Abstract
The Shenshuitan gold deposit is located within the Eastern Kunlun Orogen in northwest China. The gold mineralization here occurs primarily within the ductile fault XI. The sulfide mineral assemblage is dominated by pyrite and arsenopyrite, with minor pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite. Host rocks predominantly consist of Ordovician silicic slate and late Silurian granites, and their alterations include silicification and sericitization. The measured δD and δ18O values of quartz and sericite range from −113.9‰ to −93.1‰ and from 4.6‰ to 12.0‰, respectively. Bulk and in situ δ34S values of sulfides range from −7.3‰ to +9.6‰ and from −3.92‰ to 11.04‰, respectively. Lead isotope compositions of sulfides show 206Pb/204Pb ratios from 18.071 to 19.341, 207Pb/204Pb ratios from 15.530 to 15.67, and 208Pb/204Pb ratios from 37.908 to 38.702. Collectively, the isotope (H, O, S, and Pb) geochemistry suggests that the ore-forming fluids were of a metamorphic origin mixed with meteoric water and that the sulfur and lead were sourced from a mixture of host rocks and original ore-forming metamorphic fluids. Lastly, this deposit can be classified as an orogenic gold deposit associated with the final collision between the Bayan Har–Songpanganzi Terrane and the Eastern Kunlun Orogen during the Later Triassic.
Highlights
Accepted: 7 March 2022The Eastern Kunlun Orogen (EKO) has a complicated geodynamic evolutionary history and is an important ore belt where numerous ore prospecting projects have been implemented by the China Geological Survey since 1999
Fault XI cuts all sedimentary rocks and all intrusions, including the latest Huanglonggou granite and Huanglonggou diorite in the Shenshuitan mining area; we argue that the gold mineralizations in the the gold mineralizations the Shenshuitan gold deposit occurred after these
It is difficult to calculate the precise δ18 OH2O values of fluids that were in equilibrium with quartz due to a large variation in temperatures obtained from fluid inclusions (e.g., [64])
Summary
The Eastern Kunlun Orogen (EKO) has a complicated geodynamic evolutionary history and is an important ore belt where numerous ore prospecting projects have been implemented by the China Geological Survey since 1999. The EKO hosts numerous gold deposits, best represented by those in the Wulonggou gold field and Gouli gold field, as well as the Kaihuangbei gold deposit [3–9]. The Wulonggou gold field within the EKO is characterized by extensive granitic magmatism, ductile faults, and hydrothermal gold mineralizations [4,10,11]. Hydrothermal gold mineralizations are predominantly controlled by the three northwest-trending ductile fault zones, i.e., Yanjingou (fault I to fault XI), Yingshigou–Hongqigou (fault VII to fault XI), and Sandaoliang–Kushuiquan (fault XII to fault XV) [4,9,10,12–14]. The earliest-found Yanjingou ( known as Shihuigou) gold deposit is controlled by fault III within the Yanjingou fault zone, while the Shenshuitan, Danshuigou, and Hongqigou gold deposits are controlled
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