Characteristics of a low-sulfidation epithermal deposit in the River Reef Zone and the Watuputih Hill, the Poboya gold prospect, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia: Host rocks and hydrothermal alteration

Abstract

Systematic exploration has delineated significant gold mineralization in the River Reef Zone and the presence of a siliceous body at Watuputih Hill, which is a Poboya gold prospect in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The mineralization is hosted within the Palu Metamorphic Complex. The host rocks consist of granite, biotite gneiss, and biotite schist, which is intercalated by feldspar porphyroblastic biotite schist and amphibolitic schist. The X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis of the granite and biotite gneiss suggests that the granitic rocks can be characterized as magnesian arc calcalkaline rocks, with a weakly peraluminous composition. Alteration minerals were analyzed by a combination of petrographic and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In the River Reef Zone, the hydrothermal alteration zones can be sorted by their proximity to the primary fluid conduit and divided into inner, high-T, and low-T propylitic zones. In Watuputih Hill, the hydrothermal alteration can be divided into advanced argillic and argillic zones. The hydrothermal alteration assemblages indicated that the fluid was at a near-neutral pH in the River Reef Zone, whereas the fluid was acidic within Watuputih Hill. Because the hill is relatively distant from the River Reef Zone, the presence of these zones at Watuputih Hill may be indicative of another mineralization system beneath the hill.