An Overview of the Gold Resources of China

Abstract

Abstract Gold deposits and prospects are widely distributed in China. At present, 18 gold metallogenic provinces have been identified, and 918 individual gold deposits and 364 associated gold deposits have been discovered, explored, and mined. All of these gold deposits belong to one of seven principal types, according to their host rocks: (1) hosted by Archean high-grade metamorphic rocks; (2) hosted by Proterozoic volcano-sedimentary rocks; (3) hosted by or related to Phanerozoic intrusive rocks; (4) hosted by or related to Phanerozoic volcanic rocks, (5) hosted by Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks; (6) gossans; (7) and placer gold. The tectonic settings, geological features, and temporal and spatial distribution of these different types of gold occurrences indicate that gold mineralization reflects to a great extent the evolution of tectonic environments over geologic time. Although gold has been identified in all provinces and all autonomous regions of China except the Shanghai municipality, gold reserves are quite unevenly distributed geographically, with most being clustered in the eastern and central parts of China. Small-scale (<5 metric tons Au) gold deposits account for ∼72% of the total number of gold localities, but account for only ∼25% of total proven reserves. The ore grade is moderate for large-scale deposits (>20 tons Au), but varies greatly for medium- (5 to 20 tons Au) to small-scale deposits. In addition to usable gold reserves, considerable prospective and temporarily unusable reserves also have been identified. Data from recent discoveries of a number of gold deposits indicate that a substantial gold resource exists in northwestern and eastern China.