Controls on mineralisation and tectonic development of the central part of the northern Yilgarn Craton

Summary

The northern central Yilgarn Craton comprises greenstones formed during two phases of tectonothermal activity at 2.95 Ga and 2.7 Ga.

Greenstones deposited at 2.9 Ga were laid down in ensialic rifts associated with continental extension caused by either mantle plume impact and decompression melting of the lower crust, or subduction at a destructive Archaean plate margin.

Later greenstones (2.7 Ga) were deposited by similar mechanisms, with the thickest sequences deposited in the Norseman-Wiluna Belt.

Multiple deformation has affected both greenstone sequences, and was accompanied by extensive granitoid plutonism.

Keystones: VHMS mineralisation, gold mineralisation, tectonic development, greenstones