The hydrothermal chimneys from ancient massive sulfide deposits are compared with «black, grey and white smokers» from the modem oceans. The mineralogical and trace element diversity of chimneys depends on the composition of foot wall basement and so from ore-formational type of VMS deposits. The decreasing amount of pyrite and marcasite and increasing of barite, bomite and sphalerite are exhibited for the chimneys in the range from the Cyprus to Urals and Kuroko types of VMS deposits. The chimneys from the Cyprus type are depleted in most of accessory minerals. Abundant telluride associations are common for chimneys from the Urals type of VMS deposits while chimneys from the Kuroko (R. Altay, Pontides, Hokuroko) are enriched in gold-galena-sulfosalts assemblages. The trace element zoning and specialization are described for different mineralogical type of the chimneys.