ABSTRACT: Since the first discovery of gold deposits on the northeastern margin of the Jiaolai Basin in Shandong Province at the end of the 20th century, seven medium-sized to large/super-large gold deposits have been identified in this region, with cumulative proven gold resources of 223 t. This study reviewed the metallogenic and geochemical characteristics of various gold deposits in this region, examined the sources of their ore-forming fluids and materials, as well as their gold metallogenic epochs and processes, and developed a gold metallogenic model. The gold deposits in this region are governed by both dense fractures and detachment structural systems along basin margins, primarily categorized into the altered rock type and the pyrite-bearing carbonate vein type. The latter type, a recently discovered mineralization type in the Jiaodong Peninsula, enjoys high gold grade, a large scale, and high gold mineral fineness, suggesting considerable prospecting potential. Both types of gold deposits show metallogenic epochs ranging from 116 Ma to 119 Ma. Their ore-forming fluids are identified as a CO2-NaCl-H2O fluid system characterized by moderate to low temperatures, moderate to low salinity, and low density, with the pyrite-bearing carbonate vein-type gold deposits manifesting slightly higher salinity. The C-H-O, S, and Pb isotopes of hydrothermal minerals reveal that the ore-forming fluids and materials are characteristic of crust-mantle mixing. Specifically, they were derived from mantle fluids in the early stages, mixed with stratum water and meteoric water in the later stages for mineralization. The gold metallogenic process is identified as follows: During the Early Cretaceous, the subduction of the Pacific Plate and the destruction of the North China Craton led to asthenospheric upwelling. The resulting fluids, after metasomatizing the enriched mantle, differentiated and evolved into C-H-O ore-bearing fluids, which were then mixed with crustal fluids. The mixed fluids migrated to the shallow crust, where they mingled with stratum water and meteoric water. Then, the fluids underwent unloading and final mineralization in detachment fault tectonic systems on basin margins. Due to differences in mixed crustal materials or the surrounding rocks involved in water-rock interactions, altered rock- and pyrite-bearing carbonate vein-type gold deposits were formed in acidic and alkaline fluid environments, respectively.
Bo et al. (Sat,) studied this question.