Deciphering ore genesis with oxygen and sulfur isotope signatures: A case study from the Singhbhum Shear Zone, Eastern India

The importance of light-stable isotopes and their mass-dependent fractionations in understanding past geological processes is enormous. The present research delivers precise, high-resolution, in-situ oxygen (^18/16O) and triple sulfur (^32/33/34S) isotope ratios from quartz and sulfide minerals found in the CuAu Kendadih deposit located along the Mesoproterozoic (∼1.6 Ga) Singhbhum Shear Zone (SSZ) in eastern India. Oxygen and sulfur isotope analyses were carried out on quartz and pyrite-chalcopyrite pairs that are in textural equilibrium, using the most advanced Large Geometry-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (LG-SIMS; CAMECA IMS-1300HR³). The results show restricted ranges for δ¹⁸O_quartz (+6 to +7.7‰; average: 6.9 ± 0.9‰, n = 50) and δ³⁴S_{chalcopyrite-pyrite} (+11.4 to +11.9‰; average: 11.79 ± 0.2‰, n = 62). This isotopic homogeneity suggests a single, uniform fluid source for the ore-forming metals. The combined oxygen, sulfur isotope ratios, and fluid inclusion data are consistent with a hydrothermal fluid derived from an “I-type” granitic melt. This study incorporates existing fluid inclusion, stable, and radiogenic isotope data from temporally similar deposits within the shear zone, reevaluating their implications in light of the new findings. It proposes that, around 1.6 billion years ago, underplating the Singhbhum Craton by the Dalma Plume resulted in the remelting of the lower crust. This remelting is attributed to the plume's introduction of a significantly elevated thermal perturbation. The process is hypothesized to have led to the generation of second-order granitic melts. Upon emplacement in the lower crust, these granitic melts became the potential source for essential metals, ligands, and hydrothermal fluids, contributing to mineralization within the deep-seated Singhbhum Shear Zone. This research attempts to comprehensively describe the “source-to-sink” ore genesis model by proposing potential magma chamber processes that concentrate metals and ligands at the roof zone, followed by the separation of metal-rich hydrothermal fluids, fluid-rock interaction, and the physicochemical conditions governing the deposition of the extensive polymetallic deposit. This work offers novel insights into the Mesoproterozoic metallogenesis along the Singhbhum Shear Zone, challenging existing paradigms that favored evaporite or seawater brine sources. Furthermore, it sheds light on the Mesoproterozoic sub-crustal processes beneath the Indian Craton in this region.