308 Du Qi & Chell Mingx ui

times higher than that of o t her formations, and that the ore bodies are found ro be form ed
near the co ntact of granod io rites with the lower horizons o f the Duobaoshan Fo rmat ion.

2. Intru sive rocks

The intru sive ro cks in the district ca n be classified into two types, according to their ages ,
th e m ann er of emp lacement, and characte ristics of t he ga ngue and alte re d mi nera l associa -
tion s. Th e first type is the granodiorit ic com pos ite te rrane , which is spir ifer-like in shape and
ex te nds in a NW-trend , with an exposed area of 8 km 2 There are many types of vein ro cks
wh ich in t ru ded du ring o r post the mi nerali zatio n. The gra nodiorite ha s be en fra ctured ,
fo liate d and altered to various degrees . Amo ng th em the granodioriti c porphyries , whi ch
int ruded granodiorites as dykes along t he NW-trending structural belt , have been commonly
fractured and are charact e rized by po ra sh -feldsp arhization , albi t izatio n and silificatio n.
Th e gra nodiorites and gra no diorite po rph yries are in an irregular zigzag co nt ac t with th e
co u nt ry roc ks. Th e intrusives have ma ny offs hoo ts p ro t ru ding into the country ro ck s. There
are also xe no lit hs of var iou s sizes in the intrusive roc ks, wit h magmati c breccia being developed
o n both sid es of th e ma in ore b o d ies. Il owever , t he xe no lit hs a nd the magm ati c b reccia ha ve
undergone sligh t th erm omet am o rph ism . There is an un even mineral co nt ent with in t he gra no -
diorite . It appears that wh en th e pe rrhitc de cre ase s in amo u nt, plagio clase gran ite te nds to
oc cur , and wh en the qu ar t z de crea ses and t he hornblende and biotite incr ease , qu artz-di or it es
tend to occur. The peripheral te rr ane is mainly composed o f plagi oclase gr anite , an d grano-
diorite in the cent e r, w ith a 500 -1000 m wide transitional facies in be tween . In ad d itio n to
granodiorites and plagioclase granite, the terrane also comprises monzonitic gr an ite , to na lite,
trondhjemite , quartz-monzonit e and quartz-diorite .
The gra no d iori te and gra no diori t ie porph yr y are emp laced passively alo ng the ex isting
t ensio na l cha n ne l u nd er a high -pressu re gra die nt and in an un st ab le o pe n st ru ctura l enviro n-
men t. Another t ype of intru sive roc ks is o mi tt ed .

3. Structure

T he Duobao shan co p per d ep o sit is lo cat ed near t he axia l part of the first seco nd-o rd er anti -
cl ine o n t he north east ern lim b of t he Dayi e an t icl ino riu m. The ore dep osit and t he be lr , as
well as t he ore bod ies arc obviously co n tro lled b y st ruc tures .
Spa tially, t here arc d istribu t ed NW-, NWW-, 1 E- and EW-trending compressiona l-sheari ng
str uc t ures and SN -trendi ng te nsio na l-shearing st ruc t ures . Th e di strict is at the co m po u nd ing
portion of vario us st ructural systems. T emporally , t he NW-tre nd ing com pressiona l-shearing
st ruc tu ra l belt ca rne into being to fo rm the ba sic t ectoni c fram ew o rk of t he dis tr ict first, and
t hen t he en ec he lo n-a rra nged fo liatio n bel ts alo ng a NWW d irect io n afte r t he format io n of
t he NW-t rend ing str uc t ures . T he NWW-trend ing st ruc t ur es are often supe rim posed o n th e
NW-t rend ing st ru ct ur es . T he se ricit iza t io n be lts of th e di strict have be en d evelop ed o n t he
basis of th e NW- and NWW-tren J ing fo liat ion belts .
T he NE-trenJing co mp ress io na l-shearing st ruc tu res in th e d istri ct have been react iva ted
many a time, wh ich have p rodu ced so me NE -trending joi nts, cra cks and fract ure s on one
han d , and have also made the NW-, NWW-t rend ing co m p ressio na l sheari ng struc tures open on
t he ot her. The passive e mplace me nt and the majo r multiple-st ages alte ratio n and minerali za-
tion of granodiorite and granodiori te po rph y ry in the Duobao shan di strict took place in th at
very period whe n the E-trendi ng structu ra l mo vem en t made th e NW-tre nding structures
mo re o pe n (Fi g. 3).
Geneti c m odel of the Duohaosh an porp h yry co p pe r deposit 309

Fii: . 3. Sket ch showing the relationship between the mi ne ralization and structural fiss ures . 1 = Fo liat ion
zon e; 2 =: o re- bea rin g quartz-veins; 3 = ore brec cia , 4 = compressional -she aring fractures . 5 == co m p res sion al -

she a r ini: f iss ur es : 6 = tensional fissures ; 7 = fra cture zone: S = shearing joints : 9 = harrcn q ua rtz vei ns.

The interse ction of several sets of structures show that although most of the Nl.- t rc nding
st ruc t ures c ut th e NW-t re nd ing structures , it is common that the NW-, and NWW-tren di ng
st ructu res in tu rn cut t he NE -trending structures a nd some oth er co m p le x intersectio ns re la-
tionship s ca n a lso be found. The refore, these sets of st ruc t ures in the Duo baoshan ore fiel d
ar e charac ter ize d by a n alte rnating move me nt.
As the Nlv-trcnding structures developed fu rt her, t he EW-trend ing co m press io na l-she aring
st ru ct ures a nd the SN -trending tensio nal -shearing str uct ures o ccurred . T hey are also charac te r-
ized by a multiple-staged movement , a nd were most ly formed before th e ore fo rma ti o n ,
b ei ng sti ll act ive after the o re formation .
Fro m th e activi t ies of th e several sets of structures in the Duobaosh a n district , it can be
see n clearly th at t he oc curren ce of the tension al structures might have been the importa nt
tectoni c co nd it io n for the formation of the porphyry co ppe r de posit.

4. Alteration
A se ries of alt er a ted rocks has been established w it h in the d istrict. T he altered roc ks are
re pr ese nte d by ch lo rit ized , biotitized, seri citi zed, silicified and potash-feldsparhized gra no-
di orite , silic ified gra nodi o rit e porphyry . Among the altered andesites ( t u ff s) are enco u ntered
pr op yliti zed , ser citized , silicified and ca rbo nat izcd o nes .
Takin g t he granodioritic por p hyry as t he co re , t he altered zo nes co m pr ise success ive ly
o ut wa rds: 1) a strongly silicified zo ne (or qu a rt z co re), 2 ) a silicified -po ras h-fe lds pa t hized
zo ne, 3) a biot iti zcd zo ne , 4) a ser icitizcd zo ne , and 5 ) a proph yliti zed zo ne . Th e seric itized
Genetic model of the Duobaosh an po rp hy ry co p per d eposit 313

zone ; (3) the seri citization zone co ntai ns bo rn ite in th e middle, chalcopyrite on both sides
of it, and pyrite which is most co m mo n oc curs further o u t wards; and (4) the sericit izat io n
zo ne co ntai ns no su lph ides in the middle portion , but bornite, chalcopyrite and pyrite out-
war d successively . Th e abo ve-m en t io ned four types of minerali zation may be caused by
differ ent int en siti es o f superimpo siti on and transformation of the original Cu -bearing quartz-
sericite -pyri te mi nera lize d belt b y the fluids after the main stage of seri citization . The effect
of superimp osition -tr ansformati on on migration of copper increases from (1) to (4).
3) Most of the copper ore bod ies are ac cu m u lated in the middle and upper parts of the
sericit ized zone . Its lower part of sericiti zation zo ne co m mo n ly co nt a ins little copper, though
it is wide , suggest ing as if t he co p per had been brought up from depth.
4) T he da ta o n th e seq ue nce an d temperature of mineral formation have demonstrated:
(l) t he sulp hides have two major pha ses of formation, one was during or a bit later than the
h iotitization alteratio n phase at a rempe.ature of 330 DC , the other was during or a bit later
than t he sericitizatio n generally at a temperature of 250 -270 DC ; (2) in the ore-hearing
sericitized zone, b o t h t he chalco pyrit e and bornite were formed later than the pyrite, while
pyrite in the o ute r p er iphery of the scricirizcd zone was formed relatively late at a temper-
ature of, or be low 2 30 -2 0 0 DC .
5) T he altered min er als assoc iate d with the Cu -bearing minerals in the copper ore hodies
are t he same as those in t heir co u n try rocks .
The above-mentioned circu msta nces sho w that the biotiti zation is associated with a signifi-
cant co p per min erali zation an d a chalco py rit e-bearing quart z-seri cite-pyrite assemblage hegan
to form when the later sericitiza tio n was superimposed and fo llo wed by the formation of the
co p per-hearing sulphide assemblage assoc iated with vario us alte red minerals. It is e1ear that
the copper-contai ning solutio n migr at ed upw ard s and diffused in vario us direction s through
the intensel y f'oli .u ed zo ne in t he m iddl e o f sericiti zed zo ne. During the movement o f the:
co pper-he:aring solutio n Cu , l-e , S, Zn had a different migration due to their different mobil -
ities, thus forming a Fe-, a nd S-poor but Cu-ric h bornite belt in the cent er of the channel.

6. Conclusions

Summing up, it can be clearly seen t ha t t he Duobaosh an porph yr y co p per d eposit is furni shed
with the followi ng two met all ogenet ic cha rac t erist ics:
1) The forma tion of t he de pos its is related to stratigraphy , st ruc t ure and magmatic activi -
ti es , especially to the hydrot herma l activi ties associ at ed with te ct oni c and magmat ic ac t ivit ies.
It is obviou s th at the formation of t he co p per deposit , especiall y the form ation of large ore
bodies, represents the results of a favou rab le co mb inat io n of man y geo logica l factors .
Fr om her e, it is obvious t hat the minera liza tio n o f the porph yr y co pper deposits requ ires
not onl y the su p p ly of ore-form ing subs ta nces, but also condition s favourabl e for a large -
scale ac cumulation and migratio n o f ore-h earing solution and a depositional environment for
ore-forming elements .
2) In the evolutio nary view po in t, the tectonic activity was sometimes responsible for the
magmatic activity, while the mag m atic a ct ivit y in turn together with the tectonic pulsation
gave rise to the hydrothermal activity. thus bringing about the alteration and mineralization
in the country rocks.
According to th e evolutionary characte ristics of th e Duobaosh an distri ct demonstrated by
an alt erat io n -m inera lizat io n series, it may be con cluded :
I) T he hydrothe rmal activity an d m ineralization were formed many a time. In the Duo-
baoshan deposit, the mineraliza tio n is not for once, although the copper content of the
bioriti zation zone is relatively h igh and o nly o n the co pper-bearing biot iti zation zon e and
314 Du Qi & Che n Mingxui

through the sericit ization stage and the later fluid superi mpos itio n ca n the copper be enriched
to for m ore bod ies.
2) In th e p ro cess of mult ip le hydro t he rmal ac t ivit ies, eac h ti me of t he activities has been
co nt ro lled b y th e sco p e of th e th en stru ctural pulsation , when t ec t o n ic act ivity (o r pul sat io n )
regul arl y mo ves inw ards or o u t wa rds , thus formin g a ring -lik e alte ra t io n zo ning as be ing suc -
cessiv ely a quartz core, a potassic zone, a sericitizat ion zone, and a propyli t izat io n zone.
When a t ectonic belt e xtends in a certain direction , the assoc iat ed alt era t ion zone, such as
t he ca rbo na t izat io n zo ne formed during the.late st age of hyd rothe rmal act ivity, occurs in the
st riped form an d cuts through the ring -like alteration zo n e.
3) Th ere is not o n ly o ne set but many sets of struc tu res co ntro lling t he po rph yry co pper
de po sit. The inter se cti on , mutu al influen ce, and alte rna ti ng ac t ivities o f seve ral se ts of st ruc -
t ures arc favo u rab le st ruc t u ra l co nd it io ns fo r the or e form ation , with th e enviro nments for
re peated te nsio na l str uc t u ra l ac t ivities serving as th e most imp o rtan t co ndit ions.

References

Du Qi ( 19 80) : Alteration a nd mineralization ch aracte rist ics of the Duobaosh an porph yry copper dep o sit.
- A ct a C col . Sinica , 4 (in Ch inese w ith Engl. Ahstr .).
G ustafso n . L. B. ( 197 8): So me major fact o rs o f porph yry copper genesis. - Econ . Cc ol ., 73 , (,(JO-(, 07 .