Metallogenesis of the Huangtan Au–Cu–Zn deposit in East Tianshan, NW China: constraints from isotopes (H, O, He, Ar, and S) and Re–Os geochronology.

The Huangtan (including Jinling) Au–Cu–Zn deposit is an auriferous volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit discovered in East Tianshan, Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The deposit is hosted in volcanic breccia and tuff of the Silurian Hongliuxia Formation. The ore bodies consist of concordant massive sulfide lenses and discordant sulfide veins. Chalcopyrite Re–Os dating constrained the age of mineralization in the Huangtan deposit at 432 Ma. Quartz and barite host abundant liquid-rich, liquid-only and minor vapor-rich aqueous fluid inclusions. The fluid inclusions in barite from the exhalative–sedimentary units mainly have homogenization temperatures at 140–260 °C, and calculated salinities of 3–9 wt% NaCl equiv.; Those values are at 120–300 °C, and 1–9 wt% NaCl equiv. for varieties in quartz from the vein ores and alteration assemblages. Fluid inclusions extract from pyrite have ³He/⁴He ratios of 0.929–1.374 Ra, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar of 388–520, and ⁴⁰Ar/⁴He of 0.355–0.836. The quartz and barite yielded δ¹⁸O values of 7.4‰ to 10.1‰ and the δD_V-SMOW values of the fluid inclusions in the quartz and barite range from − 69 to − 42‰. The He–Ar and H–O isotopes imply that the ore-forming fluids were derived from a magmatic source with the addition of deeply circulating seawater. The δ³⁴S_V-CDT values of pyrite and chalcopyrite range from − 2.0 to 1.5‰, and those of barite samples range from 24.1 to 24.8‰, which indicates that sulfur was derived from magmatic sulfur, and was subjected to fractionation between sulfide and sulfate. Linked to the ore geology, geochronology data, isotope compositions and fluid inclusions obtained in this study with those of previously published adjacent VMS deposits in the Kalatag area suggest that the Huangtan deposit and adjacent VMS deposits formed in the same metallogenic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]