Geochemical Characteristics and Metallogenesis of the Qingkuangshan Ni‐Cu‐PGE Mineralized Mafic‐Ultramafic Intrusion in Huili County, Sichuan Province, SW China

Abstract:The Qingkuangshan Ni‐Cu‐PGE deposit, located in the Xiaoguanhe region of Huili County, Sichuan Province, is one of several Ni‐Cu‐PGE deposits in the Emeishan Large Igneous Province (ELIP). The ore‐bearing intrusion is a mafic‐ultramafic body. This paper reports major elements, trace elements and platinum‐group elements in different types of rocks and sulfide‐mineralized samples in the intrusion. These data are used to evaluate the source mantle characteristics, the degree of mantle partial melting, the composition of parental magma and the ore‐forming processes. The results show that Qingkuangshan intrusion is part of the ELIP. The rocks have trace element ratios similar to the coeval Emeishan basalts. The primitive mantle‐normalized patterns of Ni‐Cu‐PGE have positive slopes, and the ratios of Pd/Ir are lower than 22. The PGE compositions of sulfide ores and associated rocks are characterized by Ru depletion. The PGE contents in bulk sulfides are slightly depleted relative to Ni and Cu, which is similar to the Yangliuping Ni‐Cu‐PGE deposit. The composition of the parental magma for the intrusion is estimated to contain about 14.65 wt% MgO, 48.66 wt% SiO2 and 15.48 wt% FeOt, and the degree of mantle partial melting is estimated to be about 20%. In comparison with other typical Ni‐Cu‐PGE deposits in the ELIP, the Qingkuangshan Ni‐Cu‐PGE deposit has lower PGE contents than the Jinbaoshan PGE deposit, but has higher PGE contents than the Limahe and Baimazhai Ni‐Cu deposit, and has similar PGE contents to the Yangliuping Ni‐Cu‐PGE deposit. The moderate PGE depletions in the bulk sulfide of the Qingkuanghan deposit suggest that the parental magma of the host intrusion may have undergone minor sulfide segregation at depth. The mixing calculations suggests that an average of 10% crustal contamination in the magma, which may have been the main cause of sulfide saturation in the magma. We propose that sulfide segregation from a moderately PGE depleted magma took place prior to magma emplacement at Qingkuangshan, that small amounts of immiscible sulfide droplets and olivine and chromite crystals were suspended in the ascending magma, and that the suspended materials settled down when the magma passed trough the Qingkuangshan conduit. The Qingkuangshan sulfide‐bearing intrusion is interpreted to a feeder of Emeishan flood basalts in the region.