A study of igneous rocks related to Zn–Pb mineralization in the Shinyemi and Gagok deposits of the Taebaeksan Basin, South Korea

Jieun Seo, Seon Gyu Choi, Minho Koo, Chang Whan Oh, In–Chang Ryu, Gilljae Lee

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    6 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The Shinyemi and Gagok deposits, located in the Taebaeksan Basin, South Korea, display Zn–Pb mineralization along a contact between Cretaceous granitoids and Cambrian–Ordovician carbonates of the Joseon Supergroup. The Shinyemi mine is one of the largest polymetallic skarn-type magnetite deposits in South Korea and comprises Fe and Fe–Mo–Zn skarns, and Zn–Cu–Pb replacement deposits. Both deposits yield similar Cretaceous mineralization ages, and granitoids associated with the two deposits displaying similar mineral textures and compositions, are highly evolved, and were emplaced at a shallow depth. They are classified as calc-alkaline, I-type granites (magnetite series) and were formed in a volcanic arc. Compositional variation is less in the Shinyemi granites and aplites (e.g., SiO2 = 74.4–76.6 wt% and 74.4–75.1 wt%, respectively) than in the Gagok granites and aplites (e.g., SiO2 = 65.6–68.0 wt% and 74.9–76.5 wt%, respectively). Furthermore, SiO2 vs K/Rb and SiO2 vs Rb/Sr diagrams indicate that the Shinyemi granitoids are more evolved than the Gagok granitoids. Shinyemi granitoids had been already differentiated highly in deep depth and then intruded into shallow depth, so both granite and aplite show the highly evolved similar chemical compositions. Whereas, less differentiated Gagok granitoids were separated into two phases in the last stage at shallow depth, so granite and aplite show different compositions. The amounts of granites and aplite are similar in the Shinyemi deposit, whereas the aplite appears in an amount less than the granite in the Gagok deposit. For this reason, the Shinyemi granitoids caused not only Fe enrichment during formation of the dolomite-hosted magnesian skarn but also was associated with Mo mineralization in the Shinyemi deposit. Zn mineralization of the Gagok deposit was mainly caused by granite rather than aplite. Our data suggest that the variation in mineralization displayed by the two deposits resulted from differences in the compositions of their associated igneous intrusions.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)215-232
    Number of pages18
    JournalResource Geology
    Volume70
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2020 Jul 1

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF‐2010‐355‐C00114) and was partly supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF‐2016R1D1A3B03931481). This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF‐2017K1A1A2013180). We thank the reviewers for their critical reviews and comments.

    Funding Information:
    National Research Foundation of Korea, Grant/Award Numbers: 2016R1D1A3B03931481, 2017K1A1A2013180, 355‐2010‐1‐C00114 Funding information

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2020 The Society of Resource Geology

    Keywords

    • Gagok
    • Korea
    • Shinyemi
    • Taebaeksan
    • Zn–Pb mineralization
    • productive igneous activity

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Geology
    • Geochemistry and Petrology

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