Data-driven mining reveals a cross-temperature correlation between gold and tungsten: implications for magmatic controls in Carlin-type gold deposits

IF 8.9 1区地球科学 Q1 GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Gondwana Research Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-25 DOI:10.1016/j.gr.2025.12.001

Biaobiao Zhu , Yongzhang Zhou , Changyu Zeng , Xinhui Yu , Zhengzhe Wang , Shengtao Cao , Pengpeng Yu

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Abstract

Nevada (USA) and the Youjiang Basin (China) are the two largest Carlin-type gold provinces in the world, despite their distinct geological frameworks. The magmatic-hydrothermal model provides a credible explanation for Nevada’s deposits, but the apparent magmatic absence of magmatic rocks in the Youjiang Basin challenges it. To elucidate this enigmatic phenomenon, We integrated 2,210 catchment-derived stream-sediment samples from the Youjiang Basin with 54 lithogeochemical samples from Nevada’s Getchell district, and applied an innovative association-rule graph analysis method.Two findings are revealed: (1) The Au-As-Sb triad constitutes a diagnostic geochemical fingerprint for Carlin-type gold deposits. Metal enrichments (Cu, Mo, Co, Cr, Pb, Zn) exhibit strong co-precipitation with Au anomalies (support = 0.10, confidence = 0.90), indicative of element migration coupled with gold mineralization processes. (2) Topological coupling between low-temperature Au-As-Sb and high-temperature W anomalies is quantitatively established in both regions (support > 0.20, confidence > 0.90), implying a cross-temperature correlation. The magmatic-hydrothermal model can explain the Au-W correlation in Nevada. Thus, the correlation for the Youjiang may also imply a magmatic origin. This is evidenced by the following clues: Hg isotopes indicating a mixture of magmatic and basement-derived sources for Au, deep buried granite bodies temporally overlapping with gold mineralization. Combined with previous studies, we proposed a common magma-driven metallogenic model for Carlin-type deposits: The rising Au-W-bearing magmatic hydrothermal fluids mixed with the magmatically heated meteoric fluids that leached Au from the basement rocks, and subsequently precipitated Au-As-Sb-Hg-rich pyrite and W-bearing mineral assemblages within the carbonate host formations. In this context, the majority of gold is sourced from magmas for Nevada subtype and both of magmas and basement for the Youjiang subtype, respectively. This study highlights data-driven recognition of magmatic signature in sediment-hosted gold systems and establishes a new paradigm for the understanding of metallogenic architecture.

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数据驱动采矿揭示了卡林型金矿床金钨间的交叉温度相关性及其岩浆控制意义

美国内华达州和中国右江盆地是世界上最大的两个卡林型金矿省，尽管它们的地质格架各不相同。岩浆热液模型为内华达州的矿床提供了一个可信的解释，但右江盆地明显的岩浆缺乏对其提出了挑战。为了解释这一神秘的现象，我们将来自右江盆地的2210个流域的河流-沉积物样本与来自内华达州Getchell地区的54个岩石地球化学样本进行了整合，并应用了一种创新的关联规则图分析方法。结果表明：(1)Au-As-Sb三联体是卡林型金矿床的地球化学指纹图谱。金属富集（Cu, Mo, Co, Cr, Pb, Zn）与Au异常（支持度= 0.10，置信度= 0.90）表现出强烈的共沉淀，表明元素迁移与金矿化过程耦合。(2)在两个区域均定量建立了低温Au-As-Sb和高温W异常之间的拓扑耦合（支持度>； 0.20，置信度>； 0.90），表明存在交叉温度相关性。岩浆-热液模式可以解释内华达州的Au-W相关性。因此，右江的对比也可能暗示岩浆成因。汞同位素表明金的来源是岩浆源和基底源的混合，深埋花岗岩体与金矿成矿时间重叠。结合前人研究，提出了卡林型矿床的岩浆驱动成矿模式：上升的含Au- w的岩浆热液与岩浆加热的大气流体混合，从基底岩中浸出Au，随后在碳酸盐寄主地层中沉淀出富Au- as - sb - hg的黄铁矿和含w矿物组合。在此背景下，内华达亚型金矿主要来源于岩浆，右江亚型金矿主要来源于岩浆和基底。该研究强调了数据驱动的沉积物含金系统岩浆特征识别，为认识成矿构造建立了新的范式。

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来源期刊

Gondwana Research 地学-地球科学综合

CiteScore

12.90

自引率

6.60%

发文量

298

审稿时长

65 days

期刊介绍： Gondwana Research (GR) is an International Journal aimed to promote high quality research publications on all topics related to solid Earth, particularly with reference to the origin and evolution of continents, continental assemblies and their resources. GR is an "all earth science" journal with no restrictions on geological time, terrane or theme and covers a wide spectrum of topics in geosciences such as geology, geomorphology, palaeontology, structure, petrology, geochemistry, stable isotopes, geochronology, economic geology, exploration geology, engineering geology, geophysics, and environmental geology among other themes, and provides an appropriate forum to integrate studies from different disciplines and different terrains. In addition to regular articles and thematic issues, the journal invites high profile state-of-the-art reviews on thrust area topics for its column, ''GR FOCUS''. Focus articles include short biographies and photographs of the authors. Short articles (within ten printed pages) for rapid publication reporting important discoveries or innovative models of global interest will be considered under the category ''GR LETTERS''.