Porphyry copper deposits consist of low-grade stockwork and disseminated sulfide zones that contain characteristic vein generations formed during the evolution of the magmatic-hydrothermal systems. The present contribution proposes an interpretive framework for the formation of porphyry veins that is based on quartz solubility calculations in the H₂O-NaCl system at temperatures of 100° to 1,000°C and pressures of 1 to 2,000 bar. The model predicts that high-temperature (≳500°C) quartz in A veins of deep (≳4 km) porphyry deposits forms as a result of the cooling of ascending intermediate-density fluids at lithostatic conditions. In deposits of intermediate depths (~1.5–4 km), A vein quartz is mostly formed through cooling of ascending hydrothermal fluids under closed-system conditions or quasi-isobaric cooling under open-system conditions within the two-phase field of the H₂O-NaCl system. In shallow (≲1.5 km) porphyry deposits, rapid decompression can also result in quartz precipitation, forming so-called banded veins. The high-temperature quartz in A veins is associated with potassic alteration. During continued cooling of the magmatic-hydrothermal system, quartz is formed at intermediate temperatures (≳375°–500°C). This quartz overprints earlier A veins and forms B veins. The fluid inclusion inventory of this quartz generation suggests formation at fluctuating pressure conditions, marking the lithostatic to hydrostatic transition, and the change of wall-rock behavior from ductile to brittle conditions. The quartz is precipitated because of cooling and decompression of the magmatic-hydrothermal fluids under K-feldspar-stable conditions. Textural evidence from many porphyry veins suggests that hypogene sulfide minerals present in A and B veins postdate the quartz, as contacts between quartz and sulfide minerals commonly show dissolution textures. Hypogene sulfide minerals in C veins form at conditions of retrograde quartz solubility, explaining why these veins contain little to no quartz. The quartz solubility calculations suggest that C vein formation occurs at temperatures of ~375° to 450°C from low-salinity, single-phase fluids escaping from the lithostatic to the hydrostatic environment. At the upper end of this temperature range, C veins are biotite stable. However, these veins are associated with chlorite, chlorite-K-feldspar, or chlorite-sericite alteration in most deposits. Late quartz is formed during continued cooling of the hydrothermal fluids at ≲375°C within the single-phase field of the H₂O-NaCl system as quartz solubility under these conditions decreases with temperature. This process is responsible for the formation of quartz in D veins and later base metal-bearing E veins, which are associated with phyllic, advanced argillic, or argillic alteration.

The results of three decades of seafloor research provide the most reliable information on the importance of water depth in massive sulfide formation. Available data from over 130 occurrences show that water depths of seafloor vent sites vary with plate tectonic setting and the regional magmatic and volcanic environment. The shallowest hydrothermal systems in subduction-related settings are hosted by arc volcanoes. These shallow vent sites have a number of features in common with subaerial epithermal systems. Massive sulfide occurrences in arc-related rifts, the most likely setting for many ancient analogs, are generally restricted to water depths from ~700 to 2,000 m, with rifts developing within old arc crust at the deeper end of this range. Back-arc spreading centers proximal to arcs host massive sulfide deposits at depths of ~1,500 to 2,000 m. The deepest hydrothermal systems occur along mature back-arc spreading centers distal to volcanic arcs where water depths range from ~2,000 to 3,700 m. These deeper vent sites probably represent the best modern analogues of ophiolite-hosted massive sulfide deposits.

Orogenic gold deposits are comprised of complex quartz vein arrays that form as a result of fluid flow along transcrustal fault zones in active orogenic belts. Mineral precipitation in these deposits occurs under variable pressure conditions, but a mechanism explaining how the pressure regimes evolve through time has not previously been proposed. Here we show that extensional quartz veins at the Garrcon deposit in the Abitibi greenstone belt of Canada preserve petrographic characteristics suggesting that the three recognized paragenetic stages formed within different pressure regimes. The first stage involved the growth of interlocking quartz grains competing for space in fractures held open by hydrothermal fluids at supralithostatic pressures. Subsequent fluid flow at fluctuating pressure conditions caused recrystallization of the vein quartz and the precipitation of sulfide minerals through wall-rock sulfidation, with some of the sulfide minerals containing microscopic gold. These pressure fluctuations between supralithostatic to near-hydrostatic conditions resulted in the post-entrapment modification of the fluid inclusion inventory of the quartz. Late fluid flow occurred at near-hydrostatic conditions and resulted in the formation of fluid inclusions that have not been affected by post-entrapment modification as pressure conditions never returned to supralithostatic conditions. This late fluid flow is interpreted to have formed the texturally late, coarse native gold that occurs along quartz grain boundaries and in open spaces. The systematic evolution of the pressure regimes in orogenic gold deposits such as Garrcon can be explained by relative movement of fault-fracture meshes across the base of the upper crustal brittle-ductile transition zone. We conclude that early vein quartz in orogenic deposits is precipitated at near-lithostatic conditions whereas the paragenetically late gold is introduced at distinctly lower pressure.

Porphyry copper deposits consist of low-grade stockwork and disseminated sulfide zones that contain characteristic vein generations formed during the evolution of the hydrothermal systems. The present contribution examines the influence of variable CO₂ concentrations on the solubility of quartz in single-phase hydrothermal fluids forming stockwork veins in porphyry deposits at temperatures of 150° to 550°C and pressures ranging from 100 to 2,000 bar at concentrations up to 8 mol % CO₂. The calculations demonstrate that quartz solubility in hydrothermal fluids decreases with increasing CO₂ content. Retrograde quartz solubility is less pronounced in CO₂-bearing fluids and is not observed in single-phase fluids having CO₂ concentrations exceeding 6 mol %. Despite the effects of CO₂, retrograde quartz solubility plays an important role in the formation of porphyry stockwork veins that contain little or no quartz as a gangue mineral. At high temperatures and lithostatic pressure conditions below 900 bar, early biotite veins can form as a result of quasi-isobaric cooling of single-phase hydrothermal fluids under conditions of retrograde quartz solubility or near-constant quartz solubility. Stock-work veins consisting of molybdenite or hypogene copper sulfide minerals lacking quartz could form at temperatures of up to 450°C under hydrostatic pressures ranging from ~250 to 900 bar. In the presence of CO₂, retrograde quartz solubility is shifted toward slightly lower temperatures at constant pressure. At temperatures below ≾375°C, quartz is precipitated during quasi-isobaric cooling irrespective of CO₂ content of the hydrothermal fluids, resulting in the formation of late porphyry quartz veins.

The Miocene low-sulfidation epithermal deposits of the Omu camp in northeastern Hokkaido, Japan, are small past-producers of precious metals and represent significant exploration targets for high-grade Au and Ag ores. The quartz textures of ore samples and the distribution of ore minerals within quartz veins were studied to identify the processes that resulted in the bonanza-grade precious metal enrichment in these deposits. In the high-grade vein samples, which are crustiform or brecciated in hand specimen, ore minerals exclusively occur within colloform quartz bands. High-magnification microscopy reveals that ore-bearing colloform bands consist of fine-grained quartz exhibiting relic microsphere textures and quartz having a mosaic texture that formed through recrystallization of the microspheres. The presence of relic microspheres is evidence that the microcrystalline quartz hosting the ore minerals formed through recrystallization of a noncrystalline silica precursor phase. The ore-hosting colloform bands composed of agglomerated microspheres alternate with barren colloform quartz bands that are composed of fibrous chalcedonic quartz and mosaic quartz formed through recrystallization of the chalcedony. The findings of this study are consistent with previous models linking bonanza-grade precious metal enrichment and the formation of bands of noncrystalline silica in low-sulfidation epithermal veins to episodic vigorous boiling or flashing of the hydrothermal system in the near-surface environment.