Fluid flow and mineralization of Youjiang Basin in the Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi area, China

Comprehensive studies, based on isotope geochemistry of C, H, O, S and Sr, chronol-ogy, common element and trace element geochemistry of fluid inclusions for the epithermal Au, As, Sb and Hg deposits in the Youjiang Basin and its peripheral areas, suggested that the ore fluid was the basin fluid with abundant metallic elements and the large-scale fluid flow of the same source in the late Yenshan stage was responsible for huge epithermal mineralization and silicification. The ore fluid flowed from the basin to the platform between the basin and the platform and migrated from the inter-platform basin to the isolated platform in the Youjiang Basin. The synsedimentary faults and paleokast surface acted respectively as main conduits for vertical and lateral fluid flow.