Petrogenesis and geochronology of the bronze fox porphyry Cu-Au deposit: Implications for the geodynamic evolution of the Gurvansaykhan Island arc, southern Mongolia

ABSTRACT

A diversity of Devonian-Carboniferous volcanic arcs and granitoid intrusions are exposed in the Gurvansaykhan arc terrane of southern Mongolia. Several giant porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposits are associated with intrusions within these arcs. The Bronze Fox deposit located in the central part of the Gurvansaykhan arc terrane is an example of a potentially economic deposit with affinity of adakite-like granitoid porphyry (i.e. 428 Mt grading 0.26% to 0.30% Cu for up to 2,437 Mlb of copper and 0.84 Moz gold). The genesis and magmatic evolution of the causative rocks of the Bronze Fox porphyry Cu-Au hosting rocks are poorly understood, and different models are still under debate. In the current study, we present new field observations and petrographic, geochemical, and geochronological data to describe the magmatic evolution and geodynamic settings. In addition, the mineral chemical data are reported from some selected rock-forming minerals to identify crystallization conditions of the studied rock suites by employing geothermobarometric methods. Zircon chronological data reveal the emplaced age at 331 ± 3.4 Ma for the volcanic lava, followed by mineralized granodiorite and monzodiorite with intruded ages of 326.5 ± 3.4 Ma and 326.5 ± 2.7 Ma, respectively. The studied intrusive and extrusive rocks are high-K-alkaline and metaluminous, characterized by high Mg#. They are enriched in large ion lithophile elements (Sr and Ba) and light rare earth elements (LREEs) and depleted in high field strength elements (Nb, Ta, and Ti) and heavy rare earth elements (HREEs). The highly mineralized granodiorite intrusion yields zircon crystallization temperatures ranging from 631.8 to 779.4°C, and the monzodiorite intrusion, which contains relatively low-grade mineralization, has a wider range (599.0 to 803.4°C). The formation pressures of the former range from 0.5 to 0.2 kbar, which is equivalent to a depth of 1.38 km based on amphibole geochemical calculations. The results of mineral chemistry indicate that the unmineralized diorite unit was formed under medium pressure (~50 MPa) and high temperature (~750°C) at depths of 6.8 to 7.5 km. Similarities in geochemistry and petrographic features suggest that the igneous rocks probably originated from a similar magma source (i.e. from the melting of ancient oceanic crust and sediments) but experienced different degrees of partial melting or mixing with lower juvenile crust melts. The estimated fO₂ values obtained by amphibole chemistry in the granodiorite and quartz diorite of the Bronze Fox copper-gold mineralization range from −13.0 to −11.8 and −13.2 to −10.8, respectively, confirming that these igneous rocks probably crystallized under relatively oxidized conditions above the nickel-nickel oxide (NNO) buffer. Such results yield an overall range between NNO +2.6 and NNO +1.4, which are characterized by high oxygen fugacities and high Ce⁴⁺/Ce³⁺ ratios that reflect oxidizing magma, thus indicating quite promising potential for porphyry Cu-Au mineralization in the region. Based on the findings of this work, we suggest a new tectonic model of arc magmatism that is a response to the subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean in the early Carboniferous period.

KEYWORDS:

• Adakites
• porphyry copper deposits
• Bronze Fox
• Gurvansaykhan Island arc
• southern Mongolia

Acknowledgments

This study is financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 42230801 and 42030801). This study also benefitted from the CAS-TWAS President’s Following 2018. We are also grateful to the Geology Department (Institute of Geology, Mongolian Academy of Science, Mongolia) and Kincora Ltd. for providing logistical support during the fieldwork. The authors wish to thank Mr. Hu Xiaowen, Mr. Qi Hou, and Miss. Yixin Liu (USTC, China) for their help during laboratory analyses. Technical support from the members of the CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environments (USTC, China) is greatly appreciated. We would like to thank Editor-in-Chief professor Robert J. Stern for handling and the three anonymous reviewers for the insightful comments and language polishing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00206814.2022.2158498