The Giant Chalukou Porphyry Mo Deposit, Northeast China: The Product of a Short-Lived, High Flux Mineralizing Event

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingqing Zhao ◽  
Degao Zhai ◽  
Ryan Mathur ◽  
Jiajun Liu ◽  
David Selby ◽  
...  

Abstract Whether giant porphyry ore deposits are the products of single, short-lived magmatic-hydrothermal events or multiple events over a prolonged interval is a topic of considerable debate. Previous studies, however, have all been devoted to porphyry Cu and Cu-Mo deposits. In this paper, we report high-precision isotope dilution-negative-thermal ionization mass spectrometric (ID-N-TIMS) molybdenite Re-Os ages for the newly discovered, world-class Chalukou porphyry Mo deposit (reserves of 2.46 Mt @ 0.087 wt % Mo) in NE China. Samples were selected based on a careful evaluation of the relative timing of the different vein types (i.e., A, B, and D veins), thereby ensuring that the suite of samples analyzed could be used to reliably determine the age and duration of mineralization. The molybdenite Re-Os geochronology reveals that hydrothermal activity at Chalukou involved two magmatic-hydrothermal events spanning an interval of 6.92 ± 0.16 m.y. The first event (153.96 ± 0.08/0.63/0.79 Ma, molybdenite ID-N-TIMS Re-Os age) was associated with the emplacement of a granite porphyry dated at 152.1 ± 2.2 Ma (zircon laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-microscopic [LA-ICP-MS] U-Pb ages), and led to only minor Mo mineralization, accounting for <10% of the overall Mo budget. The bulk of the Mo (>90%) was deposited in less than 650 kyr, between 147.67 ± 0.10/0.60/0.76 and 147.04 ± 0.12/0.72/0.86 Ma (molybdenite ID-N-TIMS Re-Os ages), coincident with the emplacement of a fine-grained porphyry at 148.1 ± 2.6 Ma (zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb ages). The high-precision Re-Os age determinations presented here show, contrary to the finding of a number of studies of porphyry Cu and Cu-Mo systems, that the giant Chalukou porphyry Mo deposit primarily formed in a single, short-lived (<650 kyr) hydrothermal event, suggesting that this may also have been the case for other giant porphyry Mo deposits.

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Ortega-Obregón ◽  
Fanis Abdullin ◽  
Luigi Solari ◽  
Peter Schaaf ◽  
Gabriela Solís-Pichardo

Apatite is the most common phosphate mineral in the Earth’s crust and can be found in practically all magmatic and metamorphic rocks, as well as in ancient and recent sediments and in certain ore deposits. Its effective closure temperature of 450–550 °C for the U-Pb system makes apatite an important natural medium-temperature thermochronometer that can be dated by both laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA–ICP-MS) and isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID–TIMS) techniques. Due to its low U content, coupled with high Pb contents incorporated during crystallization (also called common lead), apatite U-Pb dating is analytically challenging, and requires robust analytical protocols to achieve reliable ages. In this experimental study we obtained apatite U-Pb ages from six rock samples employing LA–ICP-MS (at Laboratorio de Estudios Isotópicos, Centro de Geociencias, UNAM), while one sample was also dated by ID–TIMS (at Laboratorio Universitario de Geoquímica Isotópica, UNAM). These samples have igneous emplacement or metamorphic ages broadly ranging from the Neoproterozoic to the Paleocene. The obtained apatite U-Pb ages agree well with other radioisotopic data (U-Pb on zircon and K-Ar or Ar-Ar on micas and hornblende) available for the same rock samples tested, or for the same geological units studied. These apatite U-Pb results, obtained for the first time at two main Mexican geochronology laboratories, are precise enough to be geologically meaningful and usually represent the cooling ages; though, in some cases they may also indicate the crystallization or the metamorphic age. Some advantages and disadvantages of LA–ICP-MS- and ID–TIMS-based methodologies were observed and outlined. Our results validate the analytical procedures used and will serve as an important trigger towards the development or improvement of medium-temperature thermochronology techniques in Mexico.


Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 630
Author(s):  
Christos L. Stergiou ◽  
Vasilios Melfos ◽  
Panagiotis Voudouris ◽  
Lambrini Papadopoulou ◽  
Paul G. Spry ◽  
...  

The Vathi porphyry Cu-Au±Mo deposit is located in the Kilkis ore district, northern Greece. Hydrothermally altered and mineralized samples of latite and quartz monzonite are enriched with numerous rare and critical metals. The present study focuses on the bulk geochemistry and the mineral chemistry of pyrite, chalcopyrite, magnetite, and titanite. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are the most abundant ore minerals at Vathi and are related to potassic, propylitic, and sericitic hydrothermal alterations (A- and D-veins), as well as to the late-stage epithermal overprint (E-veins). Magnetite and titanite are found mainly in M-type veins and as disseminations in the potassic-calcic alteration of quartz monzonite. Disseminated magnetite is also present in the potassic alteration in latite, which is overprinted by sericitic alteration. Scanning electron microscopy and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analyses of pyrite and chalcopyrite reveal the presence of pyrrhotite, galena, and Bi-telluride inclusions in pyrite and enrichments of Ag, Co, Sb, Se, and Ti. Chalcopyrite hosts bornite, sphalerite, galena, and Bi-sulfosalt inclusions and is enriched with Ag, In, and Ti. Inclusions of wittichenite, tetradymite, and cuprobismutite reflect enrichments of Te and Bi in the mineralizing fluids. Native gold is related to A- and D-type veins and is found as nano-inclusions in pyrite. Titanite inclusions characterize magnetite, whereas titanite is a major host of Ce, Gd, La, Nd, Sm, Th, and W.


Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1236
Author(s):  
Sylwia Svorová Pawełkowicz ◽  
Barbara Wagner ◽  
Jakub Kotowski ◽  
Grażyna Zofia Żukowska ◽  
Bożena Gołębiowska ◽  
...  

Impurities in paint layers executed with green and blue copper pigments, although relatively common, have been studied only little to date. Yet, their proper identification is a powerful tool for classification of paintings, and, potentially, for future provenance studies. In this paper, we present analyses of copper pigments layers from wall paintings situated in the vicinity of copper ore deposits (the palace in Kielce, the palace in Ciechanowice, and the parish church in Chotków) located within the contemporary borders of Poland. We compare the results with the analyses of copper minerals from three deposits, two local, and one historically important for the supply of copper in Europe, i.e., Miedzianka in the Holy Cross Mountains, Miedzianka in the Sudetes, and, as a reference, Špania Dolina in the Slovakian Low Tatra. Optical (OM) and electron microscopy (SEM-EDS), Raman spectroscopy, and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) have been used for a detailed investigation of the minute grains. Special attention has been devoted to antimony and nickel phases, as more unusual than the commonly described iron oxides. Analyses of minerals from the deposits helped to interpret the results obtained from the paint samples. For the first time, quantitative analyses of copper pigments’ impurities have been described.


Author(s):  
Kaiyun Chen ◽  
Zhian Bao ◽  
Honglin Yuan ◽  
Nan Lv

This study presents a practical method for high-precision Fe isotope determination without column chromatography purification for iron-dominated mineral samples using multi-collector inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). A series of comparable...


Author(s):  
Hai-Ou Gu ◽  
Sun He

This study presents a method for high-precision stable potassium (K) isotope analysis using Multi-Collector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) without collision cell in low resolution mode. Cold plasma technique...


2020 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 813-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Cooke ◽  
Jamie J. Wilkinson ◽  
Mike Baker ◽  
Paul Agnew ◽  
Josh Phillips ◽  
...  

Abstract The giant, high-grade Resolution porphyry Cu-Mo deposit in the Superior district of Arizona is hosted in Proterozoic and Paleozoic basement and in an overlying Cretaceous volcaniclastic breccia and sandstone package. Resolution has a central domain of potassic alteration that extends more than 1 km outboard of the ore zone, overlapping with a propylitic halo characterized by epidote, chlorite, and pyrite that is particularly well developed in the Laramide volcaniclastic rocks and Proterozoic dolerite sills. The potassic and propylitic assemblages were overprinted in the upper parts of the deposit by intense phyllic and advanced argillic alteration. The district was disrupted by Tertiary Basin and Range extension, and the fault block containing Resolution and its Cretaceous host succession was buried under thick mid-Miocene dacitic volcanic cover, obscuring the geologic, geophysical, and geochemical footprint of the deposit. To test the potential of propylitic mineral chemistry analyses to aid in the detection of concealed porphyry deposits, a blind test was conducted using a suite of epidote-chlorite ± pyrite-altered Laramide volcaniclastic rocks and Proterozoic dolerites collected from the propylitic halo, with samples taken from two domains located to the north and south and above the Resolution ore zone. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) data of epidote provided indications of deposit fertility and proximity. Competition for chalcophile elements (As, Sb, Pb) between coexisting pyrite and epidote grains led to a subdued As-Sb fertility response in epidote, consistent with epidote collected between 0.7 and 1.5 km from the center of a large porphyry deposit. Temperature-sensitive trace elements in chlorite provided coherent spatial zonation patterns, implying a heat source centered at depth between the two sample clusters, and application of chlorite proximitor calculations based on LA-ICP-MS analyses provided a precisely defined drill target in this location in three dimensions. Drilling of this target would have resulted in the discovery of Resolution, confirming that epidote and chlorite mineral chemistry can potentially add value to porphyry exploration under cover.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 531-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sune G. Nielsen ◽  
Jeremy D. Owens ◽  
Tristan J. Horner

We present and verify a new method to measure vanadium isotope ratios using a Thermo Scientific Neptune multi-collector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) operated in medium mass resolution mode.


2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolanta Burda ◽  
Aleksandra Gawęda ◽  
Urs Klötzli

Abstract Detailed cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging of zircon crystals, coupled with Laser Ablation Multi-Collector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS) U-Pb zircon dating was used to develop new insights into the evolution of granitoids from the High Tatra Mountains. The zircon U-Pb results show two distinct age groups (350±5 Ma and 337±6 Ma) recorded from cores and rims domains, respectively. Obtained results point that the last magmatic activity in the Tatra granitoid intrusion occurred at ca. 330 Ma. The previously suggested age of 314 Ma reflects rather the hydrothermal activity and Pb-loss, coupled with post-magmatic shearing.


Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wu ◽  
Li ◽  
Ling ◽  
Yang ◽  
Li ◽  
...  

The oxygen (O) and neodymium (Nd) isotopic composition of monazite provides an ideal tracer of metamorphism and hydrothermal activity. Calibration of the matrix effect and monitoring of the external precision of monazite O–Nd isotopes with microbeam techniques, such as secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and laser ablation-multicollector-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICPMS), require well-characterized natural monazite standards for precise microbeam measurements. However, the limited number of standards available is impeding the application of monazite O–Nd isotopes. Here, we report on the RW-1 monazite as a potential new working reference material for microbeam analysis of O–Nd isotopes. Microbeam measurements by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), SIMS, and LA-MC-ICPMS at 10–24 µm scales have confirmed that it is homogeneous in both elemental and O–Nd isotopic compositions. SIMS measurements yield δ18O values consistent, within errors, with those obtained by laser fluorination techniques. Precise analyses of Nd isotope by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) are consistent with mean results of LA-MC-ICPMS analyses. We recommend δ18O = 6.30‰ ± 0.16‰ (2SD) and 143Nd/144Nd = 0.512282 ± 0.000011 (2SD) as being the reference values for the RW-1 monazite.


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