Domal structures and hydrothermal uranium deposits of the Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany

The domal structures of the Erzgebirge in Saxony, Germany, which control localization of the Variscan hydrothermal U, Sn, W, and base-metal deposits, started to form in the Late Riphean in the course of folding, regional metamorphism, and granitization and were eventually created at the end of the Paleozoic, when an enormous mass of granitic melts was emplaced and cooled. As is illustrated by the world’s largest Schlema-Alberoda vein uranium deposit, the fractures that determined the localization of ore-bearing veins were formed in the outer contact zones of the Variscan granites related to domal uplifts. Beyond the zones of contact metamorphism, the orientation of ore-bearing fractures changes, their morphology simplifies, the amplitude of displacements decreases, and most fractures pinch out. Such a zoning is explained by development of faults around growing granitic domes.