Geochemical Characteristics of a Veinlet Kupferschiefer Profile from the Lubin Mine, Southwestern Poland

Previous studies have shown that the ascending, oxidizing brines play a very important role in Kupferschiefer mineralization. Fractures could be the pathway of the brines. In order to clarify the influences of the brines on bulk organic matter, aromatic hydrocarbons and Kupferschiefer mineralization, one veinlet Kupferschiefer profile from the Lubin mine, southwestern Poland was studied with the microscopic, geochemical and Rock-Eval methods. The microscopic results indicate that organic matter of the veinlet sample consists dominantly of bitumen. Its extract content is higher than in other samples. The dominant aromatic compounds are naphthalene and alkylated naphthalenes (Na-PAH), which have migrated into the veinlet sample from other sediments. The content of phenanthrene and its methylated derivatives (Ph-PAH) is much lower than in other samples. The reason may be due to their heavier mass than Na-PAH. It is more difficult for Ph-PAH to migrate. The Na-PAH was probably removed from the shale by distillation and enriched in fractures because of their relatively low boiling point. The content of biphenyl and alkylated biphenyls (Bi-PAH) indicates the influence degree of oxidizing fluids. Their content in the veinlet sample is higher than in other sample. The high Tmax value of the veinlet sample also reveals a more intense influence of the oxidizing fluids than in other samples. Besides the higher Tmax value, its HI value is higher than in other samples. One can presume that its original hydrocarbon content should be higher than this value because they could be partly depleted by the brines.

Influences of the Basin Brines on Hydrocarbons of the Anthracosia Shales from Southwestern Poland

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that the oxidizing brines from the Early Permian Rotliegende sequence have influences on the organic matter of Kupferschiefer. However, inside the Rotliegende sequence there are two other black shales: the Lower and Upper Antracosia shales, which have not been studied as much in detail as in Kupferschiefer. In the present study 12 samples from the Lower and Upper Antracosia shales were analyzed by organic geochemical methods in order to clarify the influences of the oxidizing brines on organic matter. The results indicate that the organic matter of the samples from the Upper Antracosia shale and the bottom of the Lower Antracosia shale was oxidized under the influences of the oxidizing brines. The oxidation resulted in a depletion of saturated hydrocarbons and the alkyls of the aromatic compounds.

MLA-Based Detection of Organic Matter with Iodized Epoxy Resin—An Alternative to Carnauba

Solid organic matter is an important constituent not only in coal, but also in black shale-hosted ore deposits. The reliable recognition and quantification of organic carbon—as well as its microfabric relation to associated inorganic minerals—plays a crucial role in characterization by scanning electron microscopy-based image analysis. However, the use of conventional epoxy resin in the preparation of grain mounts does not allow for recognition of solid organic carbon compounds. In this study we illustrate that the use of iodized epoxy resin readily overcomes this bottleneck. Best results are obtained with an addition of 15 wt% iodoform to the epoxy resin. With process samples of black shale-hosted polymetallic Kupferschiefer-type ore as a case study, it is shown that recognition and quantification of solid organic carbon are easily achieved and that tangible parameters such as particle and grain sizes, association and liberation for ore and gangue minerals can be determined in the presence of solid organic matter. Due to the inherent uncertainty of the exact chemical composition of the kerogen contained in Kupferschiefer, it was not possible to attain exact comparability between chemical Corg assays and assays calculated from MLA data. However, the results are still found to closely agree with one another. The strength of iodized resin lies in its ability to distinguish organic matter with high hydration ratios in addition to the easy integration in sample preparation. It could therefore be an attractive supplement in the analyses of other raw materials containing complex organic-matter.

GEOLOGICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL FEATURES AND GENESIS BY FLUID CONVECTION FOR PERMIAN Cu-BEARING Cu-Ag TYPE DEPOSITS AT THE SOUTHWESTERN EDGE OF THE SICHUAN BASIN

Kupferschiefer type Cu-Ag deposits occur in the Upper Permian Xuanwei Formation in the Leshan-Muchuan region at the southwestern edge of the Sichuan Basin. Evidences from geology, major element, REE and thermolurninescence analyses suggest that these Kupferschiefer type CuAg deposits were formed during diagenesis and the ore-forming fluids were derived frorn the underlying basalt. Fluid dynamic analyses show that the ore-forming fluids migrated in a unicellular convection, fluids migrated through the basalt, leaching Cu and Ag frorn basalt and forming orebearing solutions, up the western basement highs, moved laterally along the Xuanwei Formation toward the basin centers, presumably to sink back down into the basalt, completing a convection cycle which was about 15 km long, 300 m high and subhorizontal. Further analysis and calculation suggest that there are good geological, tectonic and fluid-dynamic conditions to form middle-scale Cu and giant Ag Kupferschiefer type deposits, but superlarge deposits are unlikely to be formed in this region.