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In situ LA-ICP-MS U–Pb geochronology and trace element analysis of hydrothermal titanite from the giant Zhuxi W (Cu) skarn deposit, South China

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Abstract

The Zhuxi W (Cu) skarn deposit is the largest W deposit in the Jiangnan porphyry–skarn tungsten belt in South China, and is also among the largest deposit of this type in the world. Titanite is a common mineral in the Zhuxi deposit, and occurs in three textural settings: titanite I associated with retrograde-altered exoskarn with weak mineralization; titanite II in retrograde-altered endoskarn with disseminated Cu ore; and titanite III from altered granite with disseminated W ore. Here, we present LA-ICP-MS U–Pb data on the three types of titanite which show 207Pb-corrected weighted mean 206Pb/238U ages of 148.1 ± 7.4 Ma (n = 25, MSWD = 0.22), 148.9 ± 1.5 Ma (n = 28, MSWD = 0.37), and 149.9 ± 1.3 Ma (n = 31, MSWD = 0.28), respectively. These ages are consistent with the previously reported ages of the ore-related granite. The coeval nature of the W and Cu ores suggests that the W and Cu ores formed synchronously, and are associated with the granitoids. The Ce and Eu anomalies in the three types of titanite record redox fluctuation during the mineralization process, and suggest variable contamination of the magmatic-hydrothermal system by reduced carbonate wall-rock that contains abundant carbonaceous matter. Our study demonstrates that hydrothermal titanite commonly occurring in reduced-type W skarn deposits has potential for isotopic dating and in constraining the redox conditions for the mineralization process.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Prof. Bernd Lehmann, Prof. AE Albert Gilg, Prof. Philippe Boulvais, and Prof. Marcel Guilong who provided many constructive comments and useful suggestions which helped us to improve our manuscript significantly. We would like to thank Prof. Zhenyu Chen, Dr. Xiaodan Chen, and Yingxiao Han for their assistance with EPMA analysis. We thank Prof. Yueheng Yang and Dr. Rui Li for their assistance with the LA-ICP-MS U–Pb analyses of titanite. We appreciate the help of Prof. Hao Song and Dr. Xin Xiong during the Raman spectra analysis. We also thank Dr. Zhigang Kong and Mr. Tao Xie who helped us during the field investigation. This research was jointly supported by the State Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (41430314, 41573042) and the Special Fund for Scientific Research in the Public Interest of Ministry of Land and Resources (201411050).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MLR Key Laboratory of Metallogeny and Mineral Assessment, Institute of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100037, China

    Shiwei Song, Jingwen Mao, Guiqing Xie & Lei Chen

  2. Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Shiwei Song & Jingwen Mao

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    M. Santosh

  4. Department of Geology, Northwest University, Northern Taibai Str. 229, Xi’an, 710069, China

    M. Santosh

  5. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, 4811, Australia

    M. Santosh

  6. 912 Party of Jiangxi Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration, Yingtan, 335001, China

    Guohua Chen, Jianfeng Rao & Yongpeng Ouyang

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  1. Shiwei Song
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  2. Jingwen Mao
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Song, S., Mao, J., Xie, G. et al. In situ LA-ICP-MS U–Pb geochronology and trace element analysis of hydrothermal titanite from the giant Zhuxi W (Cu) skarn deposit, South China. Miner Deposita 54, 569–590 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-018-0831-3

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