Stable Isotopic Geochemical and Geochronological Constraints on the Formation of the Shihu Gold Deposit: The Intracontinental Metallogeny of the Taihang Tectonic Belt, Eastern China

The Early Cretaceous Shihu gold deposit is located in the northern segment of the Taihang Tectonic belt, which extends across the central part of the North China Craton. The deposit is hosted predominantly by the Archean metamorphic crystalline units, and is spatially and temporally related to quartz diorite porphyry present extensively throughout the gold deposit. We studied the geology, geochronology and stable isotopic geochemistry. Zircon U–Pb LA–ICP–MS ages of the quartz diorite porphyry at deposit range from 134 ± 1 to 131 ± 2 Ma, which are coeval and probably genetically related to the mineralization. The majority of the sulfides of the gold deposit have δ34S values ranging from −1 to 2‰, which suggest an homogeneous magmatic source. In addition, the isotopic compositions of δ18Ofluid and δ18Dfluid vary from 2.1 to 7.0‰ and −93 to −65‰, respectively, suggesting that the magmatic fluids mingled with meteoric water. The Pb isotopic analyses reveal that both the ore-forming materials and the quartz diorite porphyry originated from the lower crust and may have been mixed with mantle material. The 87Sr/86Sri and 143Nd/144Nd (143Nd/144Nd)i ratios for the quartz diorite porphyry demonstrate that there was mixing of two end-member (crust and the mantle) isotopic compositions. These results suggest that the ore-forming fluids and materials were derived from lower-crustal melting induced by mantle processes. Processes associated with the formation of the Shihu gold deposit differ significantly from those that characterize orogenic gold deposits, and instead are representative of formation in an intracontinental tectonic environment.