Carlin-type Gold Prospects in Surigao del Norte, Mindanao Island, Philippines: Their Geology and Mineralization Potential

Abstract

. Three calcareous sedimentary rock-hosted Carlin type-like gold prospects were mapped in a mineral production sharing agreement area of Philex Gold Philippines Inc. in Taganaan municipality, Surigao del Norte province in Mindanao island in the Philippines. They occur along a 20–25 km long trend of known epigenetic gold and porphyry copper deposits that lie close to several splays of the Philippine Fault Zone. The gold district forms part of the Late Cretaceous Eastern Mindanao Range that hosts early Paleogene and late Pliocene to Quaternary intrusive rocks. Gold is invisible in the jasperoid outcrops in Lascogon, Napo, and Danao prospects. The jasperoids occur in lenses of marls belonging to the Taganaan Marl Member that is associated to a turbiditic member of the Middle Miocene Mabuhay Formation. The marl lenses include gently dipping interbedded silty limestones and calcareous shales. The “invisible gold” mineralization in silicified calcareous rocks resembles Carlin-type deposits. Based on the mapped igneous and sedimentary rocks, a possible heat source for the gold mineralization is either or both of the two main phases of intrusion, Mabuhay An-desite or Alipao Andesite Porphyry. Forty-eight rock samples, fifteen stream sediment samples, and one soil sample were critical in delineating the general features of the potential Carlin-type prospects. The gold grades of jasperoids in the three prospects range from trace amounts to 20 g/t Au. Regional studies of gold and porphyry copper mineralization in the Surigao del Norte mineral district are important in delineating ore targets for drilling in the three prospects.