Re‐Os Dating of Molybdenite from the Yaogangxian Tungsten Deposit, South China, and Its Geological Significance

Abstract

Abstract The Yaogangxian tungsten deposit is located in the central part of the Nanling polymetallic metallogenic province. The orebodies occur as veins. Wolframite and molybdenite are the dominant ore minerals. Two samples were selected for molybdenite Re‐Os dating in order to elucidate the timing of mineralization. Re‐Os datings of molybdenite from quartz‐wolframite veins and disseminated in granite yield ages of 153±7 Ma and 163.2±4.2 Ma respectively. The results indicate that the Yaogangxian tungsten deposit is the product of large‐scale metallogenesis in the middle Yanshanian period in South China, and that the evolution from late magmatic to postmagmatic hypothermal mineralization occurred at about 10 Ma. The rhenium content of molybdenite in the Yaogangxian tungsten deposit suggests that the ore materials originated from the crust.