Genesis of the Dadonggou Pb-Zn deposit in Kelan basin, Altay, NW China: Constraints from zircon U-Pb and biotite 40Ar/39Ar geochronological data

The genesis of polymetallic deposits in southern Altay, NW China has been disputed between a syngenetic seafloor hydrothermal process and an epigenetic orogenic-type mineralization. The Dadonggou Pb-Zn deposit occurs as NW-trending veins in the Devonian Kangbutiebao Formation volcanic-sedimentary sequence in the Kelan basin, southern Altay. A set of integrated zircon U-Pb and biotite 40Ar/39Ar geochronological data were applied to constrain the forming ages of the ores and their country rocks. Three samples of host volcanic rocks yielded weighted mean Pb-206/U-238 ages of 397.1 +/- 4.5 Ma, 391.7 +/- 3.6 Ma and 391.1 +/- 42 Ma, respectively, indicating that the Kangbutiebao Formation was deposited in a Devonian back-arc basin. Two biotite samples separated from the Pb-Zn-containing quartz veins yielded 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages of 205.9 +/- 2.1 Ma and 204.3 +/- 2.2 Ma, respectively, which represent the age of the Pb-Zn mineralization that is attributed to the closure of the Kelan back-arc basin and the Late Triassic orogeny. Combining the available geological and geochronological data, this contribution outlines the successive evolution from the development of a Devonian back-arc basin to the Late Triassic post-subduction orogeny, and proposes that the Dadonggou Pb-Zn deposit is an epigenetic orogenic-type deposit placed in the Late Triassic orogeny. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.