2005 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.

Economic Geology, v. 100, pp. 13251347

The Environment of Vein Formation and Ore Deposition in the

Purisima-Colon Vein System, Pachuca Real del Monte District, Hidalgo, Mexico*
JOHN E. DREIER
13790 Braun Road, Golden, Colorado 80401

Abstract
The Pachuca Real del Monte district is a leading example of a low total sulfide epithermal vein-type silver
district. In its 500-year history, Pachuca has produced about 40 106 kg of silver from more than 100 million
metric tons (Mt) of ore at an average total sulfide content of about 1 wt percent. Hosting the more than 100
veins of the district are calc-alkalic series volcanic rocks of Oligocene-mid Miocene age that total about 2,700
m in thickness. K-Ar dating of the volcanic rocks and the veins indicates that the veins formed within ~1 m.y.
of the termination of volcanism at about 21 Ma.
The present study is of the north-southtrending Purisima-Colon vein system of the Pachuca Real del Monte
district where field, petrographic, and fluid inclusion studies provide a three-dimensional and time transgressive
view of vein formation and important clues to the genesis of the general class of low total sulfide silver veins. The
Purisima-Colon vein deposits are located in a high-angle normal fault system where vertical offset varies sys-
tematically from ~30 m in the center to nil at the north and south ends. The fault system is blind and its top de-
scribes a concave downward arc, the highest point coinciding with the area of maximum offset and the lowest
points, at the distal north and south ends, with the least offset. The top of the fault transitions upward into a zone
of distributed fracturing that extends upward an additional 300 to 350 m. Illite-pyrite-calcite-chlorite alteration
pervades the zone of distributed fracturing above the fault, whereas propylitic alteration dominates wall rocks
below the top of the fault. Ore-grade silver mineralization is within a 650-m vertical interval that extends down-
ward from the top of the vein to a bottom determined by silver grade. The vein system is vertically zoned, from
the top down, with respect to thickness, sulfide content, and silver grade as follows: (1) an upper zone of 50-m
vertical extent in which the vein is <0.5 m wide and has low total sulfides (<<1 wt %) and low Ag grade (<100
g/t), (2) an intermediate zone of about 100-m vertical extent that averages 0.5 to 1 m wide and contains low to
moderate sulfides (1 wt %) and low to moderate Ag values (150300 g/t), (3) a main ore zone of 350-m verti-
cal extent in which the vein is 2 to 5 m wide and contains moderate to high sulfides (averages 12 wt %), and
high to moderate Ag values (5002,000 g/t), and (4) a lower zone of unknown vertical extent (extending >500 m
below the mine workings) that is similar to the main ore zone but contains only base metal sulfides.
The veins developed in four stages: (1) brecciation of the host rock, (2) a silicate stage, (3) an ore stage, and
(4) a postore stage. Stage 1, brecciation of the host rock, took place prior to the onset of hydrothermal activity
when broken wall rocks accumulated in openings produced by separation of the fault walls. Stage 2, the silicate
stage, is dominated by various forms of fine-grained to microcrystalline quartz and chalcedony plus coarse-
grained crystalline quartz, johansennite, K-feldspar, albite, clinozoisite, epidote, and hematite. Petrographic and
fluid inclusion data indicate that much of the fine-grained to microcrystalline quartz and chalcedony of stage 2
was precipitated rapidly from <180C fluids that were supersaturated to highly supersaturated with silica,
whereas the coarse-grained crystalline quartz and associated johansennite, K-feldspar, and clinozoisite precipi-
tated from fluids at near-quartz saturation and at temperatures of 230 to 310C. The coarse crystalline quartz
was deposited by fluids that ascended the veins along the boiling curve, as evidenced by all-vapor fluid inclusion
assemblages and by fluid homogenization temperatures plotted versus depth; PCO2 for the silicate-stage fluids
was <102 bar and PO2 was in the hematite field. Fluid inclusion ice-melting temperatures from quartz, adularia,
epidote, and johansennite average ~1 wt percent NaCl equiv (range = 04 wt % NaCl equiv). The silicate-stage
mineral assemblage, quartz + adularia + clinozoisite, in conjunction with fluid homogenization and freezing data,
indicates that the silicate stage was deposited from low-salinity, oxidizing, neutral pH hydrothermal fluids simi-
lar to the equilibrated, deeply circulated meteoric fluids of modern dilute, neutral pH geothermal systems.
The ore stage was deposited at 270 to 300C by fluids that were acid, of moderate salinity, and which did
not deposit silica or quartz except at the very beginning of the ore stage or as very local alteration products of
johansennite. Sulfides were precipitated mainly by fluid-rock reactions in which wall rocks and stage 2 alumino-
silicate minerals were altered or totally replaced by sulfides + illite + kaolinite + carbonate + Mg-chlorite. Ore-
stage fluids, with salinity in the range of 5 to 7 wt percent NaCl equiv, resemble the magmatic fluids of
Giggenbach (1997) diluted by one to two parts of equilibrated meteoric fluids. Whereas most sulfides precip-
itated from water-rock reactions, sulfides lining vugs probably precipitated due to cooling and/or dilution.
The separate quartz and sulfide deposition at Pachuca is believed to be a common feature of silver-domi-
nant epithermal veins based on descriptions of other mineral deposits of this type. This observation suggests
that the absence of quartz at Pachuca may be a defining feature of this class of deposits and might provide im-
portant clues to the ultimate source of the metals. The separate genesis of quartz and ore-stage minerals also
requires caution when applying the results of fluid inclusion studies in quartz to problems of ore transport and
deposition in such systems.
E-mail, jedreier@att.net

*The Appendix is available electronically at <www.segweb.org/EG/papers/Abs100-7_files/DreierAppendix.pdf>

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1326
Introduction
THE PACHUCA REAL DEL MONTE district (Pachuca), located
in Hidalgo, Mexico, about 90 km north of Mexico City (Fig.
1), is one of the worlds great mining camps. Renowned for its
great bonanzas and very large silver production, it remains ac-
tive today nearly 500 years after discovery. Based on mineral-
ogy, sulfide content, and environment of formation, Pachuca
is classified as a low total sulfide epithermal Ag vein district
(also referred to as low sulfidation, adularia-sericite, or low
sulfur epithermal by Bonham, 1986; Heald et al., 1987; and
White and Hedenquist 1990; or intermediate sulfidation by
Hedenquist et al., 2000). Pachucas metal production of 40.4
106 kg (1.3 109 oz) Ag, 187,000 kg (6 106 oz) Au and 1
106 t of Zn + Pb + Cu (Geyne et al., 1963, 1990; Real del
Monte Company, unpub. data) is the largest among low total
sulfide epithermal Ag vein deposits.
The district contains hundreds of productive veins spread
out over an area of more than 70 km2, but most of the Ag pro-
duction and all of the bonanzas were in three compact sub-
districts: (1) western Vizcaina-Santa Ana-Maravillas, (2) Real
del Monte, and (3) Santa Gertrudis (Fig. 2). Considering the
size of the district and the large number of veins, the mineral
deposits are remarkably consistent in form, mineralogy,
grade, structure, paragenesis, and vertical extent. In keeping
with this general uniformity, results of detailed studies of vein
mineralogy, paragenesis, and structure by Bastin (1948),
Wisser (1948), and Geyne et al. (1963) showed that district-
wide vein formation was simultaneous and that sulfide min-
eralization was a single event. The veins fill open zones in
FIG. 1. Regional geologic map of the Pachuca district modified from Geyne et al. (1963). Locations of veins outside the
district are from Wisser (1964) and unpublished sources. Trans-Mexico volcanic province is modified from Suter et al. (2001)
and Henry and Aranda-Gomez (1992).
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JOHN E. DREIER
normal faults and are generally coextensive with wall-rock
breccias, although several important veins were actually
lodes. Principal vein minerals are quartz, chalcedony, jo-
hansennite, K-feldspar, base metal sulfides, and argentite.
Overall, the total sulfide content of the veins is about 1 per-
cent by weight and recoverable metals up to about 1950 av-
eraged 350g/t Ag, 0.5 percent Zn, 0.05 percent Pb, and 0.01
percent Cu (McGrath, 1950; Geyne et al., 1963).
The great size and richness of the bonanzas at Pachuca
compelled early and prolonged study, beginning with Burkart
(1836) and including important contributions by Aguilera et
al. (1897), Ordonez and Rangel (1899), Ordonez (1902),
Wisser (1937, 1941a, b, 1942, 1946, 1948, 1951, 1964),
Thornburg (1945, 1952), Bastin (1948), and Geyne et al.
(1963). The Geyne et al. (1963) study, conducted from 1949
to 1963 as a joint investigation by the Compania de Real del
Monte y Pachuca and the U.S. Geological Survey, was the cul-
mination of an intensive geologic investigation of the district
begun in about 1920. It is a detailed report of the stratigraphy,
structure, and mineralization of an area exceeding 120 km2
and a more generalized geologic evaluation of the surround-
ing 4,000 km2. The present study is part of an ongoing effort
(Dreier, 1976, 1982, 1984; McKee et al., 1992) to extend the
work of Geyne et al. (1963) by investigating fluid inclusions,
vein mineral relationships, wall-rock alteration, geochronol-
ogy, and structural aspects of vein control at Pachuca and
other low total sulfide epithermal Ag veins.
This paper reports the results of a study of the mineralogy,
structure, fluid inclusions, and wall-rock alteration of the
Purisima-Colon vein system of the Real del Monte subdistrict
1326
 PURISIMA-COLON VEIN SYSTEM, PACHUCA REAL DEL MONTE DISTRICT, MEXICO 1327

FIG. 2. Vein map of the Pachuca district modified from Geyne et al. (1963). Veins: C = Colon, D = Dios Te Guie, M =
Maravillas, P = Purisima, SG = Santa Gertrudis, SI = Santa Ines, T = Tapona, V = Vizcaina. Highlighted areas, 1 (western
Vizcaina-Santa Ana-Maravillas), 2 (Real del Monte), and 3 (Santa Gertrudis), show the most intensely mineralized parts of
the district and the loci of the great bonanzas. Heavy lines = veins, light lines = postmineral faults. The datum planes for the
western and eastern halves of the district are taken at the elevations of maximum data and the greatest extent of mine work-
ings for each half.

(Figs. 2, 3). With an estimated Ag production of 2.4 to 3.3 M
kg (77100 Moz) and a ~1 Mt bonanza grading >1.5 kg/t Ag,
the Purisima-Colon vein system was among the greatest dis-
coveries of the district. The system was also undisturbed by
supergene oxidation and leaching, it was reasonably accessi-
ble in mine workings (Fig. 3D), it was well tested by drilling,
and the rocks above it were widely exposed in outcrop.
Over the past 30 years or so, many published studies have
focused on the general class of epithermal veins and the
smaller class of low total sulfide epithermal Ag veins. Heald
et al. (1987) summarized the results of fluid inclusion melting
point depression studies carried out on low total sulfide ep-
ithermal Ag veins by ONeil and Silberman (1974), Dreier
(1976), Buchannan (1979), Vikre (1980), and Fahley (1981)
and deduced that low total sulfide Ag veins were formed from
neutral pH, low-salinity (<3 wt % NaCl equiv) hydrothermal
solutions. This conclusion was generally supported by White
and Hedenquist (1990) and by the study of Clarke and Titley
(1988). However, the results of fluid inclusion studies at
Creede, Colorado (Barton et al., 1977), a comparative analy-
sis of epithermal Ag and Au systems in Heald et al. (1987),
including Creede, Julcani, Lake City, Goldfield, and the
Finlandia vein and fluid inclusion studies at Fresnillo, Za-
catecas, and elsewhere in Mexico (Simmons et al., 1988; Al-
binson, 1995; Albinson et al., 2001), indicate a complex his-
tory of vein formation involving multiple compositionally
distinct hydrothermal fluids of up to 14 wt percent NaCl
equiv. The principal mechanisms invoked for Ag deposition
were boiling, dilution, and cooling (Heald et al., 1987; White
and Hedenquist, 1990), generally in that order. One of the
principal features of epithermal precious metals vein deposits
is their restriction to a relatively narrow vertical interval. In
the case of low total sulfide epithermal Ag deposits, the verti-
cal interval of Ag mineralization is generally <700 m (Heald
et al., 1987) and the top of the Ag horizon is variously ascribed
to (1) the presence of an overlying, mechanically incompetent
stratigraphic unit (Ferguson, 1921; Steven and Rattee, 1965),
(2) the development of a hydrothermally generated clay cap
above a boiling zone (Heald et al., 1987), or (3) boiling in an
open channel (Buchannan, 1979, 1980).
The objectives of this study were to determine if (1) the
Pachuca veins were formed from a neutral pH, low-salinity
fluid or by the interplay of several fluids, (2) the Ag was de-
posited by boiling, dilution, cooling or other processes, and

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1328 JOHN E. DREIER

FIG. 3. Longitudinal projections of the Purisima-Colon vein system. A. Geology and mined areas and vein map of the
450-m level. Geology was projected from geologic maps and cross sections of Geyne et al. (1963). The stope outlines are from
the mine database and the vein map of the 450-m level is from mine level maps. B. Vein widths and vertical offsets on the
fault system. Vein widths were compiled from mine level maps and assay longitudinal projections. Vertical offsets, in meters,
on the fault system were compiled from maps and cross sections of Geyne et al. (1963) and show the vertical offset on the
fault at the approximate elevation of the 450-m level at the coordinate of each line. C. Ag grade distribution compiled from
mine assay longitudinal projections, diamond drill logs, and mine level maps. D. Locations of samples used in the study and
isotherms derived from maximum fluid inclusion homogenization temperatures of stage 2b quartz at the numbered sample
sites.

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 PURISIMA-COLON VEIN SYSTEM, PACHUCA REAL DEL MONTE DISTRICT, MEXICO
(3) the upper surface of the Ag horizon was controlled by
stratigraphy, a boiling-induced clay cap, or something else.
Neutral pH geothermal systems have been proposed as close
modern analogues to low total sulfide epithermal veins
(Ewers and Keys, 1977; White, 1981; Henley and Ellis, 1983;
Krupp and Seward, 1987, 1990; Spycher and Reed, 1989;
White and Hedenquist, 1990). One of the principal objectives
of this study was to compare and contrast the geochemistry of
low-salinity, neutral pH geothermal systems and the
Purisima-Colon vein forming fluids.
The study is based on field and underground mapping,
sampling of the Purisima-Colon vein system (Fig. 3D) and its
surrounding and overlying wall rocks, and logging and sam-
pling of several thousand meters of drill core. Vein mineral-
ogy was studied in more than 300 thin sections by standard
optical petrographic methods augmented by X-ray diffraction
and electron microprobe work, extending the work of Dreier
(1976, 1982). Vein mineral relationships and textures also
were studied in many mine workings and in several hundred
hand samples.
Geology
The Pachuca district occurs within a ~700 km2 Oligocene
to early Miocene calc-alkaline volcanic field located along the
northeastern edge of the Trans-Mexico volcanic province
(Delgado-Granados et al., 2000; Fig. 1). Rocks within the
Pachuca field range in composition from basaltic andesite to
rhyolite with andesite and dacite flows and flow breccias as
the principal components. A maximum thickness for the field
is about 2,400 m. The volcanic pile is divisible into a lower
succession of mostly intermediate composition flows and
breccias and subsidiary volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks of
generally uniform thickness comprising 75 percent of the
field, and an upper succession of dacite breccias and rhyolite
flows and tuffs of highly variable thickness making up the re-
mainder. The two successions are separated from each other
by an angular unconformity that locally cuts up to 1,000 m
from the lower succession (Geyne et al., 1963). Four sets of
east-westtrending dikes are cogenetic with the upper suc-
cession; the youngest dikes are feeders to volcanic domes.
Whereas the lower succession was deposited under condi-
tions of relative tectonic quiescence, the upper succession
records a history of episodic volcanism, erosion, warping, in-
trusion, and faulting. Geologic relationships indicate that
mineralization occurred at or near the end of the deposition
of the upper succession (Wisser, 1951; Geyne et al., 1963).
The close timing of volcanism, faulting, and mineralization
deduced from field observations is supported by K-Ar ages of
about 21.6 Ma for the youngest volcanic and intrusive rocks
of the upper succession (Geyne et al., 1990) and 20.3 Ma for
vein adularia from the Maravillas vein (McKee et al., 1992).
Rocks in the Pachuca volcanic field are cut by east-
westtrending normal faults with dips of 55 to 70 and verti-
cal offsets of up to 500 m and north-south normal faults with
dips >75 and maximum vertical offsets of only 30 m (Fig. 2).
The east-west faults are present throughout the district and
its surroundings, began their growth during the deposition of
the lower succession, and parallel the structural grain of the
Trans Mexico volcanic province (Henry and Aranda-Gomez,
1992; Suter et al., 2001). By contrast, the north-south normal
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1329
faults occur only in the Real del Monte area (Fig. 2) and were
active for a relatively brief period of time just prior to and
during mineralization.
Description of the Purisima-Colon Vein System
The Purisima-Colon vein system fills a complex north-
southtrending, 75 to 85 east-dipping normal fault system
extending from about 8,500 N to ~13,500 N (Figs. 2, 3A).
Vertical offset along the system ranges from a maximum of
about 30 m near 11,000 N to nil at both the north and south
ends (Fig. 3B). The vein system contained three main ore-
bodies: (1) the Colon orebody, which extended from about
8,800 N to 10,100 N and which continued to the northeast
along the La Rica vein for another 200 m past the orebody of
Figure 3A-C; (2) the main Purisima orebody, which extended
from 10,350 N to 11,350 N; (3) the north Purisima orebody,
which extended from 11,600 N to 12,450 N. With a strike
length of 1,000 m and a vertical extent of about 650 m, the
main Purisima orebody was the largest deposit of the three.
Separating the main Purisima and Colon orebodies is a struc-
turally complex region of narrow, low-grade to barren
stringers and unmineralized faults. Assay maps for different
mine levels in this region show Ag values mostly below 50 g/t,
in many places below 20 g/t, and in still more, the prospects
for commercial mineralization were judged so poor that sam-
ples were not taken. Between the main and north Purisima
orebodies, the Purisima fault is a narrow gouge zone that does
not contain vein material.
Mineralization
Commercial Ag mineralization, as defined by a ~200 g/t Ag
~1-m grade-thickness cutoff, occurs within a 650-m verti-
cal interval between 2,100 and 2,750 m above mean sea level
(Fig. 3A-C). Estimates from assay plans indicate an average
Ag grade of 350 to 400 g/t, or about the district average,
whereas scattered assays and observations at sample sites
(Fig. 3D) suggest that base metals grades were perhaps twice
the district average. Silver grades are strongly zoned in the
Purisima-Colon system (Figs. 3C, 4). The highest Ag grades
occur in the mid to mid-lower levels of the central Purisima
vein where they define a bonanza zone about 900 m long and
200 m high, averaging above 1.5 kg/t Ag. Away from the bo-
nanza zone, Ag values progressively diminish in all directions;
the lowest Ag grade zones are located at the top, bottom, and
distal ends of the system. Base metal values are also zoned,
but the absence of a global base metals database prohibits the
construction of base metal isocons. Scattered assay data and
qualitative observations reveal local areas of multipercent
combined base metals throughout the workings and suggest
that values are generally <1 percent in the upper mine levels
and ~2 to 4 percent below about 2,300 m (Aguilera et al.,
1897; Ordonez and Rangel, 1899; Turban, 1947; Wisser, 1948,
1951; Geyne, 1949). Comparison of Figure 3A and B indi-
cates a positive relationship between vein width and Ag
grade.
Deep drilling and an isopach diagram demonstrate that
the Purisima-Colon vein system persists to depth where silver
grades decrease (Fig. 3B, C) and base metal grades increase.
As the Purisima-Colon vein system and its base metals com-
ponent extend far below the bottom of the mine workings, the
1330 JOHN E. DREIER
FIG.. 4. Schematic cross section through the Purisima vein, showing av-
erage vein widths and the distribution of ore and alteration minerals. The di-
agram is based on mine assay longitudinal projections, level maps, core log-
ging, geologic mapping data in Geyne (1948) and Geyne et al. (1963), and a
description of vertical zoning of the adjacent north-south Santa Ines vein by
Wisser (1951).
Ag horizon evidently represents the top of a large, zoned min-
eral system dominated by Ag in the upper part and base met-
als in the lower part. The Purisima-Colon system is similar to
the adjacent Santa Ines vein where Wisser (1951) described
four vertical zones as follows: (1) an upper zone of 100- to
150-m vertical extent in which the vein is 0.5 m wide and con-
tains very sparse sulfides; (2) an intermediate zone of 50- to
100-m vertical extent in which the vein widens to 2 m and
contains moderately abundant sulfides; (3) a main ore zone of
~300-m vertical extent in which the vein is 5 to 8 m wide and
contains abundant sulfides; and (4) a lower zone of unknown
vertical extent (extending below workings and drill intercepts)
that is visually identical to zone 3 but contains only base metal
sulfides.
The top of the Ag horizon (Fig. 3A-C) coincides approxi-
mately with the pinchout point of the vein (Fig. 4), although,
locally, the vein extends 25 m or so above the top of the Ag
horizon. Based on mine mapping and core logging, the top of
the vein system occurs where the enclosing fault transforms
upward into a zone of distributed fracturing characterized by
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discontinuous quartz-calcite-pyrite veinlets (Fig. 4). Silver
grades in the fracture zone are 1 ppm and base metal con-
centrations are 200 ppm. The distributed fracturing and
quartz-calcite veining above the Purisima-Colon system are
typical of other studied structures in the district (Aguilera et
al., 1897; Ordonez and Rangel, 1899; Thornburg, 1945;
Wisser, 1951; Geyne et al., 1963; Geyne, 1968; Dreier, 1976,
1982). As a generalization, the width and intensity of fractur-
ing are greatest within 100 to 200 m above the vein and there-
after diminish with elevation up to 300 to 400 m above the top
of the vein system where they die out (Fig. 4). The absence of
fracturing and veining at high levels above the vein system is
confirmed by a surface traverse along the projected course of
the Colon vein at about 9,900 N where the top of the vein is
between 300 and 450 m below the surface (Fig. 3A). In that
area, the nearly continuous outcrops along the projected trace
of the vein consist of purple Vizcaina Formation andesite de-
void of faults, veins, and the oxidized remnants of sulfides.
The top of the Ag horizon forms a concave downward sur-
face that is unaffected by stratigraphic contacts, an unconfor-
mity, dikes, and faults. The highest point on the Ag horizon,
at about 11,000 N, coincides with the area of maximum offset
on the fault; at the lowest points, at the distal north and south
ends, the offset approaches nil (Fig. 3A-B).
Wall-rock alteration
Extending from the top of the Ag horizon down to the
deepest explored levels of the district, the wall rocks are
widely altered to the assemblage albite + K-feldspar + epi-
dote + chlorite + calcite + pyrite prehnite (Wisser, 1951;
Geyne et al., 1963; Dreier, 1982), with the most intense al-
teration occurring in fracture zones or permeable tuffs. Start-
ing about 100 to 150 m below the top of the Ag horizon along
the Purisima-Colon vein system, propylitic alteration adjacent
to the individual veins is overprinted by a 1- to 2-m selvage of
weak illite + pyrite + chlorite alteration and quartz-calcite
veining that increases upward in width and intensity. Pro-
ceeding upward, the illite selvage expands to 10 m and then,
near the top of the veins, to more than 50 m. As the zone ex-
pands in width, it changes from a light dusting of illite at the
bottom to an illite-pyrite (pyrite ~510 vol %)-chlorite rock
just above the top of the vein (Fig. 4). Above the top of the Ag
horizon, the zone of illite alteration coincides with the zone of
distributed fracturing and quartz-calcite veining.
Depth of formation of the silver horizon
For the Pachuca district as a whole, the highest points of
the silver horizon are located within the Vizcaina Formation,
the lowest formation of the upper succession. Based on strati-
graphic reconstructions of the formations overlying the Viz-
caina Formation at various locations, Geyne et al. (1963) esti-
mated that the highest points of the top of the Ag horizon
were originally located at a depth of about 300 m. They noted,
however, that their estimate was compromised by the highly
variable thickness of the upper succession and the effects of
faulting, tilting, and erosion. Based on maps and cross sec-
tions of Geyne et al. (1963), the highest point of the Ag hori-
zon on the Purisima-Colon vein system (11,000 N) is within
an area that is more deeply eroded than its surroundings; in
the area of 11,000 N, the Vizcaina Formation is about 300 m
 PURISIMA-COLON VEIN SYSTEM, PACHUCA REAL DEL MONTE DISTRICT, MEXICO 1331

thick and the top of the Ag horizon is about 100 m above the
bottom of the Vizcaina Formation. Measurements of strati-
graphic sections on cross sections of Geyne et al. (1963) show
that in surrounding areas where the full original thickness of
the Vizcaina Formation is preserved, it is between 500 and
600 m thick and is locally overlain by erosional remnants, 20
to 200 m in thickness, of rhyolite and volcaniclastic sedimen-
tary rocks of the upper succession; at the time of mineraliza-
tion, the upper rhyolites were probably thicker than they are
today. If, at the time of mineralization, the highest point of
the Ag horizon along the Purisima-Colon vein system was
covered by the original thickness of the Vizcaina Formation,
minus 100 m (the top of the vein is located ~100 m above the
bottom of the Vizcaina Formation) plus the full original thick-
ness of the overlying rhyolite, then the thickness of cover
above the top of the Ag horizon at the time of mineralization
would have been between 400 and 700 m, depending on local
conditions of erosion and deposition, with the most likely
depth range of 550 to 650 m.
Description of the Purisima-Colon Veins
Veins of the Purisima-Colon system are highly complex in
structure, consisting of angular rock fragments, fine-grained
matrix material, and multiple sets of stockworks and subpar-
allel veins. Study of these elements in mine workings and thin
sections reveals an evolving paragenesis (Figs. 5, 6; Aguilera
et al., 1897; Ordonez and Rangel, 1899; Thornburg, 1945;
Wisser, 1948; Geyne et al., 1963). Based on crosscutting rela-
tionships, the paragenesis is divisible into four stages: (1) rock
breccia, (2) silicate, (3) ore, and (4) postore (Figs. 5, 6A). In
order of abundance by volume, the veins are composed of
rock fragments (4060%), quartz-chalcedony (3040%), jo-
hansennite (515%), K-feldspar + albite (510%), and sul-
fides (12%). The principal ore mineral is argentite but spha-
lerite, galena, and chalcopyrite are also economically
important.
Stage 1: Wall-rock breccia
A principal component of the veins is a breccia composed
of angular fragments of the adjacent wall rocks (andesite frag-
ments dominate where the vein walls are in andesite, whereas
rhyolite fragments are present where the veins follow or
crosscut rhyolite dikes) set in a matrix of fine, angular rock
material and its alteration products (Fig. 6A-C). Breccia
fragments range in diameter from 0.3 m down to a few mi-
crons, with ~ 80 percent of the material >5 mm and ~10 to 15

FIG. 5. Paragenesis of the Purisima-Colon vein system. The earliest vein component (stage 1) consists of rock fragments.
In stage 2a, the rock-flour matrix of the breccia was dissolved or altered to fine-grained quartz + K-feldspar. In Stage 2b, the
deposition of plumose and milky quartz and chalcedony (deposition temperature = 200C) alternated with clear quartz +
adularia + hematite + johansennite or epidote (deposition temperature = 250320C). Clinozoisite and adularia were de-
posited at, or near the end of, stage 2b. The alteration minerals K-feldspar, Fe chlorite, epidote, and albite accompanied stage
2. Stage 2c, gray quartz, was deposited before and during the early stages of sulfide mineralization. Stage 3 consisted of sul-
fides accompanied by the alteration minerals illite, calcite, CaMg(CO3)2, Mg chlorite, and kaolinite. Quartz is rare in stage 3
except as a local alteration product of johansennite. Stage 4 consists of amethyst, crystalline quartz, and calcite. Faulting took
place before, during, and after vein formation.

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1332 JOHN E. DREIER

FIG. 6. Photomicrographs and photographs of rock breccia, minerals, and mineral relationships of stage 2. A. Wall-rock
breccia fragments surrounded by stage 2a and cut by stage 2b, ore- and postore-stage veins. B. Wall-rock fragments sur-
rounded by stage 2a quartz. C. Fine wall-rock fragment altered to K-feldspar and quartz; fragment margin is intergrown with
stage 2a. Black areas are sulfides replacing K-feldspar in the fragment margin. D. Quartz intergrown with johansennite and
K-feldspar; note chalcedony layer. Dark spots are sulfides replacing K-feldspar and johansennite. E. Stage 2b banded vein
composed of four cycles; light bands are clear quartz, gray bands are milky quartz, thin bands are chalcedony. The center of
the vein (at the top of the photograph) is johansennite. F. Chalcedony band (dark) in milky quartz. Abbreviations: Ch = chal-
cedony; J = johansennite; K = K-feldspar; Q = quartz; R = rock fragment; Z = zoned quartz; 2a = stage 2a; 2b = stage 2b; S
= sulfides; 4 = stage 4.

percent <0.1 mm (rock flour). No complex fragments or frag-
ments containing truncated veins were seen in this study or
by Geyne et al. (1963). On this basis, and because the frag-
ments are crosscut by all other vein stages, it is interpreted
that the wall-rock breccias belong to the first phase of vein
formation.
Stage 2: Silicate stage
The silicate stage consists, in decreasing abundance, of
quartz, johansennite, K-feldspar, clinozoisite, epidote, albite,
and hematite (Figs. 6, 7); minor to trace amounts of prehnite,
diopside, wollastonite, and tremolite were reported in other
veins by Geyne et al. (1963). The silicate stage is divisible into
substages a through c, based on crosscutting relationships
(Fig. 6A).
Stage 2a consists of (1) very fine grained (<0.010.03 mm)
quartz-K-feldspar intergrowths that surround rock fragments;
(2) slightly coarser grained patches of similar material albite,
Fe chlorite, and epidote that appear to represent the altered
remnants of fine rock fragments; and (3) fine-grained quartz-
K-feldspar-albite rinds around or incomplete replacements of
rock fragments (Fig. 6A, C). Stage 2a never occurs as planar
veins (Fig. 6A, C). Most of the stage 2a material is honey-
combed by irregular openings that are lined or filled by later
vein phases and cut by planar veins of all later stages (Fig.
6C).

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 PURISIMA-COLON VEIN SYSTEM, PACHUCA REAL DEL MONTE DISTRICT, MEXICO 1333

FIG. 7. Photomicrographs (crossed polars) of stage 2b silicate minerals. A. Cloudy quartz. B. Plumose quartz. C. Zoned
quartz intergrown with johansennite (dark fibrous mineral). D. Hematite intergrown with epidote and Fe chlorite in stage
2b quartz. E. Clinozoisite intergrown with adularia in a stage 2b quartz vein. F. Stage 2c quartz (gray quartz) cutting spha-
lerite and pyrite. Abbreviations: Cl = chlorite; Cli = clinozoisite; E = epidote; H = hematite; K = K-feldspar; Py = pyrite; Q
= quartz; S = sphalerite.

Stage 2b minerals occur as vug fillings in the irregular
openings of stage 2a material and as linear veins that cut rock
fragments and stage 2a (Fig. 6A, C). The principal minerals of
stage 2b are quartz, chalcedony, K-feldspar, johansennite, and
epidote; hematite is widespread but much less abundant
(Figs. 6C-F, 7A-E). Milky and plumose quartz (Sander and
Black, 1988) are the most abundant quartz forms of stage 2b
(Figs. 6D-F, 7A-B) but many grains dominated by these
forms have zones of clear quartz and chalcedony (Fig. 6D-E).
Chalcedony bands, visible as linear extinction zones under
crossed polars (Fig. 6F), are common within masses or larger
veins of plumose + milky quartz. Whereas many stage 2b
veins lack well-defined internal organization, some have a
crude banding parallel to the walls defined by chalcedony,
johansennite, and the several quartz forms (Fig. 6E). The
vein shown in Figure 6E contains four cycles of vein fill, each
cycle consisting of clear and cloudy mosaic bands, but some
cycles also contain chalcedony and mosaic quartz layers.
Quartz stratigraphy is also present within individual quartz
crystals, termed zoned quartz, in which clear quartz bands
alternate with cloudy, mosaic quartz, or chalcedony layers
(Fig. 7C). The youngest growth band of most zoned quartz
grains is a crystalline variety that is commonly intergrown
with, or overgrown by, euhedral adularia and clinozoisite (Fig.
7E).
Due to the abundance and importance of johansennite as
a site for later ore-stage mineralization, this mineral deserves
special discussion. Johansennite was identified in this study

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1334 JOHN E. DREIER
by X-ray diffraction, microprobe, and optical methods but
was misnamed by past workers (Bastin, 1948; Geyne et al.,
1963) as rhodonite-bustamite. Johansennite occurs as irregu-
lar masses of randomly oriented, fine (<<0.1 mm), acicular
grains that surround andesite-dacite rock fragments, and as
multiple layers within stage 2b where it is intergrown with
clear quartz (Figs. 6D-E, 7C). The presence of johansennite
as encrustations on rock fragments, intergrowths with fine-
grained quartz and K-feldspar, and as layers within stage 2b
quartz indicates episodic deposition throughout stage 2b.
Epidote occurs in similar settings to johansennite but is much
less abundant. It is frequently intergrown with hematite (Fig.
7D), which is also scattered throughout stage 2b veins as iso-
lated grains and fine layers.
Stage 2b contains linear breccias, up to 1 mm wide, of fine-
grained, angular fragments of vein material surrounded by
very fine grained, anhedral quartz made up of multiple ex-
tinction zones. Based on the linear form of the breccias and
the presence within them of fragments of vein material, the
zones are interpreted as microfault planes. The very fine
grain size and the presence of multiple extinction zones in the
matrix to the breccias suggest that this material was deposited
as chalcedony.
Stage 2c consists of anhedral, clear, inclusion-free quartz
that occurs in gray vitreous veins. Under the microscope,
stage 2c quartz is variably intergrown with and cuts pyrite and
some sphalerite (Fig. 7F) but is cut by much sphalerite and
all galena, chalcopyrite, and argentite. These relationships in-
dicate a temporal progression from early stage 2c quartz, to
one or more events of pyrite-sphalerite deposition inter-
spersed with minor stage 2c quartz, to sphalerite, to galena-
chalcopyrite-argentite.
Stage 2 was accompanied by the alteration minerals K-
feldspar, albite, Fe chlorite, epidote, and quartz but these
minerals vary in absolute and relative amounts depending on
the composition of the host rock, the proximity to a stage 2
vein, and the density of stage 2 veins. Fine rock fragments,
rock fragments cut by many stage 2 veins, and tuffaceous
fragments are altered to quartz-K-feldspar mosaics (Fig. 6C).
Fragments ranging from 0.5 to 1 mm in diameter or those cut
by fewer stage 2 veins retain some original texture but are
mostly converted to quartz, K-feldspar, albite, chlorite, and
epidote. Fragments >5 mm and rocks >5 to 10 mm from
stage 2 veins are characterized by propylitic alteration in
which the rock matrix is only partly altered to K-feldspar,
fine-grained quartz, and albite, and the plagioclase phe-
nocrysts partly converted to epidote, albite, and K-feldspar.
Beyond 10 to 20 cm of a stage 2 vein, the intensity of propy-
litic alteration diminishes until plagioclase and the matrix are
fresh.
Stage 3: Ore stage
The ore stage consists of pyrite, base metal sulfides, ar-
gentite, native silver, with alteration consisting of calcite, Ca-
Mn carbonate, illite, Mg-Fe chlorite, minor silica, and kaolin-
ite (kaolinite may be a product of postmining oxidation).
Mg-Fe chlorite also occurs as a vein filling. Although the av-
erage sulfide content of the Purisima-Colon veins within the
Ag horizon is about 2 wt percent, locally it is up to 20 wt per-
cent with combined Zn + Pb + Cu of up to 10 wt percent.
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Within the Ag horizon, the ore sulfides comprise fine
monomineralic grains or irregular aggregations of different
minerals; less commonly, they are present as well-developed
5- to 10-mm crystals lining vugs. In contrast, below the Ag
horizon, base metal sulfides tend to be present as larger
grains and are concentrated in massive sulfide veins. Sulfide
minerals occur in a variety of settings as follows: (1) replace-
ments of rock fragments and silicate-stage minerals; (2) dif-
fuse bands around johansennite masses and rock fragments;
(3) vug and microfracture linings and pore fillings between
quartz grains or groups of grains; (4) sulfide-only veins; and
(5) replacements of earlier sulfides (Fig. 8A-H). According to
Geyne et al. (1963), most of the ore sulfides are disseminated
in quartz, but Ordonez (1902), Bastin (1948), Thornburg
(1945), Wisser (1948), and this study found that most of the
sulfides replace silicate-stage minerals and rock fragments.
The replacement nature of the sulfides is evident at all scales.
At the district scale, the Santa Gertrudis (Geyne et al., 1963)
and Tapona orebodies (Thornburg, 1945) were lodes defined
by assay limits and consisted of sheeted masses of intimately
mixed clay/chlorite-altered wall rock and ore sulfides with lit-
tle quartz vein material. At the hand specimen and outcrop
scale in the Purisima-Colon veins and other described veins
throughout the district, sulfides, together with clays and car-
bonates, coat or replace wall-rock fragments, form hairline
veinlets within fragments, and replace silicate-stage minerals,
particularly johansennite and epidote (Ordonez, 1902; Geyne
et al., 1963). In thin section, sulfides commonly form pseudo-
morphs after silicates or contain remnant inclusions of re-
placed silicates, or they replace silicate-stage minerals (gen-
erally K-feldspar and clinozoisite) that line vugs or
microfractures (Fig. 8A-E). The replacement of parageneti-
cally earlier sulfides by later sulfides was also an important
depositional mechanism, and it is common to find sphalerite
replacing earlier pyritohedral pyrite and galena, chalcopyrite,
and argentite replacing sphalerite (Fig. 8F-H). Most spha-
lerite is affected by chalcopyrite disease (Barton and Bethke,
1987) where chalcopyrite blebs and stringers are present
along fractures or cleavage planes or form highly irregular
bands associated with adjacent or intruding pyrite, chalcopy-
rite, galena, and argentite grains (Fig. 8F). According to the
discussion in Bortnikov et al. (1991), the chalcopyrite disease
at Pachuca is the result of the replacement of sphalerite by
chalcopyrite as opposed to coprecipitation.
Argentite, the principal ore sulfide, occurs (1) by itself and
with galena and chalcopyrite in the centers of vugs lined by
zoned quartz and other stage 2b silicate minerals (where the
sulfides replace K-feldspar and clinozoisite), (2) replacing sil-
icate-stage minerals (particularly johansennite) and wall-rock
fragments, and (3) as veins cutting sphalerite (Fig. 8A-B, G-
H). Argentite is rare in samples from the lower levels of the
mine (2,300-m level and below). Based on crosscutting rela-
tionships, sulfide paragenesis is in the following order: (1)
pyrite, (2) sphalerite, (3) galena, (4) chalcopyrite, (5) argen-
tite, and (6) native silver (Fig. 5; Bastin, 1948; Geyne et al.,
1963). Mill head assays confirm that the earliest sulfide min-
erals are the most abundant (sphalerite > galena > chalcopy-
rite > argentite). Where sulfides are in contact with quartz,
they fill open spaces between quartz crystals (Fig. 8E), cor-
rode the quartz, or cut the quartz. The absence of ore-stage
 PURISIMA-COLON VEIN SYSTEM, PACHUCA REAL DEL MONTE DISTRICT, MEXICO 1335

FIG. 8. Photomicrographs of ore-stage minerals. A. Rock fragment replaced by argentite. B. Johansennite largely altered
to carbonate and clay and replaced by sulfides. C. Adularia altered to illite and replaced by sulfides. D. Enlargement of
showing illite. E. Sulfides in center of stage 2b quartz vein, triangular etch pits are in galena. F. Vein of galena, chalcopyrite,
and argentite cutting sphalerite; note chalcopyrite disease in sphalerite. G. Galena, and argentite cutting sphalerite. H.
Galena, chalcopyrite, and argentite cutting quartz. Abbreviations: A = argentite; CC = clay + CaMn carbonate; CPY = chal-
copyrite; G = galena; I = illite; K = adularia; R = rock; S = sphalerite; SLF = sulfides; 2b = stage 2b.

quartz is notable, except at the very beginning of the sulfide
stage, where pyrite and sphalerite are associated with gray
quartz, and within or immediately adjacent to replaced jo-
hansennite, where fine-grained quartz with remnant jo-
hansennite inclusions occurs with Ca-Mn carbonate (Fig. 8B).
Alteration minerals associated with the ore stage include
two dominant assemblages: (1) illite + chlorite (talc-penni-
nite) + kaolinite? +/- calcite and (2) Ca-Mn carbonate (50%
Ca -50% Mn) + calcite + chlorite + clay +/- fine-grained
quartz. The illite-chlorite-kaolinite assemblage occurs as

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1336 JOHN E. DREIER
selvages on sulfide veins that cut wall-rock fragments and im-
parts a light green-white bleached appearance to the rock.
Where the density of sulfide veins is high or where dissemi-
nated sulfide mineralization is intense, large bodies of rock
are altered to the illite-chlorite-kaolinite assemblage; in the
Santa Gertrudis and Tapona lode deposits, illite-chlorite-
kaolinite alteration occupies >106 m3 of rock. Locally along
the Purisima-Colon system, sulfidation is intense, and in
these locations rock fragments are converted to knots of sul-
fides and clay or to cavities lined by sulfides and clay. The Ca-
Mn carbonate + calcite + chlorite + clay fine-grained quartz
assemblage occurs within johansennite masses where it is
generally much more intensely developed and pervasive than
is the illite-chlorite-kaolinite assemblage within rock frag-
ments. The johansennite masses shown in Figure 8B have
been converted entirely to a mixture of carbonate, clay, and
sulfides. Alteration-mineralization zoning in the johansennite
masses comprises (1) an inner zone of isolated johansennite
patches that are cut by irregular veinlets of alteration miner-
als minor sulfides; (2) an intermediate zone of carbonates,
clay, and chlorite with local, irregular sulfide veins or patches;
and (3) an outer rind of fine-grained quartz + fine-grained
sulfides + sulfide veinlets + isolated carbonate/clay patches
clay + chlorite. This alteration imparts a brown or greenish
coloration to the johansennite masses on fresh surfaces and a
soft, muddy tan and/or black appearance in mine workings.
Stage 4: Postore
Postore minerals include amethyst, clear, coarse-grained,
crystalline quartz, and white calcite. These minerals are pre-
sent as veins and coatings on ore-stage and earlier minerals.
Volumetrically, the postore minerals are unimportant.
Fluid Inclusion Study
The fluid inclusion study is based on samples collected at
sites shown in Figure 3D. The sample sites were chosen to
represent the complete vertical and horizontal extent of the
vein system, although some preselected sample sites were
abandoned due to problems of accessibility. Each site was ei-
ther photographed or recorded as a hand drawing, and sam-
pling was conducted to acquire samples of the various para-
genetic stages.
Fluid inclusions were studied in 150 doubly polished, 80-
m-thick plates from 41 sample sites. Inclusions were ob-
served in stage 2a quartz and K-feldspar, in stage 2b milky
quartz, zoned quartz, K-feldspar, johansennite, clinozoisite, in
ore-stage sphalerite, and in postore calcite and quartz. Heat-
ing and melting point determinations were made on a Fluid
Inc.-adapted U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gas-flow heat-
ing and/or freezing stage at the USGS fluid inclusion labora-
tory in Lakewood, Colorado. Fluid inclusion samples used in
the heating and ice-melting runs were disks less than 7mm in
longest dimension and fluid inclusions were placed within 3
mm of the thermocouple. The stage was calibrated every 5 to
6 mo. Heating runs were reproducible to within 1C, and ice-
melting point runs to within 0.1C. Fluid inclusions were
classified as primary or secondary by the criteria of Roedder
(1979). Fluid inclusions were considered primary if they oc-
curred as random arrays within a crystal or in symmetric
growth zones. Fluid inclusions were classified as secondary if
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they were aligned on fractures or trails that cut across growth
zones in the host mineral or several minerals. The morphol-
ogy of the fluid inclusions was studied and inclusions were
classified into fluid inclusion assemblages, using the format of
Bodnar et al. (1985) and Goldstein and Reynolds (1994). De-
termination of homogenization temperatures was limited to
assemblages with consistent filling ratios and results were ac-
cepted only if temperature determinations for an assemblage
were within ~15C; for assemblages where temperature vari-
ations >15C it was assumed that necking down of individual
fluid inclusions had taken place. For assemblages with con-
sistent liquid/vapor ratios, fluid constituted 75 to 85 percent
of the filling material and vapor, the remainder, although a
few inclusions contained tiny opaque solid inclusions that
were insoluble on heating. Some quartz grains hosted assem-
blages that contained both liquid- and vapor-rich inclusions
suggestive of the trapping of separate liquid and vapor
phases. A determined search was made in melting point runs
for clathrates, but none were found, indicating that XCO2 was
below about 4 percent (PCO2 <7080 bars: Barton and Chou,
1993; Hedenquist and Henley, 1985). Measurements of melt-
ing point temperature were converted to NaCl equiv salinity
using data from Bodnar (1993).
According to Bodnar et al. (1985), Goldstein and Reynolds
(1994), and T. J. Reynolds (pers. commun., 2000) fluid inclu-
sion assemblages may be divided into four types based on
morphology and relative consistency of liquid to vapor ratios
as follows: irregular inconsistent (ii), irregular consistent (ic),
regular consistent (rc), and negative-crystal types (Fig. 9A-E).
This classification system, which is based on empirical obser-
vations from many types of hydrothermal systems, although
not tested under controlled laboratory conditions, provides
useful information about conditions of inclusion formation
and whether leakage or necking occurred subsequent to de-
position. According to Bodnar et al. (1985) and T. J. Reynolds
(pers. commun., 2000) type ii inclusions typically form below
about 200C, type ic fluid inclusions form between 220 and
230C, type rc fluid inclusions form above 250C, and nega-
tive crystal fluid inclusions form above 260C. In this study,
type ii fluid inclusions were not suitable for homogenization
or freezing study because they result from necking down and
leakage as evidenced by the cooccurrence of all liquid and all
vapor inclusions.
The complete data set for this study is available as a digital
supplement to this paper at <www.segweb.org/EG/papers/
Abs100-7_files/DreierAppendix.pdf>
Stage 2
Stage 2a (fine-grained quartz-K-feldspar): The cloudy and
very fine grained character of this material (Fig. 7A) pre-
cluded determinations of melting point and homogenization
temperature determinations.
Stage 2b: Much of the stage 2b quartz is plumose quartz,
chalcedony, or some other form of amorphous to cryptocrys-
talline silica, and most fluid inclusions in this material are too
small for study during heating and freezing runs. Further-
more, postdepositional changes, including leakage and the
coalescence of fluid from microinclusions or hydrated silica,
compromise the utility of these fluid inclusions (Sander and
Black, 1988). A low temperature of formation for milky quartz
 PURISIMA-COLON VEIN SYSTEM, PACHUCA REAL DEL MONTE DISTRICT, MEXICO 1337

FIG. 9. Fluid inclusion assemblages and types in quartz and sphalerite. A. Type ii fluid inclusions in milky quartz. B.
Zoned quartz grain with 3 growth zones. C. Type rc and negative crystal fluid inclusions in the inner zone. D. Type ii
fluid inclusions in the outer zone. E. Type ic fluid inclusions in the middle zone. F. Secondary, vapor-filled, fluid inclusions
in the inner zone of (B). G. Primary fluid inclusions in sphalerite. H and I. Fluid inclusions attached to chalcopyrite inclu-
sions in sphalerite. Abbreviations: CPY = chalcopyrite; FI = fluid inclusion.

is suggested by the abundance of type ii fluid inclusions
within it (Figs. 7A-B, 9A-B, D). This suggestion is supported
by the common intergrowth of milky quartz with plumose
quartz and chalcedony, two forms that are interpreted to pre-
cipitate at temperatures <180C (Fournier, 1985; Sander and
Black, 1988; Saunders, 1990; Rimstidt, 1997). By contrast, the
dominance of type rc, and negative-crystal fluid inclusions in
the clear bands of zoned quartz indicates depositional tem-
peratures >250C, a conclusion that is supported by homoge-
nization temperatures of 250 to 320C (App., Fig. 10). Some
assemblages of type rc and negative-crystal fluid inclusions are
all vapor or vapor dominant (Fig. 9F), and these are inter-
preted to represent the trapping of vapor from a boiling fluid.
Figure 9B to E illustrates the zoning of fluid inclusion
types within zoned quartz and would roughly correspond to
the individual bands of Fig 6E. Figure 9C shows negative-
crystal and type rc fluid inclusions indicative of temperatures
>260C from the center of the zoned grain of Figure 9B. Fig-
ure 9E is a close-up of the surrounding band defined by type
ic fluid inclusions indicative of formation at 200 to 230C.
Figure 9D is a close-up of the outer band of the crystal that is
defined by type ii fluid inclusions indicative of temperatures
of <180C. Thus, for the zoned quartz grain of Figure 9B,
fluid inclusions indicate overall declining fluid temperatures.
As shown in Figure 6E, cycles of the type illustrated in Fig-
ure 9B were repeated numerous times (four cycles are visible
in Fig. 6E) in which the outermost band of type ii fluid inclu-
sions might be overgrown by a new cycle beginning with a
clear band with type rc negative-crystal fluid inclusions. In
Figure 6E some of the bands of type ii fluid inclusions are
capped by layers of chalcedony. As a result of the zoning re-
lationships noted for the various fluid inclusion types of Fig-
ure 9B, it appears that stage 2b was deposited by fluids that
fluctuated widely in temperature, from <180 to >310C and

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1338
FIG. 10. Histograms of fluid inclusion homogenization temperatures
arranged by host mineral.
that these fluctuations were ordered into cycles such that
each cycle began with the influx of a hot fluid and ended with
a cooler fluid.
If the maximum fluid inclusion homogenization tempera-
tures are arranged by elevation, they provide evidence for a
vertical temperature gradient within the Purisima vein. The
maximum temperatures in samples from the lower mine lev-
els were >300C, whereas in the upper levels they were
~280C (Fig. 3D).
Ice-melting temperatures in fluid inclusions from stage 2b
quartz range from 0 to 2.3C (avg = 0.8C; App.). The data
show a slight tendency toward a bimodal distribution with one
subset in the range of 0 to 0.5C (01 wt % NaCl equiv) and
the other in the range of 1.0 to 1.5C (23 wt % NaCl
equiv; Fig. 11). The bimodal distribution of the data is accen-
tuated by a comparison of fluid inclusion ice-melting temper-
atures from the Colon (avg 0.2C) and Purisima veins (avg =
1C) and suggests a difference in salinity between the stage
2 Purisima and Colon fluids (0.3 vs. 1.4 wt % NaCl equiv) if
the ice-melting temperatures are ascribed entirely to NaCl. A
comparison of ice-melting temperatures from different zones
of the same stage 2b quartz grain shows no clear pattern. In
some grains, ice-melting temperatures for inner and outer
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JOHN E. DREIER
FIG. 11. Histograms of stage 2b and ore-stage fluid inclusion salinity (wt
% NaCl equiv). For stage 2b, each measurement represents a fluid inclusion
assemblage.
zones are virtually identical, but in one grain, inclusions in the
inner (clear quartz) zone had ice-melting temperatures of
1.5C, whereas in the outer, cloudy zone they were 0.1C.
For the Purisima vein, sample statistics are similar (0.7C for
type ii inclusions and 0.9C for type rc and negative-crystal
inclusions) but suggest that clear quartz, which contains all
type rc and negative-crystal fluid inclusions, was deposited by
slightly more saline fluids than was milky quartz which con-
tains most of the type ii fluid inclusions. Ice-melting temper-
atures also were measured in fluid inclusions in K-feldspar
and johansennite. The average ice-melting temperature for
these fluid inclusions was 1.4C, consistent with ice-melting
data in the associated quartz. Collectively, the ice-melting
1338
 PURISIMA-COLON VEIN SYSTEM, PACHUCA REAL DEL MONTE DISTRICT, MEXICO 1339

data from stage 2b minerals indicates that stage 2b was de-
posited from fluids with salinities in the range of 0 to 3.9 wt
percent NaCl equiv and averaging 1.2 wt percent NaCl equiv
(Fig. 11, App.).
Ore stage
Ore-stage fluid inclusions were observed and measured in
sphalerite, in quartz that replaced johansennite, and in sec-
ondary trails that radiate from sulfides. The fluid inclusions in
sphalerite are primary inclusions controlled by growth bands
or distributed irregularly within a grain (Fig. 9G) and sec-
ondary fluid inclusions located along fractures and/or at-
tached to chalcopyrite, galena, or argentite grains (Fig. 9H-I)
that also occur along fractures. Fluid inclusions attached to
sulfide inclusions within sphalerite are interpreted to be co-
genetic with the younger sulfides.
Homogenization temperatures of ore-stage fluid inclu-
sions range from about 250 to 295C and average 280C
(Fig. 10, App.). Ice-melting temperatures for ore-stage fluid
inclusions range from 1.5 to 4.4C (App.) and average
2.8C; the lowest ice-melting temperatures were measured
in sphalerite from a specimen of massive sulfide collected
from below the silver horizon in the Dios Te Guie vein, a
north-south vein located about 150 m east of the Purisima
vein (Fig. 2). The ice-melting data translate to salinity values
of 2.6 to 7 wt percent NaCl equiv (Fig. 11).
As shown in Figure 11, the ice-melting data indicate the
presence of two fluid populations: stage 2b with an average
salinity of 1.2 wt percent NaCl equiv and the ore stage
with an average salinity of 4.5 wt percent NaCl equiv. The
high-salinity, high-temperature end of the stage 2b popula-
tion overlaps the low end of the ore-stage population.
Interpretation of Vein Formation
Evidence from geologic mapping and the study of vein
structure, petrography, and fluid inclusions suggests that the
Purisima-Colon vein system formed in an evolving geother-
mal system wherein the vertical location, geometry, structure,
paragenesis, and Ag and base metals grades of the system re-
sulted from the complex interplay of structural geology, fluid
flow, the behavior of dissolved silica, and metals in hy-
drothermal fluids, and variable sources of the fluids.
Control on the top of the vein system
As discussed by Berg (1932) and Wisser (1948), epithermal
veins occupy dilatant zones in faults that resulted from pro-
gressive separation of the fault walls. In epithermal Ag dis-
tricts where a nearly complete stratigraphic section is pre-
served, blind veins are the norm and are variously ascribed to
boiling, the development of a clay cap, changes in fault atti-
tude, variations in the mechanical properties of the wall rocks,
or the disappearance of the host fault within a mechanically
incompetent rock unit (Ferguson, 1921; Nolan, 1930, 1935;
Wisser, 1951; Geyne et al., 1963; Heald et al., 1987). Because
the top of the Purisima-Colon vein system ignores stratigra-
phy, a major unconformity, and crosscutting dikes and faults,
it does not appear to have been controlled by variations in the
internal mechanical properties of its host rocks. In the ab-
sence of multistage fragments and fragments with truncated
veins, it can be deduced that the initial openings on the host

FIG. 12. Salinity-temperature diagram for stage 2b hydrothermal fluids based on fluid inclusion homogenization and
freezing temperature data. The distribution of the salinity-temperature data suggests that the silicate stage was formed
by three fluids: (1) a low-salinity, <180C fluid possibly of unreacted, shallow meteoric origin; (2) a low- to moderate-
salinity, 250 to 310C reacted fluid; and (3) a low-salinity, 250 to 310C fluid possibly derived by vapor loss from fluid
2. Symbols in the diagram represent fluid inclusion homogenization and salinity determinations for individual fluid in-
clusion assemblages.

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1340 JOHN E. DREIER
fault predated hydrothermal activity. Thus, boiling or the de-
velopment of a clay cap could not have been involved in the
process that caused the upward termination of the veins. In
the case of the Purisima-Colon vein system, two lines of evi-
dence suggest that the top of the vein is located at the top of
the fault: the host fault terminates upward into a zone of dis-
tributed fracturing which dies out upward; and the highest
point on the vein system is located in the area of maximum
vertical offset on the host fault and the lowest points occur at
the distal ends where offset is nil. The latter point suggests
that the host fault terminates upward where offset falls below
some critical value.
Genesis of the rock breccias
The Purisima-Colon veins are generally coextensive with
crudely tabular breccias of angular rock fragments that fill
open zones along the fault; fragments are similar in composi-
tion to the adjacent vein walls. As the breccias are interpreted
to predate hydrothermal activity, a passive process, such as
the collapse of rocks into open space, is envisioned for their
formation. Based on the presence of remnant fine rock parti-
cles and stage 2a quartz-K-feldspar intergrowths in the ma-
trix, it is interpreted that the breccias were originally sup-
ported by finely comminuted rock material (rock flour) that
was replaced during stage 2a.
Genesis of stage 2
Prior to the onset of mineralization, breccia fragments
ranged in diameter from 0.3 m down to a few microns, with
~80 percent of the material >5 mm and ~10 to 15 percent
<0.1 mm (rock flour). In the earliest phase of vein formation,
hydrothermal fluids dissolved some of the rock flour and al-
tered the remainder to a fine-grained mosaic of quartz + K-
feldspar. At the same time, most fragments in the 0.1- to 0.5-
mm range were altered to fine- to medium-grained patches of
anhedral quartz + K-feldspar + albite + chlorite epidote. In
active geothermal systems, mineral assemblages of this type
are interpreted to result from the action of neutral pH hy-
drothermal fluids (Giggenbach, 1981, 1997).
Stage 2b minerals formed by fluid flow in the tortuous pas-
sageways in stage 2a quartz-K-feldspar intergrowths and in
linear fractures that crosscut earlier vein material. Petro-
graphic and fluid inclusion studies indicate that the stage 2b
fluids fluctuated considerably in temperature, and the study
of crystal and vein banding (Figs. 6E, 9B) suggests that tem-
perature fluctuations were cyclical. While the total number of
cycles is unknown, up to four cycles are recorded in single
crystals and veins. The abundance of milky, mosaic, and
plumose quartz, and chalcedony relative to coarse-grained,
crystalline quartz suggests that most stage 2b material was de-
posited very rapidly from <200C fluids that were supersatu-
rated to highly supersaturated with respect to quartz. This in-
terpretation is based on field and laboratory work showing
that precipitation of quartz is kinetically inhibited at temper-
atures below ~180C (Fournier, 1985; Sander and Black,
1988; Saunders, 1990; Rimstidt, 1997). Fluid inclusion ho-
mogenization data indicate that the assemblages (1) clear
quartz + johansennite epidote hematite and (2) adularia
+ clinozoisite were deposited as a result of periodic influxes of
230 to >300C fluids. This conclusion is supported by the
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 1340
presence of epidote which is stable only above >225C (Bird
and Helgeson, 1981). Boiling of some stage 2b fluids is sug-
gested by the presence of type rc fluid inclusion assemblages
with high homogenization temperatures and coexisting vapor-
and fluid-rich fluid inclusions (Fig. 9F).
A temperature-salinity diagram (Fig. 12) suggests that
stage 2b resulted from three hydrothermal fluids with the fol-
lowing temperatures and salinities: (1) 160 to 200C and av-
eraging ~ 0.5 to 1 wt percent NaCl equiv; (2) 260 to 310C
and ~ 2.5 to 3 wt percent NaCl equiv; (3) 260 to 310C and
averaging ~ 0.5 wt percent NaCl equiv. Interpretations based
on fluid inclusion morphology suggest that fluid (1) was
largely responsible for the low-temperature quartz, fluid (2)
was responsible for the clear quartz + johansennite + K-
feldspar epidote hematite and adularia + clinozoisite as-
semblages, and fluid (3) was responsible for much or all of the
vein material in the Colon vein. Following Henley (1985),
some of the low-salinity, higher temperature fluid inclusions
in the Purisima vein (fluid 3) may have been derived by vapor
loss from fluid (2). The formation of stage 2b by the periodic
replacement of one type of fluid by another is consistent with
scenarios proposed for Creede (Barton et al., 1977; Bethke
and Rye, 1979; Plumlee and Heald Whitehouse-Veaux, 1994),
Zacatecas (Albinson, 1995), and elsewhere in Mexico (Al-
binson et al., 2001) where fluid inclusion and/or oxygen-deu-
terium isotope studies point to multiple sources for the vein-
forming fluids.
The contrasting salinity of the Purisima (up to 3.9 wt %
NaCl equiv) and Colon (0.020.05 wt % NaCl equiv) fluids
suggests that the two veins were hydrologically isolated from
each other during the silicate stage and that the central
Purisima vein was above a principal upflow zone in the hy-
drothermal system. The overall zoning of Ag away from the
central Purisima bonanza zone also suggests that the central
Purisima orebody was an upflow zone.
By analogy with dilute modern geothermal waters (Arnors-
son et al., 1978; Giggenbach, 1981, 1997; Arnorsson and
Gunnlaugsson, 1983) and as a first approximation, the com-
position of the stage 2b fluids may be further constrained by
assuming that virtually all of the salinity is due to NaCl and
KCl and that the >250C fluids were in equilibrium with al-
bite, K-feldspar, clinozoisite, and hematite but not in equilib-
rium with prehnite, wairakite, tremolite, or diopside. Under
these conditions, log aK+/aH+ is 4.1 to 4.5, log aCa2+/aH+2 is be-
tween about 8.5 and 9.1, and log aMg2+/aH+2 is below about 4.5
(Figs. 13, 14). The average salinity value of 1.2 wt percent
NaCl equiv for the stage 2 fluids corresponds to log mNaCl =
0.68. For dilute chloride solutions in equilibrium with albite
and K-feldspar at 250C, log aNa+/aK+ 0, aK+ aNa+ (Henley
et al., 1984) and, within the error of the salinity measure-
ments, log mNa mK 0.98. Using the data and approach
of Henley et al. (1984) to calculate activity coefficients gives
log aK+ 1.3 and log aH+ of 5.4 to 5.8 (pH = 5.45.8). Val-
ues for log aCa2+ and log aMg2+ of 3.1 to 1.7 and <6.3, re-
spectively, were calculated by substituting the value for log
aH+ of 6 into the relationships 8.5 < log aCa2+/aH+2 <9.1 and
log aMg2+/aH+2 <4.5, which correspond to log mCa of 2.2 to
0.81 and for log mMg of <6.6. The absence of calcite in the
stage 2b vein assemblage requires that log PCO2 was <102,
well below the level that would require adjustments to
 PURISIMA-COLON VEIN SYSTEM, PACHUCA REAL DEL MONTE DISTRICT, MEXICO 1341

FIG. 14. Activity-activity diagram for the system CaO-Al2O3-MgO-SiO2

balanced on Al2O3 at 250C. Calculated from data in Henley et al. (1984).
Variations in the compositions of chlorite, represented here by chrysotile,
which was reported by Geyne et al. (1963), and clinozoisite are such that the
FIG. 13. Activity-activity diagram for the system CaO-Al2O3-K2O-SiO2 fields of these minerals are only approximate. The substitution of compo-
balanced on Al2O3 at 250C. Calculated from data in Henley et al. (1984). nents into these minerals would probably enlarge their fields in the diagram.
Based on the common vein assemblage K-feldspar-clinozoisite, the silicate- The >250C silicate-stage fluids were within the zoisite field (solid square).
stage fluids were mostly on the zoisite-K-feldspar boundary (solid square). Ore-stage fluids were initially in the chlorite field or along the kaolinite-chlo-
Because clinozoisite forms a continuous solid solution with epidote, the in- rite boundary (solid dot). Reaction of the ore-stage fluids with wall-rock frag-
clusion of variable amounts of Fe3+ within it would probably enlarge the ments and johansennite lowered PCO2 and tended to move fluid composition
zoisite field of the diagram. The absence of calcite in the silicate stage re- toward the zoisite field as shown by the arrow. Symbols as in Figure 13.
quires that PCO2 was lower than 102. The presence of abundant illite + kaoli-
nite indicates that the ore-stage fluids were initially along the muscovite-
kaolinite boundary (solid circle) if vein kaolinite is a primary hydrothermal
mineral as opposed to the product of postmine oxidation. Reaction of the
ore-stage fluids with wall rocks and johansennite tended to decrease PCO2 and
move fluid composition toward the zoisite-adularia field boundary as shown
by the arrows. Abbreviation: Ca-Mont = Ca montmorillonite.

ice-melting temperatures (Hedenquist and Henley, 1985).

The presence of hematite in stage 2b indicates that O2 >1036
(Fig. 15); the relatively oxidized nature of the fluids may have
resulted either from equilibration of the fluids with hematite
in the volcanic rocks or an influx of oxidized meteoric fluids.
These conditions are summarized in Figure 15.
As shown in Figure 16, the silicate-stage fluids were simi-
lar to those circulating in well-studied, dilute, neutral pH ge-
othermal systems as reported by Arnorsson et al. (1978),
Giggenbach (1981, 1997), and Arnorsson and Gunnlaugsson FIG. 15. pH vs. log aO2 diagram for the system S-Fe-O2 at 250C and
(1983). Fluids of this type are considered to represent the end mS = 102, showing the general locations of silicate- and ore-stage fluids.
Lines for stability field boundaries: Fe-O-S minerals = heavy solid; dissolved
product of fluid-rock interaction between deeply circulating sulfur species = light solid; argentite-native Ag = dotted; silicates = dot-dash.
meteoric waters and rocks of the geothermal reservoir (Hen- The stability boundaries for K-mica-K-feldspar using log aK+ = 1.5 and
ley, 1985). This interpretation is supported by oxygen-deu- wairakite-zoisite using log aCa2+ = 3 are based on fluid inclusion ice-melting
terium isotope data from quartz-hosted fluid inclusions from data from stage 2b silicate minerals and calculations described in the text.
The stability boundaries for kaolinite-K-feldspar using log aK+ = 0.5 and K-
Pachuca reported by ONeil and Silberman (1974) that indi- mica-K-feldspar using log aK+ = 0.5 are based on fluid inclusion ice-melting
cate a large amount of isotopic exchange between the stage 2 data from sphalerite and calculations given in the text. Diagram calculated
hydrothermal fluid and the rocks at depth. from data in Henley et al. (1984).

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1342 JOHN E. DREIER
FIG. 16. pH vs. temperature diagram for hydrothermal systems (modi-
fied from Henley, 1985). Lines are for the equilibrium between K-mica and
K-feldspar. Note the similarity between the low-salinitylow-temperature
fluids of stage 2b (fluid 1) and fluids in the Hvergaderi and Te Kopia geot-
hermal systems and the low- to moderate-salinity, 250 to 310C fluids of
stage 2b (fluid 2) and fluids in the Broadlands, Kawerau, and Wairakei geot-
hermal systems. The ore-stage fluids are distinctly more acid than those of
most neutral pH, low-salinity geothermal fluids. Data for modern geothermal
systems is from Arnorsson et al. (1978), Giggenbach (1981, 1997), and Hen-
ley et al. (1984).
Genesis of the ore stage
The ore stage is interpreted to represent a discrete event
of relatively short duration in which metal-rich fluids of mod-
erate salinity penetrated the upper part of the meteoric water
aquifer. The presence of sulfides as microveins, pore and vug
fillings, stockwork-like and large, planar veins indicates that
fluid flow during the ore stage took place in the fine pores of
the veins, the tortuous openings within partly healed frac-
tures, and large, planar, through-going channels that opened
in response to contemporaneous faulting. The abundance of
sulfides replacing silicate minerals requires that a large pro-
portion of sulfide deposition was somehow related to water-
rock reaction. By contrast with stage 2b, the absence of quartz
in the ore stage is notable and has been reported from other
important low total sulfide epithermal Ag districts, including
the Comstock Lode (Becker, 1882) and Tonopah (Bastin and
Laney, 1918; Nolan, 1930, 1935), and is implied by ice-melt-
ing and isotopic data from fluid inclusions at Creede, Col-
orado, and many districts in Mexico (Bethke and Rye, 1979;
Albinson et al., 2001). The absence of quartz in the ore stage
is a widespread characteristic of low total sulfide epithermal
Ag vein deposits and may be fundamental to the genesis of
these systems.
The ore-stage fluids also differed from those of the silicate
stage in pH, PCO2, O2, S, and concentrations of Mg, Ag, and
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base metals. The presence of ore-stage illite and/or kaolinite
and the absence of montmorillonite and wairakite suggests a
fluid composition as represented by the solid circles in Fig-
ures 13 and 14. Combining equilibria calculations for the ap-
propriate assemblages in Figures 13 and 14 with fluid inclu-
sion salinity data, as described for the stage 2b fluids, shows
that mNa mK 0.5 to 1.5, mCa 105 and mMg ~104 (note
that the calculated mMg value for the ore-stage fluids is ~103
higher than for the stage 2b fluids). The pH of the ore-stage
fluid was in the range of 3.5 to 4.5 as constrained by the kaoli-
nite/K-mica and K-mica/K-feldspar boundaries (Fig. 15). The
presence of pyrite, as opposed to hematite, also indicates a
lower O2 for the ore-stage fluids. Whereas the silicate-stage
fluids closely resemble the deeply circulated meteoric fluids
of modern geothermal systems (Fig. 16), the ore-stage fluids
have intermediate temperatures and salinities, a relatively low
pH, and elevated Mg more similar to the magmatically de-
rived fluids of Giggenbach (1997). Reaction of the ore-stage
fluids with rock fragments and preexisting silicate-stage min-
erals would have driven the composition of the ore-stage fluid
in the direction of the arrows in Figures 13 and 14. The pres-
ence of unaltered johansennite within otherwise altered
masses of rock suggests local equilibration of the ore-stage
fluids with silicate-stage or rock-forming minerals.
The wide association of sulfides and clay alteration pro-
vides strong evidence that the reaction of H+ with K-feldspar
and other silicate minerals caused the precipitation of argen-
tite according to the reaction:
3KAlSi3O8 + 2AgCl21(aq) + 2H+ + S2(aq) + 12H2O =
K-feldspar
KAl2Si3AlO10(OH)2 + 6H4SiO4(aq) + 2K+(aq) + Ag2S + 4Cl(aq).
illite (1)
Ag precipitates when AgCl21(aq) is destabilized by the con-
sumption of H+. The abundance of johansennite in the veins
and its widespread alteration to CaMn(CO3)2 quartz sug-
gests that CO2 was controlled by the reaction:
2CO2 + 4H2O + CaMn(SiO3)2 =
johansennite
CaMn(CO3)2 + 2H4SiO4(aq). (2)
kutnohorite
Although thermodynamic data are not presently available for
johansennite and kutnohorite, the structural similarity of
these minerals to diopside and dolomite, respectively, and the
formation of continuous solid solutions by the johansennite-
diopside and kutnohorite-dolomite pairs suggests that the al-
teration of diopside to dolomite can be used as a proxy for the
carbonation of johansennite:
CaMg(SiO3)2 + 2CO2 = CaMg(CO3)2 + 2SiO2. (3)
diopside dolomite
Using thermodynamic data for diopside, dolomite, and
CO2 from Helgeson (1969), PCO2 is found to be ~6 bars at
275C and ~10 bars at 290C and would contribute about
0.5C to fluid inclusion melting point depressions. Similar
values for PCO2 are attained by applying the rhodochrosite +
1342
 PURISIMA-COLON VEIN SYSTEM, PACHUCA REAL DEL MONTE DISTRICT, MEXICO
rhodonite + quartz and calcite + chalcedony + calc-silicate
buffers of Barton and Chou (1993).
Clay caps to epithermal veins and geothermal systems are
widespread (Heald et al., 1987; Simmons and Browne, 2000)
and have been ascribed to a model in which boiling of as-
cending hydrothermal fluids at or very close to the top of a
ore horizon releases H2S and CO2 from the geothermal reser-
voir that rises above the veins and then condenses on contact
with cold descending meteoric water. Figure 17 shows boiling
point curves for ore-stage fluids of 5 and 10 wt percent NaCl
equiv adjusted for PCO2 values noted above. The depth-tem-
perature profile for the ore-stage fluids derived from fluid in-
clusion homogenization temperatures intersects the boiling
point curve for a 5 percent NaCl fluid and PCO2 = 6 to 10 bars
at a depth of about 570 m and for a 10 percent NaCl fluid at
650 m. This depth range is consistent with geologic estimates
of 550 to 650 m for the top of the vein system (Fig. 7). The
dashed line in Figure 17 gives the elevation of the top of the
Purisima vein at the time of mineralization, and the shaded
area represents the zone of illite alteration above the vein. If
the region of illite alteration was at or just above the boiling
zone, then the bonanza Ag horizon was located well below the
FIG. 17. Depth vs. temperature profile through the Purisima-Colon vein
system at ~11,000 N, showing the ore-stage and high-temperature silicate-
stage fluids in relationship to the top of the vein, the position of the clay-cal-
cite alteration zone, the Ag horizon, and the bonanza zone based on fluid in-
clusion ice-melting and homogenization data. The boiling point curves
assume a hydrostatic pressure gradient (Hedenquist and Henley, 1985). The
silicate-stage boiling point curve (dotted line) was calculated for pure water.
The 5 and 10 percent NaCl equiv boiling point curves (solid lines) were ad-
justed to show the effect of PCO2 calculated from the reaction: diopside + CO2
= dolomite + quartz. The ore-stage depth-temperature profile (dashed line)
is based on the average sphalerite fluid inclusion homogenization tempera-
ture for each mine level and intersects the boiling curves for 5 and 10 per-
cent NaCl solutions in the depth range 650 to 570 m (between the 150- and
50-m mine levels). Milky quartz, plumose quartz, and chalcedony of stage 2b
were deposited at temperatures well below the boiling curve.
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1343
point where boiling took place. On this basis and in the
absence of vapor-dominant fluid inclusions or mineralogical
evidence of boiling such as ore-stage K-feldspar, fine-grained
quartz and/or chalcedony, and lamellar calcite (Simmons and
Browne, 2000), it is concluded that boiling was not an impor-
tant factor in ore deposition. By contrast with the ore-stage
fluids, a plot of the highest fluid inclusion homogenization
temperatures from stage 2b is located along a boiling curve
for water based on the interpreted depth to the top of the
vein system at the time of mineralization (Fig. 17).
Deep drilling indicates that the Ag horizon of the
Purisima-Colon vein system represents the upper part of a
very large zoned base metal-Ag system. In this respect, the
Purisima-Colon vein system is similar to other studied ep-
ithermal Ag vein districts, including Tonopah (Nolan, 1930),
Guanajuato (Randall et al., 1994), Creede (Heald et al.,
1987), Zacatecas (Albinson 1995), and Bolanos (Lyons, 1988).
The lowest ice-melting temperatures were measured in
yellow sphalerite free of chalcopyrite disease from below the
silver ore horizon. The highest ice-melting temperatures are
from secondary fluid inclusions in sphalerite that are associ-
ated with argentite, galena, and chalcopyrite. Together, these
data suggest that the earlier and deeper fluids were more
saline than the later, higher fluids. This notion is supported by
Figure 18, a salinity-enthalpy diagram (Fournier, 1979; Hen-
ley et al., 1984), in which the ore-stage fluids lie along a hy-
pothetical mixing line between the low-temperature, dilute,
silicate-stage fluids (similar in geochemistry to deeply circu-
lated meteoric waters of modern neutral pH geothermal sys-
tems) and magmatically derived ore forming fluids of
mesothermal vein/manto-skarn base metal-silver systems (see
figs. 2, 3b of White, 1974; Sawkins, 1964; Simmons et al.,
1988). It is proposed that the Pachuca ore-stage fluid repre-
sents the upper, cooler, more dilute derivative of a hotter and
much more saline, magmatically derived mesothermal vein-
and/or skarn-forming fluid at depth. That fluids in even the
deepest mine levels at Pachuca are distinctly less saline than
those at Provedencia and Fresnillo (Sawkins, 1964; Simmons
et al., 1988) requires that fluid mixing began well below the
silver horizon.
Salinity data in conjunction with calculations of Cole and
Drummond (1986) indicated that the base metals and silver
were transported almost entirely as chloride complexes; data
from Henley et al. (1984) indicated that AgCl2- was the
strongest Ag-Cl complex. The dilution of a 300C brine satu-
rated in Ag2S from 1- to 0.5-m NaCl precipitates about 75
percent of the Ag, a pH increase from 4 to 5 precipitates >95
percent of the Ag, and cooling the brine from 300 to 250C
precipitates about 95 percent of the Ag (Henley et al., 1984).
These calculations are consistent with a model in which the
bottom of the Ag horizon represents a surface at which the
combined effects of dilution, cooling, and pH increase due to
fluid-rock reaction drove fluid composition to Ag2S satura-
tion. The very late stage native Ag (and covellite) indicates a
late increase in O2 (Fig. 17) or the exhaustion of dissolved S.
That the high-grade Ag zones within the Purisima-Colon
vein system occur generally within the widest vein segments
provides strong evidence that Ag emplacement was directly
related to rates of fluid flow. This is also evident at the district
scale. Areas 1 to 3 of Figure 2, which host all of the great
1343
1344 JOHN E. DREIER

FIG. 18. Salinity vs. enthalpy diagram showing the relationship between fluids of the silicate and ore stages, Purisima-
Colon vein system, and fluids from vein-manto-skarn systems elsewhere in Mexico (Sawkins, 1964; Simmons, 1988). Salinity
values for the Purisima-Colon ore-stage fluids, as represented by fluid inclusion data from sphalerite, lie on a mixing line be-
tween silicate-stage fluids of postulated wall-rock equilibrated meteoric origin and saline, mesothermal skarn-manto fluids of
Sawkins (1964) and Simmons et al. (1988). Following Fournier (1979) and Henley (1985), it is suggested that the ore-stage
fluids represent an original magmatic fluid (about one part) diluted by an equilibrated meteoric fluid (about one to two parts).

bonanzas, are zones of intense faulting and complex fault in-
tersections that appear to have acted as large zones of hy-
drothermal upflow.
Whereas mineral zoning indicates horizontal flow in the
Creede district and the upper part of the Broadlands-Ohaaki
geothermal system (Plumlee and Heald Whitehouse-Veaux,
1994; Simmons and Browne, 2000), vertically zoned wall-rock
alteration, sulfide mineralogy, and isotherms point to vertical
flow in the Purisima-Colon vein system (Geyne, 1949; Wisser,
1951). Finally, geologic mapping and the study of level maps
indicate that the major vein segments along the Purisima-
Colon vein system were separated from each other by barren
faults or areas of narrow, sporadic, barren to weakly mineral-
ized veins.
The intense illite-pyrite alteration and quartz and/or cal-
cite veining that pervades rocks for up to 350 m above the
veins indicates that a significant proportion of the fluid flow
rose well above the top of the vein system, but the absence or
scarcity of faults, fractures, alteration, and veining above 350
m provides strong evidence for vertical limits to upward
flowi.e., that the system was capped at ~350 m above the
top of the vein system. After the hydrothermal fluids exited
the top of the vein system they must have flowed subhorizon-
tally in the zone of distributed fracturing and clay alteration
where they mixed with downward flowing ground water, as
suggested by the low-salinity fluid inclusions from this region
(Dreier, 1976, Fig. 19).
Genesis of the postore stage
The abundance of amethyst and calcite indicates that the
postore fluids were relatively oxidizing and that PCO2 was one
to two orders of magnitude higher than in the stage 2 fluids.
The high PCO2 of the fluids probably resulted from the
ingress of meteoric fluids into the veins as the hydrothermal
system collapsed. The large open cavities characteristic of
the postore stage provide evidence that hydrothermal activity
terminated before the last openings created by faulting could
be filled by mineral precipitates.
Conclusions
The Purisima-Colon veins were formed in open zones in
normal faults at minimum depths of 550 to 650 m. The ele-
vation of the top of the vein system is positively related to the
amount of offset on the fault system and probably corre-
sponds to the location where the fault dies out. Prior to the
onset of mineralization the open zones in the fault system
were filled with rock fragments.
Mineral deposition took place in three stages from hy-
drothermal fluids that flowed directly up the veins to the top
of the Ag horizon and then subhorizontally within the zone of
distributed fracturing and illite-pyrite alteration. The first
stage of mineral deposition was characterized by conditions of
fluctuating temperature or temperature cycles and is domi-
nated by quartz. Much of the quartz was deposited as chal-
cedony or cryptocrystalline material from hydrothermal fluids
that were highly supersaturated in silica at temperatures
<180C. Some of the quartz, however, was deposited as
quartz between ~230 and 310C and the higher temperature
fluids were boiling. The silicate stage, which also includes K-
feldspar, johansennite, epidote, albite, clinozoisite, and
hematite, was deposited from dilute-very dilute, oxidized,
neutral pH hydrothermal fluids similar to those circulating in
many dilute, neutral pH modern geothermal systems. Such
geothermal fluids are interpreted by Henley (1985) as deeply
circulated, wall-rock equilibrated meteoric fluids.
The second stage of mineral deposition was deposited
from acid-reducing, moderate-salinity fluids at temperatures
of 270 to 290C that were similar to those proposed as mag-
matic derivatives by Giggenbach (1997). The ore-stage fluids
at Pachuca and possibly at many other epithermal Ag deposits

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 PURISIMA-COLON VEIN SYSTEM, PACHUCA REAL DEL MONTE DISTRICT, MEXICO 1345

FIG. 19. Schematic longitudinal projection of the Purisima-Colon vein system, illustrating fluid flow in relationship to
principal geologic and alteration features during vein formation. Data from geologic and fluid inclusion studies suggest that
the vein-forming fluids flowed directly up the fault and/or veins. They flowed out of the top of the open zone in the fault and
then horizontally away from the principal site of upwelling within the fracture zone above the vein system, driven by down-
ward-flowing meteoric waters. The absence of longitudinal mineral zoning along the vein system of the type reported for the
Broadlands-Ohaaki system by Simmons and Browne (2000) and the presence of barren fault segments between principal
orebodies indicate that significant horizontal, return flow did not take place within the ore horizon. The low-salinity fluid in-
clusions from outside the upflow zone (Dreier 1976) result from dilution by descending meteoric waters.

did not deposit quartz. An important implication of this ob-
servation is that fluid inclusions in quartz should not be relied
upon to provide meaningful information on the genesis of
economic Ag mineralization and that genetic models based
on such studies should be reevaluated. Ag deposition resulted
largely from fluid-rock acid neutralization reactions but dilu-
tion and cooling of the ore fluids by deeply circulated, equili-
brated meteoric waters were contributing factors.
The postore stage was deposited from dilute, oxidizing me-
teoric fluids circulating as the hydrothermal system collapsed.
Acknowledgments
I thank S.R. Titley for suggesting the study area, helping
to arrange funding, guiding the early research, and twice re-
viewing this manuscript. The Consejo de Recursos de Mex-
ico funded initial field work and I thank the late Guillermo
Salas, former Director of the Consejo, for his support, inter-
est, encouragement, and input. Petrographic and fluid inclu-
sion work was carried out at the Colorado School of Mines
and the U.S. Geological Survey in Lakewood and I thank
Murray Hitzman and David Leach for the use of their equip-
ment. Reviews by Sam Romberger, Jeff Hedenquest, Mark
Hannington, and Tawn Albinson provided many helpful
comments and greatly improved the manuscript. Robert
Fournier and Paul Barton provided stimulating discussions
on the interpretation of the various forms of silica and on the
possible scenarios conducive to silica undersaturation in the
epithermal environment. Finally, the fluid inclusion study was
completed with much input and assistance from T. J.
Reynolds who taught me the basics of fluid inclusion study,
spent many hours looking at fluid inclusions, discussing con-
cepts, and reviewing this manuscript and who took most of
the photomicrographs.
July 12, 2002; July 12, 2005
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