Using tourmaline to trace Li mineralization in the Mufushan granitic batholith, South China

Granites and rare metal pegmatites of the Mufushan granitic batholith form a continuous magmatic sequence linked by fractional crystallization. Tourmaline is present in muscovite leucogranites and all types of pegmatites, including highly evolved Li-rich pegmatites. We utilized major element, trace element and in-situ B isotope analyses of tourmaline to investigate the effects of magmatic fractional crystallization and magmatic volatile phase (MVP) exsolution on Li migration and exceptional Li enrichment. Eight types of tourmaline are identified across three rock units: (i) Isolated (Tur Ia) and nodular (Tur Ib) tourmaline within muscovite leucogranites; (ii) black tourmaline in veins and/or clusters (Tur IIa), as isolated crystals (Tur IIb) and in tourmaline-quartz segregations (Tur IIc) within Li-poor pegmatites; and (iii) tourmaline as isolated pink crystals with zoning patterns (Tur IIIa), as isolated pink crystals and/or radiating clusters (Tur IIIb), and as isolated crystals enclosed in quartz block (Tur IIIc) within Li-rich pegmatites. Tourmaline in Mufushan muscovite leucogranites and Li-poor pegmatites belongs to the alkali-group and schorl series with Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratios of 0.10–0.31 and 0.12–0.48, respectively, containing almost no Li* and F (apfu, based on X + Y + Z = 15). In contrast, tourmaline in Li-rich pegmatites exhibits schorl-elbaite and elbaite-rossmanite compositions with low Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratio (avg. = 0.01), and evolved Li* (0.01–0.90 apfu, avg. = 0.41 apfu) and F (0.00–0.91 apfu, avg. = 0.36 apfu) contents. A pronounced increase in YAl, (Li* + Mn) contents, and Y[Al/(Al + Fe)] ratio is observed across the transition from Li-poor to Li-rich pegmatites, consistent with the anticipated pattern of fractional crystallization. The concentration of Li exhibits a sharp increase in Li-rich pegmatites (avg. Li = 6786 ppm) compared to Li-poor pegmatites (avg. Li = 114 ppm) and leucogranites (avg. Li = 469 ppm). Lithium contents increase and reach a peak during the crystallization of Tur IIIb (6686–11,667 ppm), and have lower peak contents during the precipitation of Tur IIIc (8261–9160 ppm), indicating that the incorporation of Li is influenced by MVP accumulation and exsolution. MVP exsolution significantly reduces the solubility of Nb, Ta, and Be in the residual melt, promoting the precipitation of beryl and columbite group minerals and facilitating the migration of fluid-mobile elements such as Li, Rb, Cs, and Ga to form lepidolite. The B isotope compositions of tourmaline range from −14.8 ‰ ∼ −12.6 ‰ in Li-poor pegmatites to −17.1 ‰ ∼ −14.0 ‰ in Li-rich pegmatites. Rayleigh fractionation modeling reveals that MVP saturation occurs after approximately 60 % B was removed from the pegmatite melt. The compositional variation of tourmaline demonstrates that Li enrichment is not only governed by continuous fractional crystallization, but also by MVP-related accumulation and exsolution mechanism.