Volcanic- intrusive complexes are widely distributed in South China, and some of them are accompanied by volcanic- related uranium deposits. Therefore, distinguishing between ore- bearing and ore- free rocks has become an important hot topic in the field of ore deposits. This study focuses on examining the composition of trace elements in zircon using LA- ICP- MS, determining the U- Pb ages, and analyzing the characteristics of whole- rock trace elements in both ore- bearing volcanic- intrusive rocks and ore- free intrusive rocks in the Xiangshan area of South China. The results show that the ages of ore- bearing porphyroclastic lava (Zoujiashan) and granite porphyry (Yunji) are 132. 8±1. 5 Ma and 133. 7±1. 6 Ma, respectively. Correspondingly, the ages of the ore- free Qiqin and Taoxi granite porphyry are 134. 9±1. 3 Ma and 133. 3±1. 3 Ma, respectively. Those ages of the ore- bearing and ore- free plutons are basically synchronous within the error range. The ratios of zircon Ce4+/Ce3+ in the ore- bearing and ore- free rocks range from high to low as follows: Zoujiashan 22. 12~68. 75 (average 45. 61), Yunji 19. 02~43. 48 (average 27. 64), Qiqin 7. 99~22. 03 (average 15. 63), Taoxi 9. 70~22. 40 (average 16. 19). The results obtained from the zircon Ti content thermometer suggest that the zircon crystallization temperature of the ore- bearing rocks is relatively higher than that of the ore- free rocks. Furthermore, when considering the lattice strain model and zircon Ti thermometer, it can be inferred that the absolute oxygen fugacity of the former is also higher than that of the latter. This study indicates that the Ce4+/Ce3+ ratio of zircon in the ore- bearing volcanic- intrusive rock in the Xiangshan area generally exceeds 22. Therefore, we propose that the oxygen fugacity of zircon can be used as a potential indicator to determine whether the rock shows ore- bearing characteristics. Moreover, the uranium content of the whole rock in both the ore- bearing and ore- free rocks shows a significant positive correlation with the oxygen fugacity. This suggests that the high oxygen fugacity of the ore- bearing rocks may indicate a higher uranium content in the parent magma of these rocks. Based on previous research, it is suggested that the oxygen fugacity of uranium- bearing rocks is significantly lower than that of porphyry copper- molybdenum ore deposits, but similar to that of granite- type tungsten ore and volcanic rock- type silver- lead- zinc ore. Therefore, the level of oxygen fugacity serves as an important constraint on the differential mineralization types of Cu- Mo, W- Mo, U, and Ag- Pb- Zn ore- bearing rocks, which may indirectly reflect a substantial contribution from mantle materials.