The predominant types of high-grade iron deposits in China include skarn,sedimentary metamorphic(banded ironformation,BIF-type),continental/submarine volcanic-hosted and magmatic Fe-Ti-Voxide deposits.Based on a comprehensive review of current studies on these deposits,this paper suggests that the oxygen concentration in atmosphere played an important role for the formation of BIFs,whereas the tectonic setting and deep magmatic differentiation processes are more important for the other types.Notably,both high temperature and high pressure experiments and melt inclusion studies indicate that during the differentiation,high temperature magmas could develop iron-rich magma via liquid immiscibility but not pure oxide melt("iron ore magma").Fe-P melt could be generated directly by liquid immiscibility under hydrous and oxidized condition.The formation of high-grade iron deposits is mostly associated with the processes related to multiple stages of superimposition,e.g.,desiliconization and iron enrichment,removal of impurity,and remobilization and re-precipitation of iron.According to the temporal evolution,the high-grade iron deposit could be divided into multi-episode superimposition type(temporally discontinuous mineralization)and multi-stage superimposition type(temporally continuous mineralization).The former is represented by the sedimentary metamorphic iron deposit,and the latter includes those related to magmatic-hydrothermal fluids(e.g.,skarn,volcanic-hosted and magmatic types).
The Ningzhen region in Jiangsu Province represents the easternmost magmatic region in the middle-lower Yangtze River belt.The formation of the polymetallic deposits has close genetic relationships with Early Cretaceous intermediate-acid intrusions.In this study,LA-ICP-MS zircon geochronology of two Mesozoic intermediate-acid intrusive rocks(including the Shima porphyritic granodiorite and Gaozi quartz diorite porphyry)in the Ningzhen region were systematically investigated.These new geochronological data demonstrate that the intermediate-acid magmatism in the Ningzhen region dates to approximately between 109 and101 Ma.We present new40Ar-39Ar phlogopite ages for the Cishantou skarn iron deposits that constrain the timing of the mineralisation in the Ningzhen region.The phlogopite in the Cishantou skarn deposits yielded a40Ar-39Ar plateau age of 104±1 Ma.This result coincides with the ages of the Anjishan and Tongshan Cu(Mo)deposits in the Ningzhen region.Our high-precision geochronological data together with recent high-precision geochronological studies(such as zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb,zircon SHRIMP U-Pb,molybdenite Re-Os and single-mineral40Ar-39Ar dates)reveal that there were four periods(152-135 Ma,135-127 Ma,127-121 Ma,109-101 Ma)of magmatism and ore formation in the middle-lower Yangtze River metallogenic belt.The Mesozoic intermediate-acid magmatism and mineralisation in the Ningzhen region belong to the latest episode in the middle-lower Yangtze River metallogenic belt.
