Cinnabar of the Western Part of the Kuznetsk Alatau

A. D. Minin, A. M. Kuzmin

Cinnabar mineralization is considered, along with its relationship to tectonic structures in the northwestern part of the Kuznetsk Alatau. Two mercury-ore subzones are distinguished. A brief characterization of them is given, and conclusions are drawn regarding a single-act process of mineralization and a post-Triassic age of the mineralization.

The presentation of the material in this article is based on direct investigations carried out during 1964–1968, as well as on materials of V. M. Timoshenko, O. I. Nikonov, B. A. Snezhko, and N. I. Urazlina.

History of the question. The first information on finds of cinnabar in the western part of the Kuznetsk Alatau dates to 1938, when V. A. Kuznetsov, during geological mapping of the Taidon-Tersinsk region, discovered the Pezasskoye mercury deposit. In addition, he established the presence of cinnabar (in isolated grains) in the alluvium of the right tributaries of the middle and lower course of the Taidon River. In 1945, A. R. Ananyev, while studying gold–tungsten mineralization, discovered cinnabar in the alluvium of the headwaters of the Taidon River.

In later works by V. A. Kuznetsov (1958), materials on mercury mineralization within the Sayan–Altai folded region were summarized, a high assessment was given of the prospects of the western part of the Kuznetsk Alatau for mercury mineralization, and the Kuznetsk mercury zone was distinguished for the first time.

In 1956–59, B. V. Goloshcheikin, G. F. Gorelov, A. M. Kuznetsov, and others, while carrying out medium-scale geological investigations, identified detrital cinnabar over a broader area. In general outline, the areal distribution of mercury mineralization began to emerge. Large-scale surveys and prospecting carried out from 1960 to the present have discovered cinnabar in the basins of the Belaya Osipovaya, Partizanka, Kuchumanda, Andreevka, Alora, and other rivers. These data made it possible to distinguish, in the northern part of the Kuznetsk mercury zone, two subzones—the Bayanzas-Kozhukhovskaya and the Pezassko-Osipovskaya—within which the listed areas of mineralization are located.

General geological features of the region. The main features of the geological structure of the region and of the distribution of mercury mineralization are determined by its position at the junction of two heterogeneous structures—the Kuznetsk Depression, filled with Upper Paleozoic sedimentary formations, and the Kuznetsk Alatau, where Upper Proterozoic–Lower Cambrian metamorphosed deposits, intruded by various-age ...

intrusions of basic, ultrabasic, and acidic compositions. In the grabens there have been preserved Lower Ordovician and Lower–Middle Devonian effusive-sedimentary rock sequences and, much more rarely, terrigenous-carbonate deposits of the Carboniferous; on the right bank of the Bayzas, Triassic tuffaceous sandstones and basalts occur. Formations similar to the latter are widespread in Kuzbass (V. I. Yavorskii, 1957). These structures adjoin the Kuznetsk-Alatau deep-seated, long-lived fault, which is accompanied by smaller disjunctives of submeridional strike on the east and west.

The near-fault part of the Kuznetsk Basin is composed of weakly dislocated deposits of the red-colored effusive-sedimentary Devonian (the Krapivinskaya brachyanticline). Along the Taidon River, near the boundary with the Upper Proterozoic metamorphic sequences of the Pezas horst, Upper Devonian and carbonate-terrigenous Lower Carboniferous formations occur. In the area of the villages of Saltymakovo and Medvezhka, Lower Triassic tuffaceous sandstones and siltstones with basalt horizons are observed; the latter are widely distributed within the Bunga (Saltymakovo) structure. In the area under consideration, three structures are clearly distinguished: the Pezas horst, the Taidon graben, and the Kuznetsk-Alatau (Kiya–Ters’) horst proper. In the first, Upper Proterozoic marbled limestones are predominant, with considerably smaller amounts of the schists and porphyritoids conformably overlying them. The rocks are intensely dislocated and broken into blocks by numerous faults, along which small bodies of basic rocks of Lower–Middle Cambrian age develop in places (near the village of Pezas).

At the base of the section of the Taidon graben lie Upper Cambrian–Lower Ordovician effusive-sedimentary formations (the Kitatskaya Suite), which have a limited distribution. Over a much larger area of the graben, Lower Ordovician red-colored tuffaceous sandstones and siltstones are distributed (with lenses of gray-colored varieties and interbeds of argillaceous limestones), together with lavas and tuff-lavas of basic composition, diabase and basalt porphyrites, albitophyres, and, more rarely, keratophyres.

Within the area of the Kuznetsk-Alatau horst, Upper Proterozoic–Lower Cambrian effusive-sedimentary rocks are distributed; in many respects they are similar to those of the Pezas horst, which does not permit their geological history to be considered separately.

Tectonics. The tectonic structure of the northwestern part of the Kuznetsk Alatau is determined by its position in the mobile zone of junction with the structures of Kuzbass. The beginning of the differentiation of the named structures dates to the Early Paleozoic, as evidenced by the presence of two types of sections of Lower Cambrian formations: carbonate in the area of the Usa and Talanovka rivers, and effusive-terrigenous along the Edinisu River and near the village of Pezas. Their further separation dates to the Upper Cambrian–Lower Ordovician, as indicated by the presence of Lower Ordovician terrigenous-effusive rocks in the Taidon graben and in small tectonic blocks of the Pezas horst, and by the absence of coeval deposits within the Kiya–Ters’ horst. The principal disjunctive structure is the Kuznetsk-Alatau fault, extending from the foothills of the Gorny Altai to the Chulym–Yenisei depression and having a long history of development (Dolgushin, 1969), during which it became more complex and grew through the branching disjunctive zones of lower orders, substantially affecting the general structural plan of the area and its metallogeny. In the area under consideration it is represented as branched. At the latitude of the Lower Ters’ River, two of its branches adjoin its principal suture structure from the northwest.

western, complexly built disjunctive zones—the Bayanzas-Kozhukhovskaya and the Pezassko-Osipovskaya (Fig. 1). The first serves as the boundary between the Pezas horst and the Taidon graben; the second separates Kuzbass from the Pezas horst. From the east, along the main suture line of the fault, carbonate and terrigenous-effusive metamorphosed rocks are observed, composing the Kiisko-Tersinsk horst. From the west—effusive-sedimentary deposits of the Ordovician; in the north (the basin of the Kozhukh River) Upper Cambrian effusive-sedimentary formations occur; the Taidon graben is composed of the rocks of these subdivisions. In plan view the latter has a wedge-shaped form; its greatest width is in the north (the upper reaches of the Ulumanda River), 12–15 km; toward the south it narrows and at the latitude of the village of Pezas does not exceed the first hundreds of meters, then, still farther south, expands to the first kilometers. This horst-synclinal structure, at the latitude of the village of Pezas and in the basin of the middle course of the Taidon River, plunges beneath the productive sequences of Kuzbass, and in the north beneath the Meso-Cenozoic formations of the Chulym-Yenisei depression. The western boundary of the Pezas horst is the stepwise-built Pezassko-Osipovskaya zone of faults, along which this structure is coupled with the Permo-Carboniferous deposits of Kuzbass, and in places with Lower–Middle Devonian effusive-terrigenous formations.

The complex history of development of the Kuznetsk-Alatau fault is confirmed by the presence of small blocks (the basin of the Taidon River), composed of carbonate-terrigenous sediments of the Lower Carboniferous and Lower Triassic, which are situated among Ordovician formations. In addition, in the Bungarap structure, bordering the Pezassko-Osipovskaya fault zone, basalt sills occur in the tuffaceous-sedimentary sequence of the Lower Triassic. In the lower course of the Bayanzas River, at the western boundary of the Bayanzas-Kozhukhovskaya tectonic zone, beds of Lower Triassic deposits in the near-fault part are intensely crumpled, and their dip angles reach 70–80°, or they even occur in overturned bedding; at some distance from the fault they dip gently (6–12°) to the east.

The Taidon graben, the Pezas horst, and other smaller structures, in turn, have a complex tectonic structure; within them submeridional faults (coinciding in direction with the main ones) and latitudinal faults are recorded. In size they are insignificant, but nevertheless they played a definite role in the history of geological development.

Thus, above we have noted large disjunctive zones and smaller faults. Since the main suture line of the Kuznetsk-Alatau fault and its western branches are located at the boundary of two large heterogeneous structures (the Kuznetsk depression and the Kuznetsk Alatau), there are grounds to suppose that this zone is deeply rooted and that, naturally, the emergence of ore-bearing hydrothermal solutions into near-surface conditions is associated with it. In its development it (the zone) influenced the character of plicative dislocations of the ancient and young formations of the district; intrusive formations of different ages and different composition are associated with it. The amplitude of vertical displacements along the faults is considerable; thus, in the segment between the Sayanas and Alzas rivers, where formations of the Upper Proterozoic and Lower Ordovician are in contact, it is no less than 4–5 km, and for the Pezassko-Osipovskaya zone it is even greater.

Faults of lower orders were ore-distributing and ore-localizing; in a number of cases they delimit small tectonic blocks of Upper Paleozoic and Lower Triassic deposits (the left bank of the Taidon River). Vertical and horizontal displacements along them are insignificant, and in a number of cases are absent.

The long history of the tectonic development of the district in a distinctive way

![Geological map/diagram of the northwestern part of the Kuznetsk Alatau]

Diagram of the geological structure of the northwestern part of the Kuznetsk Alatau

Compiled by B. A. Snezhko and A. D. Minin from materials of L. V. Alabin, A. Ya. Vilister, I. P. Ivonin, O. G. Korsak, G. M. Kupsik, A. I. Mostovsky, O. I. Nikonov, A. I. Skomorokhov, and M. P. Taraimovich, with our additions.

1 — Quaternary deposits; 2 — Middle Jurassic deposits; 3 — Triassic tuffaceous sandstones, tuffaceous conglomerates, siltstones, basalts; 4 — Permo-Carboniferous sandstones, siltstones, tuffaceous sandstones, gravelites, limestones; 5 — Devonian sandstones, siltstones, conglomerates, lavas and tuffs of basic and intermediate composition, marls; 6 — Lower Ordovician sandstones, tuffaceous sandstones, siltstones, lavas of basic, intermediate, and acidic composition, limestones, conglomerates; 7 — Upper Cambrian argillites, siltstones, sandstones, and gravelites; 8 — Middle Cambrian lavas and tuffs of basic composition, sandstones, siltstones, conglomerates; 9 — Lower Cambrian limestones, porphyrites, tuffs; 10 — Upper Proterozoic–Lower Cambrian undifferentiated. Albite-epidote-hornfels schists, porphyritoids; 11 — Upper Proterozoic marbled limestones with interbeds of schists, quartzites, and lenses of dolomites; 12 — Devonian granites, granosyenites, syenites, gabbro; 13 — Ordovician granites, granodiorites, diorites; 14 — Lower–Middle Cambrian gabbro, gabbro-pyroxenites, serpentinites, diorites; 15 — a) faults; b) geological boundaries; 16 — areas of occurrence of cinnabar mineralization: a) in primary occurrence, b) in placers; I — Taidon graben; II — Pezas horst; III — Kuznetsk depression.

was reflected in the form and size of plicative structures. Thus, among the Upper Proterozoic deposits there are large brachyform folds up to 15 km wide (the Bayanzas syncline), the limbs of which are complicated by smaller (down to decimeter-scale) folds. The Ordovician strata are gathered into folds up to 1000 m wide; their limbs are often complicated by flexure-like bends. Devonian formations are weakly dislocated and in a number of places form asymmetric brachyform structures (the near-mouth part of the Taidon River). Carboniferous and Triassic deposits are weakly lithified; their beds dip monoclinally eastward at angles of 5–15° (the Taidon—Bayanzas interfluve).

East of the Kuznetsk-Alatau fault, Middle Paleozoic formations have been established only in the Talanov and Rastai grabens, as well as along the Kozhukh River. West of the named fault (Fig. 1) they occupy the dominant position. Apparently, after Middle Devonian time the eastern and western parts developed quite separately; this is indicated by the relatively wide distribution of Carboniferous deposits, and in isolated cases Triassic deposits, within the Taidon graben and the Pezas horst, and by their absence in the Kiia-Ters structure. The presence of Ostrog oligomictic conglomerates, containing pebbles of quartzite and quartz, indicates that the principal supplier of material was the Kiia-Ters horst, which was characterized by ascending movements. The absence of pebbles of Ordovician or Devonian effusive rocks in the Ostrog sediments testifies to an accumulative stage in the development of the Taidon graben.

Lower Triassic formations within the Taidon graben have been preserved only in tectonic blocks, whereas west of the Pezas horst they are widely distributed. In the conglomerates of this sequence, 90% of the pebbles consist of Lower Ordovician porphyrites, which quite definitely indicates the existence of a block structure of the Taidon graben before Early Triassic time.

Tectonic movements in the zone of junction of the Kuznetsk Alatau and Kuzbass are continuing; vivid evidence of this is the clearly expressed geomorphological scarp in the zone of the Kuznetsk-Alatau fault.

Magmatism. The intrusive formations of the northwestern part of the Kuznetsk Alatau are situated along meridional zones of disjunctive disturbances. The times of their manifestation are different. Volcanic activity also occurred at different times; its products make up the principal masses of Lower Ordovician and Devonian rocks. The presence of effusive material is noted in the Upper Carboniferous and Lower Triassic deposits. In the area of the Buntar structure, basalts are widely distributed, assigned by various investigators to cover facies or to sills (N. V. Neutrievskaya, 1960; V. I. Yavorskii, 1957; A. M. Kuz’min, 1964, 1969).

The most ancient intrusive formations are small, linearly elongated or isometric (Mt. Bol. Zelenaya) bodies of gabbro, gabbro-pyroxenites, serpentinites, and diorites of Lower–Middle Cambrian age. Their main mass is confined to the western contact of the Pezas horst. A characteristic feature of the rocks is genetically associated titanium-magnetite mineralization and somewhat elevated amounts of accessory apatite.

The next group consists of Ordovician (Salair) granites, granodiorites, and diorites, composing (Distanova, 1965; Alabin, 1966) a formation of granite batholiths of variegated composition. The Kundat, Tsentralninskii, and Kozhukhovskii massifs of the indicated formation are spatially confined to the principal zone of the Kuznetsk-Alatau fault; the first two occur as linearly elongated bodies in the Kiia-Ter-

...the Siinskaya structure, the latter in the Taidon graben among Lower Ordovician deposits. The Olginsky massif is located in the north of the Pezass horst at the western contact of the Bayanzas–Kozhukhovskaya fault zone. Gold mineralization is associated with the rocks of the formation; it occurs in quartz veins genetically related to the massif (Kortusov, 1961). In the northern part of the Kundat massif, a scheelite occurrence is known, confined to quartz–carbonate veins.

The formations of the Lower–Middle Devonian gabbro–syenite complex are comparatively limited in distribution (Kortusov, 1962). A typical representative of this complex, the Mt. Pestroy massif, is situated on the left bank of the Taidon River, north of the Alzas River, in the Kiya–Ters structure. It consists of granosyenites, syenites, and, more rarely, alkaline syenites. Similar formations are noted in the Pezass structure near the headwaters of the Kozhukh River, close to the Pezass–Osipovskaya and Bayanzas–Kozhukhovskaya zones of disjunctive dislocations. No useful minerals genetically related to the rocks of the complex have been established.

Among the effusive–sedimentary formations of the Lower Ordovician and Devonian, researchers (N. I. Urazlin, 1968; A. I. Skomorokhov, 1964) describe dikes of plagioclase–andesite–basalt porphyries, diabases, and dolerites; their age characteristics vary. Thus, for example, those varieties that were observed in the areas of distribution of Devonian deposits are dated to Devonian time, while the formation of others is conditionally assigned to the Ordovician or Devonian.

In the basin of the middle course of the Verkhnyaya Ters River and in other places, diabases cut Permian deposits and are dislocated together with them in a single plan (V. I. Yavorsky, 1957; N. V. Neutrievskaya, 1960).

Near the Saltymakovsky Range, south of it, and also in small tectonic blocks of the Taidon graben, basalts are widely distributed. The position of the basalts is interpreted in different ways. N. V. Neutrievskaya (1960) points to their sheet-like character, but does not exclude sills; V. I. Yavorsky (1957) unambiguously assigns the basalts to sills. Among them occur well-crystallized varieties of dolerites and microdolerites. M. A. Usov (1940) pointed to alteration of rocks in the footwall and hanging wall of the basalts. Accepting the viewpoint that the basalts have a sill-like mode of occurrence, one may speak of their later—post–Lower Triassic—formation (A. M. Kuzmin, 1964, 1969).

Cinnabar and its relation to tectonic structures. Mercury mineralization is confined to the Kuznetsk–Alatau fault zone and appeared at the junction of two major structures of Kuzbass and the Kuznetsk Alatau. V. A. Kuznetsov (1953, 1958), studying the regularities in the distribution of mercury mineralization in the Altai–Sayan folded region, distinguished the Kuznetsk mercury zone and highly assessed its prospects. In later years, in the northern part of the zone, cinnabar was discovered over a broad area, and at the same time its connection was established with the Bayanzas–Kozhukhovskaya and Pezass–Osipovskaya zones of disjunctive dislocations.

Within the first zone, cinnabar was discovered in variegated effusive–sedimentary formations of the Lower Ordovician in the interfluve of the Bayanzas and Sayanzas rivers, in the headwaters of the Andreevka River, on the right bank of the Bezymyanka River, in the headwaters of the Ulumanda River, on the right bank of the Severny Kozhukh River, in Upper Proterozoic carbonate rocks along Vstrechny Creek and on the left bank of the Alorya River, and among carbonate Lower Carboniferous rocks in the basin of the Alorya River. The spatial relationship of the listed mineralization sites with the zone of junction of the Pezass horst and the Taidon graben served as the basis for assigning them to the Bayanzas–Kozhukhovskaya subzone, which is the western constituent of the Kuznetsk mercury zone. The named subzone extends for 100 km from the Izass River in the south to

R. Severny Kozhukh in the north, and along its entire extent cinnabar, either ore-grade or in placers, is encountered almost everywhere.

In the Pezassko-Osinovskaya tectonic zone, cinnabar is present in tuffaceous formations of the Lower Cambrian on the left bank of the R. Sayanzas near Mt. Nikolskaya; among Lower Ordovician effusive-sedimentary rocks in the upper reaches of the rivers Taimenka, Kedrovka, and Kuchumanda; in the basin of the R. Belaya Osinovaya among Lower Carboniferous terrigenous-carbonate formations and volcanogenic-sedimentary rocks of the Middle Cambrian; and also along the R. Zalomnaya in Lower Devonian formations. In addition, the Pezasskoye and Beloosinovskoye mercury deposits occur in this structure. The above-listed areas with mercury mineralization and deposits, confined to the Pezassko-Osinovskaya fault zone, are assigned by us to the mercury-ore subzone of the same name.

In the southern part of the Pezass horst, where the Bayanzas-Kozhukhovskaya and Pezassko-Osinovskaya rupture structures branch off from it, I. P. Ivonin (1968) discovered signs of cinnabar in the field of development of Permo-Carboniferous deposits. In tectonic blocks on the left bank of the R. Kozhukh, composed of Lower Ordovician sandstones and siltstones, the mercury mineralization is associated with the main suture structure of the Kuznetsk-Alatau fault.

In the Bayanzas-Kozhukhovskaya subzone, cinnabar is localized directly along low-thickness fractures, along which bleaching of the rocks (tuff conglomerates, gravelites, albitophyres) and their kaolinization are observed. Diabase dikes healing the fractures prove to be hydrothermally altered—calcitized and kaolinized—and cinnabar, together with calcite, is deposited along fractures in cavities. In gravelites and tuffaceous sandstones, cinnabar fills pores and small fractures. At one of the sites in the basin of the R. Alorya, interbedded Lower Ordovician siltstones, tuffaceous sandstones, and tuff-conglomerates are crumpled into an asymmetrical fold of submeridional trend about 100 m wide, with limb dips of 10–30°. On the eastern limb of the fold, 50 m from its axial part, a fracture zone 2 m thick with mercury mineralization of veinlet-disseminated character was observed among tuffaceous sandstones. The dip of the zone is eastward (concordant with the dip of the rock beds) at an angle of 25–30°. In order to determine the depth of contamination by mercury mineralization of the rocks of the wall and the “footwall” of the fracture zone, samples were taken across its strike at one-meter intervals; spectral analysis of these samples showed the presence of mercury in amounts of \(2—1 \cdot 10^{-5}\%\) at 2, 3, and 8 meters east of the zone and \(3—1 \cdot 10^{-5}\%\) at 6, 8, 9, 17, 18, and 20 meters west of it, while at 10 meters its content is \(3 \cdot 10^{-4}\%\).

Six hundred meters to the northwest, in the same formations, cinnabar was identified in the form of a monomineral veinlet up to 3 centimeters thick. It is localized at the hanging wall of a diabase dike. In this case the diabases heal a fracture zone about 2 meters thick at the contact of siltstones and tuff-conglomerates. The strike of the zone is northwestern and coincides with the strike of the rocks, while its dip is opposite (southwestern). We sampled the rocks across the strike of the fracture zone. West of the latter, 200 samples were taken at one-meter intervals, and to the east—50; all of them were analyzed chemically and spectrally. The analyses showed that the entire 250-meter belt of rocks contains cinnabar mineralization, distributed quite uniformly—the mercury content ranges from thousandths to the first hundredths of a percent.

Five kilometers to the south, in the upper reaches of the R. Alorya, in the field of development of Ordovician albitophyres, the greatest concentrations of cinnabar of veinlet, disseminated, and microstockwork character are confined to small fracture zones and areas of their intersections. Mineraliza-

the rocks prove to be crushed, bleached, carbonatized, and hematitized. Here, as in the first cases, an increased concentration of cinnabar is confined to fractured zones.

On the right bank of the Severnïy Kozhukh River, cinnabar has been discovered in dikes of felsite-porphyries (which fill submeridional fractures in Lower Ordovician andesite porphyrites). A. I. Skomorokhov (1964), who carried out investigations of this area, noted hydrothermal alteration of the dike rocks, expressed in their bleaching, carbonatization, limonitization, and sulfidization.

Within the areas of cinnabar mineralization, zinc, lead, copper, and barium are determined by spectral analysis in lithochemical samples and in samples of cover loams. The presence of barite is established in heavy-mineral samples. In a number of cases, the dispersion halos of the indicated elements coincide with the dispersion halos of mercury, but in most cases these two types of dispersion halos are separated. Thus, for example, in the Bayanzas–Bezymyanka interfluve, copper mineralization (chalcopyrite, chalcocite, bornite) is localized in diabase porphyrites at a considerable distance from the sites of cinnabar localization.

In the basin of the Alory River, along the Nekrasovskiy brook, a heavy-mineral halo of cinnabar is situated among carbonate rocks of the Upper Proterozoic and Lower Carboniferous; somewhat farther east the same halo is established among Lower Ordovician effusive-sedimentary rocks. In the same area a metallometric halo of mercury is distinguished; its boundaries coincide with the heavy-mineral halo.

In the Pezassko-Osinovskaya subzone, cinnabar is localized in rocks of various ages (from Triassic to Upper Proterozoic) and lithologically different rocks. The mineralization is controlled by fractures that feather the fault zone of the same name. As in the Bayanzas–Kozhukh subzone, the mineralization does not extend for any considerable distance from the fault zones. Its greatest concentration is confined to areas where faults converge, overlapping en echelon and creating a block structure in which formations of different ages participate. Of special interest are areas where younger sediments lie gently upon intensely dislocated oldest deposits (N. I. Urazlin, 1968), or where the feathering fractures, wedging out, die away in weakly dislocated rocks of the productive sequence of the Kuzbass or in carbonate rocks regardless of their age.

Analysis of the factual material permits the view that a favorable factor for the localization of cinnabar is a widely and intensely manifested fault tectonics near zones of major deep-seated faults. As is known, in weakly dislocated dense rocks mercury mineralization extends, at best, for the first tens of meters; the example given above is confirmation of this. Consequently, the presence of dying-out fractures and small flexural bends in a sequence of lithologically different rocks, where interbed detachment with the formation of cavities can be ensured (communication of these cavities by shearing fractures with the ore-distributing structures is necessary in this case), may constitute excellent repositories for mercury sulfide.

In addition, for the area characterized it is exceptionally important to determine the place of intersection of ore-localizing fractures, to which the maximum quantity of cinnabar is confined (the basin of the Alory River).

It was noted above that, in areas of manifestation of mercury mineralization, copper, zinc, and lead are present in insignificant quantities. It appears to us that in this case there is only a spatial coincidence, in a long-lived mobile zone, of halos named—

Table 1

* The names of rocks including ore mineralization and their age are given after V. A. Kuznetsov (1953). Analyses were carried out in the laboratory of the West Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR; methods: colorimetry, graphite, niobium, tantalum, indium, cerium, gallium, uranium, thorium, kryptine, barium; gold and platinum analyses were not detected.

elements and mercury, since the physicochemical conditions for the formation of their mineral associations are entirely different. The cinnabar of the northwestern part of the Kuznetsk Alatau is predominantly crystalline, blood-red in color; its powdery varieties are very rare. On the right bank of the Alorya River, in tuffaceous sandstones, native mercury is present together with cinnabar.

It was noted above that mercury mineralization in the northwestern part of the Kuznetsk Alatau is localized directly in zones of fault disturbances among rocks of different ages; the same is also characteristic of the Salair (the Alambai occurrence among Upper Proterozoic formations, the Togul occurrence in Middle Cambrian formations). However, metallometric halos of mercury, placer halos of cinnabar, ore occurrences and deposits, as well as, in general, mercury-ore subzones, coincide quite clearly (see figure) with zones of fault disturbances. Consequently, the ore-forming process may be considered single-act, and its control tectonic.

We selected a monomineralic fraction of cinnabar from deposits of Gorny Altai, Salair, and the Pezassko-Osipovskaya and Bayanzas-Kozhukhovskaya subzones (Table 1). Spectral analysis of the samples shows that cinnabar from all deposits contains a small amount of copper, and, except for the Pezasskoye and Sarasinskoye deposits, lead and silver. Manganese, nickel, cobalt, and titanium are characteristic of almost all analyzed samples. A comparability is observed in the composition of cinnabar from the Beloosipovskoye and Partizanskoye deposits; the difference consists only in the fact that 0.007% chromium was detected in cinnabar from the former, whereas it is absent in the latter. In Beloosipovskoye there is arsenic, but no antimony or bismuth; in Partizanskoye it is the opposite.

We realize that, on the basis of the results of eight analyses, it is very difficult to draw any conclusions; nevertheless, the table gives, to some degree, a clear picture of the element-by-element composition of cinnabar from different deposits, according to which they can be divided into three groups: 1—Sarasinskoye, Aktashskoye, Chagan-Uzunskoye (Gorny Altai); 2—Beloosipovskoye, Andreyevskoye, Partizanskoye (northern part of the Kuznetsk mercury zone); 3—Alambaiskoye (Salair). All of them are located in different mercury-ore zones. Certain differences in the content, presence, or absence of particular elements in samples from different deposits are apparently explained by the metallogenic character of the enclosing rocks, from which these elements could have been borrowed during the process of hydrothermal alteration.

Taking into account the single-act process of cinnabar mineralization, its presence among Lower Triassic deposits, and its confinement to zones of fault disturbances, one can state with sufficient confidence a post-Triassic age for the mercury mineralization (the viewpoint of Mesozoic mercury mineralization was expressed by V. A. Kuznetsov as early as 1939) and its possible genetic connection with the final stages of volcanism, whose basaltoid formations are widely distributed among the Triassic deposits of the Bungarap structure.

A. M. Kuzmin, taking into account the accumulation of enormous thicknesses of Mesozoic sediments on the territory of the future Kuzbass in an intermontane trough, believes that this important circumstance led to the formation, along the eastern, southeastern, and western margins of Kuzbass, of deep fault zones and to the uplift of basaltic magma in the form of sills of varying thickness and even of gently dipping dikes, favoring the formation of sills and of the Saltymak laccolith. The connection of mercury mineralization with the trap formation is indicated by the discovery of cinnabar, by the author of these lines, in samples of Beloosipovka granular traps collected by graduate student Kuznetsov.

Conclusions

Studies of the localization of mercury mineralization in the northwestern part of the Kuznetsk Alatau have made it possible to establish that cinnabar is present in all varieties of rocks within the zones of faults and is controlled by the latter.

A clear separation has been outlined of two mercury subzones in the northern part of the Kuznetsk zone—the Bayanzas-Kozhukhovskaya and Pezassko-Osipovskaya, bearing the same names as the zones of faults.

Mercury mineralization in the area characterized manifested itself in a single act in post-Triassic time.

Literature

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2. A. N. Distanova. The Martaiga granitoid complex. In the collection: “Magmatic formations of the Altai-Sayan folded region.” Moscow, “Nedra,” 1965.

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