Chemical and boron isotopic compositions of tourmaline in the Longtoushan hydrothermal gold deposit, Guangxi, China:implications for gold mineralization

The Longtoushan hydrothermal gold deposit is located in the southwestern region of the Dayaoshan Uplift.Tourmaline is widespread in the Longtoushan gold deposit and is mainly distributed in the rhyolite porphyry and associated cryptoexplosive breccia. The spatial distribution of tourmaline enrichment is similar to that of the gold orebody. Feldspar has been largely replaced by tourmaline in the rhyolite porphyry and cryptoexplosive breccia.Electron microprobe analysis revealed that tourmalines in the Longtoushan deposit belong mainly to the alkali group and partly to the X-vacant group; they mostly fell in the schorl-dravite series field. Two distinct sets of dominant substitutions were observed: MgFe_(-1) and Al□(NaR2+)-1,where R = Fe, Mg. In addition, minor substitutions include(CaMg)(NaAl)_(-1) and FeAl_(-1). The calculated d11 B value for the mineralizing fluids ranged from-12.8 to-9.7%,which is typical of S-type granites, and boron-enriched fluids predominantly derived from rhyolitic melt. Part of the tourmaline from the rhyolite porphyry crystallized during the magmatic-hydrothermal stage, whereas most tourmalines from the deposit formed in the post-magmatic hydrothermal stage. The tourmalines were deposited from a relatively reduced and acidic fluid system, and the gold predominantly precipitated during the post-magmatic hydrothermal stage in the Longtoushan deposit.

Geochronology and Geochemistry of the Granites from the Longtoushan Hydrothermal Gold Deposit in the Dayaoshan Area,Guangxi:Implication for Petrogenesis and Mineralization

The gold mineralization in the Longtoushan hydrothermal gold deposit is concentrated within the contact zone of the granitic complex. Whole rock geochemistry and in-situ U-Pb and Hf isotopic data were used to constrain the genesis and age of the granites and related Cu-Au mineralization in the Longtoushan Deposit. The granites mainly consist of the granite porphyry, rhyolite porphyry, porphyritic granite and quartz porphyry. LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating of zircons from the granite porphyry, rhyolite porphyry and quartz porphyry indicates that they intruded from ca. 94 to 97 Ma. These intrusions exhibit similar trace element characteristics, i.e., right-dipping REE patterns, depletion of Ba, Sr, P and Ti, and enrichment of Th, U, Nd, Zr and Hf. The εHf(t) values of zircons from the granite porphyry, rhyolite porphyry and quartz porphyry range from-26.81 to-8.19,-8.12 to-5.33, and-8.99 to-5.83, respectively, suggesting that they were mainly derived from the partial melting of the Proterozoic crust. The Cu-Au mineralization is mainly related to the rhyolite porphyry and porphyritic granite, respectively. The Longtoushan granites were most likely formed in a post-collisional extensional environment, and the deposit is a part of the Late Yanshanian magmatism related mineralization in the Dayaoshan area and its adjacent areas.