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Paragenesis and geochemistry of ore minerals in the epizonal gold deposits of the Yangshan gold belt, West Qinling, China

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Abstract

Six epizonal gold deposits in the 30-km-long Yangshan gold belt, Gansu Province are estimated to contain more than 300 t of gold at an average grade of 4.76 g/t and thus define one of China's largest gold resources. Detailed paragenetic studies have recognized five stages of sulfide mineral precipitation in the deposits of the belt. Syngenetic/diagenetic pyrite (Py0) has a framboidal or colloform texture and is disseminated in the metasedimentary host rocks. Early hydrothermal pyrite (Py1) in quartz veins is disseminated in metasedimentary rocks and dikes and also occurs as semi-massive pyrite aggregates or bedding-parallel pyrite bands in phyllite. The main ore stage pyrite (Py2) commonly overgrows Py1 and is typically associated with main ore stage arsenopyrite (Apy2). Late ore stage pyrite (Py3), arsenopyrite (Apy3), and stibnite occur in quartz ± calcite veins or are disseminated in country rocks. Post-ore stage pyrite (Py4) occurs in quartz ± calcite veins that cut all earlier formed mineralization. Electron probe microanalyses and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analyses reveal that different generations of sulfides have characteristic of major and trace element patterns, which can be used as a proxy for the distinct hydrothermal events. Syngenetic/diagenetic pyrite has high concentrations of As, Au, Bi, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn. The Py0 also retains a sedimentary Co/Ni ratio, which is distinct from hydrothermal ore-related pyrite. Early hydrothermal Py1 has high contents of Ag, As, Au, Bi, Cu, Fe, Sb, and V, and it reflects elevated levels of these elements in the earliest mineralizing metamorphic fluids. The main ore stage Py2 has a very high content of As (median value of 2.96 wt%) and Au (median value of 47.5 ppm) and slightly elevated Cu, but relatively low values for other trace elements. Arsenic in the main ore stage Py2 occurs in solid solution. Late ore stage Py3, formed coevally with stibnite, contains relatively high As (median value of 1.44 wt%), Au, Fe, Mn, Mo, Sb, and Zn and low Bi, Co, Ni, and Pb. The main ore stage Apy2, compared to late ore stage arsenopyrite, is relatively enriched in As, whereas the later Apy3 has high concentrations of S, Fe, and Sb, which is consistent with element patterns in associated main and late ore stage pyrite generations. Compared with pyrite from other stages, the post-ore stage Py4 has relatively low concentrations of Fe and S, whereas As remains elevated (2.05∼3.20 wt%), which could be interpreted by the substitution of As− for S in the pyrite structure. These results suggest that syngenetic/diagenetic pyrite is the main metal source for the Yangshan gold deposits where such pyrite was metamorphosed at depth below presently exposed levels. The ore-forming elements were concentrated into the hydrothermal fluids during metamorphic devolatilization, and subsequently, during extensive fluid–rock interaction at shallower levels, these elements were precipitated via widespread sulfidation during the main ore stage.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Professor Jean S. Cline of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for her helpful suggestions on earlier drafts of this paper. Thanks are due to David Adams in the USGS for assistance with the experiments. In particular, we would like to thank the 12th Gold Detachment of Chinese People's Armed Police for its cooperation. This research was jointly supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (no. 2009CB421008), the Geological investigation work project of China Geological Survey (no. 1212011121090), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents (no. NCET-09-0710), and the 111 Project (no. B07011). Comments from the two anonymous reviewers and the editor, Prof. Georges Beaudoin, are greatly appreciated.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, No. 29 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Nan Li, Jun Deng, Li-Qiang Yang, Richard J. Goldfarb & Chuang Zhang

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, Mail Stop 973, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO, 80225, USA

    Richard J. Goldfarb, Erin Marsh, Alan Koenig & Heather Lowers

  3. Headquarters of Gold Exploration Branch of Chinese Armed Police Force, Beijing, 100055, People’s Republic of China

    Shi-Bin Lei

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  1. Nan Li
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Correspondence to Jun Deng or Richard J. Goldfarb.

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Online Resource 1 EPMA methodology and typical detection limit (in wt%)

Online Resource 2 Median values of LA-ICP-MS and EPMA analyses for As on selected samples (in ppm)

Online Resource 3 LA-ICP-MS analyses of pyrite for As are generally in good agreement with their analyses by EPMA. Dotted line indicates 1:1 ratio

Online Resource 4 All the in-situ LA-ICP-MS analysis data of pyrite from different paragenetic stages (ppm)

Online Resource 5 Petrological and geochemical features of the different sulfide types in the Yangshan gold belt

Online Resource 6 Comparison of textural and chemical characteristics of Bendigo, Spanish Mountain, Sukhoi Log, Carlin Trend, and Yangshan gold belt (DOCX 118 kb)

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Li, N., Deng, J., Yang, LQ. et al. Paragenesis and geochemistry of ore minerals in the epizonal gold deposits of the Yangshan gold belt, West Qinling, China. Miner Deposita 49, 427–449 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-013-0498-8

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