Fluid flows through the crust result in the mobilization of elements that can, in turn, generate metal concentrations and the formation of ore bodies. The circulations of such fluids are mainly localized in zones affected by localized deformation, where they modify the chemical composition of the host lithologies. In the Archean Murchison Greenstone Belt (Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa), the Antimony Line is a brittle-ductile structure affected by the circulation of Sb-Au mineralizing fluids. In order to characterize the ore-forming processes, we combined a petro-geochemical study, that focused on stable isotopes and fluid inclusions in particular, with a multi-method dating (U-Th-Pb, Pb-Pb and Ar-Ar) of the ore bodies and their host rocks in and around the Antimony Line. Furthermore, our structural study emphasizes the distributed character of the belt deformation. The Murchison Greenstone Belt experienced a major episode of arc collision and related magmatism at ca 2.97 Ga, contemporaneous with an Au(±Sb) mineralization that may be responsible for a pre-enrichment in Sb. The main Sb mineralization event must be related to the circulation of a metamorphic, H2O-CO2-dominated fluid at 2-3 kbar and 350-450°C. The albitization of the granitoids intrusive into the Antimony Line is dated at 2.8 Ga and is genetically linked to this fluid flow, which took place during the late tectono-metamorphic history of the belt contemporaneously with the emplacement of leucogranites along the southern border of the belt. Therefore, this study further demonstrates that coupling petro-geochemistry and geochronology is a powerful tool in order to study and characterize a given metallogenic system.
