Volcano-hydrothermal systems form rich metal deposits

The surroundings of the volcanoes are rich in deposits of gold, silver, copper and other metals due to the volcano-hydrothermal system.

In Russia, such deposits can be found in the Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belt, for example, the Kupol and Dukat gold-silver deposits.

There are examples of rich deposits due to volcanic activity in other countries such as Indonesia and Mongolia.

MOSCOW, October 4 - RIA Novosti. The surroundings of the volcanoes are rich in deposits of gold, silver, copper and other metals, for example, in Russia such deposits can be found in Chukotka, RIA Novosti was told at the Karpinsky Institute.

“Volcanic areas are not only lava flows and eruptions. Many large deposits of gold, silver, copper and other metals are associated with them,” said Deputy General Director of the institute Viktor Snezhko.

The main role here is played by the volcano-hydrothermal system, he explained. Magma under the volcano heats the groundwater and itself releases hot fluids containing sulfur, chlorine, metals and other components. These solutions rise along faults, cracks, vent zones and caldera structures. As they boil, cool, mix with groundwater, and change chemical conditions, ore minerals begin to fall out of the solutions.

According to the head of the department of industry information systems and data banks at the institute, Olga Snezhko, in Russia there are such deposits, for example, in the Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belt. The Kupol and Dukat gold-silver deposits are located there. The volcanic buildings themselves are almost gone, as they were destroyed by erosion, but the ore areas have been preserved.

“In Kamchatka, similar processes can be observed almost in real time. In the area of ​​the Mutnovsky volcano there is a powerful hydrothermal system with hot springs, steam-gas outlets and fumaroles. Metals and other chemical elements are transported in volcanic gases and hydrothermal solutions,” she noted.

According to Snezhko, such modern systems help to understand the processes that led to the formation of ore deposits in ancient volcanic areas.

Scientists noted that there are examples in other countries. In Indonesia, the Grasberg mine extracts copper and gold from deeper deposits that have been exposed by uplift and erosion. In Mongolia, at the Oyu Tolgoi site, ore was formed hundreds of millions of years ago.