Microfabrics, In Situ Trace Element Compositions of Pyrite, and the Sulfur Isotope Chemistry of Sulfides from the Xitieshan Pb-Zn Deposit, Qinghai Province, Northwest China: Analysis and Implications

Abstract

The Xitieshan deposit, located in the central segment of the northern margin of the Qaidam Basin, is among the largest massive Pb-Zn sulfide deposits in China. This deposit, along with its ore-bearing rock series known as the Tanjianshan Group, underwent greenschist facies metamorphism due to subsequent orogeny. We investigated the in situ sulfur isotopes of sulfides with different occurrences to define the origin of ore-forming fluids. The δ34S values of sulfides from stratiform ores, massive ores in schist, stockwork ores in marble, schist and discolored altered rocks that constitute a typical double-mineralization structure range from −5.3‰ to +5.6‰ and from −1.7‰ to +32‰, respectively, indicating distinct biological and thermochemical reductions in seawater sulfates. These are similar to the sulfur isotopic characteristics of VSHMS deposits. Pyrite, whose LA-ICP-MS trace element compositions can provide significant information about metallogenic evolution and deposit genesis, is ubiquitous throughout the whole mineralization process. In these stratiform, massive and stockwork ores, three pyrite types were identified: colloform pyrite (Py0), fine-grained anhedral spongy pyrite (Py1) and coarse-grained euhedral pyrite (Py2). The contents of most metallogenic elements, such as Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag, Mo, Mn and Sn, decrease from Py0 to Py2 with the enhancement of metamorphic recrystallization. This suggests that the expelled elements appear as inclusions in primitive pyrite, contributing to the precipitation of new sulfide phases, such as sphalerite and galena. Orogenic metamorphism played an important role in controlling further Pb-Zn enrichment of the Xitieshan deposit. Moreover, there is another mineralization type, primarily occurring as sulfide veins in the undeformed Formation C siltstones of the Tanjianshan Group, which also crosscut early-formed sulfides, showing close-to-zero S isotopic compositions. In this mineralization type, pyrite (Py3) displays high Se/Tl (>10) and Co/Ni (>2.2) ratios, both indicating a minor superimposed post-orogenic magmatic–hydrothermal event.