Fluid-Assisted Aggregation and Assembly of Magnetite Microparticles in the Giant El Laco Iron Oxide Deposit, Central Andes

The El Laco iron oxide mineral deposit in the Central Andes of Chile has attracted significant attention because of its uniquely preserved massive magnetite orebodies, which bear a remarkable similarity to volcanic products. To date, the outcropping highly vesicular and porous massive magnetite orebodies have received little attention from a microtextural point of view, limiting our understanding about the role of volcanogenic processes on iron mineralization. Here, we report the chemical composition of vesicular magnetite at El Laco using EPMA and LA-ICP-MS methods and provide detailed 2D and 3D imaging of the internal structure of these texturally complex magnetite ores by combining SEM observations, synchrotron radiation micro-X-ray fluorescence chemical mapping, and high-resolution X-ray computed microtomography. Our observations reveal the presence of abundant magnetite microspheres with diameters ranging from ∼100 to ∼900 μm, as well as dendritic microstructures forming interconnected networks up to a few millimeters in size. Two-dimensional microtextural and geochemical imaging of the microspheres show that these features are formed by multiple euhedral magnetite crystals growing in all directions and occur immersed within a porous matrix conformed by smaller-sized (∼2–20 μm) and irregularly shaped magnetite microparticles. These types of morphologies have been reported in hydrothermal vents associated with hydrovolcanic processes and commonly described in hydrothermal synthesis experiments of magnetite microspheres, suggesting precipitation from iron-rich fluids. A hydrothermal origin for the magnetite microparticles reported here is further supported by their geochemical signature, which shows a strong depletion in most minor and trace elements typical from magnetite precipitated from hydrothermal fluids in ore-forming environments. We propose that decompression, cooling, and boiling of fluids triggered massive iron supersaturation, resulting in the nucleation of magnetite microparticles or colloids, followed by self-assembly into larger and more complex microstructures. Our data from El Laco deposit agree with models invoking magmatic-hydrothermal fluids to explain the origin of the deposit and provide new insights on the potential role of iron colloids as agents of mineralization in volcanic systems.