A. M. Zhirnov

Agnie-Afanasyevsk gold ore field in Amur River region and West Shandong gold ore field in China with giant deposits in the Tanlu transregional fault

Abstract. The paper describes little-known Agnie-Afanasyevsk and West Shandong gold ore fields localized at the end of the Tanlu transregional fault, at the intersection points with regional faults. The Agnie-Afanasyevsk field is large-sized (70 km2), has a prolific gold deposit partially mined 340 m deep, and a semi-annular fault grid that controls prolific, mined gold placers. The mineralization depth is 500 m as wells prove, the probable one is up to 1 km. The ore field identifies several gold-bearing zones in total length of 7 km, with an average gold content of 3 ppm. Some geologists estimate that gold resources here correspond to average deposit reserves, up to 200 m deep. The West Shandong ore field is localized at the intersection of the northeastern Tanlu fault with the latitudinal fault. By now, there have been explored two giant gold deposits with gold reserves of 1,300 and 1,200 tons 2 km deep. The ore field localization within the same regional fault and in similar fault grids contributes to a high assessment of the Agnie-Afanasyevsk ore field prospects in the Amur River region of Russia and considers it as a potentially giant gold ore object in the region.

Keywords: Asia’s eastern margin, transregional fault, side fault grids, gold ore fields, giant gold resources