The Jinlongshan gold ore belt in southern Shaanxi Province contains a number of Carlin-type gold deposits in the Qinling collisional orogenic belt. Their fluid inclusions are of the Na-Cl- type. From the main metallogenic stage to later stages, the total quantity of anions and cations, temperature and deoxidation parameter (R) for fluid inclusions all gradually decreased, suggesting the gradual intensification of fluid oxidation, the reduction of metallogenic depth and the input of meteoric water and organic components. The deposits were formed during crustal uplifting and hence had similar tectonic settings to orogenic gold deposits. The CO-2 contents and CO-2/H-2O values of the ore fluid increased from early to late stages, and the wall-rock alteration is represented by decarbonation, which is inconsistent with the characteristics of orogenic gold deposits. It is also discovered that Na, K, SO{2-}-4, Cl- and the total amounts of anions and cations in the inclusions in quartz are higher than those in the coexisting calcite. The H, O and C isotope ratios indicate that the ore fluid was sourced from meteoric water and metamorphic devolatilisation of the sedimentary rocks that host the ores. The high background {δ{}{18}O} and {δ{}{13}C} values of wall rocks resulted in high {δ{}{18}O} and {δ{}{13}C} values of ore fluid and also high {δ{}{18}O} and {δ{}{13}C} values of hydrothermal minerals such as quartz and carbonate. The carbon in ore fluid stemmed largely from the hosting strata. The {δ{}{18}O} and {δ{}{13}C} values of Fe-calcite and the δD values of fluid inclusions are lower than those of calcite and quartz. In terms of the theory of coordination chemistry, all these differences can be ascribed to water-rock interaction in the same fluid system, instead, to the multi-source of ore fluid.
The Tieluping silver deposit, which is sited along NE-trending faults within the high-grade metamorphic basement of the Xiong'er terrane, is part of an important Mesozoic orogenic-type Ag-Pb and Au belt recently discovered. Ore formation includes three stages: Early (E), Middle (M) and Late (L), which include quartz-pyrite (E), polymetallic sulfides (M) and carbonates (L), respectively. The E-stage fluids are characterized by δD=-90‰, and δ 18 O=9‰ at 373°C, and are deeply sourced; the L-stage fluids, with δD=-70‰, and δ 18 O=-2‰, are shallow-sourced meteoric water; whereas the M-stage fluids, with δD=-109‰, and δ 18 O=2‰, are a mix of deep-sourced and shallow-sourced fluids. Comparisons of the D-O-C isotopic systematics of the E- stage ore-forming fluids with the fluids derived from Mesozoic granites, Archean-Paleoproterozoic metamorphic basement and Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Xiong'er Group, show that these units cannot generate fluids with the measured isotopic composition (highδ 18 O and δ 13 C ratios and lowδD ratios) characteristic of the ore-forming fluids. This suggests that the E-stage ore-forming fluids originated from metamorphic devolatilization of a carbonate-shale-chert lithological association, locally rich in organic matter, which could correspond to the Meso-Neoproterozoic Guandaokou and Luanchuan Groups, rather than to geologic units in the Xiong'er terrane, the lower crust and the mantle. This supports the view that the rocks of the Guandaokou and Luanchuan Groups south of the Machaoying fault might be the favorable sources. A tectonic model that combines collisional orogeny, metallogeny and hydrothermal fluid flow is proposed to explain the formation of the Tieluping silver deposit. During the Mesozoic collision between the South and North China paleocontinents, a crustal slab containing a lithological association consisting of carbonate-shale-chert, locally rich in organic matter (carbonaceous shale) was thrust northwards beneath the Xiong'er terrane along the Machaoying faul
