Zircon U-Pb Geochronology and Hf Isotopes of the Granitoids from Cahanwusu Cu Deposit in Awulale Mountain, Western Tianshan: Implication for Regional Mineralization

• Published in: Minerals (Basel) Vol. 15; no. 4; p. 380
• Main Authors: Zhang, Wei, Chen, Mao-Xue, Yang, Mei-Li, Yang, Wen-Hui, Zhang, Xing-Chun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 04.04.2025
• Subjects: Ablation; Carboniferous; Copper; Diorite; Earth; Field investigations; Field tests; Geochemistry; Geochronology; Geochronometry; Granite; Hafnium; Intrusion; Investigations; Isotopes; Lasers; Lava; Lead; Magma; Mantle; Mineralization; Mountains; Permian; Porphyry; Porphyry copper; Quartz; Radiometric dating; Subduction; Volcanoes; Zircon; Canada; China
• ISSN: 2075-163X; 2075-163X
• DOI: 10.3390/min15040380

Awulale Mountain is one of the most important Fe-Cu concentration areas situated in the eastern part of Western Tianshan. The Cu deposits in the belt are genetically associated with the Permian intermediate and felsic intrusions. However, the precise age and magma source of the causative intrusions are currently not confirmed, constraining our understanding of regional mineralization. The Cahanwusu porphyry Cu deposit is located in the western part of Awulale Mountain. Field investigations have shown that the mineralization in the deposit is genetically associated with granitic porphyry and diorite porphyry. In this paper, we provide detailed zircon U-Pb ages and in-situ Hf isotopic compositions of the granitic porphyry and diorite porphyry. The granitic porphyry and diorite porphyry have zircon U-Pb ages of 328.6 ± 2.6 Ma (MSWD = 0.52; n = 23) and 331 ± 2.8 Ma (MSWD = 0.95; n = 21), respectively. This indicates that the Cahanwusu deposit was formed in the Carboniferous in a subduction setting. This is distinguishable from other porphyry Cu deposits in the belt, which were generally formed in the Permian in the post-collision extensional setting. The granitic porphyry and diorite porphyry exhibit positive εHf(t) values varying from +2.8 to +5.4 (average of +4.1) and +2.0 to +5.1 (average of +4.1), respectively. The magmas of these causative intrusions were interpreted to be derived from the partial melting of the juvenile lower crust which originated from cooling of mantle-derived magmas related to the subduction process. Our new results highlight that the Cahanwusu deposit represents a new episode of Cu mineralization in the belt and the Carboniferous granitoids in Awulale Mountain are potential candidates for Cu exploration.