Geochemical characteristics of the Shangzhuangping Pb-Zn-Ag deposit in Songxian County, western Henan, and its geological significance

Abstract：The Shangzhuangping Pb-Zn-Ag deposit is one of the sulfide deposits found in the Erlangping Group in the North Qinling Mountains during the new round of land and resources survey. The tectonic setting, material source and genesis of the deposit are discussed by studying the trace element and REE geochemistry of ores, host rocks and barite rock and geological characteristics of the deposit. The study shows that: the chondrite-normalized REE patterns for ores and host rocks are right-inclined；the data points of ores plot in the same field as those of the host rocks in Cu-Pb-Zn discrimination diagram；Zn/(Zn+Pb) for ores of the Shangzhuangping deposit is similar to those for the Okinawa trench and Shangxiang kuroko-type ores but is different from those for sulfides in TAG and the EPR13°N region; ores display higher As, Sb and Pb and lower Cu, Cd and Se, which indicates that the ore elements of the deposit were derived from the country rocks meta-(quartz) keratophyre and meta-spilite generated by crust-mantle mixing but mainly crustal rocks. The trace element and REE geochemistry of ores, geology of the deposit and their close paragenetic relationship with hydrothermally deposited barite rocks and cherts suggest that the Shangzhuangping Pb-Zn-Ag deposit was formed by submarine hydrothermal exhalative petrogenesis and mineralization in the back-arc basin environment. Barite rock, chert and vertical and lateral deposit zoning are important criteria for looking and exploring for such Pb-Zn-Ag deposits.