Fluid inclusion studies of a new type of ore deposit: Porphyry tungsten occurrence in China

Abstract

Lianhuashan mine in South China represents a new type of tungsten ore which can be described as a porphyry tungsten deposit. It is associated with a quartz porphyry stock of Yenshanian age (about 70–135 m. y.). The ore occurs in zone surrounding the contact of the quartz porphyry with Jurassic sandstone and extends into both rock bodies. The ore occurs either as the matrix of breccia or in the form of a very fine network of cross cutting veinlets. The major tungsten minerals are wolframite and scheelite associated with sulfide minerals of Mo, Fe, Cu, Pb and cassiterite. The minerals are fine-grained. There is zoned alteration in the wall rocks. From the center of the quartz porphyry toward the wall rocks one finds: potassic alteration, silicification-sericitization, and chloritization. All these features are similar to those of porphyry copper mineralization. Fluid inclusion studies show three types of inclusion: liquid-rich (Type I), gas-rich (Type II), and polyphase with daughter minerals (Type III) fluid inclusions. The homogenization temperatures of Type I range from 210° to 380°C, with a salinity of 2–15 wt.% NaCl equiv., those of Type II from 270° to 420°C, and those of Type III from 240° to 400°C with a salinity of 31–33 wt.% NaCl equiv. The closely associated group of gas-rich and daughter mineral-bearing fluid inclusions homogenized at almost the same temperatures. Such results indicate boiling of oreforming fluids. These fluid inclusion data indicate that low salinity (Type I) and high salinity fluids (Type III) responsible for porpb yry copper deposits are the same as those for porphyry tungsten ore deposits. These observations suggest that the Lianhuashan tungsten ore deposit is a porphyry tungsten deposit and was formed by hydrothermal fluids similar to those responsible for the well-known porphyry copper deposits.