Admixture-elements and their use as geochemical indicators for search of buried pyrite ores in the Greater Caucasus (Azerbaijan)

Heterogeneous pyritaceous-polymetallic and copper-zinc-pyrrhotine deposits on the south slope of the greater caucasus arelocated in the lower-middle jurassic terrigenous sediments. they were formed under a wide variation of physico-chemicalparameters of mineral formation and are characterized by specific mineralogical-geochemical peculiarities. ore-formation occurredin three stages. in the first stage, massive hydrothermal-sedimentary sulphurous-pyrite ores were deposited. the formation of thesecond stage of hydrothermal-metasomatic pyrite-polymetallic ores was prior to the intrusion of constant differentiated formationdikes. in the third stage hydrothermal-metamorphogenic copper-pyrrhotine ores were formed. stratiform pyrite deposits can becharacterized by a large variety of textural -mineralogical types of ores and mineral associations, by rich mineral composition and arather wide geochemical spectrum. as a whole, among the studied admixture-elements (tl, ag, hg as well as b, li, rb) one can findaccumulating tendency in the above-ore series, near ores with pyrite-polymetallic composition. other group of elements (co, sn, mn,mo and bi) shows accumulation in the under-ore series. deeper horizons of sandy-clayey rocks are enriched in uranium andpotassium while the higher horizons are enriched in thorium above the ore deposit. distribution peculiarities of such components (tl,ag, hg, sn and also mo, bi, k, u, th) in the host the rocks of pyrite deposits of greater caucasus of south slope allows one toconsider them along with ore forming components (zn, pb, cu) as indicator elements for search of buried ore accumulations in thelower-middle jurassic sandy-clayey deposits of region.