5. Zoheir, Basem; Carr, Patrick; Xu, Xinyue; Zeh, Armin; Kraemer, Dennis; McAleer, Ryan; Steele-MacInnis, Matthew; Ragab, Azza; Deshesh, Fatma.The Igla Sn-(W-Be) deposit, Egypt: Prolonged magmatic-metasomatic processes during the middle stage evolution of the Arabian-Nubian Shield.Gondwana Research, 2025, 142: 20-43 The Igla Sn-(W-Be) deposit, Egypt: Prolonged magmatic-metasomatic processes during the middle stage evolution of the Arabian-Nubian Shield
The Igla Sn-(W-Be) deposit in the Central Eastern Desert of Egypt is associated with a suite of granitic rocks, including monzogranite, granophyric granite, and porphyritic leucogranite. These rocks belong to a calcic to calc-alkalic series, characterized by low Mg# values and low Ti and P concentrations. Monzogranite and granophyric granite show features typical of fractionated volcanic-arc I-type granites, while the leucogranite, with its distinct Rb/Ba, K/Rb, and Ga/Al ratios, is classified as a highly evolved A-type granite. Mineralization at Igla mine includes cassiterite and wolframite, along with minor molybdenite, arsenopyrite, columbite, and tourmaline, mainly hosted in beryl ± topaz-quartz veins and miarolitic cavities within greisen and silica-rich stockwork. Zircons from the monzogranite show LREE enrichment, moderate positive Ce anomalies, and moderately oxidizing conditions (ΔFMQ ≃ 1.75), while granophyric granite zircons exhibit higher HREE enrichment and more oxidizing conditions (ΔFMQ ≃ 1.04). Leucogranite zircons have the highest REE concentrations, more pronounced negative Eu anomalies, and distinctly reducing conditions (ΔFMQ ≃ -0.06). U–Pb dating of zircon and xenotime reveals concordant 206Pb/238U ages of 708.7 ± 2.0 Ma for monzogranite, 701.3 ± 1.5 Ma for the granophyric granite, and a noticeably younger age for the leucogranite (605.1 ± 2.4 Ma). Petrography and microchemistry of cassiterite reveal two distinct stages: an earlier generation (Cst-I) with straight oscillatory zoning, and a later chaotically zoned generation (Cast-II) that overgrows and crosscuts the former. U-Pb dating confirms two discernable age populations: Cst-I, with a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age of 637.4 ± 1.4 Ma; and Cst-II ages scatter from 605 to 588 Ma, partially overlapping with the leucogranite formation. Wolframite, although less precisely dated at 615.3 ± 4.3 Ma, suggests rejuvenated tectonics, magmatism, and hydrothermal activities, culminating in the formation of Cst-II. Primary aqueous fluid inclusions in quartz indicate deposition from a low-salinity aqueous fluid with undetectable dissolved gas, while trails of aqueous-carbonic inclusions with slightly higher salinity and appreciable gas (CO2, CH4) contents occur together in the same crosscutting trails with arsenopyrite and bismite inclusions. The variable contents of CO2 and CH4 in these inclusions suggest that carbon redox equilibria within the ore-forming fluid may have played a pivotal role in linking redox potentials, facilitating the deposition of arsenopyrite, bismite, and Cst-II. The improved age constraints highlight the role of highly evolved transcrustal magmatism in mobilizing and upgrading early rare metal concentrations, coinciding with the ∼ 650–600 Ma geodynamic transition in the Arabian-Nubian Shield. Crustal thinning, partial melting of older granitoids, and prolonged magmatic-hydrothermal interactions were key in ore formation and upgrading.Link DOI
4. Xinyue Xu, Wyatt M Bain, Fernando Tornos, John M Hanchar, Hector M Lamadrid, Bernd Lehmann, Xiaochun Xu, Jeffrey A Steadman, Ralph S Bottrill, Majid Soleymani, Abdorrahman Rajabi, Peng Li, Xuehai Tan, Shihong Xu, Andrew J Locock, Matthew Steele-MacInnis.Magnetite-apatite ores record widespread involvement of molten salts.Geology, 2024, 52 (6): 417–422 Magnetite-apatite ores record widespread involvement of molten salts
The origins of magnetite-apatite deposits are controversial, and the crux of the debate is what types of fluids form these rocks. We present evidence from 20 magnetite-apatite deposits worldwide showing ubiquitous involvement of molten salts. The studied deposits are distributed globally, from various tectonic settings, and from Precambrian to Quaternary in age. In every case, water-poor polycrystalline melt inclusions in ore-stage minerals are dominated by sulfate, chloride, and carbonate components plus variable proportions of calc-silicates, phosphates, and iron ± titanium oxides that re-melt between 285 °C and 1100 °C. These fluids are very different from what is generally expected in most geologic settings, but their ubiquitous presence in magnetite-apatite rocks indicates that molten salts are widespread and essential to the formation of these deposits. DOI
3. Xinyue Xu, Xiaochun Xu, Marko Szmihelsky, Jun Yan, Qiaoqin Xie, Matthew Steele-MacInnis.Melt inclusion evidence for limestone assimilation, calc-silicate melts, and “magmatic skarn”.Geology, 2023, 51 (5): 491–495 Melt inclusion evidence for limestone assimilation, calc-silicate melts, and “magmatic skarn”
Chemical exchange between silicate magmas and carbonate rocks has major implications for igneous fractionation, atmospheric CO2 flux, and formation of mineral deposits. However, this process is only partly understood, and long-standing questions of whether, where, and how carbonate rocks can be digested by silicate melts remain controversial. We describe evidence for pervasive chemical exchange between silicate melt and carbonate rock in a shallow porphyry setting driven by limestone assimilation. Melt inclusions in endoskarn from the Chating Cu-Au deposit in eastern China reveal that the calc-silicate assemblage (diopside + andradite ± wollastonite ± epidote) was molten at the time of skarn formation and coexisted with CO2 vapor as well as sulfate- and chloride-salt melts. Hence, we argue that endoskarn at Chating formed by crystallization of an immiscible calc-silicate melt produced by assimilation of carbonate rock, aided by the presence of sulfate and other fluxes, which in turn promoted desilication of the intruding magma and drove vigorous CO2 release. DOI
2. Xinyue Xu, Xiaochun Xu, Qiaoqin Xie, Zhongyang Fu, Sanming Lu, Lili Zhao.Geological features and ore-forming mechanisms of the Chating Cu–Au deposit: A rare case of porphyry deposit in the Middle–Lower Yangtze River metallogenic belt.Ore Geology Reviews, 2022, 144, 104860 Geological features and ore-forming mechanisms of the Chating Cu–Au deposit: A rare case of porphyry deposit in the Middle–Lower Yangtze River metallogenic belt
The Chating Cu–Au deposit is an important porphyry deposit located in the Middle–Lower Yangtze River Metallogenic Belt (MLYMB) of eastern China. Drill core logging and ore petrographic observations were systematically employed to recognize the geological features of the deposit. Several important and peculiar geological characteristics are revealed as fellows: (1) the ore-bearing quartz diorite porphyry emplaced within carbonate-dominated strata rather than clastic strata and volcanic rocks, (2) the ore-hosting location confined in the whole cryptoexplosive breccia pipe inside the porphyry stock, and (3) large-scale and barren marbles, marbled limestones, and hornfels almost encircling the porphyry stock and sporadic and barren skarns scattered within the porphyry stock. The fluid-inclusion study at the deposit reports a wide range of homogenization temperatures (161.4 °C–454.2 °C) and salinities (0.2–54.7 wt% NaCl eq) for the ore-forming fluids, and two fluid boiling events as suggested by the coexistence of halite-bearing liquid-rich inclusions and vapor-rich inclusions. In contrast with classical porphyry deposits, the Chating deposit has similar characteristics in the close relationships between the mineralization and the porphyry stock, the hydrothermal alteration zonation, and the fluid evolution process, while the wall-rock strata and ore-hosting position mark outstanding differences of the Chating deposit. The comprehensive geological and geochemical research in this study has been integrated to explore the ore-forming mechanisms of the deposit. The carbonate wall-rock strata were baked by early magma to form low-permeability thermal metamorphic shield at the contact zone, which prevents the migration and loss of the ore-forming fluids and avoid hydrothermal metasomatism for skarn ores. After that, the cryptoexplosions open up the porphyry system and promote the magmatic hydrothermal fluids mixing with the meteoric water, which successively induce the ore-forming fluids boiling and further cause ore-forming materials unloading and precipitation in the cryptoexplosive breccia pipe. DOI
1. Xie Qiaoqin, Sun Rui, Xu Xiaochun, Xu Xinyue, An Yuhua, Qian Shilong.Characteristics of cryptoexplosive breccia from the Chating copper-gold deposits, Xuancheng, Anhui province and its metallogenic significance.Geological Journal of China Universities, 2020, 26 (3): 255-264 Characteristics of cryptoexplosive breccia from the Chating copper-gold deposits, Xuancheng, Anhui province and its metallogenic significance
The Chating copper-gold ore in Xuancheng region is a newly discovered large ore deposit in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic volcanic-sedimentary Nanling-Xuancheng basin in recent years, where the deposits are located at shallow depths of the Middle-Lower Yangtze River. This study is focused on the cryptoexplosive breccia pipe developed in the intrusives of quartz-dioriticporphyrite in the Chating copper-gold ore deposits. Based on the detailed core observations and petrographic analysis, characteristics and types of cryptoexplosive breccia are determined, and the relationship between the cryptoexplosive breccia and the copper-gold mineralization is discussed. The cryptoexplosive breccia in the ore deposits can be divided into three types: cryptoexplosivemelt-crystal-lithicbreccia, cryptoexplosive hydrothermal breccia, and cryptoexplosive fracture breccia based on its textures, compositions and abundance of rubbles. The cryptoexplosive breccia appears as an irregular pipe enveloped by the quartz-dioriticporphyrite and shows a regular spatial distribution. From the center of breccia to wall-rock are quartz-dioriticporphyrite, cryptoexplosivemelt-crystal-lithicbreccia, the cryptoexplosive hydrothermal breccia, and the cryptoexplosive fracture breccia, respectively. The spatial relationship between the alterated, mineralized and the cryptoexplosive breccia pipe shows that there exists a genetic link between formation of cryptoexplosive breccia and mineralization. The cryptoexplosion of the melt, liquid and gas originated from intermediate-acid magma induced the DOI
