Stages of the gold mineralization at the Albazino deposit and the role of linear fold structures in the ore localization

New studies of ore zones at the Albazino gold deposit, combined with a synthesis of exploration data obtained by geologists of Polymetal JSC, have made it possible to clarify the structural controls of the gold mineralization and the succession of stages of the geological and ore-forming processes. The gold objects of the Albazino deposits were determined to be polygenous and polychronous. The gold accumulation was associated with three stages: a) sedimentation characterized by gold enrichment of the carbonaceous rocks; b) linear folding accompanied by formation of ore-controlling zones of fold-and-fault deformations, with manifestation of the gold-bearing “brownsparization” (ankeritization) process; and c) formation of the magma-and-mineral controlling Albazino deep-seated fault. A key ore-localization factor was identified: the ore zones are localized in the hinge sections of the linear folds, disrupted by syn-folding zones of the fold-and-fault deformations with their associated gold-bearing brownsparization, where they are intersected by the cross-cutting ore-bearing structure, the Albazino fault.