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Pulsed exsolution of magmatic ore-forming fluids in tin-tungsten systems: a SIMS cassiterite oxygen isotope record

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Abstract

Utilizing in situ oxygen isotope analysis, we demonstrate the potential of cassiterite as a robust recorder of fluid source and evolution. Cassiterite is an ore mineral, and its mineral–water oxygen isotope fractionation factor is only weakly temperature-dependent. Unlike most explored gangue minerals such as quartz, cassiterite can provide a direct and robust archive of ore-forming fluids, e.g., fluid oxygen isotope composition (δ18O values). Core and rim domains of a representative cassiterite crystal from the Piaotang tin-tungsten (Sn-W) deposit, China, are characterized by contrasting δ18O values. Cassiterite δ18O values are –2.14 ± 0.41 ‰ for the core and 2.36 ± 0.36 ‰ for the rim, which equate to fluid δ18O values of ~ 4.1 ‰ (core) and ~ 8.6 ‰ (rim). Additionally, the cassiterite rim is enriched in niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta) compared to the mineral core. The δ18O, and Nb and Ta data are interpreted to reflect core to rim crystallization from distinct pulses of magmatic-hydrothermal fluids that possessed a discrete oxygen isotopic, and Nb and Ta composition. Such a pulsed process could be a common feature for Sn-W deposits, and is critical to the formation of giant deposits with high metal grades. Involvement of meteoric water associated with the first mineralization stage reaches ~ 33%, but is limited (~ 7%) in the second (main) mineralization stage. Therefore, cooling induced by fluid mixing may not be necessary for tin deposition, and our new findings invite a reassessment of the role of meteoric water in other Sn-W deposits. Our petrologic modelling shows that fluids exsolved from a 10 – 15 km3 parental granitic magma can yield the Sn-W endowments recorded at Piaotang. Further, during magma fractionation, Sn and W are preferentially transferred into fluids compared to Nb and Ta. As a consequence, fluid chemistry is the primary factor controlling metal endowment and zoning in W-Sn deposits, as observed at Piaotang, and explains the predominant magmatic origin of Nb–Ta deposits.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFA0702600), National Natural Science Foundation of China (42022022), Pioneer Hundred Talents Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences and CNNC Science Fund for Talented Young Scholars (QNYC2019-2). We thank Bernd Lehmann and Nicolas J. Saintilan for very informative suggestions and efficient editorial handling, as well as the detailed and pertinent reviews by Patrick Carr and Matthieu Harlaux that greatly improved the presentation of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Yang Li & Xian-Hua Li

  2. State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Rong-Qing Zhang

  3. Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology, China National Nuclear Corporation, Beijing, 100029, China

    Sheng He

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Rue des Maraîchers 13, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland

    Massimo Chiaradia

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  1. Yang Li
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  5. Xian-Hua Li
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Correspondence to Yang Li.

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Editorial handling: B. Lehmann

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Li, Y., Zhang, RQ., He, S. et al. Pulsed exsolution of magmatic ore-forming fluids in tin-tungsten systems: a SIMS cassiterite oxygen isotope record. Miner Deposita 57, 343–352 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-022-01093-4

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