Porphyry indicator zircons (PIZ) from the Kaziranga porphyry Cu–S mineralization, NE India: an exploratory tool assessing magma fertility

Porphyry indicator zircons (PIZ) are often used as an exploratory guide to distinguish fertile granitoid-hosted porphyry copper deposits (PCD). Alumina-saturated granitoids with higher zirconium (> 200 ppm) contents are often the hosts of PCD. REE profiling of zircon is used here to evaluate the chemistry of zircon from a blend of I- and A-type granitoids that hosts the ‘Kaziranga’ porphyry copper mineralization in the Karbi Hills of the Shillong Plateau. Zircon Hf(t) (1.69–9.88; av.4.65) and whole rock ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.703) of the Kaziranga granitoids suggest magma derivation in an intraplate or primitive island arc tectonic setting, in which the active mechanism of magma derivation was partial melting of a metasomatically enriched lithospheric mantle that was probably fertilized by an intraplate mantle plume. The fertility indicators with PIZ are grouped with respect to the distribution pattern of normalized REEs, as they exhibit low LREE and enriched HREE, large + Ce, and small -Eu anomalies. The hypogene alteration zones have developed on a regular basis, the potassic alteration zone being close to the central zone around Kuthori in the north Karbi Hills. Although the hosts demonstrate expansion and development of the hypogene alteration zones, the zircons from the mineralized granitoids of Kuthori central zone and granitoids of the nearby Panbari–Dallamara shear zone have similar REE pattern. The target zone’s zircon has higher values of ΣHREE, U, Th, Y, Nb, and Hf. The admissible range of fertile PCD is matched by the cross plots of critical element ratios, demonstrating high calculated Ti in zircon temperature (up to 828 °C).

Graphical abstract