Enhancing current understanding of Irish Zn-Pb mineralization: a closer look at the Island Pod orebody, Lisheen deposit

Irish-type deposits are a series of Zn-Pb orebodies, formed from the carbonate replacement of Lower Carboniferous limestone, triggered primarily by fluid mixing. Current understanding of the complex fluid flow and mixing dynamics associated with mineralization is limited. By applying clumped O-C isotope analysis to these deposits, these processes can be constrained. Preliminary paragenetic studies of the Island Pod orebody (0.4 Mt @ 20% Zn & 1.6% Pb) have yielded textural evidence for early fluid mixing of sulphide-rich fluids, in a quiescent, far-from equilibrium environment, resulting in the rapid precipitation of dendritic galena and intergrowths of dolomite and sphalerite. Initial clumped O-C analysis has revealed temperatures of 100-170°C for hanging-wall white matrix breccias that accompanied ore formation. This technique will be used to constrain temperature variations across the orebody, thus yielding information on how the fluid evolved as precipitation continued. A more detailed paragenetic study is underway and will form the foundation of future clumped O-C isotope and Zn-Cu-S isotope analysis.