Miocene porphyry copper deposits in the Eastern Tethyan orogenic belt: Using Sr, O isotopes and Sr/Y ratios to predict the source of ore-related and ore-barren magmas

Abstract There are many Miocene collision- and subduction-related porphyry Cu deposits in the Eastern Tethyan orogenic belt. However, the petrogenesis of the ore-related magmas and the mechanism of metal enrichment remain controversial. Here, we present a geochemical study and comparison of the major Miocene ore-related porphyries and coeval ore-barren magmatic rocks in the Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic arc in Iran and the Chagai belt in Pakistan, and the Eastern Gangdese belt of the Himalaya. The results show that ore-related porphyries are characterized by relatively depleted mean Sr isotopic compositions (0.704217–0.706859 in the Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic arc; 0.705052–0.706588 in the Eastern Gangdese belt; 0.705252–0.706708 in the Chagai belt), but higher maximum Sr/Y ratios (40–149 in Urumieh-Dokhtar; 79–178 in Eastern Gangdese; 52–178 in Chagai). In contrast, the coeval ore-barren magmatic rocks yield relatively enriched, mean Sr isotopic compositions (0.704722–0.707653 in Urumieh-Dokhtar; 0.704701–0.707802 in Eastern Gangdese; 0.705982–0.707856 in Chagai), but lower maximum Sr/Y (2–88 in Urumieh-Dokhtar; 61–136 in Eastern Gangdese; and 19–35 in Chagai). A deep crustal hot zone model provides a robust explanation of these data. Melts derived from a deeper melt source in juvenile mafic lower crust, where mantle-derived materials are common, have a greater potential to yield a higher tonnage of metallic Cu, such as the Sar-Cheshmeh deposit in Iran, which is derived from a deep melt zone, and characterized by a low radioactive mean Sr isotopic value of 0.704851, but a huge tonnage of metallic Cu of 7.2 Mt and a high maximum Sr/Y value of 117 (representative of a deeper depth of the melt zone), whereas the Dalli deposit in Iran derived from a relatively shallow melt zone has a more radioactive mean Sr isotopic value of 0.706859, but a smaller amount of metallic Cu of 0.04 Mt and a lower maximum Sr/Y ratio of 40. Conversely, re-melting the contact between newly-formed and pre-existing crust where mantle-derived materials are absent will produce ore-barren rocks. Additionally, the ore-barren rocks with low Sr/Y ratios (