The relationship between Carlin-type Au mineralization and magmatism in the Youjiang Basin-a case study from the Mingshan gold deposit in northwest Guangxi, China

The Youjiang Basin in Southwest (SW) China is the second-largest Carlin-type goldfield in the world after Nevada, USA; however, the spatial, temporal, and genetic links between Carlin-type Au mineralization and magmatism in SW China remain controversial compared with those in Nevada. The Mingshan gold deposit is one of the few Carlin-type gold deposits that exhibits a close spatial relationship between gold orebodies and magmatic rocks in the Youjiang Basin. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating of magmatic zircons from quartz porphyry dikes and hydrothermal apatite associated with gold yields the intrusive and gold mineralization ages of 96.34 ± 0.89 and 139.9 ± 4.8 Ma, respectively, indicating that the magmatism was much younger than the gold mineralization at Mingshan. Petrography and microthermometry of the fluid inclusions from ore-stage quartz and calcite suggest a low to moderate temperature (140–240 °C), low salinity (3–8 wt% NaCleqv), and moderate to low density fluid. The hydrogen and oxygen isotope compositions of the ore-stage quartz indicate a metamorphic fluid source of the ore fluid. Thus, we propose that the close spatial contact between the gold orebodies and igneous dikes could have resulted from the same NWW-trending fault space during the Early Cretaceous precipitation of ore fluid and the Late Cretaceous intrusion of the quartz porphyry dikes. However, the genetic link between the quartz porphyry and Carlin-type Au mineralization was not observed at Mingshan. The primary metamorphic fluid associated with Early Cretaceous gold mineralization in the Youjiang Basin was derived from syn-orogenic shortening deformation and metamorphism in the compressional tectonic setting caused by the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate. Subsequent post-orogenic extension during the rollback of the subducted Pacific slab led to significant extensional faults and intrusions of Early Cretaceous concealed granites, which may have provided heat, materials, and energy for the transport of ore fluid. The ore fluid was transported through permeable extensional structures from the deep crust and reacted with the carbonaceous and Fe-rich host rocks in the shallow crust, resulting in the Early Cretaceous gold mineralization event in the Youjiang Basin.