⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of granitoids from the Truong Son fold belt and Kontum massif in Laos

Geochemical and geochronological studies were conducted on granitoids in central-southern Laos. S-type ilmenite-series granitoids associated with Sn mineralization are distributed in the Truong Son fold belt of central Laos. Plateau ages determined by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar incremental heating method for biotite and muscovite of the granitoids range from 253 Ma to 247 Ma and from 244 Ma to 199 Ma in the southwest and northeast of the fold belt, respectively. During this period, the fractionated granites in the early stage are related to mineralization of medium-large Sn deposits. The granitoids of the Truong Son fold belt formed in the Indosinian orogeny are contemporaneous with the Late Permian-Early Jurassic Sn-bearing granites in the Southeast Asian Sn Belt. In contrast, I-type magnetite-series granitoids are distributed in the Kontum massif of southeasternmost Laos. Plateau ages for biotite and previously reported mineral ages of the magnetite-series granitoids range widely from 414 Ma to 252 Ma. The Carboniferous-Permian granitoids represents adakitic characteristics and the Permian adakitic granodiorites are associated with Cu ± Au mineralized quartz veins. (author)