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Zircon U–Pb and Wolframite Sm–Nd Dating of the Bayinsukhtu Tungsten Deposit in Southern Mongolia and its Geological Significance
Author(s) -
Guo Zhihua,
Zhang Baolin,
Guo Bowei,
Dang Yongqi,
Hou Jinliang
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
resource geology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1751-3928
pISSN - 1344-1698
DOI - 10.1111/rge.12173
Subject(s) - geology , zircon , geochemistry , wolframite , carboniferous , molybdenite , mineralization (soil science) , porphyritic , phenocryst , quartz , petrology , tungsten , fluid inclusions , volcanic rock , geomorphology , paleontology , chemistry , organic chemistry , structural basin , soil science , soil water , volcano
The Bayinsukhtu tungsten deposit is a newly discovered quartz‐vein tungsten deposit in the Xing'an–Mongolia Orogenic Belt (XMOB) in southern Mongolia, hosted by the Bayinsukhtu granite porphyry. The granite porphyry is located mainly south of the study area, over 3 km 2 . The rock consists of quartz and feldspar phenocrysts in a fine‐grained matrix, also mainly composed of feldspar and quartz. The granite porphyry samples demonstrate high SiO 2 and high alkalinity. All samples also straddle the high‐potassium calc‐alkaline series. In a plot of the molar ratios of A/NK versus A/CNK, the granites are metaluminous. The chondrite‐normalized REE patterns are characterized by large negative Eu anomalies and fractionated LREEs. The U–Pb age of zircons from the granite porphyry is 298.8 ± 1.8 Ma, and the Sm–Nd age of the five wolframite samples from the tungsten deposit is 303 ± 19 Ma. The cooling age of the granite porphyry and tungsten mineralization is within the error of measurement and is of the Late Carboniferous age. Geological and geochronological evidence shows that the tungsten mineralization and the granite porphyry at Bayinsukhtu are genetically closely related and that they are results of Carboniferous magmatism. Their tectonic setting is related to the accretion of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt during the late Paleozoic era.