Geometry and structural control of gold vein mineralizations in the Seridَ Belt, northeastern Brazil

Gold mineralization in the Seridَ Belt (SB) generally has been associated with Neoproterozoic Brasiliano strike-slip shear zones (D3 event). The study of gold occurrence in the central and western SB has shown that the situation is much more complex. micaschists of the central SB, the relationship among the Brasiliano strike-slip structures (D3), especially of a late retrometamorphic stage and gold mineralization, is evident. However, the investigation of two occurrences in the western domain of the Belt highlights the importance of earlier structures (D2) in controlling the geometry of the ore bodies. le played by the D3 event in the structural control of the gold mineralization is twofold. In the central SB, the mineral occurrences are synchronous and essentially controlled by the steep-dipping D3 structures. In the western domain, the earlier S2 foliation is preserved more in its original flat-lying attitude; this planar heterogeneity was reactivated during D3 and used as a site for gold precipitation.