Silica-carbonate (listwanites) related gold mineralisation associated with epithermal alteration of serpentinite bodies
Year: 2010
Type: other
Abstract: The New England Orogen is host to the Great Serpentinite Belt, which occurs along the Peel-Manning Fault System and generally divides rocks of the Tamworth Belt (Gamilaroi terrane) to the west from the accretionary complex rocks of the Djungati terrane (Woolomin Beds) to the east. The serpentinite melange contains exotic blocks of ophiolitic material of Early Cambrian age and HPLT blueschist/eclogite facies metamorphic rocks of Ordovician age (Aitchison and Ireland, 1995). However, there is no evidence of the emplacement of serpentinite melange until the Early Permian as evident by the presence of serpentinite detritus in the Manning Group diamictites. These sediments were deposited contemporaneously with serpentinite emplacement within localised extensional settings associated with strike-slip faulting along the Peel-Manning Fault System (Aitchison et al., 1997). The subsequent intrusion of granite batholiths from the Early Permian to Triassic were the heat engines that drove hydrothermal cells responsible for widespread epithermal mineralisation in the New England Orogen which resulted in the carbonatization of serpentinite protoliths to form silica-carbonate alteration zones or “listwanites”. Many of these listwanite bodies contain gold mineralisation in the New England and the telescoped natures of listwanite-related mineralization in other regions suggest that this style of alteration presents a significant exploration target. This paper is a review of the silica-carbonate (listwanite) alteration process and how it relates to serpentinite bodies in the New England Orogen.
Authors: Solomon Buckman, Paul Ashley
Institution: University of Wollongong
Language: English
Subfield: Geochemistry and Petrology
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W340768956