Gold Deposits in Beishan Mountain, Northwestern China

Abstract. The Beishan Mountain spans three provinces ‐ Gansu, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, having an area of 120,000 km² Tectonically, it transverses three different tectonic units, i.e. Siberia, Kazakhstan and Tarim plates, and is composed of nine ter‐rains with widely exposed Precambrian and Paleozoic strata, complex structures, intensive magmatic activities and widespread ore deposits. It is not only a main part of Tianshan‐Yinshan‐Great Hinggan metallogenic belt in China, but also a key to under‐stand the evolution of central‐Asian orogenic system. At present, more than 100 gold deposits and prospects have been discovered, explored and mined, among which Nanjinshan, Mazhuangshan, Liushashan, Jinwozi, Zhaobishan and Xiaoxigong are the most important ones. Based on the host rocks and the geological features, all these gold occurrences can be subdivided into three groups (or types): (1) hosted by Carboniferous or Permian volcanic or subvolcanic rocks; (2) hosted by or related to plutonic intrusions; and (3) hosted by Precambrian metamorphic rocks. The first group includes the Mazhuangshan gold deposit, which occurs in Hercynian quartz por‐phyry and rhyolite porphyry as gold‐bearing quartz veins. The second group is composed of the Liushashan, Nanjinshan Zhaobishan and Jinwozi gold deposits. Gold mineralization at these four deposits occurs within Hercynian granitoids intrusion: or late Paleozoic sedimentary rocks as quartz veins, veinlets and altered rocks. The Xiaoxigong gold deposit belongs to the third group, and is hosted by Precambrian schist, amphibolite and migmatite as quartz veins and altered rocks. Isotopic age dating data, geological and geochemical evidence suggest that most of the groups 1 and 2 gold deposits were generated during the emplacement of the Hercynian or partly Indosinian intrusions. These intrusions may provide both heat and metals for groups 1 and 2 deposits. In contrast, although the formation is closely related to the Hercynian magma‐tism, the ore‐forming materials of the group 3 deposits may not only come from the intrusions, but also from the Precambrian metamorphic rocks.