AnEXTENDED ABSTRACTis available for download._x000D_
A full-length paper was notprepared for this presentation._x000D_
The Xiong'ershan district in the southern margin of the North China Craton (NCC) contains more than 20 gold deposits hosted in the late Neoarchean to early Palaeoproterozoic amphibolite facies metamorphic rocks or late Palaeoproterozoic unmetamorphosed volcanic rocks. Gold mineralisation consists mainly of auriferous quartz veins and disseminated ores in hydrothermally altered zones, with additional gold mineralised breccia pipes. Gold orebodies are strictly controlled by secondary- or higher-order brittle/ductile-brittle faults. Isotopic dating reveals two separate episodes of gold mineralisation: the Shanggong and Dianfang deposits formed in the range of 236_x000D_
1.4 to 202_x000D_
18 Ma, whereas the Gongyu, Qianhe and Qiyugou deposits formed between 135.0_x000D_
0.5 Ma and 124.0_x000D_
1.0 Ma. Stable isotope and noble gas geochemistry studies indicate that the Triassic gold deposits were precipitated from deeply-sourced, low-salinity fluids at 250-350C, but whether the fluids were mainly derived from metamorphic devolatilisation or magmatic degassing remains unresolved. In contrast, the Early Cretaceous deposits most likely precipitated from a dominantly magmatic fluid, although metamorphic and meteoric components cannot be ruled out. Results from this study, when combined with regional geological and geochemical data, suggest that the Triassic gold mineralisation was generated by the deformation associated with the collision between the North China and Yangtze cratons, forming the Qinling-Dabie orogen. In contrast, the Early Cretaceous gold veining was a result of lithospheric destruction of the NCC, a process initiated by plate subduction from both the south and north since late Palaeozoic but ultimately triggered by the westward subduction of the palaeo-Pacific plate in the late Mesozoic. This study helps to reconcile the long-term debate on the timing, genesis and geodynamic setting of gold mineralisation in the Xiong'ershan and other districts along the southern margin of the NCC.CITATION:Li, J-W and Tang, K F, 2015._x000D_
Gold deposits in the Xiong'ershan District, Southern North China Craton - products of Triassic deformation and Cretaceous craton destruction, in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 341-344 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).