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Variation of molybdenum isotopes in molybdenite from porphyry and vein Mo deposits in the Gangdese metallogenic belt, Tibetan plateau and its implications

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Abstract

We present Mo isotopic ratios of molybdenite from five porphyry molybdenum deposits (Chagele, Sharang, Jiru, Qulong, and Zhuonuo) and one quartz-molybdenite vein-type deposit (Jigongcun) along the Gangdese metallogenic belt in the Tibetan Plateau. These deposits represent a sequence of consecutive events of the India-Asia collision at different periods. Additional molybdenite samples from the Henderson Mo deposit (USA), the oceanic subduction-related El Teniente (Chile), and Bingham (USA) porphyry Cu-(Mo) deposits were analyzed for better understanding the controls on the Mo isotope systematics of molybdenite. The results show that molybdenite from Sharang, Jiru, Qulong, and Zhuonuo deposits have similar δ97Mo (∼0 ‰), in agreement with the values of the Henderson Mo deposit (−0.10 ‰). In contrast, samples from the Changle and Jigongcun deposit have δ97Mo of 0.85 ‰ to 0.88 ‰ and −0.48 %, respectively. Molybdenite from the El Teniente and Bingham deposits yields intermediate δ97Mo of 0.27 and 0.46 ‰, respectively. The Mo isotopes, combined with Nd isotope data of the ore-bearing porphyries, indicate that source of the ore-related magmas has fundamental effects on the Mo isotopic compositions of molybdenite. Our study indicates that molybdenite related to crustal-, and mantle-derived magmas has positive or negative δ97Mo values, respectively, whereas molybdenite from porphyries formed by crust-mantle mixing has δ97Mo close to 0 ‰. It is concluded that the Mo isotope composition in the porphyry system is a huge source signature, without relation to the tectonic setting under which the porphyry deposits formed.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Dr. Yunxing Xue from the Department of Geology, Australian National University, and Prof. Zheng Youye from China University of Geosciences for their invaluable help in sample collection and associated fieldwork. We thank Georges Beaudoin (Editor-in-Chief) and Rolf Romer (Associate editor) for editorial handling and an anonymous reviewer for his/her reviews which considerably improved an earlier version of this manuscript. This study has been supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 41073007, 41273005, 41473007), the Ministry of Education of China (IRT0441 and B07039), and the MOST Special Fund from the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Yong Wang, Lian Zhou, Shan Gao, Jian-Wei Li, Zhi-Fang Hu & Zhao-Chu Hu

  2. Chemical Metrology, Institute for National Measurement Standards, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0R6, Canada

    Lu Yang

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  1. Yong Wang
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Correspondence to Lian Zhou.

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Editorial handling: R.L. Romer

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Wang, Y., Zhou, L., Gao, S. et al. Variation of molybdenum isotopes in molybdenite from porphyry and vein Mo deposits in the Gangdese metallogenic belt, Tibetan plateau and its implications. Miner Deposita 51, 201–210 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-015-0602-3

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