Age of Gold Mineralizations of Dongping and Xiaoyingpan Gold Deposits in North China Craton: Constraints from the Zircon U–Pb Dating and Fission-Track Analysis

Abstract

Northwest Hebei province is one of the gold-producing areas in China. Based on a geochronological analysis of the Zhangjiakou-Xuanhua area, zircon U–Pb with an age of 2487–142 Ma and zircon fission-track (ZFT) with a cooling age of 155–66 Ma were obtained. Zircon U–Pb dating of the Xiaoyingpan deposit revealed two ages of 2487 ± 92 Ma and 1745 ± 89 Ma, representing the Archaean and Early Proterozoic metamorphism of the Sanggan Group. The ZFT cooling age of 155 ± 10 Ma represents the deposit’s lower limit metallogenic age. The Shuiquangou (SQG) alkaline complex emplaced at 388.9 ± 3.0 Ma and experienced magmatic activities until the Late Devonian (ca 377 Ma), considering the response to the collision between the Siberian plate and the North China Craton. The emplacement age of Shangshuiquan (SSQ) granite is 142.3 ± 1.1 Ma and is coeval with the thinning of the North China Craton during the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous. The intrusion of SSQ might partially reheat the SQG complex, resulting in the Yanshanian gold mineralization in Dongping. The SQG complex and SSQ granite underwent a relatively consistent rapid cooling process in the Cretaceous based on the ZFT ages.