Mineral Chemistry and In Situ LA-ICP-MS Titanite U-Pb Geochronology of the Changba-Lijiagou Giant Pb-Zn Deposit, Western Qinling Orogen: Implications for a Distal Skarn Ore Formation

Abstract

The giant Changba-Lijiagou (Ch-L) Pb-Zn deposit is in the northeast part of the Xicheng ore cluster, Western Qinling Orogen. The ore genesis remains controversial; it could be either a sedimentary exhalative genetic type or an epigenetic hydrothermal genetic type. Here, in situ titanite U-Pb dating for the two kinds of titanite is presented, yielding ages of 212.8 ± 3.0 Ma in the mineralized skarn ore and 214.6 ± 5.1 Ma in the host rock. These ages conform to the previously reported magmatic zircon age (229–211 Ma) based on the in situ zircon U-Pb dating of plutons in this district and the time of large-scale magmatic–hydrothermal activities in Western Qinling Orogen (229–209 Ma). Titanites occurring in mineralized skarn and those that are calcite-hosted are similar to hydrothermal-origin titanites in major element characteristics. The Eu anomalies in the two types of titanite record oxidizing conditions during the mineralization process. A mineral assemblage of garnet, pyroxene, riebeckite, biotite, and potash feldspar, replacing the albite, is well-developed in the deposit. The mineralogical and geochronological characteristics indicate that the Ch-L Pb-Zn deposit is a distal skarn deposit and the result of intensive tectonomagmatic processes in the Xicheng ore cluster during the process of the Late Triassic orogeny.