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Understanding the formation of economically important porphyry-Cu-Au deposits requires the knowledge of the magmatic-to-hydrothermal processes that act within the much larger underlying magmatic system and the timescales on which they occur. We apply high-precision zircon geochronology (CA-ID-TIMS) and spatially resolved zircon geochemistry (LA-ICP-MS) to constrain the magmatic evolution of the magma reservoir at the Pliocene Batu Hijau porphyry-Cu-Au deposit. We then use this extensive dataset to assess the accuracy and precision of different U-Pb dating methods of the same zircon crystals.

Emplacement of the oldest pre- to syn-ore tonalite (3.736 ± 0.023 Ma) and the youngest tonalite porphyry cutting economic Cu-Au mineralisation (3.646 ± 0.022 Ma) is determined by the youngest zircon grain from each sample, which constrains the duration of metal precipitation to less than 90 ± 32 kyr. Overlapping spectra of single zircon crystallisation ages and their trace element distributions from the pre-, syn and post-ore tonalite porphyries reveal protracted zircon crystallisation together with apatite and plagioclase within the same magma reservoir over > 300 kyr. The presented petrochronological data constrains a protracted early > 200 kyr interval of melt differentiation and cooling within a large heterogeneous magma reservoir leading up to ore formation, followed by magma storage in a highly crystalline state and chemical and thermal stability over several 10s of kyr. Irregular trace element systematics suggest magma recharge or underplating during this final short time interval.

The comparison of high precision CA-ID-TIMS …