The geochemistry of host arc volcanic rocks to the Co–O epithermal gold deposit, Eastern Mindanao, Philippines

Abstract

Mindanao is the second largest island of the Philippines and is located in the southern part of the archipelago. It comprises the suture zone between the Eurasian and the Philippine plate, which is displayed in the Philippine Mobile Belt. Eastern Mindanao is part of the Philippine Mobile Belt and outcropping rocks are mainly Eocene to Pliocene in age related to episodes of arc volcanism alternating with sedimentation.New high-precision elemental analysis of the Oligocene magma series, hosting the Co-O epithermal Au deposit, which represents an arc segment in the central part of Eastern Mindanao, revealed dominantly calc-alkaline rocks ranging in composition between basalt and dacites. Major element trends (MgO vs. TiO2 and Fe2O3) are comparable to other magmas in Central and Eastern Mindanao as well as other SW Pacific Islands such as Borneo. Rare earth and trace element distribution patterns display typical island arc signatures highlighted by the conjunction of LILE-enrichment with troughs at Nb, Ta, and Ti. Ratios of Zr/Nb in basalts vary between 17 and 39, signifying a depleted subarc mantle wedge comparable to the range of MORB, and other Indonesian island arc basalts. In basalts, Nb/Ta and Zr/Sm ratios are 12–37 and 14–27 respectively indicative of deep melts of rutile-eclogite subducted slab, as well as fluids, infiltrating the mantle wedge source of basalts.Moderate large ion lithophile element contents and low Th/La and Th/Ce ratios suggest no significant slab-derived components such as sediment or crustal fragments. The comparatively low Ce and Yb values in basalts, but also andesites and dacites, are consistent with a thin arc crust related to an intraoceanic convergent margin setting. This is further supported by Nb contents in basalts that range between 1 and 3ppm and are within the range of modern oceanic convergent margin basalts. The range of HREE fractionation signifies that basaltic melts separated at deeper levels of the subarc wedge, possibly between the forearc and arc axis, followed by a calc-alkaline convergent margin magma suite involving shallower crustal AFC near the central arc sector.The analysed Oligocene arc segment is related to a potentially steep to intermediate dipping subduction zone in an extensional to neutral geotectonic regime. The large subduction accretion complex of the Philippine Mobile Belt provides an ideal setting for significant metal deposits during its entire evolution. This is evidenced in the Eastern Mindanao Ridge, which hosts substantial porphyry Cu and epithermal Au deposits.