Li, P.; Li, Y.; Gu, P.; He, S.; Zhuang, Y.; Chen, R. Paleoproterozoic U Mineralization in Huayangchuan Deposit, Xiaoqinling Area: Evidence from the U–Rich Granitic Pegmatite. Minerals2023, 13, 936.
Li, P.; Li, Y.; Gu, P.; He, S.; Zhuang, Y.; Chen, R. Paleoproterozoic U Mineralization in Huayangchuan Deposit, Xiaoqinling Area: Evidence from the U–Rich Granitic Pegmatite. Minerals 2023, 13, 936.
Li, P.; Li, Y.; Gu, P.; He, S.; Zhuang, Y.; Chen, R. Paleoproterozoic U Mineralization in Huayangchuan Deposit, Xiaoqinling Area: Evidence from the U–Rich Granitic Pegmatite. Minerals2023, 13, 936.
Li, P.; Li, Y.; Gu, P.; He, S.; Zhuang, Y.; Chen, R. Paleoproterozoic U Mineralization in Huayangchuan Deposit, Xiaoqinling Area: Evidence from the U–Rich Granitic Pegmatite. Minerals 2023, 13, 936.
Abstract
The Huayangchuan uranium deposit, located in the west of the Xiaoqinling belt on the southern margin of the North China Craton, is a polymetallic deposit dominated by U, Nb, Pb, and rare earth elements. The Huayangchuan uranium deposit, discovered in the 1950s, has long been known as a carbonatite-type uranium deposit. Recently, new geological work has found uranium mineralisation in many granitic pegmatite veins in the Huayangchuan deposit and adjacent areas. Here, we report a systematic investigation of the petrography, whole-rock geochemistry, zircon U-Pb ages, and in situ Lu-Hf isotopic characteristics of newly discovered U-rich granitic pegmatite veins in the west of Huayangchuan deposit. The petrological results showed that the lithology of the samples is equivalent to that of granite. The U-Pb ages of zircon were 1826.3 ± 7.9 and 1829 ± 11 Ma. Microscopically, the symbiotic characteristics of zircon, betafite, and uraninite exist in the intergranular fissures of K-feldspar and quartz, reflecting metallogenic phenomena in the rock formation process. Almost all whole-rock samples were rich in SiO2 (64.37–70.69 wt.%), total alkalis (K2O+Na2O = 8.50–10.30 wt.%), and Al2O3 (12.20–14.41 wt.%), but poor in Ti2O (0.23–0.73 wt.%), MgO (0.38–0.90 wt.%), P2O5 (0.14–0.83 wt.%), MnO (0.04–0.57 wt.%). Additionally, they showed enrichment of LILEs (such as Rb, Ba, Th, U, and K), depletion of HFSEs (such as Ta, Nb, P, Ti, and Hf), no alkaline dark minerals, and the characteristics are typical of intraplate A1-type granite. The A1-type granite displayed low zircon εHf(t) values (-19.42– -15.02) with zircon two-stage Hf model aged 3.10–2.76 Ga, indicating that the U-rich granitic pegmatite was derived predominantly from partial melting of the ancient continental crust (such as the early Taihua group formed in Archean-Neoarchean). Combined with the above results and regional geological data, the U-rich granitic pegmatite discovered in the Huayangchuan deposit was related to granite magma activity that formed in a post-collisional regime after the Luliang movement in the late Palaeoproterozoic. This study suggests that future uranium prospecting work in this area should focus on late Palaeoproterozoic U-rich granitic pegmatites.
Keywords
Southern Margin of North China Craton; Xiaoqinling; Huayangchuan; Uranium; Pegmatite; Paleoproterozoic; Mineralization age
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Geochemistry and Petrology
Copyright:
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