate with the delta 13C range of methane from modern serpentinite-derived fluids. The REE/Fe data (ratio <0.4) suggest that sediments differenced in black mudstone and fossiliferous green claystone correspond to metalliferous and hydrothermal sediments respectively, formed in the ancient mid-ocean Pacific ridge, far west of its present position. Positive Eu and negative Ce anomalies registered in the black mudstone succession correlate with a hydrothermal plume scenario.

Automated summary

The Cerro Matoso deposit, one of the largest open-pit ferronickel mines in the world, is formed by a sedimentary succession on top of an abducted ultramafic body. The sediments were accreted in northwestern Colombia during the Cretaceous and exposed to weathering processes during the last Andean Orogeny. The isotopic and geochemical analyses suggest a possible link to deep-sea hydrothermal activity.