Source of the Ore-forming Adakitic Porphyry at the Beiya Super-large Au Deposit, Western Yangtze Craton: New Evidence from Zircon U-Pb Ages of the Amphibolite Xenoliths

摘要

Objective The Beiya super-large Au-rich porphyry deposit(304 t Au,2.4 g/t Au)is located within the western Yangtze craton,to the southeast of the Sanjiang Tethyan Orogen(Fig.1).The ore-forming porphyry is adakitic,characterized by high Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios coupled with low Y and Yb contents,and is generally thought to be derived from partial melting of thickened mafic lower crust.The lower crust underneath the western Yangtze craton is mainly composed of ancient crust with Archean ages,juvenile crust resulting from the Neoproterozoic subduction(740–1000 Ma),and late Permian juvenile crust related to the Emeishan mantle plume.Which lower crustal end-member has played a critical role in genesis of the Beiya ore-forming porphyry can be constrained by zircon U-Pb ages of amphibolite xenoliths hosted in the ore-forming porphyry,because these xenoliths represent direct samples of the source.In this study,we present new zircon U-Pb ages of these amphibolite xenoliths to have insight into the nature of the Beiya adakitic porphyry source.