Geochemistry and geochronology of quartz diorite host rocks of the Liudaowaizi skarn copper deposit in Jilin Province, NE China

The Liudaowaizi Cu deposit is located in the east of Jilin Province and represents one of the few known Early Jurassic skarn Cu deposits in NE China. Here, we present new whole-rock major and trace element, zircon U-Pb and Hf isotopic data of quartz diorite exposed in the Liudaowaizi skarn Cu deposit. The quartz diorite belongs to the calc-alkaline series, is enriched in some of the large-ion lithophile elements (LILE; e.g., Rb, Ba, Th, and K) and is depleted in high-field-strength elements (HFSE; e.g., Ta, Nb, and Ti). LA-ICP-MS dating of zircons from the quartz diorite in the deposit yielded ages of 196 +/- 1 Ma that are interpreted to be the emplacement age of this intrusion. Positive epsilon Hf values (6.6-11.6) and young T-DM2 (490-813 Ma) of the quartz diorite indicate that the parent magma was derived from the partial melting of a juvenile lower crust, and magmatism and Cu mineralization were possibly related to the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate.