Origin of the Dayingezhuang gold deposit in the Jiaodong district, eastern China: Insights from trace element character of pyrite and C-O-S isotope compositions

Abstract

The Dayingezhuang gold deposit is a giant gold deposit in the Jiaodong district, with explored gold reserves of 283 t. After decades of research, sources of ore-forming fluids remain controversial, resulting in continuous controversy on the origin of this deposit. In this study, trace elements of pyrite and C-O-S isotopic data are presented to provide constraints on the ore-forming fluids of the Dayingezhuang gold deposit. Two types of gold-related pyrite were identified. Py1, hosted in quartz-pyrite veins, has subhedral to anhedral textures with developed micro-fissures. Py2, hosted in quartz-polymetallic sulfide veins, is generally subhedral to anhedral and intergrown with polymetallic sulfides. Both Py1 and Py2 are characterized by Co/Ni <1, which supports that the ore-forming fluids are metamorphic fluids with the addition of sedimentary materials. The calcite CO isotope suggests a mantle-derived source mixed with sediments. Combined with the anomalously high δ34S values, the ore-forming fluids that generated the Dayingezhuang gold deposits were most likely originated from the mantle lithosphere which is metasomatized and fertilized by the subducted Paleo-Pacific Plate and its overlying marine sediments. This model is similar to the common genesis of worldwide orogenic type gold deposits which suggests that the Dayingezhuang gold deposit may be of orogenic origin.