A comprehensive contrast of ore-forming geological background and ore-forming fluid features, especially fluid ore-forming processes, has been performed between the Tianmashan and the Datuanshan ore deposits in Tongling, Anhui Province. The major reasons for the formation of the stratabound skarn Au-S ore deposit in Tianmashan and the stratabound skarn Cu ore deposit in Datuanshan are analyzed in accordance with this contrast. The magmatic pluton in Tianmashan is rich in Au and poor in Cu, but that in Datuanshan is rich in Cu and Au. The wallrock strata in Tianmashan contain Au-bearing pyrite layers with some organic substance but those in Datuanshan contain no such layers. Moreover, the ore-forming fluids in Tianmashan are dominantly magmatic ones at the oxide and sulfide stages, but those with high content of Cu in Datuanshan are mainly groundwater fluids. In addition, differences in compositional evolution and physicochemical condition variation of the ore-forming fluids result in gradual dispersion of Cu or Au in the late stage of the fluid ore-forming process. This is also an important metallogenic factor for the stratabound skarn Au-S ore deposit in Tianmashan and stratabound skarn Cu ore deposit in Datuanshan.
Lithological observations and mineralogical analyses on pyroxene and hornblende megacrysts and pyroxene and hornblende cumulates in xenoliths in the Mesozoic plutons of the Tongling region, Anhui Province, provide evidence for the magmatic underplafing of mantle-derived alkali-olivine basalt at circa 140 Ma. The pyroxene and hornblende megacrysts and cumulates were formed through the AFC process at depths ranging from 27 to 35 km.
