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• The Aqishan deposit is a distal skarn Zn-Pb mineralization system. • Re-Os dating of pyrite and zircon U-Pb dating of granodiorite porphyry are consistent at ca. 306 Ma. • Ore-forming materials are mainly derived from magmatic source, some sulfur is sourced from country rocks. • There is significant potential for skarn Zn-Pb mineralization associated with Late Paleozoic magmatism in the Eastern Tianshan. The Aqishan deposit, located in the Eastern Tianshan, Xinjiang, China, is a newly discovered large-scale Zn-Pb deposit with a proven reserve of 1.94 Mt Pb and Zn metal at an average grade of 1.05%. The Zn-Pb orebodies are tabular and lentoid in shape, developed within skarnized carbonates and calcareous volcanoclastic rocks of the Yamansu Formation. The skarn mineral assemblages are characterized by abundant garnet, epidote, chlorite, actinolite, calcite and quartz, with minor amounts of pyroxene. Metallic minerals, comprising sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite, mainly occur as disseminations and irregular patches within the skarn. Re-Os dating of five syn-ore stage pyrite samples yielded an isochron age of 301 ± 13 Ma, which is in agreement with the 306 ± 2.8 Ma age obtained from the granodiorite porphyry occurring at southeast part of the Aqishan Zn-Pb deposit. The ε Hf (t) values of zircon from the granodiorite porphyry vary from + 9.62 to + 14.69, suggesting a juvenile crust source. The δ 34 S V-CDT values of 22 sulfide samples range from −11.6‰ to −2.76‰, with an average of −5.08‰. The 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb ratios of 9 sulfide samples range from 18.102 to 18.336, 15.539 to 15.655, and 37.929 to 38.479, respectively, which are similar to the Carboniferous grantoids of the Aqishan area and partly overlap with the volcanoclastic rocks of the Yamansu Formation. Based on these data, we propose that the Aqishan deposit formed from magmatic-hydrothermal fluids that emanated from the granodiorite porphyry. Much of the metals were derived from the magmatic intrusions with minor contributions from the volcanoclastic rocks, whereas the sulfur may have been mainly extracted from the country rocks with slight contributions from a magmatic source. The close genetic relationships between the Carboniferous magmatism and skarn type Zn-Pb mineralization in the Aqishan area as well as other deposits in the region suggests a great potential of finding more analogous deposits in the Eastern Tianshan, where carbonates or calcareous volcanoclastic rocks and plutons that related to the subduction of the Northern Tianshan Oceanic slab beneath the Yili-Central Tianshan Terrane during Late Paleozoic are well-developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Zn-Pb mineralization age of the Caixiashan deposit is 337.2 ± 5.7 Ma. • Reduced sulfur of multiple sources may involve a possible input of magmatic sulfur. • Ore metals are mainly sourced from wall rocks and Carboniferous felsic intrusions. • It is a distal high-temperature carbonate replacement deposit related to intrusions. The Caixiashan Zn-Pb deposit is the largest carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb deposit in Eastern Tianshan, NW China. The deposit comprises the No. Ⅰ, Ⅱ, III and IV ore zones with a proven reserve of 131 Mt ore at 3.95% Pb + Zn. The orebodies generally occur as irregular lenses and pods in altered carbonate rocks of the Mesoproterozoic Kawabulake Group near faults. The mineralization is characterized by massive, disseminated and vein/veinlet sulfides including pyrite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite and galena with minor arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite, as well as sulfosalt minerals of Ag, As, Sb and Pb. The mineralization is associated with tremolite, chlorite, silica and carbonate alterations. Rb-Sr isotopic dating of sphalerite and pyrrhotite yields an isochron age of 337.2 ± 5.7 Ma, which is interpreted as the mineralization age. Zircon U-Pb dating reveals that stocks of diorite, quartz diorite, K-feldspar granite and monzonitic granite that occur in the deposit area were emplaced at 348.2 ± 3.7 Ma, 351.9 ± 3.5 Ma, 333.6 ± 3.6 Ma and 330.0 ± 3.6 Ma, respectively. These age data suggest that the mineralization is coeval with Carboniferous granitic magmatism. The δ34S V-CDT values of sulfides (excluding the syn-sedimentary pyrite) range from −2.42‰ to 19.1‰, suggesting that the reduced sulfur was mainly derived from thermal sulfate reduction (TSR) of seawater-derived sulfates in the marine sedimentary basement rocks and minor contribution by replacement of syn-sedimentary pyrite, as well as a possible input of magmatic sulfur. The Pb isotopic compositions of sulfides, with 206Pb/204Pb ranging from 17.074 to 17.361, 207Pb/204Pb from 15.422 to 15.614, and 208Pb/204Pb from 36.685 to 37.303, partly overlap with those of basement rocks of the Mesoproterozoic Kawabulake Group and the Carboniferous intrusions, suggesting that the ore metals were derived from both the basement and Carboniferous magmatism. On the basis of the spatio-temporal relations between hydrothermal alterations/mineralization and Carboniferous magmatism, we conclude that the Caixiashan Zn-Pb deposit is a high-temperature carbonate replacement deposit related to concealed granitic intrusions, which were formed in an arc environment related to the subduction of the South Tianshan Ocean plate beneath the Central Tianshan massif during the Carboniferous time. The results of this study indicate that there is a great potential of finding more large-scale Zn-Pb deposits similar to Caixiashan in Eastern Tianshan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]