Xiazhuang (Xiwang) Uranium ore field, Wengyuan Co., Shaoguan Prefecture, Guangdong Province, China

Granity-type uranium deposits in the eastern part the Guidong granitic pluton, a multi-period and multi-phase composite pluton consisting mainly of Indosinian and Yanshanian (Jurassic) granites. The ore field area is dominated by Yanshanian intrusions: Xiazhuang, an Early Jurassic peraluminous medium-grained two-mica granite (196 Ma) in the east; Luxi, a Middle Jurassic coarse-grained porphyritic biotite granite (185 Ma) in the southeast; and Aizi, a Late Jurassic medium-grained hornblende-biotite granite (157 Ma) in the west. Volcanism in the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (143 Ma) produced granular and felsic porphyroclastic lavas and pyroclastic sediments. Later felsic intrusions (143-125 Ma) include small granite stocks and pegmatite and aplite dykes; the latter are ubiquitous in the area, but concentrate around late granite stocks. During the Late Cretaceous, the eastern granite segment (Xiazhuang) was uplifted and exposed to erosion before it subsided again. This block, which hosts the ore field, is limited to the north and south by two ENE-WSW trending, silicified fault zones. Litho-structural elements in the ore field include diabase dyke swarms, NNE-SSW, ESE-WNW and ENE-WSW trending silicified fracture zones, and two giant ENE-WSW trending quartz veins. Host rocks include various granites and intermediate to mafic dykes. Most of the ore bodies are blind, but some crop out at the surface.

References:
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