The role of early formed structures on the development of the world class St Ives Goldfield, Yilgarn, WA

Abstract

A revised structural interpretation for the Victory to Kambalda area of the world class St Ives Goldfield in the Archean Yilgarn Craton has mapped out the distribution of WNW-trending faults within this area of the field. These previously cryptic WNW-trending structures had been identified in gravity data, and also by isopach thickness variations. The WNW-trending faults acted as transfers syn-gold mineralization, although only discrete segments of these faults were active during the main stage of gold mineralization. Where mineralized, the faults transferred strain from a complex combination of block-on-block movement associated with thrusting and strike-slip movement on NW- and N-trending faults. Along some segments N-trending mineralized faults terminate against the WNW-trending faults. Many of the WNW-trending faults correlate with major strike changes on regional and camp-scale faults and they are domain boundaries for the critical N-trending fault segments that host high-grade gold within contractional jogs. The WNW-trending faults also show evidence for an older deformation history prior to main-stage gold, which may extend back to early basin development associated with ultramafic and mafic volcanism. They are inferred to have been a series of early WNW-trending normal faults and breached relay ramps associated with oblique rifting along an older NNW-trending basement boundary.