Yandong porphyry Cu deposit, Xinjiang, China-Geology, geochemistry and SIMS U-Pb zircon geochronology of host porphyries and associated alteration and mineralization

The diorite porphyry and plagiogranite porphyry are host porphyries, but the plagiogranite porphyry is a productive porphyry. It caused the porphyry-style Cu mineralization and associated alteration. The alteration assemblages include early potassic and propylitic assemblages. These were overprinted by a chlorite-sericite assemblage, which in turn was overprinted by a late phyllic assemblage. The phyllic alteration is associated with the highest Cu grades. The mineralization is recognized to include three stages, from early to late: stage 1, a potassic alteration associated with a chalcopyrite + pyrite assemblage; stage 2, represented by chlorite-sericite alteration with a chalcopyrite + pyrite assemblage; and stage 3, the main-ore stage that is marked by phyllic alteration with chalcopyrite + pyrite ± molybdenite and producing more than 70% of the total copper production at Yandong. Yandong may represent a common scenario for Paleozoic porphyry Cu systems in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt.