The first discovery of Xinlong epithermal gold deposit in southern margin of the Bangonghu-Nujiang metallogenic belt: A new expansion of gold prospecting in Northern Tibet

Abstract

The Xinlong gold deposit is located in Niyma County, Naqu area of Tibet and was discovered by the Institute of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences through the 1∶50000 mineral geological survey. The ore bodies occur in the Zenong Group volcanic rocks in the middle section of the central Lhasa subterrane and are structurally controlled by the NNW-striking faults. Four ore bodies have been found, exhibiting cloddy, dense-sparse, disseminated, and breccia structures. The ore minerals are mainly tetrahedrite group minerals, and other ore minerals include pyrite, chalcopyrite, nevskite, bornite, anglesite, native gold, and silver-gold bearing selenide, etc. The types of alteration are dominated by silicification, as well as middle- and high-graded argillization. The alteration mineral assemblages contain quzrtz, pyrophyllite, and kaolinite. The Zaliela Formation volcanic rocks of Zenong Group are silicified by later hydrothermal fluid with vuggy quartz in some fractured zones. The middle- and high-graded argillization are characterized by pyrophyllitization and kaolinization. The Xinlong gold deposit shows great metallogenetic potentiality and has been revealed by 1∶10000 geological mapping, IP sounding, and trial trenching in the mining area. Combined with the regional metallogenic geological setting, we suppose that a potential epithermal gold belt probably exists in the middle of the Lhasa terrane. The discovery of the Xinlong gold deposit opens a new chapter for the gold prospecting in Northern Tibet.

Keywords

Epithermal gold deposit / Xinlong gold deposit / Central Lhasa subterrane / Bangonghu-Nujiang metallogenic belt / Mineral exploration engineering / Tibet

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to express our gratitude to Academician Jing-wen Mao for his guidance on ore deposit genesis and valuable suggestions for this paper. The authors also thank Director Jian-zhou Yi of the Land and Mineral Rights Trading and Reserve Evaluation Center of Tibet Autonomous Region for his guidance on prospecting directions, and for his long-term help and care. In addition, the authors thank researchers Deng-hong Wang, Shan-bao Liu, Si-hong Jiang, and Shun-da Yuan of the Institute of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences for their guidance and assistance in ore deposit genesis, geochemical anomaly interpretation, mineral prospecting, and mineralogy. The mineralogy and EPMA work were also guided and assisted by Professor De-gao Zhai and Associate Professor Wei Jian of China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and Professor of Senior Engineer Zhen-yu Chen of the Institute of Mineral Resources of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, for which the authors also express our gratitude. Finally, the authors thank anonymous reviewers for their careful and constructive comments. This research was jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41902099), the China Geological Survey Project (DD20230054) and Fundamental Research Funds from the Institute of Mineral Resources and Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (No. KK2215).

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Wei Chen and Yang Song designed and directed the project; Wei Chen, Yang Song, Qing-ping Liu, Jian-zhen Zhang, Zhuang-zhuang Song, Teng-fei Liu, Qiang Wang, Jiajia Yu, Yang Li, and Chang Liu carried out the field work; Wei Chen, Miao Sun, and Qing-ping Liu did the EPMA work; Wei Chen wrote the manuscript.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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