Metallogenic Mechanism for the Deep Part of the Jiaojia Gold Zone in the Eastern North China Craton (Jiaodong): Constrains from Pyrite Re-Os Geochronology, in-situ Trace Elements and Sulfur Isotope Compositions

Abstract

The Jiaojia gold metallogenic zone preserves large and super-large gold deposits in Jiaodong gold province, China. Pyrite is the most common and main gold-bearing mineral in the Jiaojia gold deposits. Studying the pyrite closely retated to gold is of great significance for understanding the metallogenesis, especially the gold precipitation mechanism. In this study, gold-bearing pyrite samples were taken from the gold ore bodies at 2 700–3 000 m in the Jiaojia fault. Systematic microscopic observation, electron microprobe analysis, in-situ LA-ICP-MS trace elements analysis, in-situ sulfur isotope analysis, as well as Re-Os isotope dating were carried out. Two types of pyrites were identified: type 1 pyrite (Py1) and type 2 pyrite (Py2). Py1, hosted in the gold-quartz-pyrite veins, is homogeneous in chemical composition with no obvious zonal growth. They contain uniform concentrations of As- and Au-rich. Py2, an As-bearing pyrite hosted in the quartzpolymetallic sulfides veins, shows distinct As enrichments, As rich rims of pyrite, and growth zoning. In-situ sulfur isotope analyses were carried out on Py1 (δ³⁴S = 9.41‰–12.20‰) and Py2 (δ³⁴S = 9.48‰–13.06‰). The results suggest that the sulfur isotope in the gold ore-body is a complex mixture enriched in δ³⁴S, including sulfur from the Jiaodong Group and the Mesozoic granitoids, with the participation of magmatic sulfur from the mantle and the crust. The Re-Os dating technique was used on the pyrite from gold-bearing pyrite veins to determine the age of gold metallogenesis.

Keywords

Jiaojia gold deposit / pyrites / in-situ trace elements analysis / in-situ sulfur isotope analysis / Re-Os dating / ore deposites

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