Origin of the Tongshankou porphyry-skarn Cu-Mo deposit, eastern Yangtze craton, Eastern China: geochronological, geochemical, and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic constraints.

The Tongshankou Cu–Mo deposit, located in the westernmost Daye district of the Late Mesozoic Metallogenic Belt along the Middle-Lower reaches of the Yangtze River, eastern China, consists mainly of porphyry and skarn ores hosted in the Tongshankou granodiorite and along the contact with the Lower Triassic marine carbonates, respectively. Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe zircon U–Pb dating constrains the crystallization of the granodiorite at 140.6 ± 2.4 Ma (1σ). Six molybdenite samples from the porphyry ores yield Re–Os isochron age of 143.8 ± 2.6 Ma (2σ), while a phlogopite sample from the skarn ores yields an 40Ar/39Ar plateau age of 143.0 ± 0.3 Ma and an isochron age of 143.8 ± 0.8 Ma (2σ), indicating an earliest Cretaceous mineralization event. The Tongshankou granodiorite has geochemical features resembling slab-derived adakites, such as high Sr (740–1,300 ppm) and enrichment in light rare earth elements (REE), low Sc