Evolution of the epithermal mineralization in the Pukanec deposit, Štiavnické vrchy Mts. (Slovakia)

Evolution of the epithermal mineralization in the Pukanec deposit, Štiavnické vrchy Mts. (Slovakia) | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Evolution of the epithermal mineralization in the Pukanec deposit, Štiavnické vrchy Mts. (Slovakia) Tomáš Mikuš, Jozef Vlasáč, Juraj Majzlan, Adrián Biroň, Marek Szczerba, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8701398/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The Pukanec deposit represents a historically important ore field of epithermal Au-Ag mineralization in the Middle Miocene Štiavnica andesite stratovolcano (Western Carpathians, Slovakia). Nevertheless, the Ag and Au carriers were not properly identified so far. In this paper, we present mineralogical, paragenetic, and geochemical aspects of the ore mineralization and fluid properties for the Pukanec deposit. Five mineralization stages were recognized. (1) Pyrite stage with quartz, K-feldspar, pyrite, and Au-Ag alloys. (2) Base-metal stage with pyrite, Au/Ag alloys, johanssenite, rhodonite, calcite, rhodochrosite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, hessite, and cervelleite. (3) Main Ag-bearing stage with pearceite, polybasite and acanthite. (4) Late Ag-Cu stage with acanthite, jalpaite, stromeyerite, mckinstryite, and uytenbogaardtite. (5) Supergene stage with acanthite, aurorite, chalcophanite, pyrolusite, hydrohetaerolite, coronadite, and todorokite. Fluid inclusion microthermometry indicates that ore-forming fluids in the Pukanec Au-Ag deposit underwent phase separation (boiling) at depth, serving as the principal mechanism for early base-metal precipitation. In contrast, fluid mixing prevailed as the dominant precipitation process of later precious metals in shallower levels. Fluids from the central zone exhibit elevated salinities and homogenization temperatures relative to those in marginal zones, signifying a lateral decrease of salinity from the deposit center outward. Boiling represents a key precipitation trigger in the central zone, particularly within shallow, calcite-hosted, base metal-enriched assemblages. The upper zone, characterized by quartz-chalcedony-hosted precious metal mineralization, formed primarily through mixing and conductive cooling of fluids. Western Carpathians Neogene stratovolcano Pukanec mineralogy precious metal base metal fluid inclusions Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files supplementarytableS1.docx suplementarytablesS2S19.xlsx supplementarytableS20.xlsx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 05 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 30 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 28 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 26 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8701398","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":586092310,"identity":"5d546011-cca5-4464-8d78-df8347648565","order_by":0,"name":"Tomáš Mikuš","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAq0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZjYgUQHEEjxA4gDRWs6QpIUBqIWxjRQtuu1saZI/59XJG9zuPcD44wwRWswOsx2T5t122HDDnXMJzDw3iNLC3ibNuO0A48wZOQbMDB+I1CL5c06dPUgL4w/itLAdk+BtYE7sl8gxYCDSYWzJ1jzHDif3y5xLOMxDlPfPHzO8+aOmzrZNuvfgwx/HiNCCAg6QqmEUjIJRMApGAQ4AAFMZNyI4mlVGAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Slovak Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tomáš","middleName":"","lastName":"Mikuš","suffix":""},{"id":586092311,"identity":"cba37fd1-e2a6-4191-812b-10ef6282651e","order_by":1,"name":"Jozef Vlasáč","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Slovak Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jozef","middleName":"","lastName":"Vlasáč","suffix":""},{"id":586092312,"identity":"be6e018a-8971-4e69-8324-5bf351800939","order_by":2,"name":"Juraj Majzlan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Friedrich Schiller University Jena","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Juraj","middleName":"","lastName":"Majzlan","suffix":""},{"id":586092313,"identity":"9f4e32a5-ef00-4c79-a310-bee22739d51a","order_by":3,"name":"Adrián Biroň","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Slovak Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Adrián","middleName":"","lastName":"Biroň","suffix":""},{"id":586092315,"identity":"5ae057d5-bb58-466e-80f1-9cd68b83c4fe","order_by":4,"name":"Marek Szczerba","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Polish Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marek","middleName":"","lastName":"Szczerba","suffix":""},{"id":586092318,"identity":"72e9e673-8c88-4a13-a7c2-1988fc936a9f","order_by":5,"name":"Eva Proroková","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Slovak Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Eva","middleName":"","lastName":"Proroková","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-26 14:38:40","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8701398/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8701398/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102848257,"identity":"af3af85c-5f67-45e6-93df-a76b09d578ca","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-17 13:41:30","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2853130,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Mikusetaltextfigstabs.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8701398/v1_covered_96788556-c85e-4b12-818f-fb8e5ea7416e.pdf"},{"id":102848165,"identity":"59e131af-e2cf-4a0f-9881-d0e3882d4775","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-17 13:40:58","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":20624,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"supplementarytableS1.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8701398/v1/2a04a65b8072ad9ab8742f19.docx"},{"id":102848173,"identity":"38235cc7-2895-4a3c-bbf7-a88ca0ae1d5b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-17 13:40:59","extension":"xlsx","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":143048,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"suplementarytablesS2S19.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8701398/v1/11cd4f5490420ca97f9e3151.xlsx"},{"id":102848223,"identity":"ec91f11e-7e95-4602-b598-f51aeb6acebd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-17 13:41:17","extension":"xlsx","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":27085,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"supplementarytableS20.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8701398/v1/c4d6f185454d6355720c73b2.xlsx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Evolution of the epithermal mineralization in the Pukanec deposit, Štiavnické vrchy Mts. 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