The Vale das Gatas tungsten mine is situated at the contact between Hercynian granite and Cambrian-Precambrian crystalline schists a few kilometers north of the village of Sabrosa, near Vila Real, in northern Portugal. Wolframite has been the principal product of the mine although several other metals of economic interest are known to occur there. The silver content of the ores was attributed by earlier workers to the presence of tetrahedrite and schapbachite, whilst this work shows matildite, pavonite, acanthite, and argyrodite to be present, together with Ag-bearing galena. The textures and compositions of these phases are described with preliminary results of fluid inclusion studies.
