A study of the genesis and mineralization potential of pegmatites in the Koktokayore district,Altay,Xinjiang:Indications from SEM-CL and trace elements in quartz
The Koktokay No.3 pegmatitic deposit in Altay,Xinjiang,China is a world-famous rare metal Li-Be-Nb-Ta-Rb-Cs-Hf deposit.In the past,a lot of research work has been carried out on the No.3 pegmatitic deposit.However,there are still some arguments about the mineralization potential and genetic relationships of different pegmatites in the Koktokay field.In this paper,quartz SEM-CL and in-situ trace element analyses are conducted to provide important constraints on the above issues.The results show that the Li and Al contents of quartz can be used to evaluate the mineralization potential of the pegmatites.Compared with No.1 and No.2 pegmatites,quartz from No.3 pegmatite has a wider range of Ge/Ti ratios(1.83 × 10-6~159 × 10-6),as well as higher Li contents(averaged at 39 × 10-6)in the outer zone.Thus,No.3 pegmatite is considered to have higher mineralization potential.In addition,it is confirmed that the muscovite albite granite is mineralized granite with a trace element composition and degree of differentiation similar to that of the outer zone of the No.3 pegmatite,while the muscovite alkali granite is a barren granite.More importantly,the Ge/Ti vs.Ge and Ge/Ti vs.Al/Ti diagrams of quartz from each textural zonation within pegmatites show a similar evolutionary trend at Koktokay,indicating that they may originate from the same parent granite.Compared with the pegmatites of RMG(pegmatites derived from residual melts of granite magmatism)and DPA(pegmatites as direct products of anatexis)origins in the world,quartz trace elements of the rare metal-bearing pegmatites and granitic at Koktokay have geochemical affinities with the RMG-derived pegmatites,indicating that they are derived from residual melts of granite magmatism.
Koktokay rare metal pegmatitic depositQuartz trace elementMineralization potentialPetrogenesis