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The Salu Bullo Mesothermal Gold Deposit in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Conference Paper · September 2016

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Andy Yahya Al Hakim Frank Melcher

Bandung Institute of Technology Montanuniversität Leoben
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GeoTirol 2016 98

THE SALLU BULO MESOTHERMAL GOLD DEPOSIT IN SOUTH SULAWESI, INDONESIA

HAKIM, Andy Yahya Al*; MELCHER, Frank

Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria

andy-yahya.al-hakim@stud.unileoben.ac.at

mesothermal, gold, vein, Latimojong, Lamasi

We describe a mesothermal gold deposit hosted by greenschist facies rocks in the late Cretaceous Latimojong
metamorphic complex. The structural evolution includes the accretion of the Lamasi ophiolite onto sedimentary
sequences by major north-northwest thrusting. At Salu Bullo, four north-south trending ore bodies dipping with
high angle to the east are exposed, with typical quartz-stockwork, breccia and disseminated veins. Mineralized
zones are typically associated with pinch-and-swell vein systems varying in width between <1 and 30 meters,
commonly parallel in fissures along 1.5 km length. Quartz veins and breccias can be observed both in meta-
sediment and meta-volcanic rock. Gold contents are typically elevated in breccia and stockwork zones, in
proximity to impermeable hematite-rich mudstone and silicified rocks.

A number of features discriminate the Sallu Bulo gold prospect from typical mesothermal deposits: (1) veins are
hosted by fine-grained meta-sedimentary and meta-volcanic rocks; (2) high intensity of carbonatization (siderite +
ankerite), chloritization and albitization; (3) mineralization formed through compressional deformation and fault
reactivation; (4) high Au/Ag ratio (8.5:1 to 9:1); (5) formation at moderate temperature. The composition of Fe-rich
chlorite indicates that it formed at a wide range of temperatures, i.e. from 175 to 350°C with Fe/Fe+Mg ratio from
0.26 to 0.38 and Si from 5.69 to 6.24. However, the abundance of a Cu-Ag-As-Sb-(Hg) mineral association is
noteworthy.

Gold occurs (1) primarily as fracture filling within early sulfides and (2) as round cogenetic inclusions within
sulfides, mainly in pyrite. All microscopically visible gold occurs as inclusion or as crack filling rather than as free
grains in quartz. Grain sizes of gold (Au85-88Ag12-15) range from submicroscopic (<2 µm) to 30 µm. In addition,
mineralized veins contain chalcopyrite and fahlore assemblages, often associated with covellite, galena, sphalerite
and marcasite. A Cu-Ag-As-Sb-(Hg) mineral association comprising tetrahedrite, luzonite/famatinite and
argentite/acanthite, is frequently associated with gold-bearing veins. Mercury is present as a minor element in
tetrahedrite intergrown with chalcopyrite and pyrite; some samples carry mercurian tetrahedrite with up to 17.28 wt
% Hg. On the basis of ore relationships, it is suggested that early ore minerals (pyrite) and gold were mantled by a
later assemblage of Cu-Ag-As-Sb-(Hg) minerals.

C5: From ore to metal: mineralogy and petrology of ore deposits Talk

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