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Geology and geochemistry of the Changba SEDEX Pb-Zn deposit, Qinling orogenic belt, China

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Abstract

The Changba Pb-Zn SEDEX deposit occurs in the Middle Devonian sequence of the Anjiaca Formation of the Western Qinling Hercynian Orogen in the Gansu Province, China. The Changba-II orebody is hosted in biotite quartz schist and is the largest of 143 stratiform orebodies that are hosted either in biotite quartz schist or marble. The Changba-II comprises two types of mineralization: a bedded facies and an underlying breccia lens. The bedded section exhibits three sulfide sub-facies zoned from bottom to top: 1) banded sphalerite intercalated with quartz albitite; 2) interbedded massive pyrite and sphalerite ore; and 3) banded sphalerite ore intercalated with banded baritite. Major metallic minerals are sphalerite, pyrite, galena, with minor arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, boulangerite, and rare chalcopyrite. The bedded sulfides are underlain by a lens of brecciated and albitized biotite-quartz schists cemented by sulfides and tourmaline.

Massive and bedded sulfide δ34S values range from 8.1 to 29.3‰, whereas barite δ34S values range from 20.8 to 31.5‰. Disseminated pyrite in footwall schists has δ34S values ranging from 8.1 to 10.6‰, and increase to values ranging from 11.1 to 14.7‰ in the hangingwall. The lower δ34S values for massive and bedded sulfides are interpreted to be derived from progressive bacterial sulfate reduction (BSR) of Devonian seawater in a sulfate-restricted sub-basin. The higher δ34S values for massive and bedded sulfides could be a product of quantitative BSR but this is incompatible with barite being more abundant above the bedded sulfides. Instead, it is more likely that thermochemical sulfate reduction of seawater sulfate or of evaporite was the source of heavy hydrothermal sulfur. Heavy hydrothermal sulfur was injected into a sulfate-restricted sub-basin where it mixed with low δ34S BSR sulfide to form the massive and bedded sulfides. The REE patterns of sulfide layers and associated quartz albitite and baritite are similar to those of the host biotite quartz schists, suggesting that the hydrothermal fluids leached REE from the underlying rocks. Pb isotope ratios in galena form an array between the Upper Crust and the Mantle reservoir curves, which indicates that the lead is derived from upper crustal rocks comprising mafic igneous units. The Sr87/Sr86 ratio of 0.7101 for carbonate within the sulfide layers also suggests that Sr is derived from the mixing of Sr leached from upper crustal rocks with Middle Devonian seawater Sr. A Rb-Sr isochron age of 389.4 ± 6.4 Ma for sulfide layers and the interbedded hydrothermal sediments is consistent with the age of host Mid-Devonian strata. Ar39/Ar40 plateau age at 352.8 ± 3.5 Ma and Ar39-Ar40 isochron age of 346.6 ± 6.4 Ma for albite in the quartz albitite intercalated with sulfide layers indicate either albite formation after the sulfides or thermal resetting of the Rb-Sr system at about 350 Ma, the age of collision between the North China and Yangtze cratons.

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Acknowledgements

The work is supported by the Open Geochemical Lab of the China Academy of Sciences of China, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada and Université Laval (Québec, Canada). G.M. thanks Shaojun Zhong for his guidance and support. The Changba Mine of the Baiyin Non Ferrous Metals Corporation (BNMC) is thanked for access to the mines and their valuable materials. Comments by two anonymous reviewers, Dr. Karen Kelley, and Dr. R. Goldfarb and L. Meinert significantly improved this manuscript.

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  1. Guoliang Ma

    Present address: , 855 Fourth Avenue, Verdun, Canada, H4G 2Y5

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de géologie et de génie géologique, Université Laval, , Québec, G1K 7P4, Canada

    Guoliang Ma & Georges Beaudoin

  2. Institute of Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China, 710054

    Guoliang Ma, Sijing Qi & Ying Li

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  1. Guoliang Ma
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Correspondence to Georges Beaudoin.

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Ma, G., Beaudoin, G., Qi, S. et al. Geology and geochemistry of the Changba SEDEX Pb-Zn deposit, Qinling orogenic belt, China. Miner Deposita 39, 380–395 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-004-0416-1

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