On the genesis of dabaoshan polymetallic deposit in Guangdong Province, China

Abstract

The Dabaoshan deposit is a polymetallic deposit containing Mo, W, Cu, Pb and Zn. There is much controversy about the genesis of the deposit. In the early 1960s, it was considered as a meso-hypothermal deposit resulting from interstratified replacement. Recently, some other genetic models have been put forward, e.g. the strata-bound deposit model.

Studies of the contents of characteristic elements in pyrite and sphalerite, the compositions of sulfur and lead isotopes, zoning of primary halos, homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions in minerals from the deposit and element abundances in the strata led to a conclusion that the deposit is of post-magmatic hydrothermal origin.