Metallogenic chronology and tectonic setting of the Erdaohe Pb–Zn–Ag deposit in Inner Mongolia, NE China: Constraints from sphalerite Rb–Sr dating, zircon U–Pb dating, and Hf isotope analysis

Abstract

• The Erdaohe deposit is a large-scale Pb-Zn-Ag deposit in the Great Hinggan Range. • The granite porphyry and the sphalerite in the deposit formed at 133.6Ma and 130.5Ma. • The mineralization was affected by the Mongolia-Okhotsk and Paleo-Pacific Ocean. • The discovery of the Erdaohe deposit shows a good exploration prospect in the region. The Erdaohe deposit is a recently discovered large-scale Pb–Zn–Ag deposit in the northern section of the Great Hinggan Range, Inner Mongolia, China. The ore bodies are mainly located in the skarnized contact zone between the granite-porphyry and calcareous wall rock, and in the fissures of the wall rock of the outer contact zone. Several vein-type ore bodies are located in the fissures of the distal volcanic strata, with obvious magmatic–structural ore-control characteristics. In this study, seven sphalerite samples from ores in the quartz–sulfide metallogenic stage yielded an Rb–Sr isochron age of 130.5 ± 1.9 Ma (MSWD = 1.6), with initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios of 0.70967 to 0.70994. LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb dating of the granite-porphyry samples yielded a concordant age of 133.6 ± 0.46 Ma (MSWD = 1.2). Combined with the previous studies, dating results and the field relation between the granite-porphyry and the ore body, it is considered that the granite-porphyry is genetically related to the mineralization of the deposit. The zircon ε Hf (t) values of the granite-porphyry ranged from 6.8 to 8.5, and the two-stage Hf model age (t DM2 ) ranged from 575 to 668 Ma, revealing that the granite-porphyry originated from the partial melting of the juvenile crust accreted from the depleted mantle during the end of the Neoproterozoic. Extensive magmatism during the Early Cretaceous was caused by lithospheric delamination after the closure of the Mongolia–Okhotsk Ocean and the back-arc extension induced by the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate towards Eurasia; thus, the Erdaohe deposit was formed under this favorable metallogenic structure and material system. By comparing the metallogenic age, tectonic setting, and ore-forming resources, we propose that the formation of Erdaohe Pb–Zn–Ag deposit belongs to the same regional metallogenic event as the Pb–Zn–Ag deposits in the southern segment of the Great Hinggan Range, potentially indicating further exploration prospects for Pb–Zn–Ag deposit in the middle segment of the Great Hinggan Range.