The Cuiú-Cuiú goldfield is located near the central portion of the Tapajós Gold Province in the south-central portion of the Amazonian Craton. This goldfield is one of the oldest prospecting areas of the province and holds multiple more or less developed prospects and gold deposits (Central, Raimundinha, Pau da Merenda, Guarim, Jerimum de Cima, Jerimum de Baixo, Nho, Moreira Gomes, Babi and other less known). As contribution to the understanding of the metallogenic evolution of the Cuiú-Cuiú goldfield in general, this study focused on the mineralized Jerimum de Cima and weakly mineralized Babi targets and aimed: (1) to define the sulfide mineralogy associated with gold mineralization and its textural relationships with the host rocks; (2) to define the physical and chemical characteristics of the mineralizing/hydrothermal fluids through petrographic, fluid inclusions and stable isotopes (C, O, S) studies trying to identify what caused the hydrothermal alteration in rocks from these targets and that enabled more significant mineralization at Jerimum de Cima (and other targets/deposits), whereas Babi is only weakly mineralized (not economic). The petrographic study identified strongly hydrothermally altered host rocks, with obliterated primary characteristics. In the Jerimum de Cima target the host rocks are biotite-hornblende tonalite, monzogranite and granodiorite. In the Babi target, titanite monzogranite, biotite monzogranite, biotite-hornblende tonalite, and brecciated monzogranite are the hydrothermally-altered rocks. Sericitization, silicification and sulfidation occur strongly in the Jerimum de Cima target, whereas carbonatization and chloritization occur usually in both targets. Pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and galena, in decreasing order of abundance, are the sulfide minerals, with large predominance of pyrite. Fluid inclusions (FI) trapped in quartz crystals occur in small groups, in isolation, or in trails. In decreasing order of abundance, there are three types of FI: two-phase aqueous (Type 1), aqueous-carbonic (Type 2) and carbonic (Type 3). The microthermometric results show that the aqueous FI at Jerimum de Cima homogenized between 105 and 387°C, and have salinities that range from 0,0 to 18 wt.% NaCl equivalent; whereas the aqueous-carbonic type has final homogenization temperatures between 144 and 448°C, salinities of 1,0 to 7,8 wt.% NaCl equivalent, and bulk density ranging from 0,6 to 1,0 g/cm3. At Babi the aqueous FI are the only type present. These FI homozenized between 136 and 410°C and show salinities from 0,7 to 13,2 wt.% NaCl equivalent. The aqueous-carbonic FI are interpreted as a product of fluid immiscibility (phase separation). The absence of CO2–bearing inclusions in the Babi target is possibly a consequence of late-timing of fluid trapping during the evolution of the hydrothermal system, after the CO2 consumption, with only aqueous FI being trapped. Stable isotope analyses of hydrothermal minerals present in veins and alteration zones indicate mineral precipitation between 305 and 330°C and between 108 and 205°C, which is in line with the fluid inclusion honogenization temperatures and indicate more than one stage of mineral precipitation. The data also suggest magmatic and meteoric sources for the fluids. As a whole, our data are compatible with a magmatic-hydrothermal gold systems (intrusion-related), and with mixing of magmatic and meteoric fluids. The lack of CO2 at Babi might explain the weak mineralization in this target.
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