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Using pyrite composition to track the multi-stage fluids superimposed on a porphyry Cu system

  • Chao Wu , David R. Cooke ORCID logo , Michael J. Baker , Lejun Zhang ORCID logo , Pei Liang , Jing Fang , Paul Olin , Leonid V. Danyushevsky and Huayong Chen EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: May 4, 2024
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 109 Issue 5

Abstract

The Yulekenhalasu porphyry Cu-Mo deposit (0.2 Mt Cu at 1.04 wt% and 0.012 Mt Mo at 0.06 wt%) is located in the Devonian Halasu copper belt, East Junggar block, northwest China. At Yulekenhalasu, Cu and Mo mineralization commonly occurs as disseminated sulfides or veinlets in porphyry-related alteration zones. Five alteration stages have been identified, including porphyry-type alteration, i.e., sodic-calcic (stage I), potassic (stage IIa), propylitic (stage IIb), and phyllic (stage III) alteration, and widespread late Cu sulfide-bearing veins (stage IV) cross-cutting porphyry-type alteration, plus a post-ore fault-controlled argillic alteration (stage V). Stages IV and V have overprinted porphyry-type alteration (stages I–III).

Anomalous concentrations of trace elements in stage IIb pyrite (e.g., Ti, Zr, Gd, and Hf) are due to the presence of micro-inclusions (e.g., zircon and rutile) in the low-temperature (~200 °C) propylitic zone. Cu, Ag, Co, and Mn, occurring as stoichiometric substitutions or as tetrahedrite inclusions in overprinting stage IV pyrite, were sourced directly from the primary hydrothermal fluid. The enrichment of distal pathfinder elements (e.g., Cr, Au, and Tl) in overprinting stage V pyrite was caused by a low-temperature (~160 °C) hydrothermal event related to regional orogenic Au mineralization. The spatial variation of Se/S in pyrite among various paragenetic stages were influenced by changes in the hydrothermal fluid composition and temperature, with the latter having the effect of decreasing pyrite Se/S. Lower Se concentrations in pyrite of stages IIb and III close to the orebody are explained by relatively higher temperatures in the locus of mineralization. This may provide a potential vectoring tool to mineralization using pyrite geochemistry in porphyry deposits.

Systematic thermodynamic calibrations were applied to pyrite compositions to fingerprint the corresponding Se/S and Co/Ni ratios of fluids and further to develop a complete metallogenic model for Yulekenhalasu. The Devonian diorite porphyry generated fluids that produced the early porphyry-type alteration. High Co/Fe (average ~1 × 10–4) and Ni/Fe (average ~3 × 10–6) ratios of fluid for late Cu sulfide-bearing veins, combined with higher Se/S (average ~6 ×x 10–7) than orogenic Au deposits (average ~3 × 10–8), indicate that the fluids possibly derived from a Late Devonian-Carboniferous mafic intrusion. Argillic alteration assemblages forming at ca. 280 Ma host pyrite relatively enriched in Au (average 0.1 ppm, with native gold inclusions). Therefore it is likely related to a regional orogenic gold mineralizing event in the Early Permian that overprinted Devonian mineralization. Although spatially contiguous, hydrothermal alteration and hypogene mineralizing stages identified herein represent discrete episodes of hydrothermal activities at Yulekenhalasu. The multi-stage alteration features observed at Yulekenhalasu may provide insights into the complete evolutionary history of Paleozoic porphyry Cu deposit systems in the Central Asian orogenic belt. This study contributes to a better understanding of the metallogenic and exploration models of porphyry Cu deposits overprinted by multi-stage hydrothermal events, which is economically important in Phanerozoic orogenic belts.

Keywords: Central Asian Orogenic Belt; Yulekenhalasu; porphyry Cu-Mo deposit; pyrite composition; superimposed alteration and mineralization

Acknowledgments and Funding

We sincerely thank Zhenjiang Liu from the No. 4 Brigade of the Xinjiang Geology, Mineral Exploration and Development Bureau for field support in the Halasu belt. We also thank Sarah Gilbert and Ivan Belousov for their assistance with laboratory work and sample analysis at the ARC Research Hub for Transforming the Mining Value Chain, CODES, University of Tasmania, Australia. This study was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFC2903301), National Natural Science Foundation of China (41921003, 41902089, 42230810), Science and Technology Planning of Guangdong Province, China (2020B1212060055) received by Huayong Chen and Chao Wu. This study is also supported by the Guang Dong Major Project of Basic and AppliedBasic Research (2019B030302013). This is contribution No. IS-3363 from GIGCAS.

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Received: 2022-07-25
Accepted: 2023-06-11
Published Online: 2024-05-04
Published in Print: 2024-05-27

© 2024 by Mineralogical Society of America

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https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2022-8727
Keywords for this article
Central Asian Orogenic Belt; Yulekenhalasu; porphyry Cu-Mo deposit; pyrite composition; superimposed alteration and mineralization

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Perspectives
  2. Characterizing basalt-atmosphere interactions on Venus: A review of thermodynamic and experimental results
  3. Influence of crystallographic anisotropy on the electrical conductivity of apatite at high temperatures and high pressures
  4. Using pyrite composition to track the multi-stage fluids superimposed on a porphyry Cu system
  5. Geochemical discrimination of pyrite in diverse ore deposit types through statistical analysis and machine learning techniques
  6. Correlation between Si-Al disorder and hydrogen-bonding distance variation in ussingite (Na2AlSi3O8OH) revealed by one- and two-dimensional multi-nuclear NMR and first-principles calculation
  7. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction on the structure of (Al,Fe)-bearing bridgmanite in the lower mantle
  8. Multi-scale and multi-modal imaging study of mantle xenoliths and petrological implications
  9. Mineral and crystal chemical study of pseudo-C2/m non-metamict chevkinite-(Ce): An investigation into the intracrystalline distribution of LREE, HREE, and octahedral cations in samples from the Azores and Pakistan
  10. Evolution of layering in a migmatite sample: Implications for the petrogenesis of multidomain monazite and zircon
  11. Waipouaite, Ca3 (V4.54+V0.55+) O9[(Si2O5(OH)2][Si3O7.5(OH)1.5]·11H2O, a new polyoxovanadate mineral from the Aranga Quarry, New Zealand
  12. Scandio-winchite, ideally□(NaCa)(Mg4Sc)(Si8O22)(OH)2: The first Sc-dominant amphibole-supergroup mineral from Jordanów Śląski, Lower Silesia, southwestern Poland
  13. Znucalite, the only known zinc uranyl carbonate: Its crystal structure and environmental implications
  14. Presentation of the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America for 2023 to Razvan Caracas
  15. Acceptance of the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America for 2023
  16. Presentation of the Distinguished Public Service Award of the Mineralogical Society of America for 2024 to Sharon Tahirkheli
  17. Acceptance of the Distinguished Public Service Award of the Mineralogical Society of America for 2024
  18. Presentation of the Mineralogical Society of America Award for 2023 to Shaunna M. Morrison
  19. Acceptance of the Mineralogical Society of America Award for 2023
  20. Presentation of the 2023 Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America to Georges Calas
  21. Acceptance of the 2023 Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America
  22. Book Review
  23. Book Review: Cosmochemistry
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