Thoughts on the Jiaodong Gold Province of China:Towards a Tectonic Model

The Jiaodong gold province is situated in the eastern Sino-Korean Platform within the so-calledJiaoliao Uplift. The basement rocks are Archaean and Proterozoic metamorphic rocks. Mesozoic sedimentary andvolcanic cover occur within extensional basins. Intrusive rocks are dominated by Mesozoic granitoid, with interme-diate-acid and basic dyke swarms. The structures form an E-W-trending anticlinorium in the basement complex, andlarge-scale NE-SW-and NNE-SSW-trending fault zones of Mesozoic age. The gold mineralization is associated withthe Mesozoic faults and related secondary fractures in the granites or granite-basement contacts. The mineralizationtypes are quartz-vein type and wall-rock alteration type. Wall-rock alteration is very well developed around the orezones. Alteration minerals include quartz, sericite (and fuchsite), pyrite, calcite, chlorite, hematite, rutile and graph-ite. The ore assemblage is uniform in all deposits, including pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, arsenopyrite,pyrrhotite, gold, electrum, hessite, petzite, magnetite, molybdenite, tetrahedrite and wolframite. Mesozoic collisionand subduction between the South China and North China continental blocks contributed to formation of the Meso-zoic granitoid intrusions. The granitic magma is considered to be derived from partial melting of the crust throughunderplating processes. Gold was remobilised from basement rocks and deposited in fracture zones by the high-temperature fluids associated with these processes.