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Carlin-style gold deposits, Youjiang Basin, China: tectono-thermal and structural analogues of the Carlin-type gold deposits, Nevada, USA

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Abstract

The Triassic gold deposits of the Youjiang Basin, southern China, have been variously correlated to Carlin-style and orogenic gold deposits or classified as a new intermediate deposit type. However, in terms of a multi-scale mineral system approach, they show remarkable similarities to the Tertiary Carlin-type deposits of Nevada and distinct contrasts to orogenic gold deposits. Both the Nevada and Youjiang deposit groups formed in a continent-scale post-orogenic extension event on fragmented continental crust underlain by metasomatized lithosphere. Both form roughly orthogonal deposit trends that subparallel near-orthogonal margins of a continental crustal block, with deposits controlled by gentle anticlines, monoclines or half-horsts and extensional faults, not tight, “locked-up” anticlines, and shear zones. The mineralogy and ore geochemistry of the two groups are similar, with differences consistent with slightly deeper and higher temperature of formation of the older Chinese deposits, commensurate with deeper erosional levels. The Youjiang gold deposits should be classified as Carlin-type, rather than Carlin-like or other terminologies, with their lower gold endowment probably related to a more distal thermal and fluid source than the Nevada Carlin-type deposits.

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Acknowledgements

The constructive review from Profs Bernd Lehmann and Ruizhong Hu is greatly appreciated. We are grateful to Rich Goldfarb for access to his paper in press on Chinese gold deposits. David Groves is grateful to Jun Deng and Liqiang Yang for their support which has allowed him to collaborate in CUGB-based research.

Funding

This research was jointly supported by the National Key Research and Development Project of China (2016YFC0600307), and the National Key Basic Research Development Program (973 Program; 2015CB452606).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Qingfei Wang & David Groves

  2. Centre for Exploration Targeting, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, 6009, Australia

    David Groves

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  1. Qingfei Wang
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Correspondence to Qingfei Wang.

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Editorial handling: R. Hu

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Wang, Q., Groves, D. Carlin-style gold deposits, Youjiang Basin, China: tectono-thermal and structural analogues of the Carlin-type gold deposits, Nevada, USA. Miner Deposita 53, 909–918 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-018-0837-x

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