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Precise molybdenite Re–Os and mica Ar–Ar dating of the Mesozoic Yaogangxian tungsten deposit, central Nanling district, South China

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Abstract

The Yaogangxian deposit in the central Nanling region, South China consists of vein-type ore bodies hosted in Cambrian to Jurassic strata and Mesozoic granitic intrusions. Wolframite and molybdenite are the dominant ore minerals intergrown with gangue minerals of quartz, feldspar, phlogopite, and muscovite. We have carried out molybdenite Re–Os and phlogopite and muscovite 40Ar/39Ar dating to better understand the timing and genesis of mineralization. Re–Os dating of eight molybdenite samples yielded model ages ranging from 152.0±3.5 to 161.1±4.5 Ma, with an average of 156.0 Ma. The Re–Os analyses give a well-defined 187Re/187Os isochron with an age of 154.9±2.6 Ma (MSWD=2.4). Hydrothermal phlogopite and muscovite display extremely flat 40Ar/39Ar age spectra. Phlogopite yields a 40Ar/39Ar plateau age of 153.0±1.1 Ma, whereas muscovite yields a plateau age of 155.1±1.1 Ma. Both 40Ar/39Ar ages are in good agreement with the Re–Os ages, placing the timing of tungsten mineralization at about 154 Ma. This age is consistent with the field relationships. Our new data, when combined with published geochronological results from other major deposits in this region, suggest that large scale W–Sn mineralization occurred throughout the central Nanling region in the Late Jurassic.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the Important Program of Knowledge Innovation from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant KZCX3-SW-125) and the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 40472053). We thank the geologists of the Yaogangxian Mine for their help during our field investigations. Special thanks are due to Mr. Dai Tongmo for his help with the argon analyses and Prof. Li Jianwei for reading an early draft. We express our gratitude to Prof. Bernd Lehmann for his invaluable suggestions that helped to improve an early draft of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550002, People’s Republic of China

    Jiantang Peng, Ruizhong Hu, Nengping Shen, Shunda Yuan & Xianwu Bi

  2. State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Guiyang, 550002, People’s Republic of China

    Jiantang Peng, Ruizhong Hu, Nengping Shen, Shunda Yuan & Xianwu Bi

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Mei-Fu Zhou

  4. National Research Center of Geoanalysis, Beijing, 100037, People’s Republic of China

    Andao Du & Wenjun Qu

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  1. Jiantang Peng
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Correspondence to Jiantang Peng.

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Editorial handling: B. Lehmann

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Peng, J., Zhou, MF., Hu, R. et al. Precise molybdenite Re–Os and mica Ar–Ar dating of the Mesozoic Yaogangxian tungsten deposit, central Nanling district, South China. Miner Deposita 41, 661–669 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-006-0084-4

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