GEOLOGY OF TULASU-YELIMODUN GOLD MINERALIZATION BELT, WESTERN TIANSHAN, XINJIANG

Tulasu-Yelimodun ore belt is an important gold metallogenic area. The gold deposits in the ore belt occur in an Early Carboriiferous volcanic rock belt formed under an extension (rift) environment during the middle stage of Late Paleozoic. The host rock of the deposits is continental volcanic rock of Dahalajunshan formation, Lower Carboniferous. The metallogenic epoch is Early Toumaisian-Visean of Early Carboniferous. The gold mineralization can be classified into epithermal system (including adularia-sericite type and silicified rock type), porphyry type and sedimentary conglomerate type. The ore-controlling structures are different from the eastern to the western sections of the ore belt. The Axi, Jingxikaibulake, and Yiermende deposits of Tulasu area in the west are developed in volcanic apparatus within the Jingxi-Axi SN-trending volcano-tectonic subsidence (for adularia-sericite type) and in interlayer fracture zones (for silicified rock type). The Jiatemen, Tieliekete and Xiaoyuzan deposits of Yelimodun area in the east occur in subvolcanic domes within the Wulasitai-Longbula E-W-trending volcano-tectonic mole track.