Rutile is a common and stable mineral in porphyry Cu deposits, and morphology and geochemistry of rutile are recognized as a potential indicator mineral for exploration. In this study, we investigate physical features and chemical composition of hydrothermal rutile in the Tiegelongnan porphyry-epithermal system, as well as rutile in stream sediments nearby to establish a method to apply rutile as an exploration proxy. Four stages of hydrothermal rutile have been identified. Potassic alteration stage rutile (Rt1) is associated with biotite, with elongated and acicular shape and small grain size (20–50 μm). Rutile from lower temperature phyllic alteration (Rt2), quartz veins (Rt3), and advanced argillic alteration (Rt4), has characteristic sector zoning and larger grain size (50–150 μm). The sector zoning is more commonly present in Rt2, Rt3, Rt4, that are associated with high-grade Cu mineralization, and is associated with incorporation of W, Fe, V, Sn, and Zr. The earlier rutile (Rt1) also has a geochemical signature different from the other three types of rutile, characterized by significantly lower Al, Cu, Zr, Nb, Sn, Hf, and higher Sc and Fe contents. Low-temperature hydrothermal alteration stage rutile (Rt2, 3, 4) share many geochemical similarities, but Rt3 has higher Nb and Ta contents (median = 3371.0 and 176.0 ppm, respectively), whereas Rt4 has higher Sb content (median = 24.3 ppm).

Rutile trace element data from this study and literature are integrated to develop a Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) multivariate statistics plots that can discriminate porphyry Cu deposit rutile from orogenic gold and VHMS deposits, as well as rutile from different alteration stages. The PLS-DA plots predict that stream sedimentary gold-bearing rutile (RtSAu) adjacent to the Tiegelongnan deposit are derived from the deposit, and mainly from low-temperature phyllic and advanced argillic alteration stages. This is consistent with geochemical similarity between the RtSAu and the Tiegelongnan low-temperature hydrothermal rutile (Rt2 + Rt4). This is further confirmed by a U-Pb age of 125.3 ± 4.7 Ma (n = 24, 2σ) for RtSAu, which is consistent with the main porphyry mineralization age of ∼ 120 Ma in the Tiegelongnan deposit. We infer that the RtSAu may have formed during the ∼120 Ma epithermal system at Tiegelongnan, which has already largely eroded. In general, our findings prove the capability of using rutile, by combing the texture, geochemical compositions, geochronology, PLS-DA tools, and their spatial distribution, as a proxy mineral for the exploration of porphyry Cu deposits.