Structural control on the Peña del Seo tungsten-greisen vein deposit, northwest Spain

Sammanfattning: Tungsten is listed on the European Commission list of critical raw materials that are crucial to Europe’s economy. By raising awareness of tungsten as a critical raw material the EU can prioritise to enhance exploration, mining and recycling of tungsten. In this thesis the structural relationship between wall rock and veins, in a greisen-tungsten vein deposit, were analysed with the intention to interpret how tectonic deformation events control the emplacement of tungsten-bearing veins. The objective of this thesis is to investigate if and how structures controlled hydrothermal fluid flow and ore formation in the Peña del Seo tungsten-greisen vein deposit. Greisen systems are associated with tin and tungsten-bearing minerals and are related to intrusive magmatic bodies of granitic composition. Greisen-related granites (leucogranites), form at shallow depths in the crust (1.5-4 km) generally in intracontinental tectonic settings such as orogenic belts. The study site is located in the West Asturian-Leonese Zone in northwest Spain. This zone marks the transition between the foreland and the hinterland and is recognized as being part of a continental margin, where Palaeozoic rocks were deposited unconformably. These rocks were subsequently subjected to folding during the Variscan orogeny (370-290 Ma). Three main types of structures were generated due to three deformational phases (D1, D2 and D3) during the Variscan orogeny. D1 resulted in east-verging recumbent folding and formation of a related axial-planar parallel cleavage (S1), D2 resulted in displacement along large thrust sheets and D3 produced upright folding and refolding of F1 folds. Geological mapping with a focus on structural geology was carried out in March 2019, covering an area of approximately 0.25 km2. Structural measurements and oriented rock samples for microstructural study in thin sections were collected in the field. Additionally, photogrammetric mapping of structures was performed on a 3D photogrammetry model derived from a UAS survey. The geometry of the Peña del Seo tungsten-greisen vein deposit is interpreted to result from two major deformation events. The axial planar foliation (S1) at Peña del Seo is correlated to the regional fabric that developed during D1 of the Variscan orogeny. The related F1 folds are caused by buckling accompanied by flexural slip folding mechanism during D1. Forceful intrusion of the granite underlying the Peña del Seo deposit caused bending of the overlying rocks layers during D2. Layer-parallel stretching is likely to have caused tension fractures perpendicular to bedding in the outer arc of the F2 fold hinge. The formation of local crenulation and related spaced cleavage can be explained by layer-parallel shortening in the inner arc of the F2-fold. Local transposition of S1-foliation occurred during emplacement of quartz veins and explains the different orientation of strike of foliation between the northern and southern parts of the area. Fractures forming during formation of F2-fold are likely to have worked as conduits for ascending hydrothermal, ore-bearing fluids forming the Peña del Seo tungsten-greisen vein deposit.