Structural Control of the Getang Carlin-Type Gold Deposit in Southwest China

Abstract

The Getang is a representative Carlin-type gold deposit in Southwest China. It has a proven reserve of about 30 tonnes at an average grade of 5.1 g/t Au. The orebodies occur as strat-abound lenses, and are structurally controlled by shallow NWW- and NE-trending fold-fault systems and the unconformity between the Upper and Middle Permian. In this study, the regional- and deposit-scale structural investigations, joints and finite strain measurements, and stress and dynamic analysis were conducted with an aim to reveal the structural process of the Getang gold deposit and clarify the relationship between the gold mineralization and structures. Three phases of deformation were identified in the deposit: (1) paleokarst was generated by a crustal uplift when the Youjiang Basin experienced extension at the end of the Middle Permian, laying the foundation for the unconformity; (2) the NW-trending structures were formed under a NNE-SSW compression during the Indochina-South China collision (Indosinian orogeny) in Triassic; (3) the NE-trending structures were generated or reactivated under a NW-SE-oriented compression during the Yanshanian intracontinental orogeny. The unconformity recorded two episodes of tectonic evolution in the NNE-SSW and NW-SE directions. Structural analyses and geochronology data suggest that the Getang gold deposit was formed as a result of tectonic transition from compression to extension during the Yanshanian intracontinental orogeny.

Keywords

Carlin-type gold deposit / structural features / finite strain / Getang / Southwest China / economy geology / geochemistry

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