Geology and Hydrothermal Alteration of the Low Sulfidation

Abstract. The Pantingan Gold System (PGS) is a vein-type epithermal prospect exposed within the summit caldera of Mount Mariveles, Bagac, Bataan (Luzon), Philippines. It consists of nine major veins, eight of which trend NW-WNW and distributed in an en echelon array. The eastern tips of these veins appear to terminate near the NE-NNE trending Vein 1, which is located in the easternmost portion of the prospect. Metal assay results on vein and wall rock samples indicate concentrations of 0.01 to 1.1 g/ton Au, trace to 34 g/ton Ag and 0.003 to 0.02 % Cu. Andesite lava flow deposits host the PGS. Potassium-Argon isotopic dating of these andesites yields anarrow age range of 0.88± 0.13 to 1.13 ± 0.17 Ma. The surface exposures of the veins (up to 5 m wide) are encountered at different levels between 590–740 masl. These commonly display a massive texture although banding prominently occurs in Vein 1. The veins consist of gray to cream-colored crystalline and chalcedonic quartz and amorphous silica. Pyrite is the most ubiquitous sulfide mineral. It occurs either as fine-grained disseminations and aggregates in quartz or as infillings in vugs. Calcite, marcasite and bornite are also occasionally noted in the deposit. The prospect shows silicic, argillic, propylitic and advanced argillic alteration zones. Silicic and argillic alterations are confined in the immediate wall rocks of the quartz veins. Argillic alteration grades to a propylitic zone farther away from the veins. The advanced argillic alteration zone, indicated by a suite of acidic clay minerals that include kaolin-ite, dickite, pyrophyllite and alunite, might have been imprinted during the late stages of gold deposition. As a whole, the PGS displays geological and mineralogical features typical of gold mineralization in a low sulfidation, epithermal environment. It is also representative of a young, tectonically undisturbed gold deposit.