Isotopic Geochemistry of Chinese Fluorite Deposits

Abstract

China is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of fluorite resources. On the basis of host rocks and mineralization patterns, the fluorite deposits in China have been classified into three types: (1) those occurring in Mesozoic volcanic regions, mainly consisting of veinfilling deposits of the quartz-fluorite association (Type I); (2) those occurring in granite areas, chiefly belonging to veinfilling deposits of the quartz-fluorite association or veinfilling or altered-rock deposits associated with Pb, Zn, W, Sn, etc. (Type II); and (3) those occurring in carbonate rocks as bedded deposits of quartz-fluorite, sulfide-fluorite, and quartz-barite-calcite-fluorite assemblages (Type III). This paper summarizes the characteristics of fluorite deposits in China on the basis of strontium-, hydrogen-, and oxygen-isotopic and geochronological data, as well as geological investigations of deposits from 22 mining districts. δ18O and δD values of ore-forming fluids are −10.2 to +3.7‰ and −77.9 to 41.0‰, respectively, for Type-I deposits, −13.1 to −4.9‰ and −65.5 to −41.7‰ for Type-II deposits, and -5.6 to +4.3‰ and −80 to −29‰ for Type-Ill deposits. Study of the isotopic water-rock exchange indicates that the mineralizing fluids for these types of deposits have been derived mostly from circulating geothermal water that originated from Mesozoic meteoric water. The differences in the isotopic characteristics of hydrothermal systems for various types of deposits depend mainly on isotopic exchange between water and rocks, the water/rock values being 0.05 to 2.0 for Type-I deposits, generally more than 2.0 for Type-II deposits, and 0.5 to 3.0 for Type-Ill deposits. The ore-forming ages for Type-I and Type-II deposits are roughly separated into three groups—230 to 180 Ma, 120 Ma, and 90 to 60 Ma. These ages successively decrease from northwestern China to southeastern coastal areas. 87Sr/86Sr values of 0.7306 to 0.7710 (mean 0.7513) from fluorite in the early stage (main mineralization) for Type-I deposits are higher than those from host rocks (0.7081 to 0.7260) during the mineralizing event, and mostly fall in the range of 87Sr/86Sr values from basement metamorphic rocks (from 0.7455 to 0.9094) during the epoch of mineralization. But the 87Sr/86Sr values of 0.7102 to 0.7137 (mean 0.7122) for late-stage fluorite and calcite are similar to those of surrounding host rocks. This indicates that the mineralizing materials of early stages in the formation of deposits (Type-I) originated mostly from Precambrian basement metamorphic rocks; those of later stages (Type II) were derived chiefly from host rocks. Type-II and Type-Ill deposits from different mining areas exhibit great variations in 87Sr/86Sr values, but are quite similar to their host rocks, indicating that the mineralizing materials in Type-II and Type-Ill deposits were derived chiefly from their host rocks.