Abstract
The Golden Mile in the 2.7 Ga Eastern Goldfields Province of the Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, has produced 385 million tonnes of ore at a head grade of 5.23 g/t gold (1893–2016). Gold-pyrite ore bodies (Fimiston Lodes) trace kilometre-scale shear zone systems centred on the D2 Golden Mile Fault, one of three northwest striking sinistral strike-slip faults segmenting upright D1 folds. The Fimiston shear zones formed as D2a Riedel systems in greenschist-facies (actinolite-albite) tholeiitic rocks, the 700-m-thick Golden Mile Dolerite (GMD) sill and the Paringa Basalt (PB), during left-lateral displacement of up to 12 km on the D2 master faults. Pre-mineralisation granodiorite dykes were emplaced into the D2 shear zones at 2674 ± 6 Ma, and syn-mineralisation diorite porphyries at 2663 ± 11 Ma. The widespread infiltration of hydrothermal fluid generated chlorite-calcite and muscovite-ankerite alteration in the Golden Mile, and paragonite-ankerite-chloritoid alteration southeast of the deposit. Fluid infiltration reactivated the D2 shear zones causing post-porphyry displacement of up to 30 m at principal Fimiston Lodes moving the southwest block down and southeast along lines pitching 20°SE. D3 reverse faulting at the southwest dipping GMD-PB contact of the D1 Kalgoorlie Anticline formed the 1.3-km-long Oroya Shoot during late gold-telluride mineralisation. Syn-mineralisation D3a reverse faulting alternated with periods of sinistral strike-slip (D2c) until ENE-WSW shortening prevailed and was accommodated by barren D3b thrusts. North-striking D4 strike-slip faults of up to 2 km dextral displacement crosscut the Fimiston Lodes and the barren thrusts, and control gold-pyrite quartz vein ore at Mt. Charlotte (2651 ± 9 Ma).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baker G (1958) Tellurides and selenides in the Phantom Lodes, Great Boulder mine, Kalgoorlie. Australasian Inst Min Metall, Melbourne, Stillwell Ann. Vol., pp 15–40
Barnes SJ, van Kranendonk MJ, Sonntag I (2012) Geochemistry and tectonic setting of basalts from the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane. Aust J Earth Sci 59:707–735
Bartram GD, McCall GJH (1971) Wall-rock alteration associated with auriferous lodes in the Golden Mile, Kalgoorlie. In: Glover JE (ed) Symposium on Archaean rocks. Geol Soc Australia, Publication 3, pp 191–199
Bateman R, Costa S, Swe T, Lambert D (2001a) Archaean mafic magmatism in the Kalgoorlie area of the Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia: a geochemical and Nd isotopic study of the petrogenetic and tectonic evolution of a greenstone belt. Precambrian Res 108:75–112
Bateman RJ, Hagemann SG, McCuaig TC, Swager CP (2001b) Protracted gold mineralization throughout Archaean orogenesis in the Kalgoorlie camp, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia: structural, mineralogical, and geochemical evolution. Geol Survey Western Australia, Record 2001/17, pp 63–98
Beyschlag F, Vogt JHL, Krusch P (1916) The deposits of the useful minerals and rocks (vol. 2, translated from German by SJ Truscott). MacMillan, London, pp 590–598
Boulter CA, Fotios MG, Phillips GN (1987) The Golden Mile, Kalgoorlie: a giant deposit localized in ductile shear zones by structurally induced infiltration of an auriferous metamorphic fluid. Econ Geol 82:1661–1678
Bucher K, Frey M (2002) Petrogenesis of metamorphic rocks, 7th edn. Springer, Berlin, 341 pp
Campbell JD (1953) The structure of the Kalgoorlie Goldfield. In: Edwards AB (ed) Geology of Australian ore deposits. 5th Empire Min Metall Congress, Melbourne, pp 79–93
Cardozo N, Allmendinger RW (2013) Spherical projections with OS-X Stereonet. Comput Geosci 51:193–205
Clout JMF, Cleghorn JH, Eaton PC (1990) Geology of the Kalgoorlie goldfield. In: Hughes FE (ed) Geology of the mineral deposits of Australia and Papua New Guinea. Australasian Inst Min Metall, Monograph 14, Melbourne, pp 411–431
Czarnota K, Champion DC, Goscombe B, Blewett RS, Cassidy KF, Henson PA, Groenewald PB (2010) Geodynamics of the eastern Yilgarn Craton. Precambrian Res 183:175–202
Davis GH, Bump AP, García PE, Ahlgren SG (2000) Conjugate Riedel deformation band shear zones. J Struct Geol 22:169–190
Davis GH, Reynolds JR, Kluth CF (2012) Structural geology of rocks and regions, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York, 839 pp
Feldtmann FR (1928) Interim report on the geology and ore deposits of Kalgoorlie. Geol Survey Western Australia, Annual Report for 1927, pp 16–30
Finucane KJ (1941) East-dipping strike faults on the Boulder Belt, Kalgoorlie. Proc Aust Inst Min Metall 124:203–215
Finucane KJ (1948) Ore distribution and lode structures in the Kalgoorlie goldfield. Proc Aust Inst Min Metall 148:111–129
Finucane KJ (1964) Ore penetration into calc schist on the Kalgoorlie goldfield. Proc Aust Inst Min Metall 211:49–59
Finucane KJ, Jensen HE (1953) Lode structures in the Kalgoorlie goldfield. In: Edwards AB (ed) Geology of Australian ore deposits. Aust Inst Min Metall, Melbourne, pp 94–111
Fletcher IR, Dunphy JM, Cassidy KF, Champion DC (2001) Compilation of SHRIMP U-Pb geochronological data, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, 2000–2001. Geoscience Australia, Record 2001/47, 111 pp
Fotios MG (1983) Structural analysis of mineralized shear zones in the Lake View and Perseverance gold mines, Kalgoorlie. B.Sc. (Honours) thesis, the University of Western Australia, Perth
Gauthier L (2006) Atlas of Fimiston-style mineralisation paragenesis, Golden Mile gold deposit, Kalgoorlie, W.A. Centre for Exploration Targeting, the University of Western Australia, Perth
Gauthier L, Hagemann S, Robert F, Pickens G (2004) Structural architecture and relative timing of Fimiston gold mineralization in the Golden Mile deposit, Kalgoorlie. Geol Survey Western Australia, Record 2004/16, pp 53–60
Gauthier L, Hagemann S, Robert F (2007) The geological setting of the Golden Mile gold deposit, Kalgoorlie, WA. In: Bierlein FP, Knox-Robinson CM (eds) Kalgoorlie 2007, Old Ground, New Knowledge, Abstracts. Geoscience Australia, Record 2007/14, pp 181–185
Goscombe BD, Blewett RS (2009) Plate 1: East Yilgarn Craton metamorphism and strain map. Geoscience Australia Map Series: http://www.ga.gov.au/data-pubs/maps
Gustafson JK, Miller FS (1937) Kalgoorlie geology re-interpreted. Proc Aust Inst Min Metall 106:93–125
Hagemann SG, Cassidy KF (2000) Archean orogenic lode gold deposits. SEG Rev 13:9–68
Ion JC (1982) Wallrock alteration and structural evolution of steeply dipping Golden Mile dolerite hosted lodes of the Perseverance gold mine, Kalgoorlie. B.Sc. (Honours) thesis, the University of Western Australia, Perth
Keats W (1987) Regional geology of the Kalgoorlie-Boulder gold-mining district. Geol Survey Western Australia, Report 21, 44 pp
Kent AJR, McDougall I (1995) 40Ar-39Ar and U-Pb age constraints on the timing of gold mineralization in the Kalgoorlie gold field, Western Australia. Econ Geol 90:845–859
Larcombe COG (1913) The geology of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, with special reference to the ore deposits. Australasian Inst Min Engineers, Melbourne, Monograph, 315 pp
Lee RF (1980) Simultaneous determination of carbon and sulphur in geological material using inductive combustion. Chem Geol 31:145–151
Lister GS, Snoke AW (1984) S-C mylonites. J Struct Geol 6:617–638
Lungan A (1986) The structural controls of the Oroya Shoot: implications for the structure of the Kalgoorlie region, Western Australia. B.Sc. (Honours) thesis, the University of Western Australia, Perth
McNaughton NJ, Mueller AG, Groves DI (2005) The age of the giant Golden Mile deposit, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia: ion-microprobe zircon and monazite U-Pb geochronology of a synmineralization lamprophyre dike. Econ Geol 100:1427–1440
Meyer C, Hemley JJ (1967) Wall rock alteration. In: Barnes HL (ed) Geochemistry of hydrothermal ore deposits, 1st edn. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, pp 166–235
Mikucki EJ, Roberts FI (2004) Metamorphic petrography of the Kalgoorlie region, Eastern Goldfields granite-greenstone terrane: METPET database. Geol Survey Western Australia, Record 2003/12, 40 pp
Mueller AG (2007) Copper-gold endoskarns and high-Mg monzodiorite-tonalite intrusions at Mt. Shea, Kalgoorlie, Australia: implications for the origin of gold-pyrite-tennantite mineralization in the Golden Mile. Mineral Deposita 42:737–769
Mueller AG (2015) Structure, alteration, and geochemistry of the Charlotte quartz vein stockwork, Mt. Charlotte gold mine, Kalgoorlie, Australia: time constraints, down-plunge zonation, and fluid source. Mineral Deposita 50:221–244
Mueller AG, Harris LB (1987) An application of wrench tectonic models to mineralized structures in the Golden Mile district, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. In: Ho SE, Groves DI (eds) Recent advances in understanding Precambrian gold deposits. University of Western Australia, geology department and university extension, publication 11, pp 97–107
Mueller AG, Harris LB, Lungan A (1988) Structural control of greenstone-hosted gold mineralization by transcurrent shearing—a new interpretation of the Kalgoorlie mining district, Western Australia. Ore Geol Rev 3:359–387
Mueller AG, Hagemann SG, McNaughton NJ (2016) Neoarchean orogenic, magmatic and hydrothermal events in the Kalgoorlie-Kambalda area, Western Australia: constraints on gold mineralization in the Boulder Lefroy-Golden Mile fault system. Mineral Deposita. doi:10.1007/s00126-016-0665-9
Nelson DR (1997) Evolution of the Archaean granite-greenstone terranes of the eastern Goldfields, Western Australia: SHRIMP U-Pb zircon constraints. Precambrian Res 83:57–81
Nixon D (2015) Kalgoorlie Core Library drill hole report, sampling approval K627 and K636-K649, drill holes SE1-SE15 from the South End of Golden Mile, Fimiston, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Geological Survey of Western Australia, WAMEX Report 106097, 72 pp
Norrish K, Hutton JT (1969) An accurate X-ray spectrographic method for the analysis of a wide range of geological samples. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 33:431–453
O’Beirne WR (1968) The acid porphyries and porphyroid rocks of the Kalgoorlie area. Dissertation, the University of Western Australia, Perth, 410 pp
Ossandón G, Fréraut R, Gustafson LB, Lindsay DD, Zentilli M (2001) Geology of the Chuquicamata mine: a progress report. Econ Geol 96:249–270
Phillips GN (1986) Geology and alteration in the Golden Mile, Kalgoorlie. Econ Geol 81:779–808
Prider RT (1947) Chloritoid at Kalgoorlie. Am Mineral 32:471–474
Rasmussen B, Mueller AG, Fletcher IR (2009) Zirconolite and xenotime U-Pb constraints on the emplacement of the Golden Mile Dolerite sill and gold mineralization at the Mt. Charlotte mine, eastern Goldfields Province, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia. Contrib Mineral Petrol 157:559–572
Riedel W (1929) Zur Mechanik geologischer Brucherscheinungen. Centralblatt Mineralogie und Paläontologie 1929(B):354–368
Robert F, Poulsen KH (2001) Vein formation and deformation in greenstone gold deposits. Rev Econ Geol 14:111–155
Scantlebury GM (1983) The characterization and origin of the gold lodes in and around the Brownhill Syncline, Golden Mile, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. B.Sc. (Honours) thesis, the University of Western Australia, Perth, 90 pp
Seedorff E, Dilles JH, Proffett JM Jr, Einaudi MT, Zurcher L, Stavast WJA, Johnson DA, Barton MD (2005) Porphyry deposits: characteristics and origin of hypogene features. Econ Geol 100th Anniversary Volume, pp 251–298
Sibson RH (2000) A brittle failure mode plot defining conditions for high-flux flow. Econ Geol 95:41–47
Simpson ES (1930) Contributions to the mineralogy of Western Australia. J Royal Soc Western Australia 16:25–30
Stillwell FL (1929) Geology and ore deposits of the Boulder Belt, Kalgoorlie. Geol Survey Western Australia, Bulletin 94, 110 pp
Swager CP, Griffin TJ, Witt WK, Wyche S, Ahmat AL, Hunter WM, McGoldrick PJ (1995) Geology of the Archaean Kalgoorlie terrane—an explanatory note: Geol Survey Western Australia, Report 48, 26 pp
Sylvester AG (1988) Strike-slip faults. Geol Soc Am Bull 100:1666–1703
Thomson JA (1913) On the petrology of the Kalgoorlie goldfield, Western Australia. Q J Geol Soc London 69:621–677
Tomich SA (1952) Some structural aspects of Kalgoorlie geology. Proc Aust Inst Min Metall 164/165:45–76
Tomich SA (1959) The Oroya Shoot and its relationship to other flatly plunging ore pipes at Kalgoorlie. Proc Aust Inst Min Metall 190:113–124
Travis GA, Woodall R, Bartram GD (1971) The geology of the Kalgoorlie Goldfield. In: Glover JE (ed) Symposium on Archaean Rocks. Geol Soc Australia, Pub 3, pp 175–190
Tripp G I (2013) Stratigraphy and structure in the Neoarchaean of the Kalgoorlie district, Australia: Critical controls on greenstone-hosted gold deposits. Dissertation, James Cook University, Townsville, 475 pp
Tschalenko JS (1970) Similarities between shear zones of different magnitudes. Geol Soc Am Bull 81:1625–1640
Tschalenko JS, Ambraseys NN (1970) Structural analysis of the Dasht-e Bayaz (Iran) earthquake fractures. Geol Soc Am Bull 81:41–60
Vielreicher NM, Groves DI, Snee LW, Fletcher IR, McNaughton NJ (2010) Broad synchroneity of three gold mineralization styles in the Kalgoorlie goldfield: SHRIMP U-Pb and 40Ar-39Ar geochronological evidence. Econ Geol 105:187–227
Wells AA (1964) Western lode structures and southwards extensions of the Boulder mining belt. Proc Aust Inst Min Metall 211:181–192
Winchester JA, Floyd PA (1977) Geochemical discrimination of different magma series and their differentiation products using immobile elements. Chem Geol 20:325–343
Witt WK, Cassidy KF, Lu Y-J, Hagemann SG (2017) The tectonic setting and evolution of the 2.7 Ga Kalgoorlie-Kurnalpi Rift, a world-class Archean gold province. Miner Deposita, in press
Woodall R (1965) Structure of the Kalgoorlie goldfield. 8th Commonwealth Mining and Metallurgy Congress, Melbourne, pp 71–79
Yeats CJ, McNaughton NJ, Ruettger D, Bateman R, Groves DI, Harris JL, Kohler E (1999) Evidence for diachronous Archean lode gold mineralization in the Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia: a SHRIMP U-Pb study of intrusive rocks. Econ Geol 94:1259–1276
Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges the receipt of a scholarship during his Ph.D. study at the University of Western Australia. Ray Chang assisted with the XRD and XRF analyses of whole-rock samples at the university. Greg Hall and Patrick Verbeek, former Gold Resources Pty Ltd. of the CSR Paringa Project, permitted access to the Paringa South mine in 1986 and 1987, shortly before the expanding open pit operation forced the closure of the underground workings. Their support is gratefully acknowledged. Martin Jones guided me through the workings of the North Kalgurli mine in 1987. Constructive reviews by Benoit Dubé, Gerard Tripp and Juhani Ojala helped to improve the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Editorial handling: S. Hagemann
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(PDF 1080 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mueller, A.G. Structural setting of Fimiston- and Oroya-style pyrite-telluride-gold lodes, Paringa South mine, Golden Mile, Kalgoorlie: 1. Shear zone systems, porphyry dykes and deposit-scale alteration zones. Miner Deposita 55, 665–695 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-017-0747-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-017-0747-3