Iron-rich fragments in the Yamansu iron deposit, Xinjiang, NW China: Constraints on metallogenesis

Abstract

Volcanic rock-hosted iron deposits are among the important iron ores in China. However, the nature of primary magma and petrogenesis associated with these iron ores remains controversial. Here, we report iron-rich fragments (IRF) from the Yamansu iron deposit in Eastern Tianshan Mountains, NW China, which occurs in association with volcanic breccia, submarine volcanic breccia and ignimbrite. The IRF is composed of five types including oligoclase-iron oxide type (OIO), oligoclase-albite-iron oxide type (OAIO), albite-iron oxide type (AIO), albite-K-feldspar-iron oxide type (AKIO) and K-feldspar-iron oxide type (KIO). These fragments display typical volcanic fabric features, such as porphyritic texture, hyalopilitic texture of the groundmass and vesicles filled by minerals to form amygdales. The feldspar phenocrysts of IRF are dominantly albite. The groundmass of IRF consists of magnetite and feldspar. The magnetite is distributed in between the feldspar laths, and together display hyalopilitic texture which could be observed only in volcanic rocks. The vesicles are filled with magnetite, feldspar, chlorite and calcite from the margin to the interior. The IRF has high Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Ti, Na and K contents and low Mg content. The average total Fe is 26wt.%. The magnetite is mostly titanium–vanadium magnetite, with the TiO2 content ranging up to 4.86wt.% and V2O3 content up to 3.20wt.%. The IRF probably came from iron-rich melts and represent the products of the Fenner magma evolution. The basaltic magma evolved into the Fe–Na-rich residual melts by crystallization under low oxygen fugacity condition in a closed magma chamber after intruding into the shallow crust. The Fe–Na-rich residual melts were emplaced in hypabyssal environments or erupted generating the orebodies or providing the material source for the generation of the high-grade iron ores which were subsequently enriched by the late-stage hydrothermal fluids.