Abstract:
This paper aims at establishing a tectonic and temporal framework to characterize the metallogenic processes that made contribution to the formation of the mineral provinces in northern São Francisco Craton. Many Archean ore-forming processes which formed resources such as massive sulfide zinc, lead, zinc and copper, besides magnesite talc, iron-titanium-vanadium, iron, chromite and manganese, occurred before the assembly of the craton. Deposits of chromite, nickel, gold and emerald were formed during the Paleoproterozoic orogenic cycle, when the craton was amalgamated into the Atlantic paleocontinent. An extension event occurred during the breakup of Rodinia in the Neoproterozoic, which was associated with deposits of phosphorite and uranium. Kimberlite diamond and gold mineralization took place during the Brasiliano orogenic cycle, coeval with the amalgamation of West Gondwana. A long-lasting and rather uniform crustal stress happened in this area during the Cambrian period. Resetting of the isotopic and magnetic systems that affected the Neoproterozoic sediments of the Irecê Basin at about 520Ma was attributed to the regional fluid migration and mineralization in the aftermath of the Brasiliano orogenic cycle.