Abstract Skarn deposits are one of the most common deposit types in China. The 386 skarns summarized in this review contain ~8.9 million tonnes (Mt) Sn (87% of China’s Sn resources), 6.6 Mt W (71%), 42 Mt Cu (32%), 81 Mt Zn-Pb (25%), 5.4 Mt Mo (17%), 1,871 tonnes (t) Au (11%), 42,212 t Ag (10%), and ~8,500 Mt Fe ore (~9%; major source of high-grade Fe ore). Some of the largest Sn, W, Mo, and Zn-Pb skarns are world-class. The abundance of skarns in China is related to a unique tectonic evolution that resulted in extensive hydrous magmas and widespread belts of carbonate country rocks. The landmass of China is composed of multiple blocks, some with Archean basements, and oceanic terranes that have amalgamated and rifted apart several times. Subduction and collisional events generated abundant hydrous fertile magmas. The events include subduction along the Rodinian margins, closures of the Proto-Tethys, Paleo-Asian, Paleo-Tethys, and Neo-Tethys Oceans, and subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate. Extensive carbonate platforms developed on the passive margins of the cratonic blocks during multiple periods from Neoarchean to Holocene also facilitated skarn formation. There are 231 Ca skarns replacing limestone, 15 Ca skarns replacing igneous rocks, siliciclastic sedimentary rocks, or metamorphic silicate rocks, 113 Ca-Mg skarns replacing dolomitic limestone or interlayered dolomite and limestone, and 28 Mg skarns replacing dolomite in China. The Ca and Ca-Mg skarns host all types of metals, as do Mg skarns, except for major Cu and W mineralization. Boron mineralization only occurs in Mg skarns. The skarns typically include a high-temperature prograde stage, iron oxide-rich higher-temperature retrograde stage, sulfide-rich lower-temperature retrograde stage, and a latest barren carbonate stage. The zoning of garnet/pyroxene ratios depends on the redox state of both the causative magma and the wall rocks. In an oxidized magma-reduced wall-rock skarn system, such as is typical of Cu skarns in China, the garnet/pyroxene ratio decreases, and garnet color becomes lighter away from the intrusion. In a reduced intrusion-reduced wall-rock skarn system, such as a cassiterite- and sulfide-rich Sn skarn, the skarn is dominated by pyroxene with minor to no garnet. Manganese-rich skarn minerals may be abundant in distal skarns. Metal associations and endowment are largely controlled by the magma redox state and degree of fractionation and, in general, can be grouped into four categories. Within each category there is spatial zonation. The first category of deposits is associated with reduced and highly fractionated magma. They comprise (1) greisen with Sn ± W in intrusions, grading outward to (2) Sn ± Cu ± Fe at the contact zone, and farther out to (3) Sn (distal) and Zn-Pb (more distal) in veins, mantos, and chimneys. The second category is associated with oxidized and poorly to moderately fractionated magma. Ores include minor porphyry-style Mo and/or porphyry-style Cu mineralization ± Cu skarns replacing xenoliths or roof pendants inside intrusions, zoned outward to major zones of Cu and/or Fe ± Au ± Mo mineralization at the contact with and in adjacent country rocks, and farther out to local Cu (distal) + Zn-Pb (more distal) in veins, mantos, and chimneys. Oxidized and highly fractionated magma is associated with porphyry Mo or greisen W inside an intrusion, outward to Mo and/or W ± Fe ± Cu skarns at the contact zone, and farther to Mo or W ± Cu in distal veins, mantos, and chimneys. The final category is associated with reduced and poorly to moderately fractionated magma. No major skarns of this type have been recognized in China, but outside China there are many examples of such intrusions related to Au-only skarns at the contact zone. Reduced Zn-Au skarns in China are inferred to be distal parts of such systems. Tungsten and Sn do not occur together as commonly as was previously thought. The distal part of a skarn ore system may transition to carbonate replacement deposits. Distal stratabound mantos and crosscutting veins/chimneys may contain not only Zn-Pb but also major Sn, W, Cu, Mo, and Au mineralization. The Zn-Pb mineralization may be part of either an oxidized system (e.g., Cu, Mo, Fe) or a reduced system (e.g., Sn). In China, distal Zn-Pb is more commonly related to reduced magmas. Gold and W may also be related to both oxidized and reduced magmas, although in China they are more typically related to oxidized magma. There are numerous examples of distal mantos/chimneys that continuously transition to proximal skarns at intrusion-wall-rock contact zones, and this relationship strongly supports the magmatic affiliation of such deposits and suggests that distal skarns/carbonate replacement deposits systems should be explored to find more proximal mineralization. Carbonate xenoliths or roof pendants may host the majority of mineralization in some deposits. In contact zones, skarns are better developed where the intrusion shape is complicated. The above two skarn positions imply that there may be multiple skarn bodies below drill interceptions of intrusive rocks. Many of the largest skarns for all commodities in China are related to small or subsurface intrusions (except for Sn skarns), have multiple mineralization centers, are young (<~160 Ma), and have the full system from causative intrusion(s) to distal skarns or carbonate replacement extensions discovered. Chinese skarn deposits fall in several age groups: ~830, ~480 to 420, ~383 to 371, ~324 to 314, ~263 to 210, ~200 to 83, ~80 to 72, and ~65 to 15 Ma. They are typically associated with convergent plate boundaries, mostly in subduction settings but also in collisional settings. Seven major skarn metallogenic belts are recognized based on skarn geographic location and geodynamic background. In subduction settings, skarns may form in a belt up to 4,000 km long and 1,000 km inland, with skarns continuously forming for up to 120 m.y., e.g., the eastern China belt. In most other belts, skarns form in 5- to 20-m.y. episodes similar to the situation in South America. In collisional settings, skarns may form up to 50 m.y. after an ocean closure, and the distance to the collisional/accretionary boundary may extend to ~150 km inland. The size of collision-related skarns may be as large as the largest skarns related to oceanic crust subduction. Older suture zones may be favorable sites for younger mineralization, for example, the Triassic Paleo-Tethys suture between the North and South China blocks for the younger and largest skarn cluster of the Middle-Lower Yangtze belt in the eastern China belt, and the Triassic sutures in southwestern China for Cretaceous to Tertiary mineralization.
Skarn deposits are one of the most common deposit types in China. The 386 skarns summarized in this review contain ~8.9 million tonnes (Mt) Sn (87% of China’s Sn resources), 6.6 Mt W (71%), 42 Mt Cu (32%), 81 Mt Zn-Pb (25%), 5.4 Mt Mo (17%), 1,871 tonnes (t) Au (11%), 42,212 t Ag (10%), and ~8,500 Mt Fe ore (~9%; major source of high-grade Fe ore). Some of the largest Sn, W, Mo, and Zn-Pb skarns are world-class.
The abundance of skarns in China is related to a unique tectonic evolution that resulted in extensive hydrous magmas and widespread belts of carbonate country rocks. The landmass of China is composed of multiple blocks, some with Archean basements, and oceanic terranes that have amalgamated and rifted apart several times. Subduction and collisional events generated abundant hydrous fertile magmas. The events include subduction along the Rodinian margins, closures of the Proto-Tethys, Paleo-Asian, Paleo-Tethys, and Neo-Tethys Oceans, and subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate. Extensive carbonate platforms developed on the passive margins of the cratonic blocks during multiple periods from Neoarchean to Holocene also facilitated skarn formation.
There are 231 Ca skarns replacing limestone, 15 Ca skarns replacing igneous rocks, siliciclastic sedimentary rocks, or metamorphic silicate rocks, 113 Ca-Mg skarns replacing dolomitic limestone or interlayered dolomite and limestone, and 28 Mg skarns replacing dolomite in China. The Ca and Ca-Mg skarns host all types of metals, as do Mg skarns, except for major Cu and W mineralization. Boron mineralization only occurs in Mg skarns. The skarns typically include a high-temperature prograde stage, iron oxide-rich higher-temperature retrograde stage, sulfide-rich lower-temperature retrograde stage, and a latest barren carbonate stage. The zoning of garnet/pyroxene ratios depends on the redox state of both the causative magma and the wall rocks. In an oxidized magma-reduced wall-rock skarn system, such as is typical of Cu skarns in China, the garnet/pyroxene ratio decreases, and garnet color becomes lighter away from the intrusion. In a reduced intrusion-reduced wall-rock skarn system, such as a cassiterite- and sulfide-rich Sn skarn, the skarn is dominated by pyroxene with minor to no garnet. Manganese-rich skarn minerals may be abundant in distal skarns.
Metal associations and endowment are largely controlled by the magma redox state and degree of fractionation and, in general, can be grouped into four categories. Within each category there is spatial zonation. The first category of deposits is associated with reduced and highly fractionated magma. They comprise (1) greisen with Sn ± W in intrusions, grading outward to (2) Sn ± Cu ± Fe at the contact zone, and farther out to (3) Sn (distal) and Zn-Pb (more distal) in veins, mantos, and chimneys. The second category is associated with oxidized and poorly to moderately fractionated magma. Ores include minor porphyry-style Mo and/or porphyry-style Cu mineralization ± Cu skarns replacing xenoliths or roof pendants inside intrusions, zoned outward to major zones of Cu and/or Fe ± Au ± Mo mineralization at the contact with and in adjacent country rocks, and farther out to local Cu (distal) + Zn-Pb (more distal) in veins, mantos, and chimneys. Oxidized and highly fractionated magma is associated with porphyry Mo or greisen W inside an intrusion, outward to Mo and/or W ± Fe ± Cu skarns at the contact zone, and farther to Mo or W ± Cu in distal veins, mantos, and chimneys. The final category is associated with reduced and poorly to moderately fractionated magma. No major skarns of this type have been recognized in China, but outside China there are many examples of such intrusions related to Au-only skarns at the contact zone. Reduced Zn-Au skarns in China are inferred to be distal parts of such systems. Tungsten and Sn do not occur together as commonly as was previously thought.
The distal part of a skarn ore system may transition to carbonate replacement deposits. Distal stratabound mantos and crosscutting veins/chimneys may contain not only Zn-Pb but also major Sn, W, Cu, Mo, and Au mineralization. The Zn-Pb mineralization may be part of either an oxidized system (e.g., Cu, Mo, Fe) or a reduced system (e.g., Sn). In China, distal Zn-Pb is more commonly related to reduced magmas. Gold and W may also be related to both oxidized and reduced magmas, although in China they are more typically related to oxidized magma. There are numerous examples of distal mantos/chimneys that continuously transition to proximal skarns at intrusion-wall-rock contact zones, and this relationship strongly supports the magmatic affiliation of such deposits and suggests that distal skarns/carbonate replacement deposits systems should be explored to find more proximal mineralization. Carbonate xenoliths or roof pendants may host the majority of mineralization in some deposits. In contact zones, skarns are better developed where the intrusion shape is complicated. The above two skarn positions imply that there may be multiple skarn bodies below drill interceptions of intrusive rocks. Many of the largest skarns for all commodities in China are related to small or subsurface intrusions (except for Sn skarns), have multiple mineralization centers, are young (<~160 Ma), and have the full system from causative intrusion(s) to distal skarns or carbonate replacement extensions discovered.
Chinese skarn deposits fall in several age groups: ~830, ~480 to 420, ~383 to 371, ~324 to 314, ~263 to 210, ~200 to 83, ~80 to 72, and ~65 to 15 Ma. They are typically associated with convergent plate boundaries, mostly in subduction settings but also in collisional settings. Seven major skarn metallogenic belts are recognized based on skarn geographic location and geodynamic background. In subduction settings, skarns may form in a belt up to 4,000 km long and 1,000 km inland, with skarns continuously forming for up to 120 m.y., e.g., the eastern China belt. In most other belts, skarns form in 5- to 20-m.y. episodes similar to the situation in South America. In collisional settings, skarns may form up to 50 m.y. after an ocean closure, and the distance to the collisional/accretionary boundary may extend to ~150 km inland. The size of collision-related skarns may be as large as the largest skarns related to oceanic crust subduction. Older suture zones may be favorable sites for younger mineralization, for example, the Triassic Paleo-Tethys suture between the North and South China blocks for the younger and largest skarn cluster of the Middle-Lower Yangtze belt in the eastern China belt, and the Triassic sutures in southwestern China for Cretaceous to Tertiary mineralization.
The Empire Cu-Zn skarn deposit is unusual because of the proximal position of Zn mineralization, abundance of endoskarn, and the extremely vermicular texture of quartz phenocrysts in the related intrusive rocks. Cu-Zn skarn occurs at the contact between Upper Mississippian White Knob limestone and the granite porphyry phase of the Mackay Stock which consists, from early to late, of quartz monzodiorite, granophyre, granite porphyry, porphyritic granite, and many dikes. The late phases have high F and also extremely vermicular quartz phenocrysts. Endoskarn is more abundant than exoskarn. The earliest alteration of the intrusive rocks consists of disseminated diopsidic pyroxene (Di64Hd36 to Di88Hd12), actinolite, and titanite. This assemblage was cut by early scapolite (Me18 to Me35, mostly Me18-26) and/or green pyroxene (Di14Hd80 to Di20Hd77) veinlets, with or without wollastonite halos. These early veins were then cut by main-stage endoskarn veins that typically have a garnet + minor pyroxene inner zone, a wollastonite and/or pyroxene ± Ca-rich plagioclase (An56 to An89) envelope, and a halo containing disseminated, fine-grained alteration minerals of the same assemblage as the envelope. Some veins contain only the envelope assemblage and are interpreted to represent the alteration front. The inner zone locally contains vesuvianite. Where many veins intersect, endoskarn is massive. Pyroxene is zoned around fluid conduits; the distal pyroxene is Fe rich (hedenbergitic) whereas the proximal pyroxene is Fe poor (diopsidic). The garnet changes in the opposite way, being Fe poor-Al rich (grossularitic) in locations distal to the fluid conduits, and Fe rich (andraditic) in proximal locations. In contrast, in the exoskarn, all pyroxene is diopsidic and garnet is andraditic. Weak, retrograde alteration composed of quartz + calcite + chlorite with minor fluorite, talc, and epidote overprinted both endoskarn and exoskarn. Magnetite precipitated after garnet-pyroxene in both endoskarn and exoskarn. Sphalerite precipitated together with chalcopyrite in proximal locations and is associated with retrograde alteration. Other ore minerals include minor molybdenite, bornite, pyrite, galena, arsenopyrite, native Au, as well as supergene minerals such as chrysocolla, malachite, azurite, native Cu, and limonite.
Fluid xenoliths from pyroxene in early endoskarn veinlets homogenize at >600°C. Massive endoskarn and exoskarn replacing limestone inclusions in granite porphyry formed at 500° to >700°C, whereas the highest temperature inclusions, >700°C, occur in narrow garnet + minor pyroxene veins. Fluid inclusions in exoskarn replacing wall rock have homogenization temperatures of 500° to 650°C. Retrograde alteration and Cu-Zn mineralization occurred at 250° to 300°C. Fluid inclusions in prograde minerals contain daughter minerals, whereas fluid inclusions in retrograde minerals do not, indicating a decrease in salinity with time. Late-stage fluids have low eutectic temperatures, indicating the possible presence of KCl, NaCl, FeCl2, CaCl2, MgCl2, K2CO3, and/or Na2CO3.
Formation of the unusually abundant endoskarn, the proximal position of Zn mineralization, and the extremely vermicular texture of quartz phenocrysts are all believed to have been promoted by the high F content of the magmatic fluid. These features may serve as exploration indicators of associated high F mineralization such as buried porphyry Mo deposits.
Located in the Eastern Cordillera of northwestern Argentina, the Aguilar mine and several smaller prospects are aligned north-south in a 30- by 5-km district. The Zn-Pb-Ag sulfide ores are hosted in intensely folded and faulted Lower Ordovician quartzites and hornfelses, near their contact with the Cretaceous Aguilar granite. The orebodies are stratigraphically conformable with the siliciclastic rocks and parallel to the contact metamorphic halo of the granite, in the pyroxene-hornblende and albite-epidote hornfels facies.The ores are associated with sediments formed in local depressions of a tectonically active, shallow-marine environment and consist of strata-bound and stratiform sulfide lenses and layers several hundreds of meters long and wide, and tens of meters thick. A distinctive ore stratigraphy is recognizable: disseminated and stockwork sulfides overlain by breccia-hosted sulfides and banded to massive sulfides. Lead-rich fissure veins and quartz veins cut these types of strata-bound sulfides; barite is abundant in one of the prospects. The ores are made up of fine- to medium-grained intergrowths of sulfides and sulfosalts in quartzite and calc-silicate gangue. The sulfides are intensely recrystallized and annealed in the Aguilar deposit, which is located in the pyroxene-hornblende metamorphic halo. In the Esperanza prospect, located in the lower grade albite-epidote halo, the sulfides are finer grained, less recrystallized, not annealed, and contain abundant framboidal pyrite and textures of soft-sediment deformation.The calc-silicate assemblage in the Aguilar deposit is characterized by subcalcic garnets with significant proportions of spessartine (Sp (sub 26-78) mole %), almandine (Al (sub 5-23) ), grossularite (Gr (sub 8-52) ), and andradite (Ad (sub 0-14) ). Pyroxenes are manganese rich and iron poor, with an endmember range of hedenbergite (Hd (sub 10-55) mole %), johannsenite (Jo (sub 15-35) ), and diopside (Di (sub 20-80) ). Late-stage skarn minerals include calcium-rich bustamite, subcalcic actinolite, chlorite, and vesuvianite with up to 20 wt percent rare earth elements.Sulfur isotope values range from 10.8 to 26.5 per mil for sulfides, and from 32.4 to 34.0 per mil for barite. The strongly positive delta 34 S values for sulfides and barite are consistent with fractionation of sulfide and sulfate from Lower Ordovician seawater. Lead isotope ratios in galenas from all Aguilar ores have means of 206 Pb/ 204 Pb = 18.04, 207 Pb/ 204 Pb = 15.64, and 208 Pb/ 204 Pb = 38.03. Potassium feldspar from the Cretaceous Aguilar granite is far more radiogenic, having ratios of 206 Pb/ 204 Pb = 19.28, 207 Pb/ 204 Pb = 15.67, and 208 Pb/ 204 Pb = 39.00. These isotope ratios suggest an early Paleozoic, crustal source for the lead in the ores, unrelated to the lead in the granite.The overall geologic setting and geometry of the Aguilar ores, the distinctive ore stratigraphy, the mineral composition and textures, the calc-silicate assemblage, and the stable and radiogenic isotope evidence suggest that the sulfides in the Aguilar district formed as exhalative accumulations in a Lower Ordovician, shallow-marine sedimentary basin. The present distribution of the ores and their metamorphic textures indicate overprinting by contact metamorphism during the emplacement of the Cretaceous Aguilar granite.
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Geologist Charles Frankel's Land and Wine: The French Terroir is not so much a scientific expose as it is a beautifully described love triangle involving wine, rocks, and French history. With stories of Charles the Fat (839 to 888 CE), Philip the Bold (1342 to 1404), and Joan of
The five papers that follow this brief introduction focus on giant porphyry Cu systems. Porphyry Cu deposits are some of the larger and better understood ore deposits on earth. Studies on porphyry Cu deposits published in Economic Geology in the past two years indicate that interest in these deposits continues on a wide range of topics, including resource assessment (Gerst, 2008; Wilkinson and Kesler, 2009), geology (Perello et al., 2008; Valencia et al., 2008), geochemistry (Audetat et al., 2008; Becker et al., 2008; Rusk et al., 2008; Gammons et al., 2009; Khashgerel et al., 2009; Liang et al., 2009; Pudack et al., 2009), geochronology (Cardon, 2008; Tafti et al., 2009; Wan et al., 2009), structure (Seedorff et al., …
The McLaren deposit is one of five sediment-hosted Au-Cu-Ag skarn and replacement deposits that lie within the New World district near Cooke City, Park County, in south-central Montana. The deposit is hosted by gently dipping micrite and dolomitic and calcareous shale of the Cambrian Meagher Formation and occurs along the southwestern contact zone of the Tertiary, dacitic Fisher Mountain intrusive complex.Hydrothermal alteration in the McLaren deposit is concentrically zoned relative to the Fisher Mountain intrusive complex and was controlled by sills, faults, and lithologic contacts. The earliest alteration is biotite hornfels in shale and recrystallization of limestone. This was followed by proximal potassic alteration and distal propylitic alteration of intrusive rocks and early epidote alteration of sedimentary rocks. Early epidote alteration consists largely of epidote (Ps (sub 24-33) ) and K feldspar with lesser amounts of amphibole, andraditic garnet (Ad (sub 32-99) 99), and diopsidic pyroxene (Hd (sub 10-30) ). Early epidote alteration occurs predominantly in the Park Formation where it formed an impermeable barrier to later Au-Cu-Ag-bearing hydrothermal fluids that replaced the underlying Meagher Formation.Pervasive sericitic alteration of intrusive rocks, genetically related to late epidote alteration, quartz-pyrite alteration, and magnetite-rich replacement assemblages in adjacent sedimentary rocks, postdates the early alteration assemblages. Late epidote alteration consists predominantly of epidote, amphibole, pyrite, magnetite, carbonate, and chalcopyrite. Quartz-pyrite alteration postdates late epidote alteration and is associated with chalcopyrite and phyllosilicates. Quartz-pyrite rock occurs as extensive replacements in the Meagher dolomitic limestone (with biotite, chlorite, and talc) and veins and disseminations in the underlying Wolsey shale (with muscovite).Gold mineralization of >1.37 ppm occurs with quartz-pyrite alteration, with lesser amounts related to late epidote alteration and magnetite-rich replacements. Native Au and electrum correlate with abundant pyrite (>30%), abundant chalcopyrite (>0.10%), and to a lesser extent, acicular magnetite. Although Au mineralization may occur both proximal and distal to the contact of the Fisher Mountain intrusive complex, magnetite/pyrite ratios, metal contents, and magnetite textures are systematically zoned within the Meagher Formation with respect to the intrusive complex in the northern part of the McLaren deposit.Fluid inclusions in epidote, garnet, and quartz indicate that early epidote alteration formed at temperatures >600 degrees C and from fluids with high salinities (>26 wt % NaCl equiv), whereas late epidote, quartz-pyrite, and magnetite-rich replacements, and the bulk of sulfide and gold mineralization, formed at lower temperatures between 240 degrees and 415 degrees C (avg 328 degrees C) from fluids with lower salinities (generally between 3.6-11.8 wt % NaCl equiv). The preponderance of pyrite and magnetite in the mineralized rocks suggests that the main stage of Au deposition was characterized by high sulfur and oxygen fugacities.