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Minerals
Volume 15
Issue 12
10.3390/min15121267
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Article

Genesis of High-Grade Gold Mineralization at the Guocheng Deposit, Jiaodong Peninsula: Constraints from Magnetite Geochemistry

by
Ning-Han Sun
1,
Tao Cui
1,2,*,
Rong-Zhi Zhou
3,
Yu-Ying Li
1,
Qiang Fu
4,
Lian-Yuan Qin
5,
Qian-Jie Deng
1 and
Xu-Feng Wei
6,*
1
State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Frontiers Science Center for Deep-Time Digital Earth, School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
2
Key Laboratory of Gold Mineralization Processes and Resource Utilization Subordinated to the Ministry of Natural Resources, Shandong Key Laboratory of Mineralization Processes and Resources Utilization of Strategic Metal Minerals (Preparatory), Shandong Institute of Geological Sciences, Jinan 250013, China
3
Shandong Gold Geological Mineral Exploration Co., Ltd., Yantai 265147, China
4
State Key Laboratory of Process Automation in Mining & Metallurgy, Beijing Key Laboratory of Process Automation in Mining & Metallurgy, BGRIMM Technology Group, Beijing 100160, China
5
Shandong Yantai Xintai Gold Mining Industry Co., Ltd., Yantai 265147, China
6
Shandong Provincial No. 3 Exploration Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, Yantai 264011, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Minerals 2025, 15(12), 1267; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15121267 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 25 October 2025 / Revised: 20 November 2025 / Accepted: 24 November 2025 / Published: 29 November 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gold–Polymetallic Deposits in Convergent Margins)
Versions Notes

Abstract

The processes responsible for high-grade disseminated gold mineralization remain poorly constrained, hindering effective exploration. This study integrates petrography, BPMA, and LA-ICP-MS analysis of magnetite from marble- and granite-hosted ores with contrasting gold grades, to constrain wall-rock-induced changes in the thermodynamic environment. BPMA results show distinct mineral assemblages: granite-hosted ores are characterized by quartz (52.31%)-K-feldspar (19.65%)-sericite (9.56%)-pyrite (8.36%), whereas marble-hosted ores feature pyrrhotite (33.90%)-chlorite (27.50%)-pyrite (15.22%)-magnetite (1.94%). The closed intergrowths of magnetite with gold and sulfides, along with the magnetite Ga-V (Grant-Vaughan) discrimination diagram, indicate a hydrothermal origin for magnetite formed during the mineralization stage. Geochemical data show that marble-hosted magnetite has lower V and chalcophile element (Co, Ni, Sn, Zn) concentrations than granite-hosted magnetite. Considering the partitioning behavior of these elements in magnetite, these differences indicate magnetite crystallization under increasing oxygen fugacity (fO2) and decreasing sulfur fugacity (fS2). Thermodynamic modeling results demonstrate that these changes in fO2 and fS2 destabilized gold-sulfur complexes in the ore-forming fluid, significantly enhancing gold precipitation efficiency and ultimately leading to the formation of high-grade ores in marble.
Keywords: mineral quantitative analysis; magnetite geochemistry; gold precipitation processes; Guocheng gold deposit; Jiaodong gold province mineral quantitative analysis; magnetite geochemistry; gold precipitation processes; Guocheng gold deposit; Jiaodong gold province

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MDPI and ACS Style

Sun, N.-H.; Cui, T.; Zhou, R.-Z.; Li, Y.-Y.; Fu, Q.; Qin, L.-Y.; Deng, Q.-J.; Wei, X.-F. Genesis of High-Grade Gold Mineralization at the Guocheng Deposit, Jiaodong Peninsula: Constraints from Magnetite Geochemistry. Minerals 2025, 15, 1267. https://doi.org/10.3390/min15121267

AMA Style

Sun N-H, Cui T, Zhou R-Z, Li Y-Y, Fu Q, Qin L-Y, Deng Q-J, Wei X-F. Genesis of High-Grade Gold Mineralization at the Guocheng Deposit, Jiaodong Peninsula: Constraints from Magnetite Geochemistry. Minerals. 2025; 15(12):1267. https://doi.org/10.3390/min15121267

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sun, Ning-Han, Tao Cui, Rong-Zhi Zhou, Yu-Ying Li, Qiang Fu, Lian-Yuan Qin, Qian-Jie Deng, and Xu-Feng Wei. 2025. "Genesis of High-Grade Gold Mineralization at the Guocheng Deposit, Jiaodong Peninsula: Constraints from Magnetite Geochemistry" Minerals 15, no. 12: 1267. https://doi.org/10.3390/min15121267

APA Style

Sun, N.-H., Cui, T., Zhou, R.-Z., Li, Y.-Y., Fu, Q., Qin, L.-Y., Deng, Q.-J., & Wei, X.-F. (2025). Genesis of High-Grade Gold Mineralization at the Guocheng Deposit, Jiaodong Peninsula: Constraints from Magnetite Geochemistry. Minerals, 15(12), 1267. https://doi.org/10.3390/min15121267

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