Saqez–Sardasht Goldfield, North Sanandaj‐Sirjan Zone, Iran: A Tectono‐Metallogenic Synthesis

Abstract

The Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone (SSZ), as the metamorphic-magmatic core of the Zagros Orogen in southwestern Iran, contains several styles of gold deposit of Phanerozoic age. The northern SSZ includes an ENE-trending goldfield belt. This area that encompasses the main orogenic gold deposits, e.g., Qolqoleh, Kervian, Qabaqhlujeh, and the Barika VMS goldfield, was chosen for this research to study the spatial and temporal relationships between gold mineralization and orogenic phases. Regarding the rock unit variations, metamorphism, magmatism and the settings of the structures, the study area is divided into four distinct tectonic blocks, separated by three main NW-trending thrust faults (suture lines) including, from NE to SW, the Tamugheh, the Ebrahim Hesar and the Zagros main thrust (ZMT) faults. The area between the Tamugheh and Ebrahim Hesar faults is a tectonized/uplifted basement of accretionary wedge-originated thrust slivers, hosting the above orogenic gold mineralizations. The other area between the here termed Ebrahim Hesar fault and the ZMT is an island-arc basin, proposed here as the Sardasht-Barika zone, including the only recognized massive sulfide gold district all over the SSZ, named Barika. The Barika goldfield was metamorphosed, deformed and enriched due to the islandarc collision to the Arabian continent, before the closure of Neotethys on the eastern flank.