Crystallisation conditions (T, P, fO2) from mineral chemistry of Cu- and Au-mineralised alkaline intrusions in the Red River–Jinshajiang alkaline igneous belt, western Yunnan Province, China

Abstract

The Oligocene Yao’an syenite porphyry, associated with gold mineralisation, and the Machangqing alkali granite porphyry–monzonite porphyry, associated with Cu mineralisation, belong to the Red River–Jinshajiang alkaline igneous belt that formed in a continental setting in southwestern China. A study of the mineral chemistry of major silicate minerals in these two mineralised intrusions provides insights into their overall crystallisation conditions. The temperature and pressure conditions, derived from amphibole–plagioclase and perthite–plagioclase geothermometry and Al-in-amphibole barometry, suggest that the Yao’an intrusion crystallised at around 820 ± 50°C and 0.9–1.3 kbar, whereas the Machangqing intrusion crystallised at around 730 ± 50°C and 2.2–2.8 kbar. The higher temperature and lower pressure of crystallisation for the Yao’an intrusion relative to the Machangqing intrusion indicates that it was emplaced at a shallower crustal level. Based on biotite composition, the two intrusions formed under imposed oxygen fugacities above the Ni–NiO buffer (NNO), and the Yao’an intrusion crystallised under more oxidising conditions than the Machangqing intrusion. The results show that the intrusions associated with Cu–Au mineralisation in the Red River–Jinshajiang alkaline igneous belt were emplaced at a relatively high fO2, which, together with the weakly fractionated magma, favoured Au enrichment relative to Cu in the belt.