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Numerical Modeling of Deformation at the Baiyun Gold Deposit, Northeastern China: Insights into the Structural Controls on Mineralization

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Abstract

The Qingchengzi ore field is an important gold-polymetallic center of the North China Craton. It has been recognized that the gold deposits in Qingchengzi were controlled by structures like lithological interfaces and fractures along mechanically weak bedding and foliation planes, but it still remains poorly understood how the structures affected the localization of the gold deposits. Finite element based numerical modeling was used to reproduce the deformation process of the Baiyun gold deposit during the mineralization period. Paleoproterozoic schist and marble are widely exposed in Qingchengzi, and a large part of the Baiyun gold ores occurs along the interfaces between the schist and the marble. The modeling results suggest that the mechanical contrast between the schist and the marble may be a major reason why the stress was localized along their lithological interfaces under a compressional stress regime. Two parts of their lithological interfaces were identified to be easily stress-localized and first fractured: the interface between the schist and its underlying marble at shallower levels and the one between the schist and its overlying marble at deeper levels. Stress concentration in these two parts is independent on the dipping angle and direction of the interfaces. Therefore, mineralizing fluids may have been concentrated into these two parts. The first one is consistent with the present ore bodies of the Baiyun gold deposit, and the second one could be considered for deep prospecting. These findings also provide implications for the structural controls of lithological interfaces on the mineralization in other gold deposits of this region.

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Acknowledgments

The work was financially funded by the National Key R & D Program of China (No. 2018YFC0603802), the Basic Research Fund for Central Research Institutes (No. JYYWF20180602), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41822206). The authors thank Wei Wang and Fuxing Liu for their help in field work. The numerical experiments were carried out by running the PANDAS code on the Savanna Supercomputer at The University of Queensland. Richard W. Allmendinger is thanked for sharing the structural software FaultKin. Two anonymous reviewers are appreciated for their comments and advices on the original manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1388-5.

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  1. Institute of Geomechanics, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Xiangchong Liu, Changhao Xiao, Shuanhong Zhang & Bailin Chen

  2. Laboratory of Dynamic Diagenesis and Metallogenesis, Institute of Geomechanics, Chinese Academy of Geologi-cal Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Xiangchong Liu, Changhao Xiao & Bailin Chen

  3. Key Laboratory of Paleomagnetism and Tectonic Reconstruction, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing, 100081, China

    Xiangchong Liu, Changhao Xiao, Shuanhong Zhang & Bailin Chen

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Correspondence to Changhao Xiao.

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Liu, X., Xiao, C., Zhang, S. et al. Numerical Modeling of Deformation at the Baiyun Gold Deposit, Northeastern China: Insights into the Structural Controls on Mineralization. J. Earth Sci. 32, 174–184 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1388-5

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