Age and petrogenesis of Anisian magnesian alkali basalts and their genetic association with the Kafang stratiform Cu deposit in the Gejiu supergiant tin-polymetallic district, SW China

Abstract

Gejiu is geographically located near Gejiu city, SW China. It is one of the largest tin-polymetallic districts in the world and contains approximately 3milliontons (Mt) of Sn and smaller quantities of Cu, Pb, and Zn. The deposit primarily yields three different types of ore: skarn-hosted ore, basalt-hosted stratiform ore, and carbonate-hosted stratiform ore. Kafang is one of the primary ore deposits in the Gejiu district and is an unusual occurrence hosted in basaltic rocks. Genetic models of the Kafang deposit suggest that it is related either to Anisian (Lower stage of Middle Triassic) Gejiu basalts or to Cretaceous Gejiu granite. In this study, we performed zircon SIMS U–Pb dating, major and trace element analyses, and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic analyses for the Gejiu basalts and S isotopic analyses for stratiform Cu ore. Our results and previous studies are used to interpret the petrogenesis of the Gejiu basalts and the origin of the basalt-hosted stratiform Cu deposit. The SIMS zircon U–Pb analyses of the Gejiu basalts yield an age of 244.4Ma. The trace element ratios of the Gejiu basalts are similar to those of ocean island basalt and have positive εNd(t) values (ranging from 0.6 to 2.5) and uniform (87Sr/86Sr)i values (ranging from 0.70424 to 0.70488). These ratios are close to those of the Permian Emeishan flood basalt. Thus, the Gejiu basalts may represent coeval volcanisms within the plate involving remelting of the Emeishan plume head through a stress relaxation process after the main plume event. The Pb and S isotopic compositions of the Gejiu basalts and the stratiform Cu ores indicate that the source of Cu and S is primarily derived from the Gejiu basalts. However, the age of sulfide mineralization (84.2–79.6Ma) and the age of hydrothermal alteration (85.5–81.9Ma) are temporally consistent with the age of the Cretaceous granite emplacement (85.5–83.3Ma). From a petrological and geochemical study, we determine that the Gejiu basalts may have been subjected to pervasive granite-related hydrothermal alteration during the emplacement of granite. These processes increase the K and Mg contents of basalt and probably caused the formation of the Cu ores. Thus, the Kafang stratiform Cu deposit can be considered as a granite-related hydrothermal deposit.