Orogenic Gold Mineralization in the Dharwar Craton: Current Understanding and the Enigma of Auriferous Fluid Sources

Sakthi Saravanan Chinnasamy; Manash Jyoti Saikia; Debasis Pal; Manju Sati

doi:10.63335/j.hp.2026.0045

Abstract

The Dharwar Craton of southern India hosts one of the most significant Neoarchean gold provinces in the world and contains numerous economically important gold deposits distributed across the Eastern and Western Dharwar Cratons. This review synthesizes geological, structural, metamorphic, geochronological, fluid inclusion, stable isotope, and accessory mineral geochemical data to develop a comprehensive understanding of the genesis of these gold systems and their implications for mineral exploration. Gold mineralization is predominantly localized within brittle–ductile shear zones, higher-order structural splays, and lithological contacts, highlighting the critical role of transcrustal deformation in focusing hydrothermal fluids. Hydrothermal alteration is characterized by pervasive carbonatization, sericitization, chloritization, silicification, sulfidation, and locally tourmalinization, forming consistent alteration halos around mineralized zones. Available geochronological constraints indicate that the principal mineralization event occurred between ca. 2547 and 2510 Ma, broadly synchronous with regional metamorphism, juvenile granitoid magmatism, and late Neoarchean tectonic reworking. Fluid inclusion studies reveal predominantly lowto moderately saline H₂O–CO₂–NaCl ± CH₄ fluids formed under mesothermal conditions, whereas stable isotope compositions (O–H–C–S and Sr) indicate a dominant metamorphic signature with localized magmatic/ juvenile contributions. Gold deposition was primarily facilitated by pressure fluctuations, fluid immiscibility, sulfidation of reactive host rocks, and fluid–rock interaction within active shear systems. Geochemical signatures preserved in accessory minerals, particularly tourmaline, pyrite, and arsenopyrite, further document episodic fluid flow and evolving hydrothermal conditions during ore formation. The temporal overlap between bimodal volcanism, greenstone metamorphism, juvenile granitoid emplacement, and gold mineralization, together with the remarkable consistency of orefluid compositions and isotopic signatures across the craton, supports a mixed fluid-source model in which metamorphic devolatilization supplied the dominant ore fluids while juvenile magmatism contributed heat and locally volatile-rich components. This integrated synthesis reinforces the classification of Dharwar gold deposits as classic Archean orogenic systems and provides a robust mineral systems framework for future exploration targeting and genetic investigations. The combined approach of host/altered rock minerology, geochemistry, and fluid inclusion and stable/radiogenic isotopic studies are useful to propose a holistic model for formation of orogenic gold mineralization in Dharwar Craton and beyond.

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