Indosinian magmatism and mineralization in the Banjiaoyuan tin deposit, middle Nanling Range, South China: Constraints from zircon and cassiterite U-Pb ages, geochemistry and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic compositions

Indosinian W-Sn metallogeny associated with granites in South China has been reported in recent years by many researchers. However, the refined genetic relations between these deposits and the related granites remain unclear in most areas, and the tectonic setting of Indosinian magmatism and W-Sn mineralization are still widely contro-versial. The Banjiaoyuan tin deposit is located in the east vicinity of Yangmingshan pluton in the middle Nanling Range, South China. The granitic stocks in this deposit comprise two intrusive episodes, i.e., the first episode of medium-coarse-grained porphyritic tourmaline-biotite monzogranite (G1), and the second episode of micron-fine-grained tourmaline-muscovite monzogranite (G2). LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating gives weighted ages of 226.9 +/- 1.6 Ma to 223.8 +/- 1.9 Ma for G1, and 224.3 +/- 2.0 Ma for G2, respectively. LA-MC-ICP-MS cassiterite U-Pb dating yields Tera-Wasserburg concordia age of 216.7 +/- 2.4 Ma for tin mineralization. These ages indicate that both the granitic magmatism and related mineralization were initiated in the late Indosinian period. All the granites have high SiO2, Al2O3, P2O5 contents, and low TFeO, CaO, MgO, TiO2 contents, indicating that the granites are highly differentiated S-type granites, and furthermore, the high DI and Rb, K, U, Hf, Sm, low SI and Ba, Sr, Ti, TREE further show that the granites have undergone high extent of differentiation and evolution. High Rb/Nb and K/Nb ratios, low Nb/Ta and Zr/Hf ratios, widely varying CaO/Na2O ratios, low and uniform epsilon Nd(t) values, and dominantly negative and relatively dispersed epsilon Hf(t) values jointly indicate that the granites were derived from a heterogeneous mixture of calcium-poor mudstone and calcium-rich psammite (or metamorphic igneous rocks) in the crust. The known Indosinian W-Sn deposits in South China are more closely related to S-type granites than to I-type granites, suggesting that their ore-forming materials are mainly derived from the crust. In addition, individual positive epsilon Hf(t) values indicate that a small amount of newborn crustal components were involved in the formation of granitic magma. Compared with G1, G2 differs distinctly in petrological, chemical and isotopic characteristics, especially it is more richer in F content and contains magmatic cassiterite and wolframite crystals, suggesting that G2 have undergone higher extent of differentiation and evolution, and are much more closely related to the Sn-W miner-alization than G1. The late Indosinian granites in this deposit were formed in post-collisional extensional tectonic environment, while the early Indosinian granites intruded in the Yangmingshan area were formed in syn-collision compression environment. Based on the statistics, the metallogenic ages of Indosinian W-Sn deposits in South China are between 212 and 230 Ma, and the petrogenetic ages of related granites are between 211 and 230 Ma, both age groups belong to the late Indosinian period, representing a regional large-scale granitic magma intrusion and mineralization event that initiated in post-collisional extensional tectonic environment.

Automated summary

The Indosinian W-Sn metallogeny associated with granites in South China has been the subject of recent research, but the genetic relations and tectonic setting of these deposits are still unclear in most areas. The Banjiaoyuan tin deposit in South China has two episodes of granitic stocks with different characteristics. The ages of these granites and mineralization indicate that they were formed in the late Indosinian period. The granites in this deposit are highly differentiated S-type granites and are likely derived from a mixture of mudstone and psammite in the crust.