Yandal greenstone belt, Western Australia: 12 million ounces of gold in the 1990s

Abstract

Abstract After a century of virtual neglect, exploration in the Yandal greenstone belt of the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia has yielded resources of 12 Moz Au during the 1990s. Success has come from a combination of conceptual geological models, surface prospecting, understanding the weathering environment, and systematic drilling. The Archaean Yandal greenstone belt comprises a lowermost banded iron formation, extensive basalt and dolerite sills, ultramafic rocks, intermediate to felsic volcanic rocks, and variable clastic sedimentary rocks. Early shear zones trend NNW and form the greenstone belt margins, or trend N–S within the belt. Later brittle cross-faults are critical in gold l..