Geochemistry, Petrogenesis and Tectonic Setting of Metavolcanics and their Implications for Gold Mineralisation in Gadag Gold Field, Southern India

Abstract

Gold bearing metavolcanics of Gadag Gold Field (GGF) are represented by mafic (metabasalt, metabasaltic andesite), intermediate (metaandesite) and felsic (metadacite, metarhyolite) rocks. Mafic metavolcanic rocks are low-K Fe-rich tholeiites and were derived by partial melting of the upper mantle sources with high Fe/Mg ratios and low M values. Intermediate and felsic metavolcanics were formed by remelting of these tholeiites mainly in crustal regimes. Although a complete sequence of metavolcanic rocks from mafic to intermediate to felsic fractions occurs, these products were not the result of differentiation from a single magma, crustal contamination was involved in the formation of intermediate and felsic rocks. A clear gap in the chemical composition as well as index of differentiation among the mafic, intermediate and felsic fractions indicate that these metavolcanics constitute a typical bimodal character. It is suggested that these metavolcanics were emplaced in an active continental margin or a continental island arc setting. The petrogenetic processes of formation of Fe-rich tholeiites that evolved in an active continental margin or a continental island arc setting could have provided a favourable geochemical environment for gold mineralisation under the conditions of deformation and metamorphism.