Abstract Some of the world’s largest and highest grade alkalic porphyry Au-Cu-(Mo) deposits and related epithermal Au deposits occur in the southwest Pacific. Alkalic deposits of this region share many geologic similarities in their environments of formation. Source magmas are highly oxidized and alkali rich, being derived from enriched mantle sources that were previously modified by subduction processes. The more Cu rich systems formed by high K calc-alkalic and alkalic magmatism are typically located along the main magmatic arc. These subduction-related fluids and mantle-sourced mafic magmas evolve in an environment associated with a thickened crust. In contrast, more Au rich systems appear to be associated with rifting of oceanic crust in back-arc settings. Here, primitive mantle-derived magmas evolve in upper crustal magma bodies to form Au- and PGE- rich alkalic porphyry and epithermal deposits. The gold-rich alkalic porphyry and epithermal deposits formed in and along the margin of sedimentary basins that were intruded by alkalic dikes and stocks. In the largest example (Cadia East), deep mineralization is hosted by sheeted quartz-sulfide veins associated with potassic alteration, while near-surface mineralization is disseminated in both permeable clastic units and quartz-sulfide veins. Potassic alteration grades laterally into proximal, hematite-bearing propylitic alteration, and transitions upward from deep K-feldspar to shallow biotite-tourmaline. The shallow biotite alteration domain is overprinted by a complex, late-stage assemblage of pervasive K-feldsparalbite-sericite-pyrite, and structurally focused sericite-pyrite. In the alkalic epithermal environment, near-surface K-feldspar-quartz-carbonate-anhydrite (± sericite) alteration associated with epithermal Au-Ag mineralization occurs in and around dikes, fault intersections, and along extensive low-angle faults. Catrastrophic failure of the overlying volcanic edifice has the potential to cause superposition of alkalic epithermal mineralization onto porphyry deposits. Given their potential to form in a back-arc setting, alkalic porphyry deposits are considered more likely to be preserved in the ancient rock record than their calc-alkalic counterparts, due to burial in the sedimentary basins in which they form. Thus, areas of fragmented intraoceanic arc terranes within orogenic belts should be considered prospective for Au-rich alkalic porphyry deposits like those found in the southwest Pacific, particularly when they occur in regions overlain by postmineralization sedimentary and/or volcanic cover. Alkalic epithermal deposits offer more challenging exploration targets, as they are likely to be exhumed and eroded soon after their formation, unless a tectonic switch causes burial before any significant erosion occurs.

Abstract Alkaline igneous rock-related gold deposits, primarily of Mesozoic to Neogene age, are among the largest epithermal gold deposits in the world. These deposits are a subset of low-sulfidation epithermal deposits and are spatially and genetically linked to small stocks or clusters of intrusions possessing high alkali-element contents. Critical-, near-critical, or energy-critical elements associated with these deposits are F, platinum-group elements (PGEs), rare earth elements (REEs), Te, V, and W. Fluorine and tungsten have been locally recovered in the past, and some other elements could be considered as future by-products depending on trends in demand and supply. The Jamestown district in Boulder County, Colorado, historically produced F from large lenticular fluoritebearing breccia bodies and Au-Te veins in and adjacent to the Jamestown monzonite stock. Several hundred thousand metric tons (t) of fluorspar were produced. Some alkalic epithermal gold deposits contain tungstenbearing minerals, such as scheelite, ferberite, or wolframite. Small tungsten orebodies adjacent to and/or overlapping the belt of Au telluride epithermal deposits in Boulder County were mined historically, but it is unclear in all cases how the tungsten mineralization is related genetically to the Au-Te stage. Micron-sized gold within deposits in the Ortiz Mountains in New Mexico contain scheelite but no record of tungsten production from these deposits exists. The most common critical element in alkaline igneous-rock related gold deposits is tellurium, which is enriched (>0.5%) in many deposits and could be considered a future commodity as global demand increases and if developments are made in the processing of Au-Te ores. It occurs as precious metal telluride minerals, although native Te and tetradymite (Bi2Te2S) have been reported in a few localities. Assuming that the Dashigou and adjacent Majiagou deposits in Sichuan province, China, are correctly classified as alkalic-related epithermal gold deposits (exact origin remains unclear), they represent the only primary producers of Te (as tetradymite) from this deposit type. It is worth noting that some epithermal veins (and spatially or genetically related porphyry deposits) contain high contents of Pt or Pd, or both. The Mount Milligan deposit typically contains >100 ppb Pd, and some values exceed 1,000 ppb. However, owing to the presence of other large known PGE resources in deposits in which PGEs are the primary commodities, it is unlikely that alkaline-related epithermal gold deposits will become a major source of PGEs. Similarly, many epithermal gold deposits related to alkaline rocks have high vanadium contents, but are unlikely to be considered vanadium resources in the future. Roscoelite (V-rich mica) is a characteristic mineral of alkalic-related epithermal deposits and is particularly abundant in deposits in Fiji where it occurs with other V-rich minerals, such as karelianite, Ti-free nolanite, vanadium rutile, schreyerite, and an unnamed vanadium silicate. A few alkaline intrusive complexes that contain anomalous concentrations of gold or were prospected for gold in the past are also host to REE occurrences.The best examples are the Bear Lodge Mountains in Wyoming and Cu-REE-F (±Ag, Au) vein deposits in the Gallinas Mountains in New Mexico, which have REE contents ranging up to 5.6% in addition to anomalous Au.