Abstract:
The Haiyu gold deposit, located in the north part of the Jiaodong gold province, was discovered in 2015 as a superlarge gold deposit with gold reserves 470 t @ 4.30 g/t. The gold orebodies were hosted in the Mesozoic Linglong-type granites and controlled by the Sanshandao-Cangshang Fault (SCF). Host Longlong-type granitic rocks for Au mineralization show a complex paragenetic sequence with hydrothermal alteration. Remobilization of the SCF system allowed for infiltration of hydrothermal fluids, leading to extensive K-feldspar alteration along the main fault. Subsequently, massive sericite formation occurred along both sides of the main fault. With the formation of fault gouge, the ore-bearing fluid could not migrate to the upper wall of the fault zone; therefore, the ore-forming fluid underwent intense sericite-quartz-pyrite alteration in footwall accompanied by gold precipitation. Finally, the formation of quartz-carbonate veins indicated the decrease of hydrothermal activity related to gold mineralization. The equilibrium calculation of potash and sericite rocks revealed that SiO
2, MgO and CaO were brought in, TiO
2 and K
2O were basically unchanged, while Na
2O appeared to be taken out. Most major elements were affected by strong mineral reactions. Au, Ag, Bi, As, Pb, Zn and other related ore-forming elements showed a positive correlation and were closely related to sericite-quartz-pyrite alteration. The mass balance calculation shows that different types of elements had complex geochemical behaviors in the process of water-rock reaction. The alteration combination and fluid inclusion study shows that the ore-forming fluid was characterized by medium and low temperature (126~351℃) and medium and low salinity (1.02~10.48%NaCleqv), belonging to the CO
2-H
2O-NaCl±CH
4 system. In hydrothermal fluids, gold might have migrated mainly as Au(HS)
2- complex. During the process of sericite-quartz-pyrite alteration, Au(HS)
2- complex was destabilized and decomposed by sulfofication, leading to Au precipitation and mineralization. The reactivation of the North China Craton led to the upwelling of asthenosphere and the formation of a large number of igneous rocks, and also provided sufficient thermal energy and fluid input for large-scale gold mineralization in Jiaodong gold province.