Geochronology and Geochemistry of the Granites from the Longtoushan Hydrothermal Gold Deposit in the Dayaoshan Area, Guangxi: Implication for Petrogenesis and Mineralization

Abstract

The gold mineralization in the Longtoushan hydrothermal gold deposit is concentrated within the contact zone of the granitic complex. Whole rock geochemistry and in-situ U-Pb and Hf isotopic data were used to constrain the genesis and age of the granites and related Cu-Au mineralization in the Longtoushan Deposit. The granites mainly consist of the granite porphyry, rhyolite porphyry, porphyritic granite and quartz porphyry. LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating of zircons from the granite porphyry, rhyolite porphyry and quartz porphyry indicates that they intruded from ca. 94 to 97 Ma. These intrusions exhibit similar trace element characteristics, i.e., right-dipping REE patterns, depletion of Ba, Sr, P and Ti, and enrichment of Th, U, Nd, Zr and Hf. The eHf (t) values of zircons from the granite porphyry, rhyolite porphyry and quartz porphyry range from −26.81 to −8.19, −8.12 to −5.33, and −8.99 to −5.83, respectively, suggesting that they were mainly derived from the partial melting of the Proterozoic crust. The Cu-Au mineralization is mainly related to the rhyolite porphyry and porphyritic granite, respectively. The Longtoushan granites were most likely formed in a post-collisional extensional environment, and the deposit is a part of the Late Yanshanian magmatism related mineralization in the Dayaoshan area and its adjacent areas.