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In situ major and trace element analysis of amphiboles in quartz monzodiorite porphyry from the Tonglvshan Cu–Fe (Au) deposit, Hubei Province, China: insights into magma evolution and related mineralization

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Abstract

The Tonglvshan deposit is the largest Cu–Fe (Au) skarn deposit in the Edong district, which is located in the westernmost part of the Middle and Lower Yangtze River metallogenic belt, China. In this study, we performed a detailed in situ analysis of major and trace elements in amphiboles from the ore-related Tonglvshan quartz monzodiorite porphyry using electron microprobe (EMPA) analysis and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Two distinct populations of amphiboles, which can be distinguished by their aluminum content, are found in the quartz monzodiorite porphyry. The low-aluminum (Low-Al) amphiboles are subhedral or anhedral and formed at 46.3–73.5 MPa and 713–763 °C. In contrast, the high-aluminum (High-Al) amphiboles are euhedral and formed at 88–165 MPa and 778–854 °C. Some euhedral amphiboles are partially or completely replaced by Low-Al amphibole. The compositions of parental melts in equilibrium with the High-Al amphibole (Melt 1) and Low-Al amphibole (Melt 2) were computed by applying solid/liquid partition coefficients. This modeling shows that magma in equilibrium with High-Al amphibole (Melt 1) underwent 40% fractional crystallization of amphibole, plagioclase and apatite at a depth of ~5 km to evolve to magma in equilibrium with Low-Al amphibole (Melt 2). Copper enrichment occurred in the magma after undergoing fractional crystallization. The magma had a high oxygen fugacity, increasing from NNO + 1 (Melt 1) through NNO + 2 to HM (Melt 2), which could have prevented the loss of Cu (and possibly Au) to sulfide minerals during crystallization. Finally, the evolved magma intruded to shallower depths, where it presumably exsolved aqueous ore-forming fluids. Therefore, the large Cu–Fe–Au reserves of the Tonglvshan deposit can likely be attributed to a combination of controlling factors, including high oxygen fugacity, fractional crystallization, fluid exsolution, and a shallow emplacement depth.

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Fig. 1

Modified from Xie et al. (2011)

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Biotite data from the Edong district are cited from Liu et al. (2010a), Zhao et al. (2010) and Zhou (1986)

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Dr. Yang Shuiyuan for his help with EPMA analyses, and Drs. Chen Wei and Zhao Kuidong for their help with LA-ICP-MS analyses. This work was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Key Project (No. 2016YFC0600206) and the MOST Special Fund from the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences (No. MSFGPMR03-2). We are also grateful to Profs. A.W. Hofmann, Hans Keppler and Dan Smith and an anonymous reviewer who provided valuable comments and suggestions which helped to improve this manuscript significantly.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Exploration of Strategic Mineral Resources, Faculty of Earth Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Deng-Fei Duan & Shao-Yong Jiang

  2. State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, People’s Republic of China

    Shao-Yong Jiang

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  1. Deng-Fei Duan
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Duan, DF., Jiang, SY. In situ major and trace element analysis of amphiboles in quartz monzodiorite porphyry from the Tonglvshan Cu–Fe (Au) deposit, Hubei Province, China: insights into magma evolution and related mineralization. Contrib Mineral Petrol 172, 36 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-017-1355-z

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