Physical and chemical controls (fO2, T, pH) of the opposite behaviour of U and Sn-W as examplified by hydrothermal deposits in France and Great-Britain, and solubility data

In uranium deposits, fO2 and fS2 of mineralizing fluids are higher than values fixed by the pyrite-hematite-magnetite triple point, as shown by uraninite-hematite and/or pyrite mineral association. The stability of quartz-K feldspar-muscovite paragenesis in the wall-rocks of hydrothermal U deposits indicates weakly acid pH. By contrast, in the Sn-W occurrences from the French Southern Massif Central, the fO2 of mineralizing fluids is between Ni-NiO and Q-F-M buffers as shown by fluid inclusions. The pH of these fluids is weakly acid to weakly basic. Sn-W mineralizing fluids from Cornwall are by contrast purely aqueous and acid. Experimental data on UO2, SnO2, FeWO4, CaWO4 solubility and metal species in fluids show that fO2 > H-M are required for uranium transport whereas fO2 ≤ Ni-NiO favours Sn transport. The fluid oxidation state has no direct influence on the transport and deposition of tungsten. The fO2 control on the hydrothermal transport properties of these three metals is related on the one hand to the fluid and rock composition, and on the other hand to the minimal 3200C temperature required for homogeneous equilibria in the C-O-H system to control the oxidation state at low values. At high temperatures, Sn, Fe and Ca chloride complexes are more stable than carbonate and phosphate uranium complexes. All these results show that temperature and fO2 account for the opposite behaviour of uranium and tin-tungsten in hydrothermal systems between 3000 to 5000C