Role of metasomatism in formation of the Yichun rare-metal deposit, China

• All the Yichun lepidolite precipitated through metasomatism of igneous mineralogy. • This metasomatism caused Ta mineralization concurrent with lepidolite precipitation. • This metasomatism was induced by a magmatic-hydrothermal transitional liquid. • Evolution of this liquid brought about further Li-Cs enrichment of the system. What role post-magmatic processes have played in the development and mineralization of rare-metal peraluminous granites and how important that role can be, are questions that researchers have been wrestling with for decades. The Yichun Li-Ta-Nb deposit is an example that has been the subject of such a debate. The granitic appearance of rocks, the inert nature of tantalum, and the scarcity of mineralization in country rocks have been taken to suggest that fluid overprints were limited to within the granites and were unimportant in rock- and ore-forming processes. In this study, the identification of two types of abundant Li- and Cs-rich pseudomorphs in both the topaz-lepidolite granite and overlying pegmatite, the only two mineralized units at Yichun, suggests that extensive metasomatism was involved in rock and ore formation. The textural and chemical similarities of lepidolite in comparable mineral assemblages from a variety of occurrences, including lepidolite in pseudomorphs, veins, and miarolitic cavities from both the topaz-lepidolite granite and pegmatite, suggest that all lepidolite at Yichun is metasomatic and largely inherited its chemical signatures from a magmatic-hydrothermal transitional fluid, rich in Li, Cs, and Ta, derived possibly from the Li-muscovite granite that lies beneath the topaz-lepidolite granite. We propose that this transitional liquid, composition of which lies between a silicate melt and aqueous fluid, was not in equilibrium with the original igneous mineralogy, thus bringing about significant metasomatism along its infiltration and evolution upwards. Variations in the trace-element composition of lepidolite likely reflect the influence on mineral compositions by precursor minerals. The ambiguous boundary between the topaz-lepidolite and Li-muscovite granites, combined with the intensely metasomatized nature of the former, is most consistent with the topaz-lepidolite granite being the extensively altered upper portion of the Li-muscovite granite, which is itself somewhat metasomatized. Although magmatic fractionation played a key role in the initial concentration of Nb, Li, and Ta in both granite and pegmatite formation, the Li-Ta-Nb-Cs mineralization and its host rocks were largely formed through magmatic-hydrothermal rejuvenation and re-enrichment.