Controls on Ore Shoot Locations and Geometries at the Stawell Gold Mine, Southeastern Australia: Contributions of the Volcanosedimentary, Alteration, and Structural Architecture

Abstract

The ability to effectively target ore shoots requires a clear understanding of the numerous parameters that control their formation. However, identification of the nature and timing of these parameters is difficult, particularly in polydeformed deposits with complex stratigraphic and hydrothermal histories. For example, ore shoots at Stawell gold mine's Magdala gold deposits in southeastern Australia are hosted by rocks that experienced at least three ductile and two brittle deformation events in the 70 m.y. prior to the principal mineralization event, and have a close spatial relationship to strongly chlorite ± stilpnomelane-altered sedimentary units near the apex of numerous >5-m-thick ree..