Mineralogical and geological characteristics of the Nui Phao tungsten deposit and its resource in the Dai Tu area, northeastern Vietnam

Abstract

Typically, granitic intrusions that document the lengthy and intricate history of the magmatic-hydrothermal system are linked to tungsten deposits. Uncertainty persists about the genetic relationship between tungsten mineralization and magmatic-hydrothermal development. The primary tungsten deposit in the Dai Tu region, known as the Nui Phao deposit, has been the subject of a petrographical and microscopic examination. Tungsten mineralization in the Dai Tu area often occurs in association with the formation of skarn and greisen bodies, and it has drawn much attention from geoscientists. Based on microscopic observations, tungsten ores can be divided into three mineralization stages, namely skarnisation, greisenization, and hydrothermal stage. To examine the geochemical features of the tungsten ores, the SEM-EDS and Microscope analytical methods were performed in this study. Research results indicate that the Nui Phao tungsten deposit was formed due to different tectonic and magmatism episodes. Accordingly, the Nui Phao tungsten deposit is relatively complicated with the multi-sources of ore components. Most of the tungsten ore was accumulated in association with the metasomatism between the Ordovician-Silurian carbonate-terrigenous sedimentary rocks of the Phu Ngu formation and the Cretaceous two-mica granite of the Pia Oac complex. The research results indicate that tungsten resources obtained at levels 122 and 333 are about 227.6 thousand tons. Moreover, the hydrothermal alteration and metasomatism in the study area are influenced by at least three metasomatic episodes, including skarnisation, greisenisation, and the late hydrothermal alteration of medium to a low temperature that is genetically related to fluorite-polymetallic mineralization.