The Cretaceous gold deposits along the margins of the North China Craton(NCC),which formed in a craton destruction setting,display geological characteristics similar to traditional orogenic gold deposits typically ass...The Cretaceous gold deposits along the margins of the North China Craton(NCC),which formed in a craton destruction setting,display geological characteristics similar to traditional orogenic gold deposits typically associated with accretionary orogeny.These deposits,known as Jiaodong-type gold deposits,have attracted considerable attention.However,the lithospheric controls and formation mechanisms of these deposits remain unclear,as they cannot be fully explained by the supracrustal metamorphic genetic model commonly applied to classic orogenic gold deposits.In this study,the compiled S-Hg-Pb isotope ratios of gold deposits on different NCC margins display compatible variations to the Sr-Nd-Hg isotope ratios of mafic dikes spatial-temporally associated with the deposits.This implies that mantle lithosphere,metasomatized by variable proportions of oceanic and continental crust,was the source for both gold deposits and mafic dikes.Increase of oxygen fugacity and zirconεHf(t)from pre-to syn-gold granites suggests continuous basic magma underplating,which could induce concentrations of Au-rich sulfides and contribute additional Au to auriferous CO_(2)-rich fluids derived from metasomatized mantle lithosphere and basic magma.Localization of gold deposits was controlled by craton-margin sinistral shearing induced by clockwise rotation of the craton coincident with distal emplacement of metamorphic core complexes.Thus,the Cretaceous Jiaodong-type orogenic gold deposits were derived from fertilized mantle lithosphere through such crust-mantle processes within a lithosphere thinning background.展开更多
The timings and geodynamic controls of Mo,Au,and Au-Mo deposits in the Xiaoqinling Orogen(>630 t Au and 115,000 t Mo),a rare Au-Mo province globally,are addressed by a combination of mineral par-ageneses,crystallin...The timings and geodynamic controls of Mo,Au,and Au-Mo deposits in the Xiaoqinling Orogen(>630 t Au and 115,000 t Mo),a rare Au-Mo province globally,are addressed by a combination of mineral par-ageneses,crystalline mineralogy,geochemistry,and Re-Os and U-Pb geochronology in the Dahu,Qinnan,and Yangzhaiyu deposits.The Xiaoqinling Orogen comprises an E-W-trending fold and thrust system with repeated structural reactivation and the Mo or Au orebodies in these deposits are dominantly controlled by E-W-trending and NW-SE-trending shear zones.Molybdenum mineralization related to K-feldspar alteration comprises early molybdenite,pyrite,rutile,and monazite within gray quartz veins plus late molybdenite and pyrite within white quartz veins in the Dahu and Qinnan Au-Mo deposits.Early and late Au mineralization events have similar mineral assemblages of pyrite,native gold±Au-Ag-Te minerals,rutile,and monazite associated with quartz-sericite alteration at Yangzhaiyu.The early dissem-inated molybdenite is characterized by rhombohedral polytype and oscillatory Re zoning,in contrast to the late molybdenite with a coexistence of rhombohedral and hexagonal polytypes and irregularly distributed Re.The early molybdenite has a Re-Os isochron age of 222.5±1.3 Ma,compatible with a monazite U-Pb age of 224±6.1 Ma,whereas late molybdenite provides a Re-Os isochron age of 185.0±12 Ma,with the implication that the 3R-polytype molybdenite with oscillatory Re zoning is more suitable for high-precision dating.The early and late Au mineralization have a pyrite Re-Os age of 202.0±5.9 Ma and U-Pb age of 124.0±1.3 Ma,respectively.In accordance with its complex geodynamic setting,geological and geochronological studies record a complicated 100-million-year mineralization history with multiple magmatic-hydrothermal Mo and orogenic Au mineralization events that formed within a structural framework of multiply reactivated shear zones.展开更多
Although the term orogenic gold deposit has been widely accepted for all gold-only lode-gold deposits,with the exception of Carlin-type deposits and rare intrusion-related gold systems,there has been continuing debate...Although the term orogenic gold deposit has been widely accepted for all gold-only lode-gold deposits,with the exception of Carlin-type deposits and rare intrusion-related gold systems,there has been continuing debate on their genesis.Early syngenetic models and hydrothermal models dominated by meteoric fluids are now clearly unacceptable.Magmatic-hydrothermal models fail to explain the genesis of orogenic gold deposits because of the lack of consistent spatially- associated granitic intrusions and inconsistent temporal relationships.The most plausible,and widely accepted,models involve metamorphic fluids,but the source of these fluids is hotly debated.Sources within deeper segments of the supracrustal successions hosting the deposits,the underlying continental crust,and subducted oceanic lithosphere and its overlying sediment wedge all have their proponents.The orogenic gold deposits of the giant Jiaodong gold province of China,in the delaminated North China Craton,contain ca.120 Ma gold deposits in Precambrian crust that was metamorphosed over 2000 million years prior to gold mineralization.The only realistic source of fluid and gold is a subducted oceanic slab with its overlying sulfide-rich sedimentary package,or the associated mantle wedge.This could be viewed as an exception to a general metamorphic model where orogenic gold has been derived during greenschist- to amphibolite-facies metamorphism of supracrustal rocks：basaltic rocks in the Precambrian and sedimentary rocks in the Phanerozoic.Alternatively,if a holistic view is taken,Jiaodong can be considered the key orogenic gold province for a unified model in which gold is derived from late-orogenic metamorphic devolatilization of stalled subduction slabs and oceanic sediments throughout Earth history.The latter model satisfies all geological,geochronological,isotopic and geochemical constraints but the precise mechanisms of auriferous fluid release,like many other subduction-related processes,are model-driven and remain uncertain.展开更多
With very few exceptions, orogenic gold deposits formed in subduction-related tectonic settings in accretionary to collisional orogenic belts from Archean to Tertiary times. Their genesis, including metal and fluid so...With very few exceptions, orogenic gold deposits formed in subduction-related tectonic settings in accretionary to collisional orogenic belts from Archean to Tertiary times. Their genesis, including metal and fluid source, fluid pathways, depositional mechanisms, and timing relative to regional structural and metamorphic events, continues to be controversial. However, there is now general agreement that these deposits formed from metamorphic fluids, either from metamorphism of intra-basinal rock sequences or de-volatilization of a subducted sediment wedge, during a change from a compressional to transpressional, less commonly transtensional, stress regime, prior to orogenic collapse. In the case of Archean and Paleoproterozoic deposits, the formation of orogenic gold deposits was one of the last events prior to cratonization. The late timing of orogenic gold deposits within the structural evolution of the host orogen implies that any earlier structures may be mineralized and that the current structural geometry of the gold deposits is equivalent to that at the time of their formation provided that there has been no significant post-gold orogenic overprint. Within the host volcano-sedimentary sequences at the province scale, world-class orogenic gold deposits are most commonly located in second-order structures adjacent to crustal scale faults and shear zones, representing the first-order ore-forming fluid pathways, and whose deep lithospheric connection is marked by lamprophyre intrusions which, however, have no direct genetic association with gold deposition. More specifically, the gold deposits are located adjacent to ～10°-25° district-scale jogs in these crustal-scale faults. These jogs are commonly the site of arrays of ～70° cross faults that accommodate the bending of the more rigid components, for example volcanic rocks and intrusive sills, of the host belts. Rotation of blocks between these accommodation faults causes failure of more competent units and/or reactivation and dilation of pre-existing structures, leading to deposit-scale focussing of ore-fluid and gold deposition.Anticlinal or antiformal fold hinges, particularly those of ＇locked-up＇ folds with ～30° apical angles and overturned back limbs, represent sites of brittle-ductile rock failure and provide one of the more robust parameters for location of orogenic gold deposits.In orogenic belts with abundant pre-gold granitic intrusions, particularly Precambrian granitegreenstone terranes, the boundaries between the rigid granitic bodies and more ductile greenstone sequences are commonly sites of heterogeneous stress and inhomogeneous strain. Thus, contacts between granitic intrusions and volcano-sedimentary sequences are common sites of ore-fluid infiltration and gold deposition. For orogenic gold deposits at deeper crustal levels, ore-forming fluids are commonly focused along strain gradients between more compressional zones where volcano-sedimentary sequences are thinned and relatively more extensional zones where they are thickened. World-class orogenic gold deposits are commonly located in the deformed volcano-sedimentary sequences in such strain gradients adjacent to triple-point junctions defined by the granitic intrusions, or along the zones of assembly of micro-blocks on a regional scale. These repetitive province to district-scale geometrical patterns of structures within the orogenic belts are clearly critical parameters in geology-based exploration targeting for orogenic gold deposits.展开更多
It is quite evident that it is not anomalous metal transport,nor unique depositional conditions,nor any single factor at the deposit scale,that dictates whether a mineral deposit becomes a giant or not.A hierarchical ...It is quite evident that it is not anomalous metal transport,nor unique depositional conditions,nor any single factor at the deposit scale,that dictates whether a mineral deposit becomes a giant or not.A hierarchical approach thus is required to progressively examine controlling parameters at successively decreasing scales in the total mineral system to understand the location of giant gold deposits in non-arc environments.For giant orogenic,intrusion-related gold systems（IRGS） and Carlin-type gold deposits and iron oxide-copper-gold（IOCG） deposits,there are common factors among all of these at the lithospheric to crustal scale.All are sited in giant gold provinces controlled by complex fundamental fault or shear zones that follow craton margins or,in the case of most Phanerozoic orogenic giants,define the primary suture zones between tectonic terranes.Giant provinces of IRGS,IOCG,and Carlin-type deposits require melting of metasomatized lithosphere beneath craton margins with ascent of hybrid lamprophyric to granitic magmas and associated heat flux to generate the giant province.The IRGS and IOCG deposits require direct exsolution of volatile-rich magmatic-hydrothermal fluids,whereas the association of such melts with Carlin-type ores is more indirect and enigmatic.Giant orogenic gold provinces show no direct relationship to such magmatism.forming from metamorphic fluids,but show an indirect relationship to lamprophyres that reflect the mantle connectivity of controlling first-order structures.In contrast to their province scale similarities,the different giant gold deposit styles show contrasting critical controls at the district to deposit scale.For orogenic gold deposits,the giants appear to have formed by conjunction of a greater number of parameters to those that control smaller deposits,with resultant geometrical and lithostratigraphic complexity as a guide to their location.There are few giant IRGS due to their inferior fluid-flux systems relative to orogenic gold deposits,and those few giants are essentially preservational exceptions.Many Carlin-type deposits are giants due to the exceptional conjunction of both structural and lithological parameters that caused reactive and permeable rocks,enriched in syngenetic gold,to be located below an impermeable cap along antiformal ＂trends＂.Hydrocarbons probably played an important role in concentrating metal.The supergiant Post-Betze deposit has additional ore zones in strain heterogeneities surrounding the pre-gold Goldstrike stock.All unequivocal IOCG deposits are giant or near-giant deposits in terms of gold-equivalent resources,partly due to economic factors for this relatively poorly understood,low Cu-Au grade deposit type.The supergiant Olympic Dam deposit,the most shallowly formed deposit among the larger IOCGs,probably owes its origin to eruption of volatile-rich hybrid magma at surface,with formation of a large maar and intense and widespread brecciation,alteration and Cu-Au-U deposition in a huge rock volume.展开更多
Concept-based orogenic gold exploration requires a scale-integrated approach using a robust mineral system model.Most genetic hypotheses for orogenic gold deposits that involve near-surface or magmatic-hydrothermal fl...Concept-based orogenic gold exploration requires a scale-integrated approach using a robust mineral system model.Most genetic hypotheses for orogenic gold deposits that involve near-surface or magmatic-hydrothermal fluids are now negated in terms of a global mineral system model.Plausible models involve metamorphic fluids,but the fluid source has been equivocal.Crustal metamorphic-fluid models are most widely-accepted but there are serious problems for Archean deposits,and numerous Chinese provinces,including Jiaodong,where the only feasible fluid source is sub-crustal.If all orogenic gold deposits define a coherent mineral system,there are only two realistic sources of fluid and gold,based on their syn-mineralization geodynamic settings.These are from devolatilization of a subducted oceanic slab with its overlying gold-bearing sulfide-rich sedimentary package,or release from mantle lithosphere that was metasomatized and fertilized during a subduction event,particularly adjacent to craton margins.In this model,CO_2 is generated during decarbonation and S and ore-related elements released from transformation of pyrite to pyrrhotite at about 500 ℃.This orogenic gold mineral system can be applied to conceptual exploration by first identifying the required settings at geodynamic to deposit scales.Within these settings,it is then possible to define the critical gold mineralization processes in the system:fertility,architecture,and preservation.The geological parameters that define these processes,and the geological,geophysical and geochemical proxies and responses for these critical parameters can then be identified.At the geodynamic to province scales,critical processes include a tectonic thermal engine and deep,effective,fluid plumbing system driven by seismic swarms up lithosphere-scale faults in an oblique-slip regime during uplift late in the orogenic cycle of a convergent margin.At the district to deposit scale,the important processes are fluid focussing into regions of complex structural geometry adjacent to crustal-scale plumbing systems,with gold deposition in trap sites involving complex conjugations of competent and/or reactive rock sequences and structural or lithological fluid caps.Critical indirect responses to defined parameters change from those generated by geophysics to those generated by geochemistry with reduction in scale of the mineral system-driven conceptual exploration.展开更多
The current margins of the North China and Yangtze Cratons provide arguably the best examples globally of anomalously high mineral endowment within a 100 km buffer zone,hosting 66 diverse world-class to giant ore syst...The current margins of the North China and Yangtze Cratons provide arguably the best examples globally of anomalously high mineral endowment within a 100 km buffer zone,hosting 66 diverse world-class to giant ore systems that help explain China’s premier position as a producer of multiple metal and mineral commodities.After the cratonization of these crustal blocks during the Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic,with incorporation of iron ores on assembled micro-block margins,the margins of the cratons experienced multiple convergence and rifting events leading to metasomatism and fertilization of their underlying sub-continental lithospheric mantle.The rifted margins with trans-lithosphere faults provided pathways for Cu-Au(Mo-W-Sn)-bearing felsic to Ni-Cu-bearing ultrabasic intrusions and REE-rich carbonatite magmas,and for the development of marginal sedimentary basins with both Cu-Pb-Zn-rich source units and reactive carbonate or carbonaceous host rocks.There was diachronous formation of hydrothermal orogenic gold,antimony,and bismuth systems in the narrow orogenic belts between the cratons.Complexity in the Mesozoic Paleo-Pacific subduction systems resulted in asthenosphere upwelling and lithosphere extension and thinning in the North China Craton,leading to anomalous heat flow and formation of orogenic gold deposits,including those of the giant Jiaodong gold province on its north-eastern margin.These gold deposits,many of which formed from fluids liberated by devolatilization of previously metasomatized sub-continental lithospheric mantle,helped propel China to be the premier gold producer globally.The thick sub-continental lithospheric mantle of the cold buoyant cratons helped the preservation of some of the world’s oldest porphyry-skarn and epithermal mineral systems.Although craton margins globally control the formation and preservation of a diverse range of mineral deposits,China represents the premier example in terms of metal endowment due to the anomalous length of its craton margins combined with their abnormally complex tectonic history.展开更多
Discovery rates for all metals, including gold, are declining, the cost per significant discovery is increasing sharply, and the economic situation of the industry is one of low base rate. The current hierarchical str...Discovery rates for all metals, including gold, are declining, the cost per significant discovery is increasing sharply, and the economic situation of the industry is one of low base rate. The current hierarchical structure of the exploration and mining industry makes this situation difficult to redress. Economic geologists can do little to influence the required changes to the overall structure and philosophy of an industry driven by business rather than geological principles, However, it should be possible to follow the lead of the oil industry and improve the success rate of greenfield exploration, necessary for the next group of lower-exploration-spend significant mineral deposit discoveries. Here we promote the concept that mineral explorers need to carefully consider the scale at which their exploration targets are viewed. It is necessary to carefully assess the potential of drill targets in terms of terrane to province to district scale, rather than deposit scale, where most current economic geology research and conceptual thinking is concentrated. If orogenic, IRGD, Carlin-style and IOCG gold-rich systems are viewed at the deposit scale, they appear quite different in terms of conventionally adop- ted research parameters. However, recent models for these deposit styles show increasingly similar source-region parameters when viewed at the lithosphere scale, suggesting common tectonic settings. It is only by assessing individual targets in their tectonic context that they can be more reliably ranked in terms of potential to provide a significant drill discovery. Targets adjacent to craton margins, other lithosphere boundaries, and suture zones are clearly favoured for all of these gold deposit styles, and such exploration could lead to incidental discovery of major deposits of other metals sited along the same tectonic boundaries.展开更多
Fig.8e in our paper(Groves et al.,2018)was incorrectly ascribed to Caddey et al.(1995).It is actually taken from Figure 3 in Morelli et al.(2010).In turn,this was derived from Bell(2013).The authors apologise for this...Fig.8e in our paper(Groves et al.,2018)was incorrectly ascribed to Caddey et al.(1995).It is actually taken from Figure 3 in Morelli et al.(2010).In turn,this was derived from Bell(2013).The authors apologise for this unintentional error.展开更多
Giant,and to a lesser extent world-class,mineral deposits are the ultimate exploration targets,with discovery changing the financial bottom line of junior exploration companies and providing long-term resources and re...Giant,and to a lesser extent world-class,mineral deposits are the ultimate exploration targets,with discovery changing the financial bottom line of junior exploration companies and providing long-term resources and reserves for major mining companies.Despite this,there have been few volumes specifically devoted to giant mineral deposits.展开更多
Single zircons from two trondhjemitic gneisses and two clastic metasedimentary rocks without Eu anomaly of the Kongling high-grade metamorphic terrain are dated by the in situ SHRIMP U-Pb method. The results show that...Single zircons from two trondhjemitic gneisses and two clastic metasedimentary rocks without Eu anomaly of the Kongling high-grade metamorphic terrain are dated by the in situ SHRIMP U-Pb method. The results show that the trondhjemitic magma emplaced at 2947-2903 Ma. Concordant age of as old as 3.3 Ga is present in the detrital zircons from the clastic metasedimentary rocks. Together with the depleted mantle Nd model age (TDM =3.2-3.3 Ga) of the clastic metasedimentary rocks, this documents the presence of Paleoarchean continental crust in the Yangtze craton.展开更多
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42125203,42330809)the 111 project of the Ministry of Science and Technology(BP0719021).
文摘The Cretaceous gold deposits along the margins of the North China Craton(NCC),which formed in a craton destruction setting,display geological characteristics similar to traditional orogenic gold deposits typically associated with accretionary orogeny.These deposits,known as Jiaodong-type gold deposits,have attracted considerable attention.However,the lithospheric controls and formation mechanisms of these deposits remain unclear,as they cannot be fully explained by the supracrustal metamorphic genetic model commonly applied to classic orogenic gold deposits.In this study,the compiled S-Hg-Pb isotope ratios of gold deposits on different NCC margins display compatible variations to the Sr-Nd-Hg isotope ratios of mafic dikes spatial-temporally associated with the deposits.This implies that mantle lithosphere,metasomatized by variable proportions of oceanic and continental crust,was the source for both gold deposits and mafic dikes.Increase of oxygen fugacity and zirconεHf(t)from pre-to syn-gold granites suggests continuous basic magma underplating,which could induce concentrations of Au-rich sulfides and contribute additional Au to auriferous CO_(2)-rich fluids derived from metasomatized mantle lithosphere and basic magma.Localization of gold deposits was controlled by craton-margin sinistral shearing induced by clockwise rotation of the craton coincident with distal emplacement of metamorphic core complexes.Thus,the Cretaceous Jiaodong-type orogenic gold deposits were derived from fertilized mantle lithosphere through such crust-mantle processes within a lithosphere thinning background.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Project of China(2020YFA0714802)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42330809)the 111 Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology(BP0719021).
文摘The timings and geodynamic controls of Mo,Au,and Au-Mo deposits in the Xiaoqinling Orogen(>630 t Au and 115,000 t Mo),a rare Au-Mo province globally,are addressed by a combination of mineral par-ageneses,crystalline mineralogy,geochemistry,and Re-Os and U-Pb geochronology in the Dahu,Qinnan,and Yangzhaiyu deposits.The Xiaoqinling Orogen comprises an E-W-trending fold and thrust system with repeated structural reactivation and the Mo or Au orebodies in these deposits are dominantly controlled by E-W-trending and NW-SE-trending shear zones.Molybdenum mineralization related to K-feldspar alteration comprises early molybdenite,pyrite,rutile,and monazite within gray quartz veins plus late molybdenite and pyrite within white quartz veins in the Dahu and Qinnan Au-Mo deposits.Early and late Au mineralization events have similar mineral assemblages of pyrite,native gold±Au-Ag-Te minerals,rutile,and monazite associated with quartz-sericite alteration at Yangzhaiyu.The early dissem-inated molybdenite is characterized by rhombohedral polytype and oscillatory Re zoning,in contrast to the late molybdenite with a coexistence of rhombohedral and hexagonal polytypes and irregularly distributed Re.The early molybdenite has a Re-Os isochron age of 222.5±1.3 Ma,compatible with a monazite U-Pb age of 224±6.1 Ma,whereas late molybdenite provides a Re-Os isochron age of 185.0±12 Ma,with the implication that the 3R-polytype molybdenite with oscillatory Re zoning is more suitable for high-precision dating.The early and late Au mineralization have a pyrite Re-Os age of 202.0±5.9 Ma and U-Pb age of 124.0±1.3 Ma,respectively.In accordance with its complex geodynamic setting,geological and geochronological studies record a complicated 100-million-year mineralization history with multiple magmatic-hydrothermal Mo and orogenic Au mineralization events that formed within a structural framework of multiply reactivated shear zones.
文摘Although the term orogenic gold deposit has been widely accepted for all gold-only lode-gold deposits,with the exception of Carlin-type deposits and rare intrusion-related gold systems,there has been continuing debate on their genesis.Early syngenetic models and hydrothermal models dominated by meteoric fluids are now clearly unacceptable.Magmatic-hydrothermal models fail to explain the genesis of orogenic gold deposits because of the lack of consistent spatially- associated granitic intrusions and inconsistent temporal relationships.The most plausible,and widely accepted,models involve metamorphic fluids,but the source of these fluids is hotly debated.Sources within deeper segments of the supracrustal successions hosting the deposits,the underlying continental crust,and subducted oceanic lithosphere and its overlying sediment wedge all have their proponents.The orogenic gold deposits of the giant Jiaodong gold province of China,in the delaminated North China Craton,contain ca.120 Ma gold deposits in Precambrian crust that was metamorphosed over 2000 million years prior to gold mineralization.The only realistic source of fluid and gold is a subducted oceanic slab with its overlying sulfide-rich sedimentary package,or the associated mantle wedge.This could be viewed as an exception to a general metamorphic model where orogenic gold has been derived during greenschist- to amphibolite-facies metamorphism of supracrustal rocks：basaltic rocks in the Precambrian and sedimentary rocks in the Phanerozoic.Alternatively,if a holistic view is taken,Jiaodong can be considered the key orogenic gold province for a unified model in which gold is derived from late-orogenic metamorphic devolatilization of stalled subduction slabs and oceanic sediments throughout Earth history.The latter model satisfies all geological,geochronological,isotopic and geochemical constraints but the precise mechanisms of auriferous fluid release,like many other subduction-related processes,are model-driven and remain uncertain.
基金financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41702070)
文摘With very few exceptions, orogenic gold deposits formed in subduction-related tectonic settings in accretionary to collisional orogenic belts from Archean to Tertiary times. Their genesis, including metal and fluid source, fluid pathways, depositional mechanisms, and timing relative to regional structural and metamorphic events, continues to be controversial. However, there is now general agreement that these deposits formed from metamorphic fluids, either from metamorphism of intra-basinal rock sequences or de-volatilization of a subducted sediment wedge, during a change from a compressional to transpressional, less commonly transtensional, stress regime, prior to orogenic collapse. In the case of Archean and Paleoproterozoic deposits, the formation of orogenic gold deposits was one of the last events prior to cratonization. The late timing of orogenic gold deposits within the structural evolution of the host orogen implies that any earlier structures may be mineralized and that the current structural geometry of the gold deposits is equivalent to that at the time of their formation provided that there has been no significant post-gold orogenic overprint. Within the host volcano-sedimentary sequences at the province scale, world-class orogenic gold deposits are most commonly located in second-order structures adjacent to crustal scale faults and shear zones, representing the first-order ore-forming fluid pathways, and whose deep lithospheric connection is marked by lamprophyre intrusions which, however, have no direct genetic association with gold deposition. More specifically, the gold deposits are located adjacent to ～10°-25° district-scale jogs in these crustal-scale faults. These jogs are commonly the site of arrays of ～70° cross faults that accommodate the bending of the more rigid components, for example volcanic rocks and intrusive sills, of the host belts. Rotation of blocks between these accommodation faults causes failure of more competent units and/or reactivation and dilation of pre-existing structures, leading to deposit-scale focussing of ore-fluid and gold deposition.Anticlinal or antiformal fold hinges, particularly those of ＇locked-up＇ folds with ～30° apical angles and overturned back limbs, represent sites of brittle-ductile rock failure and provide one of the more robust parameters for location of orogenic gold deposits.In orogenic belts with abundant pre-gold granitic intrusions, particularly Precambrian granitegreenstone terranes, the boundaries between the rigid granitic bodies and more ductile greenstone sequences are commonly sites of heterogeneous stress and inhomogeneous strain. Thus, contacts between granitic intrusions and volcano-sedimentary sequences are common sites of ore-fluid infiltration and gold deposition. For orogenic gold deposits at deeper crustal levels, ore-forming fluids are commonly focused along strain gradients between more compressional zones where volcano-sedimentary sequences are thinned and relatively more extensional zones where they are thickened. World-class orogenic gold deposits are commonly located in the deformed volcano-sedimentary sequences in such strain gradients adjacent to triple-point junctions defined by the granitic intrusions, or along the zones of assembly of micro-blocks on a regional scale. These repetitive province to district-scale geometrical patterns of structures within the orogenic belts are clearly critical parameters in geology-based exploration targeting for orogenic gold deposits.
基金funded by Talent Award under the 1000 Plan Project from the Chinese Government
文摘It is quite evident that it is not anomalous metal transport,nor unique depositional conditions,nor any single factor at the deposit scale,that dictates whether a mineral deposit becomes a giant or not.A hierarchical approach thus is required to progressively examine controlling parameters at successively decreasing scales in the total mineral system to understand the location of giant gold deposits in non-arc environments.For giant orogenic,intrusion-related gold systems（IRGS） and Carlin-type gold deposits and iron oxide-copper-gold（IOCG） deposits,there are common factors among all of these at the lithospheric to crustal scale.All are sited in giant gold provinces controlled by complex fundamental fault or shear zones that follow craton margins or,in the case of most Phanerozoic orogenic giants,define the primary suture zones between tectonic terranes.Giant provinces of IRGS,IOCG,and Carlin-type deposits require melting of metasomatized lithosphere beneath craton margins with ascent of hybrid lamprophyric to granitic magmas and associated heat flux to generate the giant province.The IRGS and IOCG deposits require direct exsolution of volatile-rich magmatic-hydrothermal fluids,whereas the association of such melts with Carlin-type ores is more indirect and enigmatic.Giant orogenic gold provinces show no direct relationship to such magmatism.forming from metamorphic fluids,but show an indirect relationship to lamprophyres that reflect the mantle connectivity of controlling first-order structures.In contrast to their province scale similarities,the different giant gold deposit styles show contrasting critical controls at the district to deposit scale.For orogenic gold deposits,the giants appear to have formed by conjunction of a greater number of parameters to those that control smaller deposits,with resultant geometrical and lithostratigraphic complexity as a guide to their location.There are few giant IRGS due to their inferior fluid-flux systems relative to orogenic gold deposits,and those few giants are essentially preservational exceptions.Many Carlin-type deposits are giants due to the exceptional conjunction of both structural and lithological parameters that caused reactive and permeable rocks,enriched in syngenetic gold,to be located below an impermeable cap along antiformal ＂trends＂.Hydrocarbons probably played an important role in concentrating metal.The supergiant Post-Betze deposit has additional ore zones in strain heterogeneities surrounding the pre-gold Goldstrike stock.All unequivocal IOCG deposits are giant or near-giant deposits in terms of gold-equivalent resources,partly due to economic factors for this relatively poorly understood,low Cu-Au grade deposit type.The supergiant Olympic Dam deposit,the most shallowly formed deposit among the larger IOCGs,probably owes its origin to eruption of volatile-rich hybrid magma at surface,with formation of a large maar and intense and widespread brecciation,alteration and Cu-Au-U deposition in a huge rock volume.
基金partly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41230311,41572069,41702070)the National Key Research and Development Project of China(2016YFC0600307)+2 种基金the National Key Research Program of China(Grant Nos.2016YFC0600107-4 and 2016YFC0600307)the MOST Special Fund from the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources,China University of Geosciences(Grant No.MSFGPMR201804)the 111 Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology,China(Grant No.BP0719021)。
文摘Concept-based orogenic gold exploration requires a scale-integrated approach using a robust mineral system model.Most genetic hypotheses for orogenic gold deposits that involve near-surface or magmatic-hydrothermal fluids are now negated in terms of a global mineral system model.Plausible models involve metamorphic fluids,but the fluid source has been equivocal.Crustal metamorphic-fluid models are most widely-accepted but there are serious problems for Archean deposits,and numerous Chinese provinces,including Jiaodong,where the only feasible fluid source is sub-crustal.If all orogenic gold deposits define a coherent mineral system,there are only two realistic sources of fluid and gold,based on their syn-mineralization geodynamic settings.These are from devolatilization of a subducted oceanic slab with its overlying gold-bearing sulfide-rich sedimentary package,or release from mantle lithosphere that was metasomatized and fertilized during a subduction event,particularly adjacent to craton margins.In this model,CO_2 is generated during decarbonation and S and ore-related elements released from transformation of pyrite to pyrrhotite at about 500 ℃.This orogenic gold mineral system can be applied to conceptual exploration by first identifying the required settings at geodynamic to deposit scales.Within these settings,it is then possible to define the critical gold mineralization processes in the system:fertility,architecture,and preservation.The geological parameters that define these processes,and the geological,geophysical and geochemical proxies and responses for these critical parameters can then be identified.At the geodynamic to province scales,critical processes include a tectonic thermal engine and deep,effective,fluid plumbing system driven by seismic swarms up lithosphere-scale faults in an oblique-slip regime during uplift late in the orogenic cycle of a convergent margin.At the district to deposit scale,the important processes are fluid focussing into regions of complex structural geometry adjacent to crustal-scale plumbing systems,with gold deposition in trap sites involving complex conjugations of competent and/or reactive rock sequences and structural or lithological fluid caps.Critical indirect responses to defined parameters change from those generated by geophysics to those generated by geochemistry with reduction in scale of the mineral system-driven conceptual exploration.
基金partly funded by the National Key Research Program of China(2019YFA0708603)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42130801,41230311,41572069,41702070)+2 种基金the 111 Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology,China(BP0719021)the MOST Special Fund from the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources,China University of Geosciences(MSFGPMR201804)the Key Laboratory of Gold Mineralization Processes and Resource Utilization Subordinated to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Key Laboratory of Metallogenic Geological Process and Resources Utilization in Shandong Province,Shandong Institute of Geological Sciences(KFKT201801,KFKT201802)。
文摘The current margins of the North China and Yangtze Cratons provide arguably the best examples globally of anomalously high mineral endowment within a 100 km buffer zone,hosting 66 diverse world-class to giant ore systems that help explain China’s premier position as a producer of multiple metal and mineral commodities.After the cratonization of these crustal blocks during the Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic,with incorporation of iron ores on assembled micro-block margins,the margins of the cratons experienced multiple convergence and rifting events leading to metasomatism and fertilization of their underlying sub-continental lithospheric mantle.The rifted margins with trans-lithosphere faults provided pathways for Cu-Au(Mo-W-Sn)-bearing felsic to Ni-Cu-bearing ultrabasic intrusions and REE-rich carbonatite magmas,and for the development of marginal sedimentary basins with both Cu-Pb-Zn-rich source units and reactive carbonate or carbonaceous host rocks.There was diachronous formation of hydrothermal orogenic gold,antimony,and bismuth systems in the narrow orogenic belts between the cratons.Complexity in the Mesozoic Paleo-Pacific subduction systems resulted in asthenosphere upwelling and lithosphere extension and thinning in the North China Craton,leading to anomalous heat flow and formation of orogenic gold deposits,including those of the giant Jiaodong gold province on its north-eastern margin.These gold deposits,many of which formed from fluids liberated by devolatilization of previously metasomatized sub-continental lithospheric mantle,helped propel China to be the premier gold producer globally.The thick sub-continental lithospheric mantle of the cold buoyant cratons helped the preservation of some of the world’s oldest porphyry-skarn and epithermal mineral systems.Although craton margins globally control the formation and preservation of a diverse range of mineral deposits,China represents the premier example in terms of metal endowment due to the anomalous length of its craton margins combined with their abnormally complex tectonic history.
文摘Discovery rates for all metals, including gold, are declining, the cost per significant discovery is increasing sharply, and the economic situation of the industry is one of low base rate. The current hierarchical structure of the exploration and mining industry makes this situation difficult to redress. Economic geologists can do little to influence the required changes to the overall structure and philosophy of an industry driven by business rather than geological principles, However, it should be possible to follow the lead of the oil industry and improve the success rate of greenfield exploration, necessary for the next group of lower-exploration-spend significant mineral deposit discoveries. Here we promote the concept that mineral explorers need to carefully consider the scale at which their exploration targets are viewed. It is necessary to carefully assess the potential of drill targets in terms of terrane to province to district scale, rather than deposit scale, where most current economic geology research and conceptual thinking is concentrated. If orogenic, IRGD, Carlin-style and IOCG gold-rich systems are viewed at the deposit scale, they appear quite different in terms of conventionally adop- ted research parameters. However, recent models for these deposit styles show increasingly similar source-region parameters when viewed at the lithosphere scale, suggesting common tectonic settings. It is only by assessing individual targets in their tectonic context that they can be more reliably ranked in terms of potential to provide a significant drill discovery. Targets adjacent to craton margins, other lithosphere boundaries, and suture zones are clearly favoured for all of these gold deposit styles, and such exploration could lead to incidental discovery of major deposits of other metals sited along the same tectonic boundaries.
文摘Fig.8e in our paper(Groves et al.,2018)was incorrectly ascribed to Caddey et al.(1995).It is actually taken from Figure 3 in Morelli et al.(2010).In turn,this was derived from Bell(2013).The authors apologise for this unintentional error.
文摘Giant,and to a lesser extent world-class,mineral deposits are the ultimate exploration targets,with discovery changing the financial bottom line of junior exploration companies and providing long-term resources and reserves for major mining companies.Despite this,there have been few volumes specifically devoted to giant mineral deposits.
基金Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No.1999043202), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 49625305, 49573183, 49673184, 49794043), the Northwest University, the Ministry of Education of China and the Australian Res
文摘Single zircons from two trondhjemitic gneisses and two clastic metasedimentary rocks without Eu anomaly of the Kongling high-grade metamorphic terrain are dated by the in situ SHRIMP U-Pb method. The results show that the trondhjemitic magma emplaced at 2947-2903 Ma. Concordant age of as old as 3.3 Ga is present in the detrital zircons from the clastic metasedimentary rocks. Together with the depleted mantle Nd model age (TDM =3.2-3.3 Ga) of the clastic metasedimentary rocks, this documents the presence of Paleoarchean continental crust in the Yangtze craton.
