Cherts from the Yangla copper deposit, western Yunnan Province: geochemical characteristics and relationship with massive sulfide mineralization

Abstract

Four layers of cherts were found for the first time in the Yangla copper deposit, western Yunnan Province. The cherts possessed the following geochemical characteristics: 1 Low TiO2 and Al2O3 contents, but high ore-forming element (e.g. Cu, Au, Ag) contents; 2 low total REE contents and clear negative Eu anomalies when normalized to chondrite similar to the REE contents and distribution patterns of associated massive sulfide ores; 3 silicon isotopic compositions of cherts in the Yangla deposit being the same as cherts and geyserite of hot-water sedimentary origin; 4 lead and sulfur isotopic compositions of cherts in the Yangla deposit being similar to those of the massive sulfide ores in the Yangla deposit; 5 Rb-Sr isochron age of cherts from the Yangla deposit being identical with that of host strata. Hence, we conclude that the cherts in the Yangla deposit are of hot-water sedimentary origin, which have a close relationship with the massive sulfide ores. The discovery of hydrothermal cherts from the Yangla copper deposit provides further evidence for the hydrothermal exhalative origin of the massive sulfide deposits.