Regional Tectonic Evolution And Gold Mineralization Of Central Belt In Peninsular Malaysia

Malaysia had become an important gold producing area before the development of the great gold-fields in the world (such as South Africa, Australia and the former Soviet Union), Long before the Portuguese conquered Malacca in1511, Malaysia is known as the "Golden Peninsula". Malaysia has a long history of small-scale gold mining throughout the country, especially in the Central Belt and has very good prospects for gold exploration. According to the different of formation, mineralization and structure, Peninsular Malaysia has traditionally been divided into the three N-S metallogenic belt of the Western belt, the Central belt and the Eastern belt. The Bentong-Raub Suture Zone and Lebir Fault are their boundaries.The main Palaeo-Tethys Ocean opened in the Devonian when the Indochina terranes separated from Gondwana. In late Devonian or Early Carboniferous times, the Indochina Terrane collided with South China and formed an amalgamated super-terrane called "Cathaysialand". Subduction of the Palaeo-Tethys may have begun in the Carboniferous,with evidence for this being abundant volcanics in Carboniferous sediments in eastern Peninsular Malaysia. In late Lower Permian times,the Sibumasu terrane separated from Gondwana.In early Permian and late Permian times, subduction of the Paleo-Tethys beneath the Indochina terrane continued and Sibumasu drifted northward rapidly. Onset of A-type subduction commenced when the Sibumasu terrane collided with the Indochina terrane around the Permian-Triassic boundary. The subduction continued until the late Triassic and formed the Bentong-Raub Suture Zone. This period is a collision orogenic stage, along with a lot of volcanic activity, and with closely related with the central gold mineralization.The Penjom gold mine is located in Pahang in the midwest of Central Belt, and develops a volcanic clastic sedimentary formation. The Sokor gold mine is located in Kelantan in the north of Central Belt, and develops a marine intermediate-acidic volcanic sediment formation. Based on analysis of geological characteristics, they belong to orogenic gold deposit categories.