Tracking magmatic and hydrothermal Nb–Ta–W–Sn fractionation using mineral textures and composition: A case study from the late Cretaceous Jiepailing ore district in the Nanling Range in South China

• Zircon and columbite indicate a late-Cretaceous magmatism and Nb–Ta mineralization.
• Subsurface porphyry–granite–greisen host primary magmatic Nb–Ta–Sn–W oxides.
• The porphyry–granite–greisen system at Jiepailing has undergone the magmatic–hydrothermal transition.
• Mineral textures and composition record progressive Nb–Ta–W–Sn melt fractionation.
• Zircon and mica are useful indicators for ore exploration.

The Jiepailing mining district in the Nanling range in South China is well-known for its granite-related Sn–Be–F-mineralization. Recently, drill holes have exposed an Nb–Ta–W–Sn mineralized granitic porphyry and topaz-bearing granite–greisen at depth, which we have studied here, using mineral (columbite, rutile, wolframite, cassiterite, zircon, and mica) major- and trace-element compositional data, mineral textures, and zircon and columbite U–Pb geochronology. Our age data shows that the porphyry and the granite and their mineralization formed at ~ 91–89 ± 1 Ma in the late-Cretaceous, and thus subsequent to the main ore-forming events of the region. Continuous mineral compositional trends indicate that the studied granitoids are related by progressive fractionation. We propose that: (1) subhedral–euhedral, low-Ta columbite crystallized from melt; (2) euhedral–subhedral rutile and wolframite and subhedral and subhedral cassiterite up to ~ 30 μm in size formed at the magmatic–hydrothermal transition of the system; and (3) high-Ta columbite and subhedral cassiterite up to ~ 10 μm in size formed from subsolidus hydrothermal fluids. In combination with the Nb, Ta, W, and Sn compositions of zircon and mica, their textures and compositional variation allow us to track the magmatic to hydrothermal rare-metal fractionation (concentration, mobilization, and deposition) of the system in detail, despite our limited access to it through only two exploration drill cores. Using the Nb, Ta, W, and Sn concentrations in zircon (refractory, early-crystallized) and in micas (late equilibrated), respectively, was particularly useful for tracing the partial loss of Sn and W ore components from the intrusion, and to constrain the information which is crucial for any rigorous ore exploration.