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    Petrogenesis of Nb–(Ta) aplo-pegmatites and fine-grained granites from the Early Cretaceous Huangshan rare-metal granite suite, northeast Jiangxi Province, southeast China
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    Keywords:
    Pegmatite
    Leucogranite
    Petrogenesis
    Fractional crystallization (geology)
    Dike
    Columbite
    Abstract The Cape Cross–Uis pegmatite belt, Damara Orogen, north-central Namibia hosts multiple Ta–Nb- and Sn-oxide-bearing pegmatites. Columbite-group minerals, tapiolite, cassiterite and minor ixiolite and wodginite occur in abundance within pegmatites and display various compositional and internal structural mineralogical variations. Ta–Nb oxides display various zonation patterns indicative of multiple crystallisation phases, whereas cassiterite is dominantly homogeneous with minor euhedral columbite-group mineral inclusions. Ta–Nb oxides are mostly rich in Fe, with fractionation patterns in the columbite quadrilateral being sub parallel to the Ta/(Ta + Nb) axis; increasing Ta/(Ta + Nb) with little change in Mn/(Mn + Fe), which is consistent with classical trends in beryl-to-spodumene rare-element pegmatites. In addition, these trends suggest that co-crystallising minerals compete with Ta–Nb oxides for elements such as Mn, preventing Ta–Nb oxides from attaining Mn-rich compositions during the fractionation process. Cassiterite shows similar fractionation patterns with Fe > Mn and notable increases in the Ta content. Minor-element substitution in Ta–Nb oxides shows sharp decreases with increasing fractionation supporting the hypothesis that newly stabilised co-occurring minerals compete with columbite-group minerals for certain elements. Tapiolite shows the same minor-element trend, however, only for Sn and Ti suggesting cassiterite was a dominant competing mineral. Although crystallisation of Ta–Nb oxides from an aqueous fluid at the late-stages of pegmatite genesis is highly debated, significantly elevated Ta contents in metasomatised country rock, compared to unaltered country rock, may give new insight, suggesting that Ta may indeed partition into, and be transported by, an exsolved aqueous fluid. However, further studies of the country rock metasomatic contacts are required as currently the dataset is limited. The degree of fractionation as depicted by Ta–Nb and Sn oxides within pegmatites, indicate that a zonation from primitive to evolved pegmatites surrounding granites is not present and that pegmatites are probably not related to granites in the typical parent–daughter relationship.
    Pegmatite
    Cassiterite
    Columbite
    Tourmaline
    Citations (27)
    Granitic pegmatites from the Grenville hovince predominantly carry a NYF+ype geochemical signature. Their accessory minerals includes a variety of (Nb,Lr,U)-oxide minerals, of which columbite-group minerals are infrequent members (nine occurrences to date). As compared to better-studied granitic pegmatites of LCT-rype suites, the chemistry of these columbite-group minerals is anomalous: (1) there is a general shift toward (Fe,M)-rich compositions, (2) Ti is normally present in subordinate amounts, (3) levels of Zr, Mg, Sc, and W are significant, (4) U contents are several orders of magnitude higher than reported elsewhere, and (5) many lanthanons occur in concentrations detectable by electron microprobe. The structural state of the samples is variable, ranging from dominantly cation-disordered to dominantly ordered. For the Quadeville Beryl pegmatite, the structural state of columbite-group minerals shows a systematic variation with pegmatite zonation. Although the individual bodies of pegmatite have achieved low to moderate degrees of fractionation, the geochemical expressions of fractionation are detectable and can be used to evaluate the internal evolution of each body. Trace-element bghavior is occasionally the reverse of expectations, and is not consistent from pegmatite to pegmatite; as a suite, NYF pegmatites have to be much better characterized before such discrepancies can be properly evaluated.
    Pegmatite
    Columbite
    EMPA
    Citations (57)
    Detailed mineralogical and chemical studies by EPMA on the Nb-Ta minerals from the rare metal pegmatites of southern Karnataka have revealed wide compositional variations, and the presence of some new minerals like tapiolite and microlite, hitherto unreported from these pegmatites. Back scattered electron (BSE) images have indicated complex zoning patterns such as oscillatory, patchy and/or their combinations, associated with replacement of columbite-tantalite by microlite, manifested by the variations of Nb 2 O 5 , Ta 2 O 5 , FeO and MnO. Such features, although known from a few rare meral pegmatites of the world, are being recorded here for the first time in India. Oscillatory zones in columbite-tantalites are manifested as alternating dark and light grey coloured bands, of which darker bands are Nb-rich (30-300 μM thick) and lighter bands are Ta-rich (125-450 μm thick). The wider zones may, in turn, consist of a group of very fine sub-zones (1-50 μm) of slightly varying composition: Patchy zoned crystals exhibit corroded remnants of early formed columbite-tantalite (with 39.73-44.02% Ta 2 O 5 ), surrounded by later formed zones which are enriched in Ta 2 O 5 (up to 50.99 %) in columbite-tantalite leading to the formation of microlite containing up to 73.4% Ta 2 O 5 . The zoning of the columbite-tantalites has been attributed to periodic changes in the composition of the major components such as Nb, Ta, Fe and Mn in the pegmatite fluid system, apparently influenced by the late stage fractionation of volatiles. This ultimately generated fluids rich in Ta and Na, resulting in resorption and replacement with patchy zoning of early formed, zoned columbite-tantalites.
    Pegmatite
    Columbite
    Citations (4)

    Himalayan leucogranites are abundant within a ~2000-km-long, E-W trending belt on the Tibetan Plateau. Recently, it has been shown that several leucogranites and pegmatites (including aplites) of the Himalayan leucogranitic belt are closely related to rare-metal mineralization. The leucogranites and pegmatites are commonly peraluminous to strongly peraluminous, classifying as highly-fractionated granites in terms of whole-rock geochemistry and characteristic mineral assemblage with phases such as garnet, mica, zircon and oxides. The leucogranites contain typical rare-metal-bearing minerals formed during the magmatic-hydrothermal stage, including spodumene, beryl, columbite-group minerals (CGMs), cassiterite, and wolframite, associated with Li-, Be-, Nb-Ta-, Sn- and W-mineralization. Multiple episodes of magmatism and mineralization (~25−12 Ma) have been identified for the leucogranites. Nevertheless, our understanding of the rare-metal mineralization in the Himalayan orogeny and its age range remains limited. The Xiaru Dome, which crops out in the central part of the northern Himalaya, is mainly composed of middle-high grade metasedimentary rocks and granitic gneiss. Intrusions of tourmaline-garnet-bearing leucogranite and Be-Nb-Ta pegmatite are relatively common. Beryl and CGMs have been previously observed within pegmatite with the total Nb2O5 and Ta2O5 contents of up to ~0.014wt%. During recent field work, Nb-Ta-W-bearing tourmaline granite/pegmatite was found for the first time. To further constrain the leucogranite evolution and related Nb-Ta-W mineralization, we have studied the rock-forming and ore-forming phases of the Nb-Ta-W-bearing leucogranite/pegmatite and country rock granitic gneiss. We have characterized whole-rock geochemical compositions, the textures and the chemical compositions of the Nb-Ta-W oxide minerals, and complemented these by U-(Th-)Pb dating of CGMs, zircon and monazite. Our work shows that the granitic samples are peraluminous (ACNK =1.06−1.26), with high silica (SiO2 = 72.2wt%−75.5wt%) and alkali contents (Na2O+ K2O = 8.4wt%−9.4wt%). They contain high concentrations of B, Nb, Ta and W (780×10−6, 58×10−6, 17×10−6 and 67×10−6, respectively), which are hosted in schorl, CGMs, wolframoixiolite, qitianlingite, and wolframite. Zircon and monazite U-(Th-)Pb dating shows that the leucogranites formed at ~530−387, ~44, and ~36−35 Ma, indicating multiple episodes of magmatism for the Xiaru intrusions, while U-Pb dating of CGMs reveals that the Nb-Ta mineralization related to the Xiaru leucogranites occurred exclusively at ~34−33 Ma. The Oligocene Nb-Ta mineralization of the Xiaru district is thus the oldest (earliest) rare-metal mineralization related to Himalayan leucogranites ever discovered. We highlight that the ore-forming age is best determined by dating ore-minerals directly instead of associated zircon or monazite. We conclude that a high B concentration in the parental magma possibly permitted high fractionation of the magma and concentration of Nb and Ta. Magmatic columbite formed early, which was later metasomatically altered by Ca-W-F-rich fluids. At the hydrothermal stage, a characteristic mineral assemblage formed, including qitianlingite, wolframite, scheelite, and microlite. The enrichment of W in the local granitic gneiss, located adjacent to the Nb-Ta-W-bearing granite, is possibly related to the ingression of W-bearing fluids from the leucogranite. Compared with skarn-type W mineralization related to the Cuonadong pluton in the eastern Himalayan orogen, there are at least two types of W mineralization related to the Himalayan leucogranites: Skarn-type and granite-type. The discovery of Nb-Ta-W mineralization related to the leucogranite/pegmatite in the Xiaru gneiss dome deepens our understanding of Himalayan rare-metal mineralization and provides the basis for exploration of similar mineralization types elsewhere in the Himalayan Orogen.

    Pegmatite
    Leucogranite
    Tourmaline
    Columbite
    Cassiterite
    Metamictization
    Greisen
    Wolframite
    Orogeny
    Citations (17)