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Geochemical evolution of tourmaline in the Darasun gold district, Transbaikal region, Russia: evidence from chemical and boron isotopic compositions

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Abstract

The Darasun gold district, Transbaikal region, eastern Russia comprises three deposits: Teremkyn, Talatui, and Darasun, where gold-bearing quartz veins are hosted in metagabbro and granitoids. Tourmaline is a common gangue mineral in these deposits and a useful indicator of fluid source. The tourmaline compositions are oxy-dravite–povondraite, dravite, and schorl. We report here in situ B-isotope analyses by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) on tourmaline from veins in metagabbro and K-rich granodiorite, as well as from a breccia pipe at the margin of granodiorite porphyry. The B-isotope composition of tourmalines from the Darasun gold district as a whole covers a very wide range from −15.7 to +11.2 ‰, with distinctive differences among the three deposits. The δ11B values in the Teremkyn tourmalines are the most diverse, from −15.7 to +2.5 ‰. Tourmaline core compositions yield an inferred δ11B value of the initial fluid of ca. −12 ‰, suggesting granitic rocks as the B source, whereas the heavier rims and late-stage grains reflect Rayleigh fractionation. The δ11B values of tourmaline from Talatuiare −5.2 to −0.9 ‰. Taking into account fluid inclusion temperatures from vein quartz (ca. 400 °C), the inferred δ11B value of fluid is heavy (−2.5 to +2.2 ‰) suggesting a B source from the host metagabbro. At the Darasun deposit, tourmaline from the breccia pipe is isotopically uniform (δ11 B −6 to −5 ‰) and suggested to have precipitated from a 10B-depleted, residual fluid derived from granitic rocks. The Darasun vein-hosted tourmalines I and II (δ11B from −4.4 to +1.5 ‰) may have crystallized from strongly fractionated residual granitic fluid although mixing with heavy boron from the metagabbro rocks probably occurred as well; the boron isotopic composition of tourmaline III (−11.2 ‰) is attributed to a less-fractionated fluid, possibly a recharge from the same source.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Researches (Project nos. 12-05-01083a, 13-05-12043-Ofi-m). Lidia Zorina is thanked for the tourmaline samples kindly provided at our disposal. We are grateful to John Slack, Darrell Henry, and journal editor Bernd Lehmann for constructive comments that led to improvements in the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Department, Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119234, Russia

    Ivan A. Baksheev, Vsevolod Yu. Prokofiev & Vasilii O. Yapaskurt

  2. Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119017, Russia

    Vsevolod Yu. Prokofiev

  3. GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Robert B. Trumbull & Michael Wiedenbeck

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  1. Ivan A. Baksheev
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  2. Vsevolod Yu. Prokofiev
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  3. Robert B. Trumbull
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  5. Vasilii O. Yapaskurt
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Correspondence to Ivan A. Baksheev.

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Editorial handling: B. Lehmann

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Baksheev, I.A., Prokofiev, V.Y., Trumbull, R.B. et al. Geochemical evolution of tourmaline in the Darasun gold district, Transbaikal region, Russia: evidence from chemical and boron isotopic compositions. Miner Deposita 50, 125–138 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-014-0526-3

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