Zinc, copper, and strontium isotopic variability in the Baiyangping Cu–Pb–Zn–Ag polymetallic ore field, Lanping Basin, Southwest China

The Baiyangping Cu–Ag polymetallic ore district is located in the northern part of the Lanping-Simao foreland fold belt, between the Jinshajiang-Ailaoshan and Lancangjiang faults, and the deposit can be divided into eastern and western ore zones. Based upon microscope observation of ore minerals and analysis of zinc, copper, and strontium isotope composition, we conclude that: (1) the zinc isotopic compositions of sphalerite from the eastern and western ore belt of the Baiyangping polymetallic ore deposits are enriched in both the heavy (− 0.09‰ to + 0.15‰) and light (− 0.19‰ to − 0.01‰) zinc isotopes. Rayleigh fractionation is likely the additional factor controlling the observed temporal and spatial variations in zinc isotopes in the two studied ore zones. The zinc isotopic composition in the Baiyangping polymetallic Pb–Zn deposits may have the same fractionation as that of magmatic-hydrothermal, VHMS, SEDEX, and MVT deposits, as demonstrated by geological and other geochemical evidence; (2) the range of δ65Cu in massive tetrahedrite is from − 0.06‰ to + 0.12 ‰ that relates to the early stages of ore-formation, which are higher than that of venial chalcopyrite (from − 0.72‰ to − 0.07‰) formed at a late ore-forming stage in the western ore belt. Different ore-forming stages and alteration or leaching processes are likely the main factors controlling the observed variations in copper isotopes in the western ore zone; (3) the 87Sr/86Sr value of hydrothermal calcite in eastern (0.7080–0.7093) and western (0.7085–0.7113) ore belt suggested that mineralization of early calcite, with 87Sr/86Sr values much higher than in ancient Late Triassic seawater, may be related to recrystallization from a radiogenic Sr-rich or silicifying fluid, either from the strata that the ore-forming fluid flows through or from other fluids.