Welsh and Spanish orogenic gold – a comparative study

Cunningham, John and Gómez-Fernández, F. and González Menéndez,, L. and Beard, Andy (2019) Welsh and Spanish orogenic gold – a comparative study. In: UNSPECIFIED (ed.) Proceedings of the 15th SGA Biennial Meeting, August 27-30 2019, Glasgow, Scotland. Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits, pp. 733-735. ISBN 9780852619636.

Abstract

Palaeozoic basin sediments host orogenic gold in the Harlech Dome in Wales and in the Truchas Synform in Spain. New data acquired from both areas, combined with the extensive published data, enable the testing of old and more recent models for the deposition of gold from hydrothermal fluids in orogenic settings where metapelites occur. Metamorphic grade is greenschist in both areas, with minor igneous activity but no major intrusions. P-T conditions are mezozonal. The quartz veins/breccias contain typical mineral parageneses associated with orogenic gold, with early non-auriferous sulphide phases characterised by Fe/As/Co while free Au occurs within later phases characterised by Cu/Pb/Zn sulphides. Cross-fault systems between major faults have been the typical hosts of the mineralisation in the Harlech Dome and this was observed outside the Welsh gold belt in this study and also in Spain. However, in Spain, the highest levels of Au mineralisation were found where quartz veins occur in quartzite near to the contact with the metapelites. Extensional faulting appears to be a strong control over this mineralisation, with a weaker signature where there has been mineralisation associated with movement on major regional faults.

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