Mercury isotope constraints on the source for sediment-hosted lead-zinc deposits in the Changdu area, southwestern China

Magmatic-Hydrothermal Origin of Mercury in Carlin-style and Epithermal Gold Deposits in China: Evidence from Mercury Stable Isotopes

“…As summarized in Figure 5, the majority of magmatic rocks (δ 202 Hg: −1 to 0‰; Δ 199 Hg: −0.1 to 0.1‰) and metamorphic rocks (δ 202 Hg: −1 to 1‰; Δ 199 Hg: −0.2 to 0.1‰) have quite different Hg isotope signatures compared to sedimentary rocks (δ 202 Hg: −3 to 1 ‰; Δ 199 Hg: −0.6 to 0.4‰). 8,10,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]62 The much higher δ 202 Hg values of igneous and metamorphic rocks may be explained by the fact that magmatism and metamorphism involve thermal processing, which may cause the preferential loss of light Hg isotopes. 7,12 While hydrothermal leaching of Hg from any source rock may cause minor changes in δ 202 Hg (<±0.5‰, according to Smith et al 8 ), Hg-MIF can be a source tracer of Hg in mineral deposits.…”

“…8,10,18−25 Pronounced Hg-MIF signals (Δ 199 Hg: −0.30 to 0.24‰) have been observed in some Pb−Zn hydrothermal deposits and have been interpreted as the inheritance of primary surficial signatures via sedimentation and hydrothermal leaching. 9,10,26 China has become the largest gold-producing country over the past few years. 27 A large number of epithermal and Carlinstyle (or Carlin-like) gold deposits were discovered in NE China and SW China, respectively (Figure S1-A).…”

Crustal Mercury Addition Into the Giant Jinchuan Ni‐Cu Sulfide Deposit, China, and Its Geological Implications

“…3 and 1 orebodies are similar to previous results on marine sediments and terrestrial soil, respectively (Figure 6a), indicating the involvement of Hg from crustal materials. Significant Hg-MIF signals with Δ 199 Hg ranging from −0.4 to +0.3‰ were recently observed in hydrothermal deposits (Deng et al, 2021;Fu et al, 2020;Xu et al, 2018;Yin et al, 2019) and magmatic rocks (Moynier et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2021), which evidence the involvement of crustal Hg during hydrothermal and magmatic processes. The observed non-zero Δ 199 Hg may be caused by low temperature water-rock alteration and near-surface oxidation, however, the low Hg concentration in natural waters (a few ng/L, Chen et al, 2012) preclude this possibility.…”

“…The brick-red area represents primitive mantle (Moynier et al, 2021). Black dolts represent published data on hydrothermal Au-Hg-Pb-Zn-Sb ores (Cooke et al, 2013;Deng et al, 2021;Fu et al, 2020;Xu et al, 2018;Yin et al, 2019).…”

“…The blue area represents positive Δ 199 Hg values in marine sediments(Meng et al, 2019;Yin et al, 2015Yin et al, , 2017; the gray area represents negative Δ 199 Hg values in soil(Demers et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2019;Yuan et al, 2020;Zheng et al, 2016); The brick-red area represents primitive mantle(Moynier et al, 2021). Black dolts represent published data on hydrothermal Au-Hg-Pb-Zn-Sb ores(Cooke et al, 2013;Deng et al, 2021;Fu et al, 2020;Xu et al, 2018;Yin et al, 2019).…”