Abstract The bonanza-grade, low-sulfidation epithermal Hishikari gold deposit is located in the Plio-Pleistocene volcanic area of southern Kyushu, Japan. The concealed veins were discovered in 1981 and the mine has since produced 5.462 million metric tons (Mt) of ore averaging 44.3 g/t Au (242 t Au) from 1985 to the end of 2018, at which time reserves were 7.98 Mt at 20.9 g/t Au. The Hishikari deposit consists of the Honko, Sanjin, and Yamada ore zones, which occur in a NE-trending area 2.8 km long and 1.0 km wide. The veins are hosted by basement sedimentary rocks of the Cretaceous Shimanto Supergroup and by overlying Hishikari Lower Andesites of Pleistocene age. Sinter occurs about 100 m above the Yamada ore zone. Temperature-controlled hydrothermal alteration zones occupy an area of >5 km long and 2 km wide. The Honko and Sanjin veins occur within a chlorite-illite alteration zone (paleotemperature >230°C), whereas the Yamada veins occur within an interstratified clay mineral zone (150°–230°C). The marginal alteration comprises quartz-smectite (100°–150°C) and cristobalite-smectite (<100°C) zones. Ore-grade veins are located between –60- and 120-m elev, with the paleowater table over the Honko-Sanjim veins at ~300-m elev. Overall, the Ag/Au wt ratio is about 0.6. Vein-forming minerals consist of quartz, adularia, and clay minerals plus truscottite, with electrum and minor pyrite, chalcopyrite, naumannite, galena, and sphalerite. The major veins formed from repeated episodes of boiling and strong fluid flow inferred from bands of quartz, adularia, and smectite with bladed quartz, columnar adularia, and truscottite.

Abstract The Hishikari high-grade low-sulfidation epithermal gold deposit is located in the Hokusatsu district, about 30 km north of the Kagoshima International Airport, Kagoshima Prefecture ( Fig. 1 ). In early 1981, a narrow (15 cm) but high-grade (290 g/t Au) vein was discovered 200 m below the surface by the Metal Mining Agency of Japan ( MITI, 1982 ), and subsequent development has proved Hishikari to have substantial reserves of high-grade ore. Production from July 1985 to March 2000 totaled 105 tonnes (t) of gold and 58 t of silver from 1.87 Mt of ore. The production plus total reserves are estimated to be 5.5 Mt, including 3.5 Mt at an average grade of 60 to 70 g/t Au in the Honko-Sanjin ore zone and 2 Mt at 20 to 25 g/t Au in the Yamada ore zone, for a total of approximately 260 t of contained gold. The Hishikari deposit, especially the Honko-Sanjin zone, is characterized by high gold contents in almost all veins and by a very high aluminum content in the veins due to abundant adularia and common smectite. This article presents a summary of the gold deposit at Hishikari and the detailed mineralogical description of a high-grade vein, the Hosen no. 1 vein, hosted by basement sedimentary rocks.

Abstract The late Cenozoic volcanic activity in Kyushu is characterized by large-scale volcano-tectonic depressions. The sites of these depressions together with associated volcanism and gold mineralization migrated southeastward in northern Kyushu and eastward in southern Kyushu. Thus, Quaternary gold deposits in Kyushu occur within 30 km west from the present volcanic front; the Pliocene gold deposits occur farther away from the active volcanoes. Typical Quaternary gold mineralization in Kyushu is the quartz vein type with associated adularia and minor calcite. Although host rocks are predominantly andesitic volcanic rocks and sometimes rhyolite and lacustrine sediments, the major portion of high-grade quartz veins of the Hishikari deposit discussed here is hosted in basement sedimentary rocks close to the unconformity between the basement and overlying Quaternary andesites. Five distinct alteration types are recognizable on the basis of mineral assemblages for Quaternary gold deposits. Two are the deeper propylitic alteration and the shallower smectite-zeolite alteration of the widespread and temperature-controlled type; the rest are mica-chlorite alteration, argillic alteration, and silicification of the fracture-controlled type. Most Quaternary and some Pliocene gold deposits in Kyushu are located near small Bouguer anomaly highs in areas of regional gravity anomaly lows. In the case of the youngest deposits the gravity anomaly highs are overlapped by low electrical resistivities. The small gravity anomaly highs have been ascribed to underlying uplifted blocks of basement. The low resistivity anomalies are caused by the presence of argillic alteration of the shallow portion of the mineralized systems. The importance of circum-Pacific volcanic belts as a source of rich gold deposits has been highlighted by recent discoveries of deposits such as McLaughlin, California; El Indio, Chile; Lihir, Papua New Guinea; and Hishikari, Japan. In particular, epithermal gold deposits related to Quaternary volcanoes have become the focus of exploration in island-arc systems of the western Pacific rim, in which Kyushu lies. Kyushu is the principal gold-producing area in Japan. There are several important gold deposits which are related to waning or extinct geothermal systems of Quaternary age. The erosion level in the Quaternary volcanic areas is shallow so that some of the surface expressions are different from those of older deposits. The purpose of this paper is to outline the characteristics of gold mineralization of Quaternary volcanic areas in Kyushu on the basis of detailed geologic and geophysical investigations undertaken over the last ten years. Major epithermal gold deposits in Kyushu occur in late Cenozoic volcanic areas which were formed by the subduction of the Philippine Sea plate beneath the Eurasian plate.

Abstract Epithermal gold deposits are the principal source of gold in Japan, and mesothermal vein gold or by-product gold from skarn deposits, VMS (the Kuroko type and the Besshi type), and polymetallic veins contribute historically only 10 percent of domestic gold production. Gold production from epithermal gold deposits of Kyushu amounts to 284 tonnes and comprises about 40 percent of total Japanese gold production, 576 tonnes, from the Meiji Restoration (1868) to present (1999). The silver/gold ratio of ores in Kyushu is less than three and differs from the value that exceeds 10 in other areas ( Fig. 1 ). The Yamagano mine in the Edo era and later the Taio and Kushikino mines were the largest gold-silver mines in Kyushu before the discovery of the Hishikari deposit. At present the Hishikari underground operation and three opencut mines of the Nansatsu-type gold deposits at Kasuga, Iwato, and Akeshi are producing gold. The major gold deposits in Kyushu, typically of the low- sulfidation vein type and locally the high-sulfidation Nansatsu type, occur in extinct or waning geothermal systems of the Pliocene and Pleistocene volcanic areas. The young formation ages relate to the well-preserved shallow bonanza zones and overlying thick argillic alteration zones, and in places surface expression of hydrothermal activity, such as sinters and nearby acid alteration related to steam- heated acid hot springs. This contribution aims to present supplementary data to a previous review paper ( Izawa and Urashima, 1989 ), which described the relationship

Abstract The late Cenozoic volcanic activity in Kyushu is characterized by large-scale volcano-tectonic depressions. The sites of these depressions together with associated volcanism and gold mineralization migrated southeastward in northern Kyushu and eastward in southern Kyushu. Thus, Quaternary gold deposits in Kyushu occur within 30 km west from the present volcanic front; the Pliocene gold deposits occur farther away from the active volcanoes. Typical Quaternary gold mineralization in Kyushu is the quartz vein type with associated adularia and minor calcite. Although host rocks are predominantly andesitic volcanic rocks and sometimes rhyolite and lacustrine sediments, the major portion of high-grade quartz veins of the Hishikari deposit discussed here is hosted in basement sedimentary rocks close to the unconformity between the basement and overlying Quaternary andesites. Five distinct alteration types are recognizable on the basis of mineral assemblages for Quaternary gold deposits. Two are the deeper propylitic alteration and the shallower smectite-zeolite alteration of the widespread and temperature-controlled type; the rest are mica-chlorite alteration, argillic alteration, and silicification of the fracture-controlled type. Most Quaternary and some Pliocene gold deposits in Kyushu are located near small Bouguer anomaly highs in areas of regional gravity anomaly lows. In the case of the youngest deposits the gravity anomaly highs are overlapped by low electrical resistivities. The small gravity anomaly highs have been ascribed to underlying uplifted blocks of basement. The low resistivity anomalies are caused by the presence of argillic alteration of the shallow portion of the mineralized systems.

Abstract The late Cenozoic volcanic activity in Kyushu is characterized by large-scale volcano-tectonic depressions. The sites of these depressions together with associated volcanism and gold mineralization migrated southeastward in northern Kyushu and eastward in southern Kyushu. Thus, Quaternary gold deposits in Kyushu occur within 30 km west from the present volcanic front; the Pliocene gold deposits occur farther away from the active volcanoes. Typical Quaternary gold mineralization in Kyushu is the quartz vein type with associated adularia and minor calcite. Although host rocks are predominantly andesitic volcanic rocks and sometimes rhyolite and lacustrine sediments, the major portion of high-grade quartz veins of the Hishikari deposit discussed here is hosted in basement sedimentary rocks close to the unconformity between the basement and overlying Quaternary andesites. Five distinct alteration types are recognizable on the basis of mineral assemblages for Quaternary gold deposits. Two are the deeper propylitic alteration and the shallower smectite-zeolite alteration of the widespread and temperature-controlled type; the rest are mica-chlorite alteration, argillic alteration, and siliciflcation of the fracture-controlled type. Most Quaternary and some Pliocene gold deposits in Kyushu are located near small Bouguer anomaly highs in areas of regional gravity anomaly lows. In the case of the youngest deposits the gravity anomaly highs are overlapped by low electrical resistivities. The small gravity anomaly highs have been ascribed to underlying uplifted blocks of basement. The low resistivity anomalies are caused by the presence of argillic alteration of the shallow portion of the mineralized systems.

Abstract The Yamagano deposit represents the third-largest known gold deposit in the Hokusatsu region of southern Kyushu. Its total historical gold production is 28.4 tonne (t) (Society of Resources and Material, 1989), which places it sixth in terms of gold-producing mines in Japan. Gold mineralization in Japan is dominated by low-sulfidation epithermal deposits of which the Yamagano deposit is typical, and like all other deposits of this style (with the exception of Hishikari) it has ceased production.