The Cuonadong deposit is the first large scale Sn-W-Be rare polymetallic deposit located in southern Tibet, China, where beryl is the main beryllium-bearing mineral. In this paper, the beryl crystals in the pegmatitic and hydrothermal vein orebody from the Xianglin area of the Cuonadong deposit are the research objects, marked as Beryl-I and Beryl-II, and they are investigated by EPMA, LA-ICP-MS and in situ micro-X-ray diffraction (XRD). Data by EPMA and LA-ICP-MS reveal that beryls from this area are alkaline beryls, among which Beryl-I is composed of Li-Cs beryl, and Beryl-II is composed of Na beryl and Na-Li beryl, indicating that beryls have undergone noticeable alkali metasomatism during formation. The Cs/Na ratio in Beryl-I ranges from 0.10 to 0.44, and the Mg/Fe ratio is almost 0, showing that Beryl-I is formed under high-differentiation evolution conditions and is rarely affected by hydrothermal transformation, whereas the Mg/Fe ratio in Beryl-II ranges from 2.73 to 17.31, and the Cs/Na ratio is nearly 0, indicating that Beryl-II has been obviously affected by late hydrothermal metasomatism. In situ XRD analysis shows that both Beryl-I and Beryl-II are t-beryl, and the c/a ratio of Beryl-I (1.0010–1.0012) is slightly higher than that of Beryl-II (1.0005–1.0008), which may also reflect the transition from magmatism to hydrothermal metasomatism in the late stage of pegmatitic magmatism. Based on comprehensive analysis, we believe that the precipitation of Beryl-I is mainly caused by the emplacement of highly fractionated magma containing Be to the top of the rock mass or surrounding rock, the melt-fluid undercooling, and the crystallization of volatile-bearing minerals (such as tourmaline and fluorite). Moreover, the Be-bearing ore-forming fluid has further migrated upward along the near north–south faults formed in the middle Miocene (16–15 Ma), during which Beryl-II precipitates owing to the hydrothermal water mixing, the ore-forming fluid cooling, and large amounts of crystallization of volatile-bearing minerals (mainly fluorite). Therefore, it can be concluded that beryl mineralization largely reflects the process of magmatic–hydrothermal mineralization. Because of a large number of mineralized areas with the similar metallogenic backgrounds to the Cuonadong deposit in the Himalayan region, it has great potential to be a new globally significant rare metal metallogenic belt.

The Gangdese metallogenic belt in Tibet is an important polymetallic metallogenic belt formed during the subduction of the Neo-Tethys Ocean and subsequent India–Asia collision. Adakitic rocks are widely distributed in this belt and are considered to be closely related to porphyry–skarn Cu-Mo polymetallic mineralization. However, the petrogenesis and geodynamic setting of the Late Cretaceous adakites in the Gangdese belt remain controversial. In this study, we focus on the quartz diorite in the Nuri Cu-W-Mo deposit along the southern margin of the eastern Gangdese belt. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating yields a Late Cretaceous age of 93.6 ± 0.4 Ma for the quartz diorite. Whole-rock geochemistry shows that the quartz diorite possesses typical adakitic signatures, with high SiO₂, Al₂O_3, and Sr contents, but low Y and Yb contents. The relatively low K₂O content and high MgO, Cr, and Ni contents, as well as the positive zircon εHf(t) values (+6.58 to +14.52), suggest that the adakites were derived from the partial melting of the subducted Neo-Tethys oceanic slab, with subsequent interaction with the overlying mantle wedge. The Late Cretaceous magmatic flare-up and coeval high-temperature granulite-facies metamorphism in the Gangdese belt were likely triggered by Neo-Tethys mid-ocean ridge subduction. The widespread occurrence of Late Cretaceous adakitic intrusions and associated Cu mineralization in the Nuri ore district indicate a strong tectono-magmatic-metallogenic event related to the Neo-Tethys subduction during this period. This study provides new insights into the petrogenesis and geodynamic setting of the Late Cretaceous adakites in the Gangdese belt, and has important implications for Cu polymetallic deposit exploration in this region.

Jiama is a super-large porphyry copper–polymetallic deposit located in the Gangdese metallogenic belt of southern Tibet. The deposit consists of a combination of a polymetallic skarn, Cu–Mo mineralization at the contact between the Jiama Porphyry and hornfels, and distal Au mineralization in fault. The current metal reserves are 7.4 Mt Cu, 0.6 Mt Mo, 1.8 Mt Pb–Zn, 6.65 Moz Au, and 360.32 Moz Ag, with a skarn to porphyry–hornfels host-rock ratio of ~3:1. Based on detailed field and laboratory investigations, this paper indicates that: (i) the skarn and porphyry–hornfels orebodies are almost entirely preserved; (ii) the emplacement age of the Cu-bearing plutonic rocks is earlier than the plutons containing elevated Mo assays; (iii) the permeability of the wall rocks gradually decreases in an upward direction; (iv) the fluid temperature during the precipitation of Cu was higher than that of the Mo mineralization; (v) the lithospheric pressure during the precipitation of Cu and Mo was the same; (vi) the laser Raman spectroscopy shows that the fluid carrying the Cu was rich in magnetite, hematite, and anhydrite, and the fluid carrying Mo was rich in pyrite, CO₂, and CH₄; and (vii) the SR–XRF mapping shows that the concentration of Cu in the mineralizing fluid was high and that of Mo was low when Cu was deposited. Conversely, the concentration of Cu was relatively low and the concentration of Mo was relatively high during deposition of the Mo. This study also shows that the temporal and spatial separation of Cu and Mo in the porphyry copper–polymetallic deposit at Jiama was associated with the emplacement of the Jiama Porphyry. Transportation of mineralized fluid was controlled by the permeability of the wall rocks, and deposition of the metals related to changes along a redox front and pressure releases during hydrothermal brecciation at the roof of the Jiama Porphyry.