Genesis of the Dadonggou Pb–Zn deposit in Kelan basin, Altay, NW China: Constraints from zircon U–Pb and biotite 40Ar/39Ar geochronological data

The genesis of polymetallic deposits in southern Altay, NW China has been disputed between a syngenetic seafloor hydrothermal process and an epigenetic orogenic-type mineralization. The Dadonggou Pb–Zn deposit occurs as NW-trending veins in the Devonian Kangbutiebao Formation volcanic-sedimentary sequence in the Kelan basin, southern Altay. A set of integrated zircon U–Pb and biotite 40Ar/39Ar geochronological data were applied to constrain the forming ages of the ores and their country rocks. Three samples of host volcanic rocks yielded weighted mean 206Pb/238U ages of 397.1 ± 4.5 Ma, 391.7 ± 3.6 Ma and 391.1 ± 4.2 Ma, respectively, indicating that the Kangbutiebao Formation was deposited in a Devonian back-arc basin. Two biotite samples separated from the Pb–Zn-containing quartz veins yielded 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages of 205.9 ± 2.1 Ma and 204.3 ± 2.2 Ma, respectively, which represent the age of the Pb–Zn mineralization that is attributed to the closure of the Kelan back-arc basin and the Late Triassic orogeny. Combining the available geological and geochronological data, this contribution outlines the successive evolution from the development of a Devonian back-arc basin to the Late Triassic post-subduction orogeny, and proposes that the Dadonggou Pb–Zn deposit is an epigenetic orogenic-type deposit placed in the Late Triassic orogeny.