The Salsigne Au-As-Bi-Ag-Cu Deposit, France

Bismuthinite derivatives, lillianite homologues, and bismuth sulfotellurides as indicators of gold mineralization in the Stanos shear-zone related deposit, Chalkidiki, northern Greece

“…It has been recognized that gneiss dome or metamorphic core-complex formation, typically occurring as a product of detachment faulting during regional extension, can provide a favorable environment for orogenic ore formation in high-grade metamorphic rocks (e.g., eastern Asia, French Massif Central, the Kokanee Range of the Canadian Cordillera; Goldfarb et al 2007). In the Variscan belt of western Europe (e.g., Massif Central, France) extensional brittle-ductile shear zones contain gold-bearing sulfide mineralization that is considered to be coeval with ductile deformation during synorogenic extension (Bellot 2004, 2007, Demange et al 2006. The Salsigne mesothermal Au-As-Bi-Cu-Ag deposit, Massif Central, is controlled by ductile to ductilebrittle structures synchronous with movement along shear zones, and includes ore and alteration mineralogy similar to that observed in the Stanos deposit.…”

“…The Salsigne mesothermal Au-As-Bi-Cu-Ag deposit, Massif Central, is controlled by ductile to ductilebrittle structures synchronous with movement along shear zones, and includes ore and alteration mineralogy similar to that observed in the Stanos deposit. According to Demange et al (2006), although there is no obvious connection with any intrusive at least at the level of the deposit, the hydrothermal system at Salsigne was probably associated genetically with late Variscan magmatism when the regime changed from compressional to extensional. Similarly, ore formation in the Austrian Alps was related to late orogenic exhumation by stretching of footwall sequences within the Hohe Tauern metamorphic core complex during the Late Oligocene and Neogene (Horner et al 1997, Putz et al 2003, Neubauer 2005.…”