Sm–Nd dating and rare earth element geochemistry of the hydrothermal calcites from Guling carbonate-hosted talc mineralization in the central Guangxi province, South China

Abstract

Many carbonate-hosted talc mineralization, which are widespread in South China, exclusively developed in Carboniferous dolomitic limestone with many siliceous bands and nodules, and cherts. One of those typical deposits is the Guling talc deposit in Mashan County, central Guangxi province, with a talc reserve of 1.51 million tons. Mineral associations in the deposit are sample, mainly including talc and calcite. In this paper, Sm–Nd isotopic system and rare earth elements and yttrium (REE + Y) for the hydrothermal calcite intergrown with talc are used to constrain the age and origin of the talc mineralization. The hydrothermal calcite samples from the deposit display Sm and Nd concentrations ranging from 0.18 to 0.85 and 0.85 to 4.56 ppm, respectively, and variable Sm/Nd ratios of 0.21–0.24. These calcites further yield an Sm–Nd isochron age of 232 ± 19 Ma (2σ) (MSWD = 0.47) with an concordant initial 143Nd–144Nd ratios of 0.511967 ± 0.000017, which should be interpreted as the mineralization age of the Guling talc deposit. In addition, the calcite samples are enriched in REE with the variable ΣREE contents ranging from 4.82 to 21.50 ppm and display relatively consistent chondrite-normalized REE + Y patterns with the LREE enrichment (LREE/HREE = 2.00–3.60) and the obvious negative Eu (δEu = 0.52–0.68) and Ce (δCe = 0.16–0.33) anomalies. The Y/Ho ratios of seven calcites varies from 43.30 to 59.34, with a mean value of 49.73. The available mineral associations and REE parameters (i.e., REE patterns and Y/Ho ratios) of those calcites indicate that the ore-forming fluids of the talc mineralization be probably derived from the meteoric waters, in particular evolved ones in the Karst areas and the ore-forming materials (e.g., Si and Mg) are likely to be originated from the ore-bearing dolostone in the Yanguan Formation (C1y) and underlying siliceous rocks in the Liujiang Formation (D3l). Furthermore, the talc mineralization could take place within a hydrothermal system with relative oxidizing environment and middle temperature, due to the obvious negative Eu and Ce anomalies in the calcites in the Guling deposit.