Geological features and S isotope composition of tin deposit in Dachang ore district in Guangxi

Abstract

The geological investigation of the Dachang ore field was carried out in detail, and the geological characteristics of the deposits, consisting of the Tongkeng and Dafulou deposits, were observed and researched systematically. It suggests that the mineralization types of Changpo ore are composed of cracking vein, thin vein, bedded vein and thin vein-net vein disseminated types. The cracking vein ore is usually lens-shaped in the vertical direction. The thin vein ore is always characterized by a stable trend and tendency. The bedded ore always occurs along the strata in the way of filling and metasomatism in the fracture system. In terms of Bali-longtoushan ore, it is characterized by complicated mineral components and a variety of minerals. More generally, ore textures consist of the anhedral-subhedral shapes and thin particle, and secondary with the interstitial texture, solid solution separation texture, dissolution texture, corona texture, and crushing texture, yet ore structures include the massive, veinlet, disseminated, banded, miarolitic, biological residual and brecciated structure. In addition, the sulfur isotopes of the metal sulfide were analyzed. The results show that the d34S values of Tongkeng ore range from −0.30% to 1.38% with more dispersed characteristics, yet in terms of Dafulou ore, the d34S values are from −0.15% to 0.22% which are characterized by more focused. This indicates that the sulfur isotope composition has large difference between the different deposits. The sulfur isotope values of the Dafulou ore are concentrated relatively, yet are dispersed for the Tongkeng ore. Likewise, there are also divergences of sulfur isotopes for the different minerals. The sulfur isotope values of pyrrhotine are dispersed, yet are homogeneous for pyrite. In short, the divergence of the sulfur isotope is reflected in both the different deposits and minerals, all of these may account for the difference of sulfur sources.