Formation of the world's largest molybdenum metallogenic belt: a plate-tectonic perspective on the Qinling molybdenum deposits

Abstract

Qinling ore belt is the largest known molybdenum belt in the world with a total reserve of >5 Mt of Mo metal. Based on the geochemical behaviour of Mo, the structural settings of the Qinling orogenic belt, and geological events in eastern China, we propose that tectonic settings are of critical importance to the formation of these ore deposits. Molybdenum is very rare in the earth with an abundance of 0.8 ppm in the continental crust. Both surface- and magmatic-hydrothermal enrichment processes are required for Mo mineralization. It can be easily oxidized to form water-soluble MoO 4- in the surface environment, especially in the Phanaerozoic, and then precipitated under anoxic conditions. Therefore, closed or semi-closed water bodies with large catchment areas and high chemical erosion rates are the most favourable locations for Mo-enriched sediments. The Qinling orogenic belt was located in the tropics during crustal collisions, such that the chemical erosion was presumably intense, whereas the Erlangping back-arc basin was probably a closed or semi-closed water body as a result of plate convergence. More than 90% of the Mo reserves so far discovered in the Qinling molybdenum belt are associated with the Palaeozoic Erlangping back-arc basin. Compiled Re-Os isotopic ages for porphyry deposits (including several carbonate vein deposits) that have been dated show peaks during 220 million years (>0.32 Mt), 145 million years (>3.5 Mt), and 115 million years (>0.84 Mt), which correlate well with the three major episodes of granitoid magmatism since the Triassic. The 220 million year episode of mineralization, represented by the Huanglongpu carbonate vein-type deposit and the Wenquan porphyry deposit, coincided with the formation of the South Qinling syn-orogenic granites as well as the Dabie ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks, suggests a genetic relationship with the collision between South and North China Blocks. The 145 Ma porphyry Mo deposits, representing the main mineralization, are attributed to reactivation by ridge subduction along the lower Yangtze River belt to the east of the Qinling orogen 150-140 Ma. The 115 Ma Mo deposits likely reflect slab rollback of the northwestwards subducting Pacific plate 125-110 Ma. © 2012 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.