LAUSR

ABSTRACT The North China Craton contains voluminous gold deposits, which occur within the Northern Margin Gold Belt, the Southern Margin Gold Belt, and the Jiaodong Gold Province. However, relatively little is known of the gold deposits in the E–W-trending Northern Margin Gold Belt, which hosts 66 deposits with total reserves of >1000 tonnes. Based on a systematic summary of the geological features and ages of ore formation, three periods of gold mineralization can be distinguished: Permian–Triassic, Jurassic, and Early Cretaceous. Permian–Triassic gold mineralization occurs mainly as E–W-trending orogenic gold deposits with minor intrusion-related mineralization, formed in a syn- to post-collisional setting associated with closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. The Jurassic gold deposits occur in central and eastern parts of the Northern Margin Gold Belt as intrusion-related gold deposits that formed in a compressional setting associated with subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate. Early Cretaceous gold deposits in the eastern part of the Northern Margin Gold Belt are also intrusion-related, and formed in an extensional setting associated with rollback of the Paleo-Pacific Plate. Graphical abstract