New insights into the multiple magmatic fluid generations from scheelite in the Bastielieke W-polymetallic deposit, Chinese Altay (NW, China)

Scheelite is the main ore mineral in skarn-type tungsten (W-Mo, W-Sn, and W-Cu) deposits, and is also a good proxy for ore-fluid evolution and mineralization. The Bastielieke deposit is the first medium-size W-polymetallic skarn deposit discovered in the Chinese (Xinjiang, NW China) Altay. Scheelite grains at Bastielieke are distributed in biotite granite, skarn and quartz-fluorite veins. They exhibit different textures, and can be divided into four types and six subtypes, including those in granite (Schm), prograde skarn (SchI), retrograde-altered rocks (SchII), and those in late-stage quartz-fluorite veins (SchIII).SchIa and SchIb were formed in the early and late prograde stage, respectively. SchI displays homogeneous texture, enrichments of light rare earth elements (LREEs) relative to heavy REEs (HREEs), and significantly negative Eu anomalies. SchIa has higher Sr-Mo contents and LREE/HREE than SchIb. SchII shows patchy texture by overgrowth and dissolution-reprecipitation, and can be subdivided into dark (SchIIa) and light (SchIIb) zone based in CL imaging. All SchII grains are LREE-enriched with negative Eu anomalies and relatively low LREE/HREE ratios. SchIIb has much higher W-Mo-Nb-Sr contents than SchIIa, which is ascribed to late-stage hydrothermal modifications. Schm and SchIII display homogeneous texture and similar MREE-enriched patterns, as well as very low Mo-W-Sr and different Nb contents.The texture and compositional variations in Bastielieke scheelites reveal that two magmatic fluids derived from different granitic magma reservoirs were involved in the mineralization. The earlier ore-fluid is relativly oxidized and has low HREE contents, forming the early prograde skarn-stage mineralization. Episodic influxes of later F-rich granitic magmatic fluids may have modified the earlier scheelite compositions, leading to multistage W enrichment and varying intragrain compositions.