Abstract:
The lead-zinc ore deposits of the Siding-Gudan mineral subdistrict Guangxi are part of the large Nanling district of South China, and hosted in Devonian carbonate rocks. The ore bodies occur significantly along main faults and fault zones, and concentrate up to 300 meters above the Cambrian/Devonian unconformity. Connected with hydrothermal karst, size and volume of the ore bodies increase in proximity to this unconformity. Moving from the unaffected host rocks to the center of the ore bodies, four zones can be discriminated by the mineral assemblage (pyrite, sphalerite, galena) as well as by the degree of ordering, Ca/Mg, and Fe/Mn ratios of different dolomites. Homogenization temperatures range from 80-100-degrees-C (Presqu'ile dolomite) to 230-260-degrees-C (massive sphalerite). The sulfides reveal delta-S-34 = -20 to parts per thousand, and fluid inclusions display a salinity of 5-12 wt % equivalent NaCl. The diagenetic and hydrothermal history is similar to that of classic Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) sulfide mineral deposits as, for example, Pine Point in Canada. Mineralization and remobilization of the sulfides took place during a wide time span from late Paleozoic through Mesozoic. Both processes are considered as an interaction of saline basinal brines ascended from the adjoining dewatering trough, and magmatic-hydrothermal fluids of several magmatic-tectonic events