Geology, mineralization and fluid inclusion studies of the South Ghabaqloujeh gold deposit, southwest Saqqez (Kurdistan)

South Ghabaqloujeh gold deposit is located 7 km southwest of Saqqez in the northwestern part of the Sanandaj–Sirjan zone. The rocks in the deposit area predominantly consist of Precambrian and Cretaceous volcanosedimentary sequences of schist, phyllite and marble which intruded by granitoid bodies. The main gold reservoir in the deposit is hosted inside a lens-shaped granitic body that is intruded along a Northeast - Southwest shear zone. The high-grade gold ores belong to highly deformed mylonitic and ultramylonitic granitoid rocks which associated with quartz, sericite-muscovite, carbonite and sulfide alteration minerals. Ore mineral assemblages of the deposit are simple and consist of pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, magnetite, electrum, bismothinite and sylvanite. Electrum grains with less of than 50 microns in size has been found as intergrowth with quartz, carbonite and biotite and also in the form of inclusion and veinlet in pyrites. Fluid inclusion studies indicate homogenization temperatures between 162 and 255°C and salinity between 0.6 to 17.1 wt% NaCl eq. The study indicates that main characteristics of the geology and mineralization of the South Ghabaqloujeh gold deposit is similar to orogenic gold deposits