Sedimentary black shale-hosted manganese carbonate and oxide ores were studied by high-resolution in situ detailed optical and cathodoluminescence microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and FTIR spectroscopy to determine microbial contribution in metallogenesis. This study of the Urucum Mn deposit in Brazil is included as a case study for microbially mediated ore-forming processes. The results were compared and interpreted in a comparative way, and the data were elaborated by a complex, structural hierarchical method. The first syngenetic products of microbial enzymatic oxidation were ferrihydrite and lepidocrocite on the Fe side, and vernadite, todorokite, birnessite, and manganite on the Mn side, formed under obligatory oxic (Mn) and suboxic (Fe) conditions and close to neutral pH. Fe- and Mn-oxidizing bacteria played a basic role in metallogenesis based on microtextural features, bioindicator minerals, and embedded variable organic matter. Trace element content is determined by source of elements and microbial activity. The present Urucum (Brazil), Datangpo (China), and Úrkút (Hungary) deposits are the result of complex diagenetic processes, which include the decomposition and mineralization of cell and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) of Fe and Mn bacteria and cyanobacteria. Heterotrophic cell colonies activated randomly in the microbialite sediment after burial in suboxic neutral/alkaline conditions, forming Mn carbonates and variable cation-bearing oxides side by side with lithification and stabilization of minerals. Deposits of variable geological ages and geographical occurrences show strong similarities and indicate two-step microbial metallogenesis: a primary chemolithoautotrophic, and a diagenetic heterotrophic microbial cycle, influenced strongly by mineralization of cells and EPSs. These processes perform a basic role in controlling major and trace element distribution in sedimentary environments on a global level and place biogeochemical constraints on the element content of natural waters, precipitation of minerals, and water contaminants.

The role of biogenicity in the mineral world is larger than many might assume. Biological processes and physical and chemical processes interact both at the Earth’s surface and far underground, leading to the formation of banded iron and manganese deposits, among others. Microbial mats can form giant sedimentary ore deposits, which include enrichment of further elements. This article reviews the ways in which microbially-mediated processes contribute to mineralization, the importance of mineralized microbial textural features, and the methods that must be used to obtain high-resolution datasets. If the chosen methodology and/or the size dimension of investigation is not appropriate, then it is not possible to recognize that a system is microbially mediated, and the conclusion will be incomplete. We call attention to variable authigenic mineralization as the result of complex mineralization of cells and extracellular polymeric substances in the starving basins, which form giant ore deposits together with ore-forming minerals. Microbial mats and other biosignatures can serve as indicators of environmental reconstruction in ore formations. We suggest tests and analyses that will allow the potential role of biomineralization to be properly investigated for a more comprehensive view of formation processes and their implications.

Although the Úrkút manganese ore deposit in western placecountry-regionHungary has been exploited for at least 90 years, there are still numerous open questions concerning ore genetics as well as structure and geometry of the ore body. A large set of available archive data for the deposit have been reviewed and evaluated in order to solve some of the most crucial problems. For processing, besides diverse GIS approaches, univariate and multivariate statistical methods were used on the created unified database. The main aims of the mathematical treatment were giving a classification scheme for the wide spectrum of Mn-ores based on their chemical composition (Mn, Fe, Si, P) as well as evaluation of their spatial distribution. For the ore characterization and understanding the genetic processes, cluster and discriminant function analyses were used. Results of the multivariate treatment verified the existence of different ore types and provided an exact chemical definition for all of them. It alsoinferred that the main geochemical processes that took place in ore genesis were similar for all sample groups (ore types) with significantly different weights in each case.A 3D evaluation of the Úrkút mine heading map system shows that the ore body covers the footwall surface as a stratiform sheet throughout the study area. Palaeo-relief studies suggest a significant difference between the footwall and hanging wall morphologies which clearly implies tectonic activity following ore deposition. The deposit was affected by an E-W compression stress field near the Aptian-Albian transition causing folding of the Mn deposit.

Continental rifting of the Tisza microplate started during the Late Jurassic and resulted in phreatic eruptions, peperite, and the construction of a volcanic edifice in the Early Cretaceous in the Mecsek Mountains (South Hungary). In the SE direction from the volcanic edifice at Zengővárkony, a shallow marine (depth 100–200 m) carbonate sediment hosted a vent environment, and iron ore deposition occurred at the end of the Valanginian to early Hauterivian, hosting a diverse, endemic fauna of approximately 60 species. The detailed mineralogical analysis of the transport conduits included Fe oxides (ferrihydrite, goethite, hematite, and magnetite), quartz, mixed carbonate, pyrite, feldspar, Fe-bearing clay minerals, apatite, sulfates (barite, gypsum, and jarosite), and native sulfur. Filamentous, microbially mediated microtextures with inner sequented, necklace-like spheric forms (diameter of 1 μm) and bacterial laminae are also observed inside decapod crustacean coprolites (Palaxius tetraochetarius) and in the rock matrix. This complex ecological and mineralogical analysis provided direct evidence for the presence of bacteria in fossil sediment-hosted vent (SHV) environments on the one hand and for the intimate connection between bacteria and decapod crustaceans in hydrothermal environments 135 Ma before. This observation completes the fossil food chain of chemosynthesis-based ecosystems, from primary producers to the top carnivores reported for the first time from this locality.