The Huangsha uranium mining area is located in the Qingzhangshan uranium-bearing complex granite of the Middle Nanling Range, Southeast China. This uranium mining area contains three uranium deposits (Liangsanzhai, Egongtang, and Shangjiao) and multiple uranium occurrences, showing favorable mineralization conditions and prospecting potential for uranium mineral resources. Chloritization is one of the most important alteration types and prospecting indicators in this mining area. This study aims to unravel the formation environment of chlorites and the relationship between chloritization and uranium mineralization, based on detailed field work and petrographic studies of the wallrock and ore samples from the Huangsha uranium mining area. An electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) was used in this study to analyze the paragenetic association, morphology, and chemical compositions of chlorite, to classify chemical types and to calculate formation temperatures and n(Al)/n(Al + Mg + Fe) values of chlorite. The formation mechanism and the relationship with uranium mineralization of the uranium mining area are presented. Some conclusions from this study are: (1) There are five types of chlorites, including the chlorite formed by the alteration of biotite (type-I), by the metasomatism of feldspar with Fe–Mg hydrothermal fluids (type-II), chlorite vein/veinlet filling in fissures (type-III), chlorite closely associated with uranium minerals (type-IV), and chlorite transformed from clay minerals by adsorbing Mg- and Fe-components (type-V). (2) The chlorite in the Huangsha uranium mining area belongs to iron-rich chlorite and is mainly composed of chamosite, partly clinochlore, which are the products of multiple stages of hydrothermal action. The original rocks are derived from argillite, and their formation temperatures vary from 195.7 °C to 283.0 °C, with an average of 233.2 °C, suggesting they formed under a medium to low temperature conditions. (3) The chlorites were formed under reducing conditions with low oxygen fugacity and relatively high sulfur fugacity through two formation mechanisms: dissolution–precipitation and dissolution–migration–precipitation; (4) The chloritization provided the required environment for uranium mineralization, and promoted the activation, migration, and deposition of uranium.

The Mianhuakeng deposit, located within the Zhuguangshan batholith in the Nanling area, is currently recognized as the largest granite-related uranium deposit in China. A portion of the uranium ore bodies is spatially associated with NE-trending mafic veins within the granite. In this study, the field investigation, zircon U-Pb dating, S and Pb isotope analysis, and whole-rock geochemical analysis were conducted on these mafic veins to explore their crystallization age, petrogenesis, tectonic setting, and relationships with uranium mineralization. The weighted mean result of zircon U-Pb is 189 ± 3 Ma, suggesting that the mafic dyke was crystallized during the Early Jurassic. The whole-rock geochemistry and isotopes exhibit characteristics of intraplate basalts, suggesting that the mafic dykes originate from an enriched mantle source consisting of garnet–spinel lherzolite, with an estimated partial melting of 1%–5%. Mafic magmas underwent low-degree contamination from the lower crust during upwelling, induced by the extension of the lithosphere during the Early Jurassic. The analyses of pyrite sulfur isotopes in mafic samples vary between −2.9‰ and 1.8‰, significantly different from that of pyrite (−14.4‰ to −7.8‰) formed during the uranium mineralization. Furthermore, the ages of the pitchblende of 127–54 Ma are much younger than the crystallization ages of mafic dykes, indicating that the mafic magmas did not contribute to the uranium mineralization of Mianhuakeng deposit during magmatism. However, the abundant reducing minerals (e.g., pyrite, hornblende, and Fe²⁺-bearing minerals) in the mafic dykes can act as a redox barrier, reducing mobile U⁶⁺ to immobile U⁴⁺ during fluid–rock interaction, thereby facilitating uranium precipitation from the hydrothermal ore-forming fluids. The secondary fractures created by the intrusion of mafic magma probably provided favorable pathways for the movement of hydrothermal fluids.