Mineralogical Zonation of Wall-Rock Alteration in Jiaodong Gold Province, North China

Mineralogical zonation of wall rock alterations in Mesozoic granitoids is summarized from 18 gold deposits in Jiaodong gold province on the Asian mobile continental margin of the west circum Pacific rim. This paper deals with wall rock alterations developed around gold mineralizations of the quartz vein type in granitoids and the wall rock alteration type in granitoid basement contacts along Mesozoic fault zones trending mostly NNE SSW and NE SW. Five alteration zones are distinguished from host rock to ore zone, namely the chloritization and sericitization zone, the hematitization rutilization and microclinization zone, the quartz sericitization zone, the pyrite quartz sericitization zone and the pyrite silicification zone. The former two are outer zones marked by incomplete alteration of first mafic and then felsic minerals of the granitoids, while the later three are inner zones marked by complete alteration of both mafic and felsic minerals of the granitoids leading to retrogressive sericitization and progressive silicification with participation of ore elements. The whole process proceeds under dynamometamorphism with high fugacity of volatiles. Wall rock alteration is the intermediate link between unaltered host rock and ore mineralization both in time and space. Development of the alteration zonation and its mineral composition controls genetic type of mineralization, size and grade of the deposit and location of the ore zones.