REE,Fe and Mn Contents of Calcites and Their Prospecting Signi¬ficance for the Banqi Carlin-type Gold Deposit in Southwestern ChinaEI北大核心CSCD

The Banqi gold deposit is one of the important Carlin-type gold deposits in the southwestern Guizhou Carlin-type gold district, and it is the first deposit of the type found in China. As the major gangue mineral in this deposit, calcite can be divided into four types based on their formation time: pre-mineralization, main metallogenic epoch, late stage of mineralization, and post-mineralization. All types of calcites have distinct features such as field occurrence, physical typomorphic characteristics and trace elements characteristics. The pre-mineralization calcites have the highest REE contents (∑REE=29.70-40.10 μg/g), which are characterized by the most enriched LREE (LREE/ HREE=1.96-3.03), a distinct positive Eu anomalies (δEu=3.83-5.02), and almost no Ce anomalies (δCe=1.02-1.05). The calcites of the main metallogenic epoch have relatively low REE contents (∑REE=10.76-15.53 μg/g), and are characterized by the most enriched HREE (LREE/HREE=0.11-0.23), almost no Eu (δEu=0.73-1.20) and Ce anomalies (δCe=0.88-1.25). The calcites of the late stage of mineralization have the lowest REE contents (∑REE=2.82-4.34 μg/g), and are characterized by enriched HREE (LREE/HREE=0.26-0.86), weakly negative Eu (δEu=0.67-0.83) and Ce anomalies (δCe=0.55-0.81), which are similar to those of the calcites of the main metallogenic epoch. The post-minera¬lization calcites have relatively low REE contents (∑REE=6.92-10.91 μg/g), characterized by enriched LREE (LREE/HREE=1.83-2.34), weakly negative Eu anomalies (δEu=0.72-0.74) and moderately negative Ce anomalies (δCe=0.41-0.50). In addition, the Fe and Mn contents of ore-forming stage calcites are obviously higher than that of the calcites unrelated to mineralization, and negatively correlated with LREE/HREE ratio, which illustrates that the HREE concentrations of calcites are controlled by the incorporation of Fe and Mn. Thus, it will provide an important exploration indicator for the Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi Carlin-type gold deposits through the study of typomorphic characteristics of calcite. © 2018, Science Press. All right reserved.