Mesothermal Lode Gold Deposit Central Belt Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

Malaysia had already established itself as one of the important gold producer long before the development of the great gold-fields such as in South Africa, Australia and USSR (Chu & Singh, 1986; Becher, 1983; Santokh Singh, 1977). Prior to the Portuguese conquest of Malacca in 1511, the country was known as the “Aurea Chesonese” or “Golden Peninsular”. Malaysia has a long history of widespread small-scale gold mining throughout the country, especially in the Central Belt of Peninsular Malaysia and highly potential region for gold mining industry. The Central “Gold” Belt is a 20km wide, a major N-S trend of gold mining districts that shows the important role of hydrothermal fluids in the development of gold in Peninsular Malaysia, especially in the North Pahang and Kelantan area (Ariffin & Hewson, 2007; Yeap, 1993; Lee et al. 1986; Proctor, 1972; Richardson, 1939). The majority of the gold production apparently came from the states of Pahang and Kelantan within the Central Belt (Fig. 1). A study of literatures covering the geology of the Central Belt goldfield shows the important role of hydrothermal fluids in the formation of gold deposits (Yeap, 1993; Lee et al. , 1982 , 1986; Alexander, 1949; Proctor, 1972; Richardson, 1939, 1950; Scrivenor, 1931, 1928, 1911). In Kelantan which is located in the north, gold mineralization typically associated with hydrothermal quartz vein system, skarn and volcanogenic massive sulphides (Teoh, et al., 1987; Chu & Singh, 1986; Chu, 1983). The regional geochemical survey for gold, carried out by Mineral and Geosciences Department of Malaysia over the Central Belt in North Pahang and Kelantan, has defined a 20-km-wide, north–south-trending gold mineralization in the Raub-Kuala Medang-Lipis-Merapoh area in Pahang, including Ulu Sokor-Sungai Sok-Katok Batu-Pulai in Kelantan ( Figs 1 and 2). Gold mineralization in the Central Gold Belt is generally categorized as a low mesothermal lode gold deposit due to its tectonic and geological setting.