Tectonic-magmatic setting for Early Cretaceous low-sulfidation epithermal gold deposits in the Xing–Meng Orogenic Belt: Constraints from zircon U–Pb and Hf isotopic data of wulaga deposit, NE China

The Xing–Meng Orogenic Belt hosts an amount of low-sulfidation epithermal gold deposits. However, the tectonic-magmatic setting remains problematic, which hinders understanding the factors that control the gold endowment in the region. Wulaga deposit is the largest low-sulfidation epithermal gold deposit in the northeastern Xing–Meng Orogenic Belt. Gold mineralization occurs in the crypto-explosive breccia zone of subvolcanic granodiorite porphyry. Zircon U–Pb ages of three granodiorite apophyses and previous pyrite Rb–Sr dating (113.8 ± 4.4 Ma) indicate granodiorite porphyry and gold mineralization was coeval. The ore-related granodiorite porphyry is moderate SiO₂, high-K calc-alkaline, and metaluminous, suggesting an I-type granite. Moreover, Wulaga granodiorite porphyry displays low initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios and positive ε_Nd(t) values with T_DM2(Nd) of 799.7–897.4 Ma and ε_Hf(t) values with T_DM2(Hf) of 652–785 Ma, indicating that it was derived from partial melting of the Neoproterozoic juvenile mafic lower crust. Ti-in-zircon thermometry, medium–high Sr/Y ratio, high Ba/La, and f_O2 value indicate that Wulaga granodiorite porphyry formed at relatively low temperatures (∼700 °C), rich water, and high fugacity within the stability field of garnet in the juvenile lower crust. Combined with ore-related tectonic-magmatic activities in the Wulaga, Dong'an, and Sandaowanzi gold deposits, the Early Cretaceous low-sulfidation epithermal gold deposits in the Xing–Meng Orogenic Belt were formed from magmatic-hydrothermal events triggered by mutual interaction between post-orogenic lithospheric extension related to the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean and arc-back extension associated with rollback of the Paleo-Pacific Ocean plate. These data indicate the potential existence of the Early Cretaceous epithermal gold deposits that are related to the contemporaneous igneous activity.