Multistage ore formation at the Ryllshyttan marble and skarn-hosted Zn–Pb–Ag–(Cu) + magnetite deposit, Bergslagen, Sweden

Numerous magnetite skarn deposits and marble- and skarn-hosted base metal sulphide deposits occur in polydeformed and metamorphosed, felsic-dominated metavolcanic inliers in the Palaeoproterozoic Bergslagen region of south-central Sweden, including the Ryllshyttan magnetite and Zn–Pb–Ag–(Cu) sulphide deposit, approximately 2.5 km SW of the large Garpenberg Zn–Pb–Ag–(Cu–Au) deposit. The Ryllshyttan deposit, from which approximately 1 Mt of Zn-rich massive sulphide ore and 0.2 Mt of semi-massive magnetite were extracted, is located near a transition between magnesian skarn and dolomitic marble. The host unit consists of a 10–20 m-thick former calcitic limestone of likely stromatolitic origin that is commonly pervasively altered to skarn, locally hosting magnetite skarn deposits. The ore-bearing unit is one of several mineralised marble units within a more than 1 km-thick, felsic-dominated metavolcanic succession that includes a metamorphosed, large caldera-fill pyroclastic deposit, 800 m stratigraphically above the Ryllshyttan host succession. The Garpenberg stratabound Zn–Pb–Ag–(Cu)–(Au) deposit is located higher in the stratigraphy, just below the caldera fill deposits. The metavolcanic succession is bounded to the NW by a large granitoid batholith and intruded by a microgranodiorite pluton less than a 100 m from the Ryllshyttan deposit. Magnetite laminae in bedded skarns and metavolcanic rocks in the hanging wall of Ryllshyttan indicate an early (syngenetic) accumulation of Fe-rich exhalites. In contrast, the sulphide mineralisation consists of stratabound replacement-style ore associated with dolomitisation of the host and with discordant K–Mg–Fe ± Si alteration of volcanic rocks and early porphyritic intrusions in the footwall and hanging wall. The microgranodiorite that intrudes the host succession crosscuts the K–Mg–Fe ± Si alteration envelope and is overprinted by Na–Ca alteration (diopside and plagioclase-bearing mineral associations) that also overprints K–Mg–Fe ± Si-altered rocks. The Na–Ca alteration is interpreted to be associated with the formation of calcic and magnesian iron skarn deposits semi-regionally at a similar stratigraphic position. Despite superimposed amphibolite facies regional metamorphism and substantial syn-D2–D3 remobilisation of sulphides concurrent with retrograde alteration of skarn assemblages, cross-cutting field relationships indicate that the Ryllshyttan magnetite and Zn–Pb–Ag–(Cu) sulphide deposit results from protracted VMS-style hydrothermal activity including early seafloor mineralisation (Fe-rich exhalites), closely followed by sub-seafloor carbonate-replacement-style mineralisation (base metal-bearing massive sulphides). Both mineralisation styles were overprinted by contact metasomatism associated with the formation of abundant magnetite skarn deposits during the emplacement of granitoid intrusions. As for other deposits in the Bergslagen region, the ore-forming system at Ryllshyttan thus has similarities to both metamorphosed VMS deposits and metasomatic Fe and Zn skarn deposits. Our results suggest that the sequence of volcanic, intrusive and hydrothermal events in this region is compatible with prograde heating of a long-lived hydrothermal system, wherein a shift from a convective seawater-dominated system to a contact metamorphic and/or metasomatic environment occurred during the early stage of the 1.9–1.8 Ga Svecokarelian orogeny. This model partly resolves the controversy regarding genesis of the iron oxide and base metal sulphide deposits in Bergslagen, as we recognise that these deposits have a complex history of alteration, metamorphism, deformation and (re)mobilisation, and no unique established genetic model can account for all their features.