Modern Understanding of the Industrial Classification of Pyrite-polymetallic Deposits of the Rudny Altai

There are many classifications of polymetallic deposits. Many researchers, based on the genetic relationship of the deposits, attribute the deposits of the Rudny Altai to the VMS Kuroko type. Other authors classify polymetallic deposits of the Rudny Altai, relying on geodynamic conditions and modes of their formation. Such a variety of classifications makes it difficult to understand and use these classifications for various kinds of research, and questions also arise when comparing with foreign analogues. Therefore, the authors of this article propose to consider the modern unified classification of deposits of the Ore Altai according to J.W. Lydon (1988), based on the division of polymetallic deposits of VMS by volume ratio Zn/(Zn+Pb) into 2 main industrial genetic types (Zn-Pb-Cu and Cu-Zn). The first type (Zn-Pb-Cu) has a mass ratio of Zn/(Zn+Pb) from 0.70 to 0.80; the second type (Cu-Zn) is more than 0.95. Practically all deposits of the Ore Altai can be attributed to the Zn Pb-Cu group, as having mass ratios of Zn/(Zn+Pb) from 0.64 to 0.86 and localized in medium to acidic calcareous-alkaline volcanic rocks mainly of Phanerozoic age