In-situ LA-ICP-MS trace elements analysis of scheelites from the giant Beiya gold-polymetallic deposit in Yunnan Province, Southwest China and its metallogenic implications

•Beiya scheelite has high Mo and LREE/HREE, resembling typical skarn-type scheelite.•Eu anomalies in scheelite show increasing fO2 from ore related intrusion to the surrounding carbonate.•Trace element geochemistry in scheelite suggests addition of mantle-derived component to ore forming materials.

The Beiya gold-polymetallic deposit, located in the middle of the Jinshajiang-Ailaoshan alkaline porphyry metallogenic belt, is the largest skarn gold deposit in China. Scheelite is a typical hydrothermal mineral which can serve as mineralization process tracer and is significant for the hydrothermal deposit study. In this paper, we present in-situ LA-ICP-MS scheelite geochemical data from the different parts of the skarn mineralization in the Beiya deposit. The data indicate that the Beiya scheelite has high Mo (average: 38,943 ppm) and high LREE/HREE (average: 29.6), resembling typical skarn-type scheelite. The mechanism of REE substitution of Ca in the Beiya scheelite was probably 3Ca2 + = 2REE3 + + □Ca, which implies that the scheelite inherited its REE composition from magma-derived ore-forming fluids. The scheelite from near the marble shows negative Eu anomaly (average δEu: 0.45), indicating an oxidizing condition, whereas that from near the porphyry shows positive Eu anomaly (average δEu: 3.58), indicating a reducing environment. Scheelite from the sandstone-hosted stratiform orebody shows slight and variable Eu anomalies (δEu: 0.66-1.47), indicating possible fluctuating physicochemical conditions. Our data demonstrate an increasing oxygen fugacity (fO2) trend from the ore-related intrusion to the surrounding carbonates at Beiya. The Rb/Sr, Nb/Ta and Zr/Hf ratios of the Beiya scheelite suggest an addition of mantle-derived components to the ore-forming materials of the Beiya deposit.

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