LA-ICP-MS U-Pb cassiterite age data of the Sadisdorf deposit link Sn-Li-(W-Cu) mineralization in the eastern Erzgebirge to the collapse of the Altenberg-Teplice Caldera

The Sadisdorf Sn-Li-(W-Cu) prospect in the eastern Erzgebirge (Germany) comprises two distinct styles of magmatic-hydrothermal mineralization, namely greisen-type mineralization at the Kupfergrube site, and stockwork-type mineralization at both the Kupfergrube and the Zinnklüfte sites. Previously, these two sites were regarded as expressions of two temporally distinct mineralization events. In this study, this temporal relation was tested by LA-ICP-MS U-Pb data obtained for 16 cassiterite samples, including samples from both sites and styles of mineralization. All 16 samples define a narrow range of ages between 315.1 ± 1.7 / 3.3 Ma and 311.0 ± 3.1 / 4.0 Ma. All ages overlap within uncertainty, suggesting that mineralization across the Sadisdorf prospect is likely related to the same magmatic-hydrothermal event.

On the regional scale, the cassiterite ages suggest that Sn-Li mineralization is associated with late-stage felsic magmatism directly following the collapse (∼314–313 Ma) of the Altenberg-Teplice Caldera. The cassiterite ages also overlap with garnet U-Pb LA-ICP-MS ages of Sn-rich skarn occurrences in the western Erzgebirge (e.g., Breitenbrunn, Antonsthal and Hämmerlein). This observation provides direct evidence that greisen and skarn-hosted Sn mineralization are related to the same period of magmatism. The data indicate that the majority of Sn-mineralization in the Erzgebirge formed after 318 Ma (likely between 318 and 310 Ma), challenging previous models which invoked an older suite of granites (326–318 Ma) as causative source intrusions.