Early Cretaceous porphyry copper mineralization in Northeast China: the Changfagou example

The Changfagou Cu deposit is a newly discovered porphyry deposit located in the southern Jilin Province of Northeastern China, on the northeastern margin of the North China Craton. To better understand the formation of the Cu deposit, we report the zircon U–Pb and molybdenite Re–Os dating, and Sr-, Nd-, and Hf- isotopic data of the granite porphyry. LA-ICP-MS dating of zircon grains from two mineral zones in the granite porphyry yield ages of 115.7 ± 0.8 and 115.3 ± 0.6 Ma, which is interpreted as the emplacement age of the granite porphyry. The molybdenite Re–Os model ages of 112.5 to 113.8 Ma, an isochron age of 113.3 ± 1.3 Ma, and a weighted mean model age of 113.0 ± 0.7 Ma, which represents the age of the Cu mineralization quite well. The Changfagou granite porphyry samples lack amphibole and muscovite, and are compositionally characterized by high SiO2, high Na2O+K2O, and low P2O5, enriched in some Rb, Th, U, and Pb, and depleted in Nb, Ta, Ti, P, and Eu. Mineralogical and geochemical features suggest that the Changfagou granite porphyry samples are slightly peraluminous and are of highly fractionated I-type granitoids. The granitic rocks also have relatively high (87Sr/86Sr)i (0.71199 to 0. 71422), and both low εNd(t) (−14.56 to −13.19) and εHf(t) values (−14.916 to −8.644), which suggest that Changfagou granite porphyry are derived from mixed sources of crustal and mantle, and diagenesis and mineralization were possibly related to the switch in subduction direction of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate in the late phase of Early Cretaceous.