Lead isotope signatures of Pb-Zn sulfide mineralization in the Reshian-Lamnian area of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

Abstract

The Reshian-Lamnian area within the Hazara-Kashmir syntaxis in Pakistan is composed mainly of the rocks of the Salkhala, Panjal and Murree formations. Base metal sulfide mineralization in the form of sphalerite and galena with lesser amounts of chalcopyrite and pyrite is present within the Salkhala Formation of the study area. Chemically all these ore phases are homogeneous in composition. The Pb isotopic composition of galena from the area suggests that there is very little or negligible variation in the ratios of 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb. Modal ages ranging from 509 to 562 Ma and the μ values of 10.71 to 10.93 have been calculated for the studied Pb-Zn mineralization. On the basis of field features, mineralogy and Pb-isotope signatures, it is concluded that the Pb-Zn sulfide mineralization in the Reshian-Lamnia area is pre-Himalayan in age and can be correlated with the Cambro-Ordovician (Pan-African) orogenic event. © 2010 Science Press, Institute of Geochemistry, CAS and Springer Berlin Heidelberg.