Geochronological and mineralogical constraints on mineralization of the Hetai goldfield in Guangdong Province, South China

Abstract

The Hetai goldfield, located in the southern segment of the Qinzhou Bay-Hangzhou Bay Juncture Orogenic Belt (QHJB), is the largest concentration of gold deposits in Guangdong Province, South China. The gold mineralization is hosted within the late Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic Yunkai Group and strictly confined to mylonite (ductile shear) zones. The nature of the structural control of mineralization, in particular the role of ductile versus brittle deformation and their ages, which remain unclear despite numerous previous studies, are examined in this paper through an integrated study of geochronology and mineralogy.Lamellar and filament structures shown by pyrite and pyrrhotite in the ores suggest that sulfidation took place during ductile deformation and syntectonic metamorphism, but the majority of the ores are associated with brittle deformation features. In combination with macroscopic and microscopy observations on shear fabrics, LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating on zircons of hydrothermal origin from mylonites suggests that the Hetai goldfield was subjected to two shearing events: an early sinistral ductile shearing at ca. 240Ma, and a late dextral ductile-brittle shearing at ca. 204Ma (Indosinian). These ages are ca. 90–30Ma older than the previously published gold mineralizing ages of ca. 175–152Ma (Yanshanian), suggesting that the main gold mineralization and related brittle deformation significantly postdate the ductile deformation. This inference is supported by the mineralization temperatures estimated from geothermometers of arsenopyrite (ca. 350–290°C), chlorite (ca. 260–230°C), and sphalerite (ca. 230–170°C) intergrown with native gold, which are considerably lower than that for the ductile deformation (500–300°C or higher). Based on these data, we propose that the gold mineralization in the Hetai goldfield predominantly occurred during the Yanshanian event, and only minor gold mineralization and associated sulfidation took place during the earlier Indosinian ductile deformation.