Metallogenic and Metamorphic Age of the Hongtoushan Copper–Zinc Massive Sulfide Deposit,Liaoning Province,China

The Hongtoushan copper–zinc deposit is the only large Archean volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit in China. This paper presents new information on the timing of metallogenesis and metamorphism of the deposit, including new cathodoluminescence (CL) images, and Th U^?1 and LA–ICP–MS U–Pb dating on zircons of the biotite–plagioclase gneiss and plagioclase–amphibole gneiss that host the deposit. The CL images and Th U^?1 ratios indicate that the zircons within the gneiss are of metamorphic origin. LA–ICP–MS dating of the plagioclase–amphibole gneiss yielded the upper intercept ages of 2549 Ma, and the biotite–plagioclase gneiss yielded the upper intercept ages of 2552 Ma and 2550 Ma correspondingly, indicating that the mineralization of the deposit occurred at around 2550 Ma. The rims of zircons within these host rocks yielded younger U–Pb ages at 2529, 2520 and 2515 Ma, identical to the age of felsic intrusive rocks in the study area. This suggests that the Hongtoushan VMS deposit underwent initial metamorphism and deformation at around 2520 Ma by the intrusion of granite magmas.