Gold Mineralization at the Agawa Prospect in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Southwestern Japan

Abstract

AbstractAgawa gold prospect, located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, southwestern Japan, is a small prospect, where placer gold has been explored and mined since the 17th century. We investigated the prospect to clarify the genesis of the deposit based on the geology, hydrothermal alteration, geochronology, and ore mineralogy. The main mineralized zone of the prospect has a horizontal and vertical extensions of 500 m and 100 m, respectively, and a width of less than 100 m. Gold mineralization in the prospect occurs as dissemination and stockwork veinlets in the intensely sericitized rocks at the apical part of the Agawa dioritic porphyry intrusion at 86.5–88.5 Ma.Mineralization is typified by at least three stages – an early stage characterized by the occurrence of pyrrhotite and native gold; a middle stage by chalcopyrite; and a late stage by pyrite–bornite. Mineral assemblage and fluid inclusion microthermometry estimation suggest a trend of decreasing temperatures from 400°C to 160°C at a constant sulfur fugacity. The mineralizing fluids formed by the mixing of a hypogene fluid of possibly magmatic origin with an external lower‐temperature and lower‐salinity fluid. The mixing process decreased the temperature and salinity of the fluid, resulting in the precipitation of sulfides, native gold and Bi–Te alloys and sulfosalts.The magnetite‐series signature of the Agawa porphyry and related molybdenite‐bearing mineralization indicate that the plutonism of the San‐in granitoids belt extends to the westernmost end of the Honshu Island. The compiled geochronology and distribution of the metallic deposits in the southwestern Japan arc show that transition from ilmenite‐series to magnetite‐series plutonism started earlier in the west, and shifted eastwards with time during the period from Late Cretaceous to Paleogene.