Formation and evolution of multistage hydrothermal fluids in the Baishitouwa quartz–wolframite vein‐type deposit in the southern Great Xing'an Range tungsten belt, NE China: Constraints from individual fluid inclusion LA‐ICP‐MS analysis

Abstract

Revealing hydrothermal evolution from the early oxide to late carbonate stages for quartz–wolframite vein‐type deposits is essential for understanding the ore‐forming process. In this study, we choose the Baishitouwa tungsten polymetallic deposit located in the southern Great Xing'an Range tungsten belt as a case study, and present detailed deposit geology and in situ fluid inclusion (FI) analyses including microthermometry, laser Raman spectra, and LA‐ICP‐MS microanalysis to address this issue. Four stages of hydrothermal activity were identified: (1) quartz–wolframite (I), (2) quartz–wolframite (II)–pyrite–chalcopyrite, (3) quartz–polymetallic sulphides, and (4) quartz–carbonate. Four types of FIs were recognized: CO2‐rich, CO2‐bearing, liquid‐rich, and brine inclusions. Microthermometric data showed that the homogenization temperatures and salinities from the early to late stages are 380–460°C, 7.4–17.3, and 29.3–43.2 wt% NaCl equiv., 300–390°C and 7.1–17.0 wt% NaCl equiv., 220–320°C and 2.7–8.1 wt% NaCl equiv., and 150–250°C and 0.5–4.8 wt% NaCl equiv., respectively, suggesting a decreasing trend. Geochemically, all stage fluids contained high Rb and Mn concentrations, high Rb/Na, Cs/Na, Li/Na, K/Na, Rb/Sr, low K/Rb, and consistent Cs/Rb and Cs/(Na + K) ratios, indicating that the mineralizing fluids originated from a common source—an underlying, geochemically uniform, and highly fractionated granitic magma. Fluid immiscibility and cooling are the main mechanisms for wolframite precipitation, whereas greisenization is subordinate; the incursion of meteoric water into the hydrothermal system initiated at the sulphide stage, and fluid mixing is the dominant mechanism for sulphide precipitation.