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Orogenic Au deposits represent one of the largest sources of gold in the world and in Brazil, particularly at the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, southeastern portion of the São Francisco Craton. In the last decades, advances in in-situ analytical techniques allowed a detailed investigation of the chemistry of sulfides. This can reveal information about the origin and composition of the mineralizing fluids, potential sources of metals and sulfur and the fluid-rock interaction during the ore-forming processes. In this paper we combine Electron Microprobe Analysis and LA-ICP-MS analyses to put constraints on the nature and evolution of the Pitangui gold deposit. The Pitangui deposit represents an important Orogenic Au deposit hosted in clastic metasedimentary rocks of the Pitangui greenstone belt, northwestern portion of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero. Detailed drill hole, petrographic observations and in-situ chemical analyses of the hydrothermal alteration zones show that pyrite is the dominant ore mineral in the deposit and two possible origins are suggest including (i) syngenetic pyrite development at the early stages of the greenstone belt evolution and (ii) epigenetic pyrite, which is associated with hydrothermal processes during the Orogenic Au event. Syngenetic pyrite (PyI) has high Co, Bi, Pb, Sb, Te, Se, Ag and Au concentrations. The PyI could represent an important source of metals, a set of trace elements and likely sulfur for the later Orogenic Au mineralization. Epigenetic pyrites (PyII, PyIII and PyIV), conversely, are mainly found in association with hydrothermal minerals and within the mineralized carbonate-quartz-vein. The variations at Co, Ni, Pb, Te, Sn, Se, As, Bi, Sb, Ag, Mo and W in the epigenetic pyrite indicate that the dehydration PGB sequences during orogenesis constitutes the main fluids sources. The PyV, in turn, only appears at metamafic dyke, but its origin remains unclear. • The Pitangui Orogenic Au deposit records a complex metallogenetic evolution. • In-situ EPMA and LA-ICP-MS trace elements geochemistry can reveal the ore-forming processes. • Syngenetic and epigenetic sulfides display different trace elements composition and suggest different origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Iriri-Xingu domain, located in the central part of the Amazonian craton, consists of extensive occurrences of Paleoproterozoic volcanic rocks and granites with published ages of ca. 1990 to 1840 Ma, which show a strong crustal contribution for their magmas. Exposures of basement rocks are small and rare. Samples from two areas were dated in this work by U-Pb SHRIMP in zircon. In the northern Maribel area, a high-grade pelitic paragneiss presented an age of 2160 ± 8 Ma and the leucosome of a migmatitic orthogneiss, probably a diatexite, crystallized at 2149 ± 20 Ma. These Rhyacian ages suggest that it is part of the Bacajá domain, related to the Trans-Amazonian cycle. The Morro Grande area occurs in the central part of Iriri-Xingu domain, where a high-grade muscovite gneiss with a protolith of 2120-2180 Ma is dated at 1982 ± 7 Ma, and the leucosome of a migmatitic orthogneiss is crystallized at 1979 ± 8 Ma. These are the first records of high-grade metamorphism at ca. 1980 Ma in the Central Brazil shield and may be related to the generation of this Orosirian felsic magmatism, which is widespread throughout the nearby Ventuari-Tapajós province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]