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Structural control of low-sulfidation epithermal gold mineralization in the Rosario–Bunawan district, East Mindanao Ridge, Philippines

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Abstract

The Rosario–Bunawan district is situated about 200 km north of Davao City, the capital of the Mindanao Island, Southern Philippines. Gold is produced from the Co-O mine, containing about 2,034,000 t of ore at 10.9 g/t Au, and in numerous small-scale operations by local miners. Epithermal gold mineralization in the Rosario–Bunawan district and the Co-O mine is confined to narrow (0.2–4 m) low-sulfidation quartz–chalcedony–calcite veins in volcanic and volcaniclastic wall rocks. Three major vein orientations are distinguished: (1) the NNW–SSE-trending set with a sinistral strike-slip sense of deformation (Philippine Fault trend); (2) the ENE–WSW-trending dextral strike-slip set (Palawan trend) and associated veins in the Riedel geometry; and (3) the WNW–ESE-trending conjugate set (Co-O trend). Three structural stages are defined: (1) extensional shear or shear veins formed in the Co-O, the Philippine Fault, and Palawan trends during regional NW–SE compression and near vertical vein opening (D1); (2) reactivation of veins in the Philippine Fault, veins associated with the Palawan, and, to a lesser extent, the Co-O trends during E–W compression and near horizontal N–S-oriented vein opening (D2). New D2 extensional shear or shear veins formed in the Philippine Fault, and structures associated with the Palawan and associated Riedel trends; (3) the D3-stage block faulting subsequently displaced all of the auriferous veins. The auriferous Rosario–Bunawan district is situated between two splays of the Philippine Fault, which acted as a lateral ramp system during the oblique convergence of the Philippine Sea plate and the Eurasian plate. The oblique convergence resulted in a change from a compressional (D1) to a transpressional (D2) regime, which was a prerequisite for the two-stage vein opening and hydrothermal mineralization, leading to an economic gold enrichment. D1 compressional tectonics may have caused an elevated geothermal gradient in shallow crustal levels, forming the heat source for the fluid plumbing system, which is at variance to typical epithermal deposits formed in extensional zones. D2 thrusting of a limestone nappe together with syn-tectonic diorite intrusions may have further increased the geothermal gradient, maintaining the fluid plumbing system. The limestone nappe may, at the same time, have represented an aquitard forcing the hydrothermal fluids into the volcanic and volcaniclastic wall rocks, which is regarded as critical for the two-stage gold mineralization in the Rosario–Bunawan district.

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Acknowledgments

The management of Medusa Mining Ltd., especially Geoff Davis, is thanked for access to all the data, the prospects, the Co-O mine, and for financing this study. We would like to thank Sammy Afdal, Bill Philipps, Jerry Baguio, and Ernie Apostol for their hospitality and the introduction to the geology of the Co-O mine and the Rosario–Bunawan district. The organization of the field work and the guidance in the field by J.C. Estoque and all the junior geologists and field assistants are gratefully acknowledged. Fruitful discussions with the exploration geology staff helped in the structural interpretations presented in this paper. We would also like to thank all the people at the exploration camp for their hospitality. Jens Warnsloh is thanked for the help with XRD analysis and data interpretation. Careful reviews by B. Berger and R.M. Tosdal as well as numerous editorial notes by G. Davidson helped improving the manuscript significantly.

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  1. Department of Economic Geology, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Øster Voldgade 10, 1350, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Jochen Kolb

  2. Centre for Exploration Targeting (CET), School of Earth and Environment, University of Western Australia, Crawley, 6009, WA, Australia

    Jochen Kolb & Steffen Hagemann

  3. Institute for Mineralogy and Economic Geology, RWTH Aachen University, Wüllnerstr. 2, 52056, Aachen, Germany

    Jochen Kolb

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  1. Jochen Kolb
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Correspondence to Jochen Kolb.

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Kolb, J., Hagemann, S. Structural control of low-sulfidation epithermal gold mineralization in the Rosario–Bunawan district, East Mindanao Ridge, Philippines. Miner Deposita 44, 795–815 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-009-0246-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-009-0246-2

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