The metallogenic environment of the Dounan manganese deposit, Southeast Yunnan, China: evidence from geochemistry and Mössbauer spectroscopic

The Dounan manganese deposit is a typical large-scale marine sedimentary manganese deposit of the Middle Triassic in China. The metallogenic environment and change process directly dictate the migration, enrichment, and precipitation of Mn. To better understand its metallogenetic environment, a detailed study was undertaken involving field observation, mineralogical and geochemical and Mössbauer spectroscopic analyses. The major findings are as follows: (1) Lithofacies paleogeography, sedimentary structural characteristics, and geochemical indexes indicate that the deposits were formed in an epicontinental marine sedimentary basin environment of normal salinity; (2) there were three ore phases including Mn oxides, Mn carbonates, and mixed Mn ores. The ore minerals found were braunite, manganite, Ca-rhodochrosite, manganocalcite, and kutnahorite. Petrographic and mineralogical information indicates that the metallogenic environment was a weakly alkaline and weakly oxidized to weakly reduced environment, and the mineralization occurred near the redox interface; (3) the V/(V + Ni) ratios, δCe and Fe2+/Fe3+ found in profiles of Baigu and Gake ore sections show that the redox conditions of the ore-forming environment were continuously changing; and (4) three Fe species, α-Fe2O3, para-Fe3+, and para-Fe2+, were found in hematite and clay mineral samples using Mössbauer spectrum analysis. The presence and distribution of these Fe species indicate that the deposit was formed in a typical sedimentary environment during the mineralization process. In summary, our study showed that redox was a key factor controlling the mineralization of the Dounan manganese deposit. Our results have led us to the conclusion that transgression and regression caused fluctuations in sea level, which in turn caused the change of the redox environment. Mössbauer spectroscopy is an effective tool for studying the redox conditions of the paleoenvironment in which sedimentary manganese deposits were formed.