Formation of the rare Xiaoqinling Au-Mo province:Timings and geodynamic triggers

Formation of the rare Xiaoqinling Au-Mo province:Timings and geodynamic triggers

  • 摘要: The timings and geodynamic controls of Mo, Au, and Au-Mo deposits in the Xiaoqinling Orogen (> 630 t Au and 115, 000 t Mo), a rare Au-Mo province globally, are addressed by a combination of mineral parageneses, crystalline mineralogy, geochemistry, and Re-Os and U-Pb geochronology in the Dahu, Qinnan, and Yangzhaiyu deposits. The Xiaoqinling Orogen comprises an E-W-trending fold and thrust system with repeated structural reactivation and the Mo or Au orebodies in these deposits are dominantly controlled by E-W-trending and NW-SE-trending shear zones. Molybdenum mineralization related to K-feldspar alteration comprises early molybdenite, pyrite, rutile, and monazite within gray quartz veins plus late molybdenite and pyrite within white quartz veins in the Dahu and Qinnan Au-Mo deposits. Early and late Au mineralization events have similar mineral assemblages of pyrite, native gold ± Au-Ag-Te minerals, rutile, and monazite associated with quartz-sericite alteration at Yangzhaiyu. The early disseminated molybdenite is characterized by rhombohedral polytype and oscillatory Re zoning, in contrast to the late molybdenite with a coexistence of rhombohedral and hexagonal polytypes and irregularly distributed Re. The early molybdenite has a Re-Os isochron age of 222.5 ± 1.3 Ma, compatible with a monazite U-Pb age of 224 ± 6.1 Ma, whereas late molybdenite provides a Re-Os isochron age of 185.0 ± 12 Ma, with the implication that the 3R-polytype molybdenite with oscillatory Re zoning is more suitable for high-precision dating. The early and late Au mineralization have a pyrite Re-Os age of 202.0 ± 5.9 Ma and U-Pb age of 124.0 ± 1.3 Ma, respectively. In accordance with its complex geodynamic setting, geological and geochronological studies record a complicated 100-million-year mineralization history with multiple magmatic-hydrothermal Mo and orogenic Au mineralization events that formed within a structural framework of multiply reactivated shear zones.

     

    Abstract: The timings and geodynamic controls of Mo, Au, and Au-Mo deposits in the Xiaoqinling Orogen (> 630 t Au and 115, 000 t Mo), a rare Au-Mo province globally, are addressed by a combination of mineral parageneses, crystalline mineralogy, geochemistry, and Re-Os and U-Pb geochronology in the Dahu, Qinnan, and Yangzhaiyu deposits. The Xiaoqinling Orogen comprises an E-W-trending fold and thrust system with repeated structural reactivation and the Mo or Au orebodies in these deposits are dominantly controlled by E-W-trending and NW-SE-trending shear zones. Molybdenum mineralization related to K-feldspar alteration comprises early molybdenite, pyrite, rutile, and monazite within gray quartz veins plus late molybdenite and pyrite within white quartz veins in the Dahu and Qinnan Au-Mo deposits. Early and late Au mineralization events have similar mineral assemblages of pyrite, native gold ± Au-Ag-Te minerals, rutile, and monazite associated with quartz-sericite alteration at Yangzhaiyu. The early disseminated molybdenite is characterized by rhombohedral polytype and oscillatory Re zoning, in contrast to the late molybdenite with a coexistence of rhombohedral and hexagonal polytypes and irregularly distributed Re. The early molybdenite has a Re-Os isochron age of 222.5 ± 1.3 Ma, compatible with a monazite U-Pb age of 224 ± 6.1 Ma, whereas late molybdenite provides a Re-Os isochron age of 185.0 ± 12 Ma, with the implication that the 3R-polytype molybdenite with oscillatory Re zoning is more suitable for high-precision dating. The early and late Au mineralization have a pyrite Re-Os age of 202.0 ± 5.9 Ma and U-Pb age of 124.0 ± 1.3 Ma, respectively. In accordance with its complex geodynamic setting, geological and geochronological studies record a complicated 100-million-year mineralization history with multiple magmatic-hydrothermal Mo and orogenic Au mineralization events that formed within a structural framework of multiply reactivated shear zones.

     

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