Cassiterite U-Pb geochronology of the Kekekaerde W-Sn deposit in the Baiganhu ore field, East Kunlun Orogen, NW China: Timing and tectonic setting of mineralization

The Baiganhu W-Sn ore field in the northwestern area of the East Kunlun Orogen, NW China, contains three economically important W-Sn deposits, namely Kekekaerde, Baiganhu and Bashierxi. Timing of the W-Sn mineralization remains under debates due to lack of precise isotope dating directly conducted on ore minerals. We herewith report LA-MC-ICP-MS (laser ablation (multi-collector) inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) and ID-TIMS (isotope...