Geochemical Compositions and Detrital Minerals of Stream Sediments around the Zijinshan Copper-Gold Orefield and Their Implications

Abstract

Regional geochemical anomalies in stream sediments often have close spatial relationships with metallogenic provinces or ore districts, but the relationships between them have not been examined in depth. In this study, stream sediments were collected around the Zijinshan Copper-Gold Orefield, Fujian Province, China. Element geochemistry, U–Pb geochronology and Hf isotope compositions of detrital zircons, and electron microprobe and LA-ICP-MS analyses of iron oxides were conducted. The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between the provenance of the stream sediments and ore-bearing magmatic rocks in the Zijinshan Copper-Gold Orefield, and to explore the enrichment mechanism of the ore-forming elements in stream sediments. The results show that the ore-forming elements and their associated elements are most significantly enriched in stream sediments near the orefield. U–Pb ages and Hf isotopic compositions of detrital zircons in the sediments closest to the orefield carry information on the ore- bearing magmatic rocks in the orefield. However, as the stream sediments are relatively far from the orefield, the degree of enrichment of ore-forming elements and the detrital zircon U–Pb age signals of the ore-bearing magmatic rocks in the orefield rapidly weaken. This weakening of the geochemical signals may have been affected by many factors, such as lithological resistance to weathering, vegetation coverage, micro-topographic conditions, etc. In-situ elements analysis of iron oxides and elemental correlation analysis of stream sediments indicate iron oxides and clay minerals are the main carrier minerals for the migration of ore-forming elements.