Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37 – 80

www.elsevier.com/locate/oregeorev

Ore controls in the Charters Towers goldfield, NE Australia:

Constraints from geological, geophysical and numerical analyses
O.P. Kreuzer a,b,⁎, T.G. Blenkinsop b , R.J. Morrison c , S.G. Peters d
a
Centre for Exploration Targeting (M006), School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, The University of Western Australia,
35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
b
Economic Geology Research Unit, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
c
Citigold Corporation Ltd, PO Box 414, Charters Towers, QLD 4820, Australia
d
United States Geological Survey, Reston, VA 20192, United States

Received 8 May 2006; accepted 23 November 2006

Available online 1 February 2007

Abstract

The approach taken in this paper, namely synthesising a wealth of previous information with new data and a genetic model, in
combination with integrated numerical analyses, led to new insights into the geological controls on the localisation of auriferous
veins and residual prospectivity of the Charters Towers goldfield, NE Australia. The method also has implications for the
assessment of other “mature” goldfields worldwide.
Despite a number of different ore controls having operated within the Charters Towers goldfield, the controlling factors can be
linked to a single genetic model for orogenic, granitoid-hosted lode-gold mineralisation in a brittle deformation regime (D4) of NE–
SW to NNE–SSW shortening, under conditions of supralithostatic fluid pressure and low stress difference. Spatial autocorrelation
results suggest district-scale alignment of the auriferous veins parallel to and overlapping with the ESE–WNW- to E–W-striking
Charters Towers–Ravenswood lineament, a major crustal boundary in the basement to the Ravenswood batholith. At the camp-
scale, auriferous veins have abundance and proximity relationships with NW–SE-, NNW–SSE-, NE–SW- and ENE–WSW-
oriented lineaments, suggesting that structures that controlled gold deposition in one camp did not necessarily control
mineralisation in other camps. Fractal dimensions obtained with the box-counting method range from 1.02 to 1.10, whereas veins
in the Charters Towers City camp are characterised by a significantly higher fractal dimension of 1.28. This discrepancy may be
taken to imply that most or all outcropping and near-surface deposits within the Charters Towers City camp have been found and
that new discoveries are more likely to occur at greater levels of depth, or outside the boundaries of this camp.
The new understanding has implications for the assessment of the residual prospectivity of the Charters Towers goldfield, where
large areas of prospective rock types and structures (e.g., approximately 40% of the Charters Towers–Ravenswood lineament) are
hidden under cover. This parameter space was inaccessible to the historic prospectors and has received relatively little attention
from recent explorers. The following steps are suggested for the development of a targeting strategy for lode-gold exploration in
areas of the goldfield under cover: (1) identify from geological and geophysical data the ENE–WSW (±15°) and NNW–SSE
(± 15°) striking structures and geological boundaries within a 20-km-wide corridor parallel to and centred upon the Charters
Towers–Ravenswood lineament, the potential control on gold deposit distribution at the regional- to district-scale, (2) interpret
from geological and geophysical data the distribution of pre-Middle Devonian granitoids within these areas that are the preferred
host rocks of the payable gold deposits, (3) deduce from geophysical data the ENE–WSW (±15°) and NNW–SSE (± 15°) striking
structures that cut or bound the intrusions identified in step 2, (4) locate segments along the structures identified in step 3 that

⁎ Corresponding author. Centre for Exploration Targeting (M006), School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, The University of Western Australia,
35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. Tel.: +61 8 6488 5807; fax: +61 8 6488 1178.
E-mail address: okreuzer@cyllene.uwa.edu.au (O.P. Kreuzer).

0169-1368/$ - see front matter © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.oregeorev.2006.12.001
38 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
deviate most from the geometry of a straight line (e.g., potential bends or splays) and/or intersect other structures or geological
contacts, or both, and (5) define and rank potential targets within the prospective areas identified in step 4 and systematically test
the best ones.
© 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Charters Towers; Intrusion-hosted; Lode-gold; Ore controls; Fractal analysis; Spatial autocorrelation; Prospectivity
1. Introduction
The Charters Towers goldfield in north Queensland,
Australia, includes hundreds of auriferous quartz-sulfide
veins (Hartley and Dash, 1993) (see Appendix A for
Australian map grid coordinates of lode-gold deposits
and occurrences), mainly hosted by Early Ordovician to
Early Devonian granitoids of the Ravenswood batholith,
northern Tasman orogen (Figs. 1 and 2). Crosscutting
relationships (e.g., Peters, 1987a,b; Hutton and Rienks,
1997), structural information (e.g., Kreuzer, 2004) and
isotopic age data (Morrison, 1988; Perkins and
Kennedy, 1998; Kreuzer, 2005) indicate that veins of
the Charters Towers goldfield formed during a single
episode of gold mineralisation between Late Silurian
and Early Devonian times, coincident with D4 of
intrusions of the Ravenswood batholith.
Between 1872 and 1920, the Charters Towers
goldfield produced in excess of 6.6 million ounces
(Moz) at a high average ore grade of 34 g/t Au, achieved
through selective mining and hand sorting. The veins
also yielded more than 1 Moz Ag, 3700 t Pb and 1000 t
Cu metal (Levingston, 1972). Approximately two-thirds
of the gold were extracted from two large (Brilliant
∼ 2.1 Moz Au; Day Dawn-Mexican ∼ 1.6 Moz Au) and
two medium-sized (Queen-Sunburst ∼0.19 Moz Au;
Victory-Papuan ∼0.17 Moz Au) deposits, hosted by
contiguous fracture systems (Reid, 1917; Blatchford,
1953; Levingston, 1972; Fig. 3 and Table 1).
Most exploration campaigns in the Charters Towers
goldfield since 1960 mainly focused on searching for
extensions to, and repetitions of, known lode-gold
deposits and testing of gold occurrences in areas of
outcrop (Hartley and Dash, 1993; Hutton et al., 1997;
Kreuzer and Alston, 2004). However, except for small- to
medium-sized resources, such as those at Black Jack,
Disraeli, Great Britain, Hadleigh Castle, Stockholm and
Warrior East (Kay, 1993; Hutton et al., 1997; Hodkinson,
1998), no new lode-gold deposits N 0.25 Moz have been
found since the discovery of the Day-Dawn Mexican and
Brilliant reefs in 1879 and 1889, respectively. Regional
exploration in areas of cover has been limited to a single
programme of shallow pattern drilling (grid size approx-
imately 800 m) by Normandy Exploration, targeting
porphyry-style mineralisation similar to the Permo-
Carboniferous Mt Leyshon deposit (e.g., Scott and van
Eck, 2003).
The lack of exploration success earned Charters Towers
a reputation as a mature goldfield of poor prospectivity.
However, rather than an absence of additional gold
deposits, Kreuzer and Alston (2004) argued that the dearth
of discovery may be linked to the lack of systematic
exploration in areas away from the known gold deposits
and occurrences and the scarcity of exploratory drill holes
with greater than 100 m down-hole depth (Fig. 4). The
potential for additional deposits to be discovered away
from the known gold occurrences might be considerable,
given that large areas of the Ravenswood batholith are
poorly exposed, deeply weathered or under Tertiary to
Quaternary cover. These areas have not been adequately
explored (Kreuzer and Alston, 2004), even though
previous interpretations of high-resolution geophysical
data (Isles, 1994; King, 1998) indicate that prospective
rock types and structures are present. Effective exploration
targeting under cover requires an understanding of the
controls on the location and size of gold deposit formation
at the mine to regional scale (e.g., McCuaig and Hronsky,
2000; Hronsky, 2004), which, at present, are poorly
constrained for Charters Towers.
The aim of the current study is to investigate the
auriferous veins of the Charters Towers goldfield and their
host rocks at the mine to regional scale, integrating (1) the
outcomes of previous studies (e.g., Peters, 1987a,b, 1990,
1993a,b; Peters and Golding, 1989; Hartley et al., 1989;
Hartley and Dash, 1993; Hartley, 1996; Hutton and Rienks,
1997; Hutton et al., 1997; Hodkinson, 1998; Dominy et al.,
1999; Raine, 2001; Kreuzer, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006;
Kreuzer and Alston, 2004; Kreuzer et al., 2002; Morrison
et al., 2004), and (2) the extensive collective research and
exploration experience of the authors in the Charters
Towers goldfield with (3) new information from detailed
field and mine mapping, drill core logging, geophysical
image interpretation, spatial autocorrelation and fractal
analysis. These data are herein used to better define the
controls on gold deposition at the mine- to regional-scale,
and to develop a new conceptual targeting model to help
stimulate exploration of areas where prospective rock types
and structures are under cover.
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
Fig. 1. (A) Simplified map of the Tasman orogen, eastern Australia,
showing major subdivisions (modified after Scheibner and Veevers,
2000). (B) Tectonic elements of north Queensland (modified from Hutton
et al., 1997; Scheibner and Veevers, 2000). B also illustrates the outcrop
and inferred subsurface distribution of Ordovician to Devonian intrusions
and location of Late Silurian to Early Devonian goldfields in north
Queensland.
39
2. Methodology
2.1. Geophysical surveys
New and previous geophysical image interpretations
(Isles, 1994; King, 1998), presented in this study,
utilized the following magnetic and gravity datasets:
(1) A ground magnetic survey by Terra Search Pty
Ltd covering the area surrounding the Hadleigh
Castle mine.
(2) High-resolution reduced-to-pole total magnetic
intensity (TMI), and first and second vertical
derivative (FVD, SVD) images of the Charters
Towers area that were generated from an aero-
magnetic survey commissioned by Charters
Towers Gold Mines Ltd (now Citigold Corporation
Ltd). The survey was flown in 1999 and 2000 by
UTS Geophysics, employing state-of-the-art
equipment. Line spacing was 50 m and flying
height 50 m over the detailed survey areas. Tie line
spacing was 500 m. Flight height had to be
increased to 300 m over built-up areas and where
landholders did not agree. The total survey length
was 4110 line-km.
(3) A mosaic of reduced-to-pole TMI, FVD and
first horizontal derivative (FHD) images cover-
ing the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane that were
produced by Normandy Exploration Ltd (ac-
quired by Newmont Mining Corporation in
2002) from open file and proprietary aeromag-
netic surveys with line spacings generally
between 200 and 300 m. These images formed
the basis of interpretations by Isles (1994) and
King (1998).
(4) A Bouguer gravity anomaly map (based on density
2600 kg/m3) of part of the Lolworth–Ravenswood
terrane, generated from a survey commissioned by
Normandy Exploration Ltd (acquired by Newmont
Mining Corporation in 2002).
2.2. Spatial autocorrelation
Spatial autocorrelation, also known as Fry analysis
(after Fry, 1979), was originally developed as a method
for measuring strain from patterns of objects in rocks that
initially showed a random distribution. The technique of
spatial autocorrelation of point data employs a method of
recording the distance and bearing from each point of a
particular dataset to every other point. For n points there
are n2–n spatial relationships (translations) that can be
illustrated in graphs (Fry or translations plots) and rose
 40
O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
Fig. 2. Simplified geological map of the central and western parts of the Ravenswood batholith, showing the locations of lode-gold deposits known or inferred to be of Late Silurian to Early Devonian
age and structural interpretation of the area based on geological mapping and geophysical image interpretation. Numbers refer to frequently quoted structures. Geology after Hutton and Rienks (1997);
structures and lineaments based on unpublished interpretations of geophysical data by Isles (D. Isles, Gravity Diamonds Ltd) and King (S. King, Solid Geology Ltd) and Peters (1987a), Hartley et al.
(1989) and Kreuzer (2003); gold deposit locations based on Hutton and Rienks (1997) and unpublished data by Morrison (G.W. Morrison, Klondike Exploration Services). Grid is Australian map grid
(AMG).
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80 41

Fig. 3. (A) Production history of the Charters Towers goldfield over the period 1872 to 1920. (B) Contained-ounces-of-gold diagram for 35 well-
documented deposits of the Charters Towers goldfield, including the eight richest ones (i.e., 80,000 to 2,100,000 oz Au). Data source: Table 1.

diagrams (Fry, 1979; Lagarde et al., 1990; Vearncombe
and Vearncombe, 1999).
Our approach followed a method similar to that of
Vearncombe and Vearncombe (1999), who demonstrat-
ed the applicability of spatial autocorrelation to the
analysis of distribution patterns of ore deposits. Fry
analysis was carried out, using the spatial autocorrela-
tion software FryPlot (developed by T.G. Blenkinsop).
Translations plots produced with FryPlot have no
geographic reference. Hence, only directions and
spacings of alignment of gold deposits and occurrences
can be described, and alignments can be compared to
structures of similar orientation.
2.3. Fractal analysis
Fractal geometry describes the shapes of irregular
objects (e.g., coastlines, clouds, mountains) that
cannot be adequately described by Euclidean geom-
etry. These irregular objects, know as fractals (fractus:
Latin for broken, interrupted or irregular), are
essentially self-similar at all scales, meaning that any
piece of the fractal design contains a miniature of the
entire design (e.g., Mandelbrot, 1967, 1983; Turcotte,
1992). The fractal dimension (D) describes the degree
of irregularity of a fractal, which is bound from below
by the topological dimension and from above by the
42 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80

Table 1 of squares N(r) of size r, required to cover all gold

Orientation, strike length and minimum gold content of well-documented deposits is measured as a function of r:
deposits
Orientation Deposit Production Strike length
N ðrÞ / r−D ð1Þ
(i.e., vein system) (oz Au) (m)
WNW–ESE to Brilliant 2,100,000 1600 where the fractal dimension, D, is:
ENE–WSW Captain 260 550
Clarks 14,000 365
DN ðrÞ
Moonstone −D ¼ ð2Þ
Day Dawn- 1,400,000 2400 Dr
Mexican
Florence 4200 700 The version of the fractal analysis software Boxcount
Hadleigh Castle a 239,000 250
(developed by T.G. Blenkinsop) that was used in this
Madelaine 110 205
Moonstone 13,000 270 study is limited to two-dimensional spatial analysis of
Stockholm 81,000 150 outcropping and near-surface deposits. Hence, the
Union 4400 125 results of this study have no bearing on the assessment
Warrior 4400 20 of the discovery potential of extensions to known gold
Wellington 36,000 300
deposits at depth.
N–S to Black Jack 19,000 250
NNW–SSE Columbia 32,000 300
John Bull 41,000 450 2.4. Gold deposit and occurrence database
Just in Time 27,000 650
Lady Maria 56,000 750 Spatial autocorrelation and fractal analysis of veins
Maude St Ledger 3,300 400
of the Charters Towers goldfield via FryPlot and
Moonstone Cross 14,000 122
North Australian 25,000 450 Boxcount software required data input as XY coordi-
Old Queen Cross 37,000 400 nates, taken from mineral occurrence databases (see
Rainbow- 80,000 335 Appendix A) covering the Charters Towers (Hartley and
Wyndham Dash, 1993) and Ravenswood (Hartley, 1996)
St George 20,000 250
1:100,000 map sheets. These databases include Austra-
Victory 165,000 250
NE–SW Bonnie Doon 1100 61 lian map grid coordinates for most mineral occurrences
Identity 43,000 750 within the Charters Towers and Ravenswood areas
Imperial 15,000 150 gathered from field investigations and maps and reports
Queen b 185,000 1400 dating from the last century to the present. Grid
Ruby 24,000 180
NW–SE Cumberland 5000 70
coordinates given in the Charters Towers and Ravens-
Golden 28,000 650 wood mineral occurrence databases generally represent
Alexandra the surface projection of the “centre of gravity” of the
Great Britain 3000 120 recorded mineral occurrences (e.g., location of the
Swedenborg 10,500 400 deepest shaft or widest vein section along a particular
St Patrick 85,000 305
vein). Data accuracy ranges from ± 20 to ± 50 m given
Welcome 4000 700
a
that hand-held global positioning system instruments
Cummulative production for the period 1874 to 2004 (B. Duck,
were not available for field use in Australia at the time of
SMC Gold Ltd, written comm.); all other data taken from: Reid (1917)
and Levingston (1972). data collection (J.S. Hartley, written comm., 2005).
b
Includes the Sunburst (∼ 16,000 oz Au) and Golden Gate
(∼ 45,000 oz Au) deposits. 3. Geological framework

3.1. Regional and district geological setting

Euclidean dimension (e.g., Ledesert et al., 1993;
Karcz and Scholz, 2003).
The box-counting method (e.g., Turcotte, 1992) was
used to measure the degree of clustering of lode-gold
deposits and occurrences within the Charters Towers
goldfield, following the approaches of Carlson (1991),
Blenkinsop (1994, 1995) and Blenkinsop and Sander-
son (1999). In the box-counting technique, the number
Veins of the Charters Towers goldfield are mainly
hosted by intrusions of the Ravenswood batholith, a
composite plutonic mass in the eastern portion of the
Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane of the Thomson fold
belt, northern Tasman orogen (Figs. 1 and 2).
The Tasman orogen (Fig. 1A) of eastern Australia
is subdivided into five fold belts, representing the
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
Fig. 4. Map of the distribution of mineral occurrences (gold and base metals) in the Charters Towers district, also showing mines (gold and base metals) and locations of drill holes N100 m down-hole
depth as of May 2004 (modified from Kreuzer and Alston, 2004).

43
44 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
successive, generally westward-directed subduction and
accretion of Neoproterozoic to Triassic terranes to the
Precambrian Gawler and North Australian cratons.
Important stages of deformation and magmatism in the
evolution of the Tasmanides include: the Late Cambrian
Delamerian orogeny, the Late Ordovician to Early
Silurian Benambran orogeny, the Early Devonian
Bowning-Bindi orogeny, the Middle Devonian Tabber-
abberan orogeny, the Middle Carboniferous Kanimblan
orogeny, and the Late Permian to Middle Triassic New
England orogenies. Metamorphic grades are generally
low across the Tasman orogen, with most rocks at
subgreenschist to greenschist conditions (e.g., Coney
et al., 1990; Walshe et al., 1995; Wellman, 1995;
Solomon and Groves, 2000; Scheibner and Veevers,
2000; Gray and Foster, 2005; Glen, 2005).
The Lolworth–Ravenswood Terrane (e.g., Hutton et al.,
1997; Scheibner and Veevers, 2000; Fig. 1B), although
commonly assigned to the poorly exposed Thomson fold
belt (e.g., Murray and Kirkegaard, 1978; Murray, 1986) of
the northern Tasman orogen, is characterised by ENE–
WSW-striking structures that are perpendicular to the
dominant NNW–SSE structure recorded elsewhere in the
Thomson fold belt (e.g., Henderson, 1986; Wellman,
1995; McElhinny et al., 2003). Major Early to Middle
Palaeozoic elements of the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane
include the following:
(1) Meta-igneous and metasedimentary rocks of
greenschist- to amphibolite-grade, such as those
of the Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian Argen-
tine, Cape River, Charters Towers and Running
River Metamorphics. Geological and geochemi-
cal data are consistent with deposition of the
precursor rocks to these metamorphic rocks in a
rifted continental margin environment, possibly
related to the break-up of the supercontinent
Rodinia (Hutton et al., 1997; Withnall et al.,
1997).
(2) An E–W-striking belt of greenschist or lower-
grade marine volcanic and clastic sedimentary
rocks known as the Seventy Mile Range Group.
Stratigraphic and geochemical data indicate that
the tectonic setting of the Late Cambrian to Early
Ordovician Seventy Mile Range Group was that
of an extensional back-arc (Henderson, 1986;
Berry et al., 1992; Stolz, 1995).
(3) Greenschist or lower-grade intrusive rocks of
Early to Middle Ordovician and Middle Silurian
to Middle Devonian age forming three large
plutonic rock masses. From west to east, these are
the Reedy Springs, Lolworth, and Ravenswood
batholiths (Hutton et al., 1997; Hutton and
Rienks, 1997). A magmatic arc setting is implied
by (A) at least some Early Ordovician intrusions
are co-magmatic with arc lavas of the Seventy
Mile Range Group (Hutton and Rienks, 1997),
(B) the common continental magmatic-arc geo-
chemical signature of mafic intrusions of the
Ravenswood batholith (Hutton and Crouch,
1993), (C) the trace element and calc-alkaline
major-element geochemistry of granitoids of the
Ravenswood batholith (Hutton and Crouch,
1993), and (D) the batholiths forming part of a
linear, over 700-km-long belt of Middle Silurian
to Middle Devonian intrusions that is subparallel
to the eastern margin of the North Australian
craton (Withnall et al., 1997).
3.2. Local geology
Intrusions of the Ravenswood batholith (Fig. 2) are
mainly oxidised (magnetite-series), biotite- and horn-
blende-bearing I-type granitoids (Richards, 1980; Hutton
and Rienks, 1997; Hutton et al., 1997). Based on field
and petrological observations, and geochemical and
geophysical data, the intrusive history of the Ravens-
wood batholith has been divided into three major
episodes of magmatic activity: (1) mainly granitic,
Early to Middle Ordovician intrusions (490 ± 6 Ma to
463 ± 3 Ma) that were subsequently strained or recrys-
tallised (Tenison-Woods and Rienks, 1992; Hutton and
Rienks, 1997), (2) Middle Silurian to Middle Devonian
plutons (426 ±4 Ma to 382 ± 5 Ma) that are typically
hornblende- and biotite-bearing granodiorites and tona-
lites, making up 60% of the surface area of the
Ravenswood batholith, and (3) Late Carboniferous to
Early Permian plutonic and volcanic rocks (311 ± 3 to
283 ± 9 Ma) that are less voluminous (≤6% of the surface
area), cropping out primarily in the eastern and
southeastern Ravenswood batholith (Hutton and Rienks,
1997; Hutton et al., 1997).
The basement to the intrusions is composite (Fig. 2).
To the south, it consists mainly of greenschist or lower-
grade volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Cambrian
to Ordovician Seventy Mile Range Group and the Kirk
River Beds (Henderson, 1986; Berry et al., 1992; Hutton
et al., 1997). To the north, the basement is dominated by
greenschist to amphibolite-grade metasedimentary
rocks of the Neoproterozoic or Early Cambrian Charters
Towers Metamorphics. Meta-igneous rocks, such as the
Bucklands Hill diorite, occur as dykes and sills that
intruded the Charters Towers Metamorphics during the
Middle Cambrian (Hutton and Rienks, 1997).
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
A study by Hutton (2004) on the geochemistry,
isotopic characteristics and zircon populations of
granitoids in the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane indi-
cates that source rocks to intrusions of the Ravenswood
batholith are of Late Mesoproterozoic age (1.0 to
1.2 Ga), and, thus, older than the Neoproterozoic to
Early Cambrian basement to the Ravenswood batholith.
Hutton (2004) also suggests that this Grenvillian-age
source is unique to the Ravenswood batholith. The
Lolworth and Reedy Springs batholiths in the western
part of the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane are thought to
be underlain by crust that is similar to that exposed in the
Georgetown Inlier (Fig. 1B). The Grenvillian-age crust
underneath the Ravenswood batholith appears to be
unique and may be a remnant basement block that has
been removed during the Neoproterozoic break-up of
Rodinia or a Late Mesoproterozoic mobile belt on the
flank of the North Australian craton (Hutton, 2004).
Magnetic and gravity data imply that intrusions of the
Ravenswood batholith continue under Cenozoic cover,
forming an approximately 100-km-wide, WNW–ESE-
striking belt of plutons. These were intruded by the
Lolworth batholith, and are bounded to the north by the
Clarke River fault and to the south by the Cape River
Metamorphics (Hutton et al., 1997). Gravity modelling
by Stockill and Hutton (1991) suggests that the Ravens-
wood batholith is a 5 to 6 km thick tabular body that is
exposed at or close to its roof zone (Hutton and Rienks,
1997).
3.3. Deformation history of the Ravenswood batholith
The Early to Middle Palaeozoic deformation history
of the Ravenswood batholith (Fig. 2) has been
previously described by Reid (1917), Peters (1987a,b,
1990), Hutton and Rienks (1997), Hutton et al. (1997)
and Kreuzer (2003, 2004). A summary is given below.
The first deformation (D1), recorded in pre-Middle
Silurian rocks only, produced ∼ E–W- and less common
NW–SE-striking shear zones. The largest of these
zones, the E–W-striking, anastomosing Alex Hill
shear zone (Fig. 2), is at least 50 km long and up to
2 km wide. Mylonitic rocks within the Alex Hill shear
zone are characterised by a dominantly sinistral S–C
fabric and gently E-plunging mineral stretching linea-
tion, implying sinistral strike-slip movement at the time
of the D1 deformation event. The NW–SE-striking D1
structures have steeply plunging stretching lineations,
which were taken by Hutton et al. (1997) to imply
reverse movement. Field and petrological relations
suggest that D1 was linked to NE–SW- to N–S-
orientated shortening.
45
The second deformation event (D2) produced
mylonitic, NW–SE- and NE–SW-striking shear zones,
cutting pre-Middle Silurian rocks and D1 structures
(including S1 fabric deflections by D2 structures). S–C
fabrics (S2) preserved in the NW–SE-striking Weir Hill
shear zone (Fig. 2), characterised by a gently SE-
plunging stretching lineation, and similar shear zones
south of Charters Towers imply dextral senses of shear,
whereas S2 fabrics preserved by NE–SW-striking shear
zones are suggestive of sinistral movement. Given these
relationships, the D2 deformation event may have been
linked to ∼ N–S-directed regional shortening sometime
after D1 and prior to the Middle Silurian.
Middle to Late Silurian extension (D3) was linked to
either broad doming across the Ravenswood batholith or
extension along a N–S or NE–SW axis. Such a regime is
inferred from pluton emplacement into graben structures
and clusters of NW–SE to N–S- and NE–SW-striking
swarms of mafic dykes (e.g., Middle Silurian dykes at
Charters Towers and Hadleigh Castle), implying
injection of mantle-derived magma into the crust.
The fourth deformation (D4) was characterised by
brittle deformation and reactivation of earlier structures
and coincided with the formation of the Late Silurian to
Early Devonian veins of the Charters Towers goldfield,
mainly hosted by fractures and low-displacement
(commonly b1.5 m) faults. Subhorizontal extension
veins, hydraulic breccia, fault separations, fault striations
and graphical analysis of fault slip data suggest that gold
deposition occurred in a regime of NE–SW to NNE–
SSW shortening, under conditions of supralithostatic
fluid pressure and low stress difference (cf. Etheridge,
1983; Cox et al., 1991). The proposed timing of D4 of the
Ravenswood batholith corresponds well with the timing
of deformation (e.g., Seventy Mile Range Group: Berry
et al., 1992; Hodgkinson-Broken River fold belt:
Hammond, 1986; Withnall and Lang, 1993) and gold
mineralisation (e.g., Bain et al., 1998) in other parts of
North Queensland (Fig. 5). Later deformations had little
effect on the pre-Middle Devonian rocks and vein
systems. Reverse and normal separations of veins in
workings at Charters Towers and Hadleigh Castle
commonly range between 0.1 and 1 m. Historic records
(e.g., Reid, 1917) show several faults cutting the vein
systems at Charters Towers. The largest of them, the SE-
dipping Caledonia fault, gives a normal separation of
27 m to the workings in the Caledonia, Victory and
Queen Mines.
Taken as a whole, geological, structural, geochemical
and geophysical data suggest that, from Cambrian to
Carboniferous times, the Lolworth–Ravenswood ter-
rane was situated within a possible back-arc magmatic
46 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80

Fig. 5. Schematic summary chart of tectonic events recorded by the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane and other tectonic elements in northeast
Queensland. Data compiled from Berry et al. (1992), Bain and Draper (1997), Zucchetto et al. (1999), Fergusson et al. (2005) and Kreuzer (2003).

environment. Cycles of basin formation and deforma-
tion, recorded by rocks of the Seventy Mile Mount
Range (Berry et al., 1992), Ravenswood batholith
(Hutton and Rienks, 1997) and Burdekin and Drum-
mond basins (Henderson et al., 1998), suggest repeated
adjustments of regional stress patterns (Kreuzer, 2004).
4. Veins of the Charters Towers goldfield
4.1. Vein and ore zone geometry
Veins of the Charters Towers goldfield are tabular
structures, commonly ranging in thickness from 0.1 to
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80 47

Fig. 6. (A) Simplified geological map of the main mining area at Charters Towers, showing the principal auriferous veins (after Kreuzer, 2006). Inset:
Lower hemisphere, equal area projection illustrating the orientation of the principal auriferous veins (after Kreuzer, 2004). (B) Plan view of the
historic workings within the main mining area at Charters Towers. Black = development; yellow = ore zones. (C) E–W section of the historic
workings. (D) N–S section of the historic workings. Grid is Australian map grid (AMG).

1 m and having strike lengths between 0.1 and 1 km.
Most veins have been mined to 0.4 km below surface or
less. However, the Day Dawn-Mexican and Brilliant
reefs are up to 4.5 m thick, have strike lengths of up to
2.4 km and have been stopped to vertical depths of up to
0.9 km (Reid, 1917; Blatchford, 1953; Levingston, 1972;
Peters, 1987a,b). Deep drilling in 1984 by a joint venture
of BHP Ltd and Homestake Ltd demonstrated that
auriferous veins at Charters Towers persist to vertical
depths of at least 1270 m and suggests that there is no
change in the makeup of veins and gold-related wall-rock
alteration over this depth interval. Veins of the Charters
Towers area (Fig. 6) are hosted by gently to moderately
(25° to 55°) N-, NE, and E-dipping structures, although
rare NW- and S-dipping veins were recorded by Marks
(1913) and Reid (1917). Veins of the Puzzler area (Fig. 2)
dip gently (5° to 35°) to the N and W, whereas veins at
Hadleigh Castle (Fig. 7) are hosted by gently to
moderately (25° to 55°) SSE-, SE- or SW-dipping
structures. Ore zones within the veins occur with a
periodicity typically on the order of 200 to 300 m, and
generally extend 200 to 700 m in the down plunge
direction and 70 to 300 m normal to the plunge direction
(Fig. 6B to D).
48 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80

Fig. 6 (continued ).

4.2. Host rocks 4.3. Auriferous vein types, mineralogy and paragenesis

Most veins (∼90%) are hosted in oxidised I-type
granite, granodiorite or tonalite of the medium- to high-K
calc-alkaline Hogsflesh and Millchester supersuites, and
the high-K calc-alkaline Broughton River suite (Kreuzer,
2005). These suites were previously defined by Peters
(1987a,b) and Hutton and Crouch (1993). Veins that are
hosted by dioritic to gabbroic intrusions (∼8%) and by
meta-igneous and metasedimentary basement rocks
(∼2%) are less common, and only four veins in host
rock other than granitoid produced more than 5000 oz Au
(Reid, 1917; Peters, 1987a,b).
Three vein types are present in the Charters Towers
goldfield (Kreuzer, 2006): fault-fill (∼ 89% of all veins),
extension (∼ 8%) and stockwork-like (∼ 3%) veins.
Only fault-fill veins are of economic significance.
Kreuzer (2006) identified four paragenetic stages in
the fault-fill veins (Fig. 8). Stages I and II were
significant in terms of vein growth, wall-rock sulfidation
and wall-rock alteration. Gold was introduced during
stage III, later than the bulk of sphalerite of stage III but
simultaneous with galena and chalcopyrite. Narrow,
discontinuous calcite veins of stage IV mark the waning
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
Fig. 7. (A) Simplified geological map of the Hadleigh Castle area, also illustrating the principal auriferous veins at the Hadleigh Castle and Robinson Crusoe mines, and the distribution of gold-related wall-rock
alteration assemblages (after Kreuzer, 2006). Grid is Australian map grid (AMG). (B) Contoured poles to auriferous vein orientations at Hadleigh Castle U/G and O/C (after Kreuzer, 2004) and Robinson Crusoe
O/C (all plots are lower hemisphere, equal area projections). (C) Cross-section at 10250 m E (local mine grid), Hadleigh Castle mine, illustrating the vein system and zones of gold-related wall-rock alteration
(modified from Hodkinson, 1998). Distribution of epidote veining and epidote–hematite–chlorite alteration inferred from reconnaissance mapping at key locations in the foot-wall of the 01 lode. Key to
abbreviations: O/C =open cut mine; U/G =underground mine (after Kreuzer, 2006).

49
50 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
of gold-related hydrothermal activity or a later unrelated
stage.
Although the proportions of vein-forming minerals may
vary from one location to another, the mineralogy of the
veins is simple and uniform. Auriferous veins are mainly
composed of quartz (commonly 70 to 90 vol.%) and
sulfide minerals (commonly 10 to 20 vol.%). Pyrite, galena
and sphalerite comprise more than 90% of the sulfide
volume. Chalcopyrite is minor, although locally it is the
most abundant sulfide mineral. Arsenopyrite is common in
metasedimentary rock-hosted veins, such as the Great
Britain reef and the eastern extremity of the Queen reef,
whereas it is rarely recorded in the granitoid-hosted veins.
Maximum dimensions of gold particles commonly
range from 40 to 80 μm. Most gold particles (∼ 70%) are
spatially associated with galena or chalcopyrite, or both,
and attached to crystal, etch-pit and fracture surfaces of
Fig. 8. Paragenetic sequence of ore, gangue and alteration minerals in
veins of the Charters Towers goldfield (after Kreuzer, 2006).
pyrite of stage II. Less commonly, gold particles are
sited at sulfide/sulfide and sulfide/quartz boundaries
(∼14%) or as inclusions in sphalerite (∼ 12%) and
arsenopyrite (∼ 2%). Notable amounts of free gold in
hypogene ore were only recorded at two locations (Mary
Lou reef, ∼5 km SE of Charters Towers: Marks, 1913;
Day Dawn reef: Reid, 1917). Calcite and ankerite and
external fragments, such as wall rock material, each
make up 3 to 5 vol.% of the vein filling (Kreuzer, 2006).
4.4. Ore versus barren zones
Ore zones are locally very rich, with several zones
within the New Queen Cross, Talisman and Brilliant reefs
yielded average ore grades of N 62 g/t Au. Ore zones are
everywhere restricted to the quartz veins, whereas grab
samples from zones of gold-related wall-rock alteration
typically yield assay values of less than 2 g/t Au. In contrast
to low-grade and barren sections, the ore zones are
characterised by large quantities (10 to 90 vol.%) of sulfide
minerals (heavily fractured pyrite and galena, sphalerite or
chalcopyrite, or both), well-developed modification and
deformation textures, and high ratios of comb quartz/buck
quartz, grey quartz/buck quartz and calcite or ankerite/buck
quartz (Kreuzer, 2006). Although relatively consistent
within the ore zones, gold distribution is discontinuous and
spotty (nuggetty) at the vein-scale (Kreuzer et al., 2002),
also displaying high variance (Morrison et al., 2004). It is
common for low-grade or barren sections of the veins to
pass over short distances into ore zones, and vice versa.
4.5. Gold-related hydrothermal wall-rock alteration
Veins of the Charters Towers goldfield are everywhere
surrounded by zones of gold-related wall-rock alteration
that grade, from unaltered rocks toward the veins, into
outer epidote–hematite–chlorite alteration zones and
inner sericite–ankerite alteration zones (Fig. 9). Zones
of gold-related wall-rock alteration are commonly up to
two or three times the width of the enclosed veins but can
be as wide as 100 m where they surround structurally
complex zones, containing multiple veins (Peters, 1987a,
b; Peters and Golding, 1989; Hartley et al., 1989;
Hodkinson, 1998; Kreuzer, 2006).
Distal epidote–hematite–chlorite zones can be further
subdivided into outer epidote and inner chlorite subzones;
both subzones are red and well developed in granitoid host
rocks. The epidote subzone is characterised by igneous
biotite and hornblende that were partially replaced by chlo-
rite, calcite and minor pyrite, whereas feldspar was partially
replaced by sericite and calcite. Feldspar crystals were
also reddened due to the introduction of microcrystalline
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80 51

Fig. 9. Divisions and subdivisions of ideally zoned gold-related wall-rock alteration envelopes surrounding granitoid-hosted veins of the Charters
Towers goldfield. Graph also illustrates the stability of primary igneous minerals with decreasing distance to auriferous veins (after Kreuzer, 2006).

hematite. The epidote subzone is well exposed within the
Hadleigh Castle area (Fig. 7) where epidote veins (1) cut
Middle Silurian diorite dykes and Middle to Late Silurian
tourmaline veins, but nowhere cut Late Silurian to Early
Devonian veins of the Charters Towers goldfield or Late
Carboniferous to Early Permian dykes and intrusions, (2)
cluster within 1 km of the gold deposits but are scarce
elsewhere, and (3) are everywhere in direct contact with
distal, but nowhere in contact with proximal, zones of gold-
related wall-rock alteration. Epidote minerals that sealed
these fractures may have formed from calcium, aluminium,
iron and silica that were liberated into the passing solutions
through plagioclase breakdown reactions within the inner
sericite–ankerite alteration zones of gold-related wall-rock
alteration (cf. Zhou et al., 2003). The chlorite subzone is
characterised by the incomplete replacement of hornblende
and biotite by chlorite, minor calcite and rare pyrite.
Sericite growth was mainly restricted to plagioclase,
whereas potassium–feldspar crystals contain only minor
sericite, implying that they may have been more resistant to
alteration.
Inner sericite–ankerite alteration zones are green
regardless of host rock type. Contacts with both the distal
zones of wall-rock alteration and the enclosed veins are
generally sharp. The main distinctive criterion of the
proximal alteration zone is the replacement of all primary
igneous constituents except quartz. Relict igneous textures
and pseudomorphs after primary igneous minerals,
especially feldspar and biotite, by sericite are common.
Quartz is everywhere strained and locally recrystallised.
Three divisions have been recognised: outer sericite–
ankerite, intermediate sericite and inner sericite–pyrite
subzones. The outermost sericite–ankerite subzone is
green and rusty brown, and characterised by a high pro-
portion of calcite and ankerite relative to other secondary
minerals. Toward the vein, the sericite–ankerite subzone
gradationally gives way to the sericite subzone, which is
mainly composed of sericite group minerals and quartz.
52 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
Calcite and ankerite are less common. The innermost
sericite–pyrite subzone is composed of sericite group
minerals, quartz, ankerite, calcite, and abundant pyrite
(max. dimension ≤3 cm) and minor galena, sphalerite,
chalcopyrite and trace gold. Grab samples typically yield
assay values of less than 2 g/t Au (Kreuzer, 2006).
Because of the replacement of primary igneous
magnetite by pyrite and other secondary minerals,
proximal zones of gold-related wallrock alteration induce
linear negative magnetic anomalies that can be detected
by ground and high-resolution aeromagnetic surveys.
However, many payable gold deposits are surrounded by
zones of wall-rock alteration that are less than 10 m wide
(e.g., Peters, 1987a,b; Hartley et al., 1989) and thus
potentially undetected by aeromagnetic surveys.
4.6. Fluid characteristics
Trace metal values for chip channel samples from the B
lode at Hadleigh Castle mine indicate significant average
Au (∼45,200×), Cu (∼140×), Pb (∼1,860×) and Zn
(∼270×) enrichment of the veins with respect to average
Au, Cu, Pb and Zn contents of granitoids of the
Ravenswood batholith and elsewhere. The trace metal
data also illustrate that Au correlates well with Ag, Fe, As
and, to a lesser extent, with Te. Antimony correlates only
weakly with gold content, whereas the correlation between
Au and W is negative. No correlation exists between Au
and Mo and Au and Bi, metals that are commonly
associated with Au in intrusion-related deposits (Kreuzer,
2005). Significant enrichment in Te (100 to N 1000 times
with respect to average Te contents of granitoids of the
Ravenswood batholith) of auriferous veins (Kreuzer,
2005) may be taken as an indication of a magmatic
contribution to the ore-forming fluids (e.g., Cooke and
McPhail, 2001). Fluid inclusion data suggest that gold was
precipitated from CO2-poor, low to moderately saline
fluids (∼5 to 11 wt.% NaCl equiv.) at temperatures
between ∼240 and 300 °C (Peters, 1987b; Peters and
Golding, 1989). A temperature of ore deposition of 310 °C
is indicated by sphalerite–galena isotope fractionation data
(Peters, 1987a,b; Peters and Golding, 1989). In addition to
the more dilute fluids, Kreuzer (2003, 2005) recorded
saline solutions (∼19 to 28 wt.% NaCl eq.) in quartz- and
sphalerite-hosted fluid inclusions that were trapped during
the paragenetic stage of gold deposition (i.e., stage III).
These data define an apparent mixing and cooling trend
between a hotter saline and a cooler, more dilute fluid.
Fluid inclusion-based pressure estimates fall mainly within
the range of 1.4 to 3.8 kbar, suggesting that the ore-bearing
fluids may have been trapped at depths between 5 and
14 km (Kreuzer, 2005).
4.7. Timing of gold deposition
Hydrothermal muscovite from zones of gold-related
wall-rock alteration surrounding the Day Dawn and
Brilliant reefs yielded K–Ar (n = 4; Morrison, 1988)
and Ar–Ar (n = 1; Perkins and Kennedy, 1998) ages
ranging from 416 ± 4 Ma to 397 ± 4 Ma. Argon–Ar ages
(n = 12) measured on hydrothermal muscovite from the
04 lode (Hadleigh Castle mine) fall within a similar
range of 412.2 ± 2.4 Ma to 400.1 ± 4.9 Ma (Kreuzer,
2005; Fig. 10).
4.8. Relationships between gold deposition, deforma-
tion and plutonism
Geological and geochronological data (Peters, 1987a,
b; Morrison, 1988; Hutton and Rienks, 1997; Perkins and
Kennedy, 1998; Kreuzer, 2005) indicate that gold
mineralisation postdated peak metamorphism (D1/D2)
by at least 20 my (Kreuzer, 2004) and that it overlapped in
space and time with the emplacement of Late Silurian to
Early Devonian I-type plutons (Kreuzer, 2005; (Figs. 1, 2
and 10)). Despite this association, the auriferous veins
lack an obvious causative intrusion (e.g., Peters, 1987a,b;
Peters and Golding, 1989; Dowling and Morrison, 1989)
and crosscutting relationships point toward the veins
having postdated the emplacement, crystallisation and
brittle fracturing of their host intrusions (e.g., Peters,
1987a,b; Kreuzer, 2003, 2005). The similar K–Ar and
Ar–Ar ages and uniformity of auriferous veins and zones
of gold-related wall-rock alteration within an area of at
least 1200 km2 and to depths of over 1 km, and the lack of
zoning of vein compositions and gold-related wall-rock
alteration with respect to individual intrusions strongly
suggest that ore components were sourced from a large
system of energy and mass flux rather than from
individual host plutons (Kreuzer, 2005). Moreover, Pb
isotope data rule out Pb derivation from any exposed
granitoids of the Ravenswood batholith (Black et al.,
1997). Fig. 11 illustrates that any mineralisation associ-
ated with the mainly oxidised, unfractionated Ravens-
wood batholith melts should be dominated by Cu–Au or
W (cf. Blevin et al., 1996) rather than Au only.
Gold deposition within the Charters Towers goldfield
and plutonism within the Ravenswood batholith over-
lapped in time with the emplacement of the nearby
Lolworth (414 to 382 Ma K–Ar and U–Pb ages: Hutton
et al., 1997; Hutton, 2004) and Reedy Springs batholiths
(410 to 403 Ma U–Pb and K–Ar ages: Hutton et al., 1997),
shown in Fig. 1B. There also is temporal overlap between
gold mineralisation (based on 426 to 398 Ma K–Ar and
Rb–Sr ages; Bain et al., 1998) and granitoid emplacement
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80 53

Fig. 10. Temporal overlap of granitoid emplacement in the Ravenswood batholith and crystallisation of hydrothermal muscovite in alteration
envelopes of auriferous veins of the Charters Towers district (after Kreuzer, 2005).

(based on 431 to 420 Ma Rb–Sr and U–Pb ages; Withnall
et al., 1997) in the Georgetown Inlier (Fig. 1B).
4.9. Classification of gold mineralisation in the
Charters Towers goldfield
Sillitoe (1997) and Sillitoe and Thompson (1998)
proposed an intrusion-related origin for the auriferous
veins of the Charters Towers goldfield, whereas Groves
et al. (1998, 2003), Goldfarb et al. (1998, 2001) and
Bierlein and Crowe (2000) assigned the veins to the
class of orogenic gold deposits.
Kreuzer (2005) took the similarity of host rocks,
ore element association, alteration assemblage, struc-
tural control, and tectonic setting (see Table 4 in
Kreuzer, 2005), as an indication that the auriferous
veins belong to a group of granitoid-hosted lode-gold
deposits, commonly classified as orogenic. Examples
of this group include the lode-gold deposits of the
Etheridge (Bain et al., 1998), Grass Valley (Johnston,
1940), Parcoy-Pataz (Haeberlin et al., 2004) and
Jiaodong (Qiu et al., 2002) districts.
5. Controls on gold deposition
5.1. Hand specimen-scale
Structural and petrographic analysis of barren and
auriferous vein specimens by Kreuzer (2006) indicate
that pyrite is abundant only where the veins recorded
54 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80

Fig. 11. Conceptual diagram showing the relationship between compositions of granitoids from eastern Australia, oxidation and fractionation state
(field shown encloses approximately 3500 analyses) and main metal assemblages of related mineralisation (Blevin et al., 1996). Whole-rock
geochemistry data of intrusions of the Ravenswood batholith from Hutton and Crouch (1993) and the OZCHEM database of Geoscience Australia
(bhttp://www.ga.gov.au/gda/accessa.jspN). Diagram after Kreuzer (2005).

multiple stages of deformation-induced fault rupturing
and fluid penetration. Sulfide minerals and gold
particles of stage III are virtually everywhere attached
to crystal, etchpit and fracture surfaces of earlier
sulfide minerals of stage II, in particular pyrite. This
gold-sulfide link cannot be explained by fluid mixing,
which likely triggered gold deposition at the trap-scale
(Kreuzer, 2006), but is in agreement with adsorption–
reduction precipitation (chemisorption–physisorption:
cf. Knipe et al., 1992; Widler and Seward, 2002),
having operated as additional depositional process at
the mm- to cm-scale.
5.2. Mine- to camp-scale
Ore zones within the auriferous veins are commonly
located at or within fault bends, jogs, intersections,
relays and termination splays (Reid, 1917; Levingston,
1972; Rypkema, 1978; Peters, 1987a,b, 1990; Hodkin-
son, 1998; Dominy et al., 1999; Raine, 2001; Kreuzer,
2003, 2004; Fig. 12).
A common spatial association of ore zones in the
auriferous veins with more gently-dipping sections of
the host faults has been recorded by a number of
workers (e.g. , Day Dawn reef: Levingston, 1972;
Peters, 1987a,b, 1990; Great Britain reef: Kay, 1992;
Ladybird reef: Rypkema, 1978; Maude St Ledger reef
and B lode: Kreuzer, 2003, 2004). Kreuzer (2003, 2004,
2006) illustrated that textures and geometries of
auriferous veins at Charters Towers and Hadleigh Castle
are indicative of localised dilational deformation, and
that ore zones commonly formed where left-hand bends
of ENE–WSW- (± 15°) or right-hand bends of NNW–
SSE- (± 15°) striking faults coincided with a marked
decrease in the dip of the host structures. The association
of ore zones in NNW–SSE-striking structures with
right-hand bends and in ENE–WSW-striking veins with
left-hand bends is consistent with releasing bends
developed within the proposed regime of NE–SW to
NNE–SSW shortening at the time of gold mineralisa-
tion (Kreuzer, 2003, 2004). Historic mine plans
published by Levingston (1972) serve to illustrate that
a 5° to 10° change of fault orientation may have been
adequate for significant dilation to occur down dip or
along strike of a host structure.
The largest and most productive auriferous vein
systems (Brilliant, Day Dawn, Hadleigh Castle and
Queen) are characterised by numerous diverging and

Fig. 12. Structural controls on ore deposition. (A) Splay fault-hosted veins at the contact of the Towers Hill granite with the Washington diorite (John
Bull reef, level No. 4 and crosscut 948S, Black Jack mine). Note how vein orientations are controlled by the pre-existing lithological contact
(modified after Denmead and Levingston, 1950). (B) Plan of 975 m RL, Hadleigh Castle mine, showing complex and well mineralised splay fault
terminations at the eastern and western termination of the 02 lode (modified from Hodkinson, 1998). (C) Vein depth contour plan of the Swedenborg
reef, illustrating how the plunge of the southern ore zone is controlled by a pre-existing vertical mylonitic shear zone (modified from Peters, 1987a,b).
(D) Plan of the underground workings on the Brilliant Deeps reef, indicating that the payable ore was deposited at a left-hand bend in the host
structure of the Brilliant reef. At the bend, the Brilliant structure splits into a hanging- and a foot-wall splay, hosting the Brilliant Deeps Hanging-wall
and Foot-wall reefs (modified from Reid, 1917). Middle Silurian diorite dykes in the wall rocks of the Brilliant Deeps reef suggest that this structure is
not hosted by the Millchester Creek tonalite but by an Ordovician intrusion. (E) Cross-section of the Mills Day Dawn United mine, showing splay
faults and fault relays down-dip of the Day Dawn reef, (modified from Reid, 1917). (F) Cross-section of the Great Britain mine, illustrating how the
richest ore zones (No 2 and 3 levels) are associated with a thicker, more gently-dipping segment of the quartz vein (modified from Kay, 1992).
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80 55

rejoining converging splays, both along strike and
down dip (e.g., Reid, 1917; Levingston, 1972;
Hodkinson, 1998). These bifurcations generally dip
in the direction of the master fault and strike sub-
parallel to it. Diverging and rejoining converging
splays were important sites of gold deposition,
especially where their dips are gentler than those of
the master faults. Prominent bifurcations were
reported from the Mills Day Dawn United mine,
where the geometry of the Day Dawn Reef resembles
that of linked en-echelon fractures (Reid, 1917;
Levingston, 1972). Termination splays are known to
56 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80

host several significant ore zones, such as those at the

western end of the Brilliant Deeps and the eastern
ends of the Brilliant and Queen reefs (Levingston,
1972; Peters, 1987a,b, 1990). Termination splays were
also important at Hadleigh Castle, where a proportion
of the payable gold was contained within complex
bifurcations, such as those at the western and eastern
extremities of the 02 lode (Hodkinson, 1998).
Structural analyses by Peters (1987a,b, 1990) suggest
that the location, shape and plunge of a number of ore zones
were controlled by pre-existing, steep-dipping to vertical
cross structures. This model is supported by historic mine
or vein contour plans, showing ore zones that are partially
bounded by pre-existing structures, such as shear zones,
faults or geological contacts (Fig. 12A, C). Cross structures
are also evident at Hadleigh Castle mine, where the N–S-
striking Western fault zone appears to have governed the
orientation of adjacent auriferous quartz veins on 965 m RL
(I.P. Hodkinson, written comm., 2001).
Historic mine plans and records may be taken to
imply that, locally, gold deposition occurred at vein
intersections. Examples given by Peters (1987a,b, 1990)
include ore zones, such as the Pfeiffer (Day Dawn reef)
and Victoria (Brilliant reef), that plunge along the
intersections of the Day Dawn and Talisman and the
Brilliant and Victory reefs, respectively.
Structural ground preparation was of great impor-
tance in the Charters Towers goldfield (Peters, 1993b).
Many pre-existing discontinuities were misoriented for Fig. 13. Aeromagnetic and gravity crustal boundaries in part of north
reactivation in the strain field present at the time of gold Queensland (modified from the Geoscience Australia National Geosci-
ence Datasets GIS: bhttp://www.ga.gov.au/map/national/N).
mineralisation. Reactivation angles of steeply-dipping
or vertical structures, such as the Middle Silurian diorite
dykes at Charters Towers (Fig. 6), would have been Silurian to Early Devonian gold mineralisation at
more than twice the optimal value. That a number of Charters Towers and Late Carboniferous to Early
these diorite dykes were loci for hydraulic fracturing and Permian gold precipitation at Ravenswood, ∼ 50 km to
auriferous vein formation during Late Silurian to Early the east of Charters Towers. This model is consistent
Devonian times (Kreuzer, 2004) is implied by (1) veins with the outcomes of the geophysical and numerical
in the Towers Hill area that strike parallel to diorite analyses present below.
dykes (Fig. 6), and (2) the Day Dawn (Reid, 1917;
Levingston, 1972) and Warrior (Citigold Corporation 6. Interpretations of geophysical data
Ltd, unpublished data) reefs that follow Middle Silurian
diorite dykes for up to 2 km along strike. For the purpose of this study lineaments that were
detected by aero- and ground magnetic surveys over the
5.3. District- to regional-scale Charters Towers region are taken to represent exposed or
unexposed structures, representing fractures or fracture
Hutton and Rienks (1997) proposed a model in zones, faults or fault zones, or crustal discontinuities
which an E–W-striking crustal boundary in the (cf. Chernicoff et al., 2002).
basement of the Ravenswood batholith (Fig. 13),
inferred from geochemical (Hutton et al., 1994, 1997) 6.1. Charters Towers area
and geophysical data (Geoscience Australia Geosci-
ence Datasets GIS 2002: http://www.ga.gov.au/map/ The new interpretation of aeromagnetic data of the
national/), was fundamental in the localisation of Late Charters Towers area in Fig. 14 illustrates three major
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80 57

Fig. 14. Aeromagnetic interpretation (this study) of the Charters Towers area based on total magnetic intensity (TMI) and first vertical derivative
(FVD) images that are part of detailed survey of the area commissioned by Citigold Corporation Ltd. Superimposed geological boundaries taken from
Hutton and Rienks (1997); distribution of felsic and mafic dykes based on Reid (1917), Peters (1987a) and Kreuzer (2003); location of lode-gold
deposits based on Hartley and Dash (1993). Note that the main mining area in the city of Charters Towers could not be surveyed from the same height
as the surrounding area but had to be captured from much greater altitude, thus suffering from significant loss of detail (N. Storey, 2003, Citigold
Corporation Ltd, pers. comm.).
58 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
groups of lineaments, striking NW–SE to NNW–SSE
(group I), NE–SW to ENE–WSW (group II) and E–W
to WNW–ESE (group III).
Lineaments of group I are interpreted as 0.5 to 5 km-
spaced fracture zones that can be traced along strike for
2 to 20 km, or more in the case of the Merrie Monarch
fault (Peters, 1987a,b; Hartley et al., 1989). Lineaments
of group I are probably amongst the oldest structures in
this area, given that they are more prominent in the pre-
Ordovician Charters Towers Metamorphics and Ordo-
vician intrusions of the Ravenswood batholith than
lineaments of group II and III. Moreover, the orientation
of lineaments of group I is similar to that of dykes,
bedding and fold axes that are exposed in the
metamorphic basement (i.e., Charters Towers Meta-
morphics) to the Ravenswood batholith (Figs. 2 and 6).
Little is known about the sense and amount of
displacement along structures of group I, except where
rock units of the Charters Towers Metamorphics are
separated by the Merrie Monarch fault in a sinistral or
sinistral-oblique sense.
Lineaments of group II are interpreted as 5 km-
spaced fracture zones that have strike lengths ranging
from 0.1 to 15 km, or longer in case of the Stockholm–
Gladstone lineament (Peters, 1987a,b; Hartley et al.,
1989). Most lineaments of group II appear to postdate
those of group I, given that the NE–SW- to ENE–
WSW-striking structures disrupt the continuity of, or
offset, the NW–SE- to NNW–SSE-striking structures.
The Stockholm–Gladstone lineament likely controlled
the orientation of Middle Silurian diorite dykes at
Charters Towers, suggesting it may have formed at
least prior to the Middle Silurian. This proposition is
supported by the disrupting of the Stockholm–
Gladstone lineament and its poor definition within the
Middle to Late Silurian Millchester Creek Tonalite
(Peters, 1987a,b; Hutton and Rienks, 1997). The
Stockholm–Gladstone lineament is spatially associated
with important gold deposits (e.g., Stockholm,
N81,000 oz Au; Ruby, N 24,000 oz Au; Identity,
N50,000 oz Au), implying that it was reactivated and
served as a fluid pathway at the time of gold
deposition. There is no obvious spatial association
between the major gold deposits at Charters Towers
(i.e., Brilliant, Day Dawn, Mexican and Queen) and a
particular lineament other than their proximity to the
Sandy Creek and Stockholm–Gladstone lineament
(Fig. 14).
The few lineaments of group III are mainly in the
southern portion of the area shown in Fig. 14.
Discontinuous, 0.3- to 3-km-long and 1- to 2-km-
spaced E–W-striking structures are evident between
AMG 7770500 and 7775000 mN. The WNW–ESE-
striking lineaments are mainly restricted to the south-
western corner of Fig. 14, coincident with the WNW–
ESE-striking, mylonitic Swedenborg shear zone and
pre-Middle Silurian aplite dykes of similar orientation
(Kreuzer, 2003).
6.2. Hadleigh Castle area
The new interpretation of aero- and ground magnetic
data covering the Hadleigh Castle area (Figs. 15 and 16)
illustrates two major groups of lineaments, striking NE–
SW to E–W (group I) and NNW–SSE to NW–SE
(group II).
Lineaments of group I are interpreted as 2- to 4-km-
spaced and up to 20-km-long fracture zones. As
illustrated in Fig. 15, most structures of group I define
(faulted?) boundaries between the different granitoids in
the Hadleigh Castle area. The most prominent structure
of group I is the Boori lineament, previously described
by Tenison-Woods and Rienks (1992) as a regional-
scale fault zone in the basement to the Ravenswood
batholith. Unlike any other lineament in the Hadleigh
Castle area, the structure that coincides with the Boori
lineament, the Basal fault zone (Kreuzer, 2003, 2004), is
exposed. Given that the Basal fault zone hosts the 01
lode at Hadleigh Castle mine (Fig. 7), its minimum age
can be constrained as Late Silurian to Early Devonian.
Hence, the Boori lineament and other lineaments of
group I to the north and south may have formed at the
same time and earlier than the NW–SE-striking Rishton
lineament (group II), which appears to have offset the
Boori lineament in a sinistral sense.
Ground magnetic data (Fig. 16) serve to illustrate the
intimate spatial association between veins of the Charters
Towers goldfield (e.g., those at Hadleigh Castle, Hadleigh
East, Captain) and the Basal fault zone, which is
coincident with a 100 to 400 m wide and more than 2
km long negative magnetic anomaly. Geological mapping
(Fig. 7) indicates that this magnetic anomaly overlaps
with the distal and proximal zones of gold-related wall-
rock alteration. However, the distal zone of wall-rock
alteration and associated magnetite replacement by pyrite
and other alteration minerals (e.g., Peters, 1987a, b;
Kreuzer, 2003, 2006) at Hadleigh Castle mine is nowhere
more than 100 m wide (Hodkinson, 1998). Hence, the
width of the negative magnetic anomaly cannot be readily
explained by gold-related wall-rock alteration alone.
Work by Gunn et al. (1989) at the Crossroads prospect
(Fig. 7) suggests that the great width of the magnetic
anomaly is related to the presence of higher than
background values of kaolin, carbonate, epidote or silica,
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80 59

Fig. 15. Aeromagnetic interpretation (this study) of the Hadleigh Castle area based on total magnetic intensity (TMI) and first vertical derivative (FVD)
images that are part of detailed surveys covering part of the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane. Distribution of superimposed cover sequences and some
geological boundaries taken from Hutton and Rienks (1997); location of lode-gold deposits based on Hartley (1996).

or both. This view is supported because the negative
magnetic anomaly extending into the mapped zone of
distal gold-related wall-rock alteration that is charac-
terised by a high density of epidote veins.
Lineaments of group II form mainly discontinuous,
300-m to 4-km-spaced zones that can be traced along strike
for 500 m to 15 km. The timing of formation is poorly
constrained for most of these structures. However, if most
lineaments of group II were cogenetic with the Rishton
lineament, their minimum age would be older than the Late
Carboniferous to Early Permian age of intrusions, against
which the Rishton lineament terminates. Additional
observations that may help to constrain the timing of
lineaments of group II include that: (1) these structures
have the same orientation as Middle Silurian diorite dykes
(Kreuzer, 2003) to the north of Hadleigh Castle mine
60 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
Fig. 16. Interpretation (this study) of a total magnetic intensity (TMI) image covering the Hadleigh Castle mine and its surroundings. The image is
based on a ground magnetic survey by Terra Search Pty Ltd that was commissioned by SMC Gold Ltd. Note the great width (100 to 500 m in plan
view) of the linear zone of magnetite destruction, spatially associated with the Basal fault zone.
(Fig. 7), (2) these structures are more abundant within
Ordovician plutons than younger intrusions, and (3) some
of these structures terminate against the (faulted) margins
of Silurian to Devonian intrusions. Hence, the bulk of
lineaments of group II may be taken to have formed prior
to Late Silurian to Early Devonian times.
6.3. Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane
Interpretations of regional-scale aeromagnetic data
by Isles (1994) and King (1998) illustrate distinct
patterns of lineaments (Figs. 17 and 18), mainly stri-
king: (1) NW–SE (group I), (2) ENE–WSW (group II),
(3) E–W to WNW–ESE (group III), (4) NE–SW (group
IV), and (5) N–S (group V).
Lineaments of group I occur as 5- to 10-km-spaced
zones that can be traced along strike for up to 50 km.
Some of these lineaments overlap with previously
described NW–SE-striking structures, such as the
mylonitic, pre-Middle Silurian Weir Hill, Sellheim and
Macrossan shear zones, and the Merrie Monarch fault
(Figs. 17 and 18), along which pre-Middle Cambrian
metamorphic basement units were separated in a
sinistral sense (Fig. 14; Peters, 1987a,b; Hartley et al.,
1989; Kreuzer, 2003, 2004). Given that lineaments of
group I are common everywhere in the Lolworth–
Ravenswood terrane except for the Early Devonian
plutons of the Lolworth batholith and that some of these
structures terminate against the Early Devonian Deane
granodiorite of the Ravenswood batholith, most linea-
ments of group I may have formed prior to the Early
Devonian. The extension of a zone of NW–SE-striking
structures that forms the boundary between the Lol-
worth and Ravenswood batholiths, here termed the
Central lineament (Fig. 17), into the area of the
Drummond basin may be explained by this lineament
extending into and having been reactivated in the
basement to the basin (King, 1998).
Lineaments of group II form distinct E–W to ENE–
WSW-striking fracture zones, spaced at 10 to 20 km
intervals and coincident with previously identified
structures, such as the Sheep Station shear zone and
the Stockholm–Gladstone, Boori and Connolly linea-
ments (Peters, 1987a, b; Hartley et al., 1989). Locally,
the continuity of these up to 30-km-long structures
appears to be disrupted by N–S- and NW–SE- to
NNW–SSE-striking lineaments. Geological and geo-
physical criteria imply that a large proportion of the
ENE–WSW-striking structures formed prior to or at the
time of gold mineralisation. For example, the Stock-
holm–Gladstone lineament was intruded by Middle
Silurian diorite dykes and terminates against the Middle
to Late Silurian Millchester Creek tonalite (Fig. 6), and
part of the Boori lineament (i.e., the Basal fault zone of
Kreuzer, 2004) is host to the Late Silurian to Early
Devonian 01 lode (Fig. 7).
Lineaments of group III are evident as WNW–ESE-
striking, up to 30-km-long and 10- to 15-km-spaced
structures, including the previously identified mylonitic
Oak Meadows, Swedenborg and Mt Deane shear zones
that are known to have formed prior to emplacement of
Middle Silurian diorite dykes and Middle Silurian to
Middle Devonian plutons (Peters, 1987a,b; Hartley et al.,
1989; Kreuzer, 2003, 2004). The continuity of structures
of group III appears to be disrupted by N–S- and NE–
SW-striking lineaments, such as those to the west and to
the south of Charters Towers. As illustrated in Figs. 17
and 18, a group of WNW–ESE-striking structures, here
termed the Charters Towers–Ravenswood lineament,
pass through the main mining area at Charters Towers.
These structures are taken to form part of a regional-scale
E–W- to ESE–WNW-striking crustal boundary or suture
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
Fig. 17. Major structures and subsurface geology to the west of Charters Towers, previously interpreted by Hartley et al. (1989), Isles (1994) and King (1998) from detailed geophysical surveys
covering part of the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane.

61
 62
O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
Fig. 18. Grouped and colour-coded lineaments, previously interpreted by Isles (1994) and King (1998) from detailed geophysical surveys covering part of the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane.
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80 63

Fig. 19. Bouguer anomaly gravity map covering part of the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane (source: Normandy Exploration Ltd; based on density
2600 kg/m3). Red shades indicate areas of positive gravity values produced by high average densities in the Earth's crust and upper mantle; blue
shades indicate areas of negative gravity values produced by low average densities (e.g., Kearey et al., 2002). Superimposed batholith and selected
pluton outcrop boundaries based on Hutton and Rienks (1997) and Hutton et al. (1997); lode-gold deposit locations based on G.W. Morrison (unpubl.
data).

zone (Fig. 13), previously inferred from geochemical and
geophysical datasets and proposed to cut the basement of
the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane along a line passing
through the mining camps of Charters Towers, Hadleigh
Castle and Ravenswood (Hutton and Rienks, 1997;
Geoscience Australia 2005: http://www.ga.gov.au/map/
national/).
Lineaments of group IV are common within the
Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane. They are relatively
closely spaced (5 to 10 km), also disrupting the
continuity of, and cutting, earlier lineaments of group
II, such as those preserved in the Cambrian to
Ordovician Seventy Mile Range Group to the south of
Charters Towers. It is likely that several lineaments of
group IV, especially those coinciding with the NE–SW-
striking “Mt Leyshon corridor” of Morrison (1988), may
have formed between Late Carboniferous and Early
Permian times. However, given that a large proportion
of the veins of the Charters Towers goldfield is hosted
by NE–SW-striking faults and that earlier NE–SW-
striking structures could have been reactivated between
Late Carboniferous and Early Permian times, it is likely
that many (or most?) lineaments of group IV were
formed during the pre-Middle Devonian evolution of the
Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane.
Based on the aeromagnetic data, lineaments of group
V are the least obvious structures within the Lolworth–
Ravenswood terrane. Three broad but discontinuous
zones of N–S-striking, 10- to 20-km-spaced lineaments,
such as the Southern Cross and Puzzler lineaments
(Peters, 1987a,b; Hartley et al., 1989), are present.
Hartley et al. (1989) assigned a pre-Middle Silurian age
to the Southern Cross lineaments, based on the
mylonitic foliation preserved in rocks that are cut by
this structure. The Puzzler lineament is evident in the
field as the border between the Early to Middle
Ordovician Plumtree Creek tonalite and the Middle
Silurian to Early Devonian Puzzler granodiorite. It is
also evident as a boundary along which earlier NW–SE-
striking structures that are preserved in the Plumtree
Creek tonalite terminate against the Puzzler granodio-
rite, which is mainly cut by N–S- to NNE–SSW-striking
structures. Given that locally these structures host
auriferous veins of the Charters Towers goldfield,
lineaments of group V may be mainly pre-Middle
Silurian structures.
The colour-shaded Bouguer gravity anomaly map
(Fig. 19) of part of the Lolworth Ravenswood terrane
clearly delineates several geological features, including:
(1) the NW–SE-striking boundary between metamorphic
64 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
basement rocks of the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane
(low to high gravity values) and rocks of the North
Australian craton (low gravity values) to the west, (2) the
spatial distribution of rocks of the Seventy Mile Range
Group within an ESE–WNW- to ENE–WSW-striking
zone of high gravity values, (3) the spatial distribution of
rocks of the Lolworth batholith, represented by a broad,
elongate, E–W- to ESE–WNW-oriented zone of low
gravity values (−38 mgal: Hutton et al., 1997), and (4)
small, approximately circular domains (numbered 1 to 4)
of low gravity values within the Ravenswood batholith.
Domains 1 to 4 in Fig. 19 may be expressions of
deep-seated and steep-sided rather than sheet-like
plutons (e.g., Hutton et al., 1997) or igneous bodies
that have lower average densities than adjacent intru-
sions. Alternatively, some circular zones of low gravity
values (i.e., domains 1, 2 and 3) may represent tongues
of the Lolworth batholith, extending into the area of the
Ravenswood batholith (Peters, 1987a,b).
Domain 1 is of particular interest for the formulation
of a genetic model for veins of the Charters Towers
goldfield, given that this gravity anomaly is eschewed
by auriferous veins and spatially associated with the
outcrop area of the Deane granodiorite (Rb–Sr whole
rock ages of 411 ± 2 Ma to 409 ± 2 Ma: Hutton and
Rienks, 1997; Fig. 10) that was emplaced at or close to
the time of mineralisation (range of Ar–Ar and K–Ar
ages of gold-related hydrothermal muscovite of 416 ±
4 Ma to 397 ± 4 Ma: Morrison, 1988; Perkins and
Kennedy, 1998; Kreuzer, 2005). Peters (1987a,b)
suggested that the distribution of the veins of the
Charters Towers goldfield along the margin of domain 1
could be interpreted as either accidental or linked to
auriferous vein formation at regular distances from a
hidden igneous body at depth. However, the latter model
must remain speculative until the age of auriferous veins
hosted by the Deane granodiorite (see maps published in
Hutton and Rienks, 1997) is constrained by isotopic age
data.
7. Spatial autocorrelation (Fry analysis)
7.1. Results
The distribution pattern of the Charters Towers
City data illustrates three directions of alignment of
gold deposits and occurrences: E–W to NW–SE,
ENE–WSW and NNW–SSE (Fig. 20A; Table 2).
These are: (1) consistent with the principal orienta-
tions of auriferous veins at Charters Towers, striking
N–S to NNW–SSE, E–W and NE–SW, and (2) may
be taken to suggest that E–W- to NW–SE-, ENE–
WSW- and NNW–SSE-striking structures had a
fundamental control on the spatial distribution of the
gold deposits within this area. Structures parallel to
the alignments include the Sandy Creek and Stock-
holm–Gladstone lineaments, Merrie Monarch fault,
Middle Silurian diorite dykes, geological boundaries,
and structures preserved in the Charters Towers
Metamorphics (folds, foliations, shear zones and
faults) and Early to Middle Ordovician intrusions
(narrow mylonitic shear zones).
The Charters Towers South data illustrate dominant
NNE–SSW to NE–SW and E–W to ENE–WSW, and
minor N–S to NNW–SSE and ESE–WNW alignments
(Fig. 20B). Parallel structures include the Stockholm–
Gladstone and Diamantina Road lineaments, Merrie
Monarch fault, the Swedenborg and Oak Meadows
shear zones, Middle Silurian diorite dykes, geological
boundaries, and structures preserved in the Charters
Towers Metamorphics (folds, foliations, shear zones and
faults) and Early to Middle Ordovician intrusions
(narrow mylonitic shear zones).
The Hadleigh Castle data illustrate a single dominant
ENE–WSW alignment (Fig. 20C). This ENE–WSW
control is not surprising given that most veins within this
area are spatially associated with the ENE–WSW-
striking Boori lineament and (sub-) parallel structures
(Fig. 15). More subtle controls on gold deposit location
are masked in the rose diagram by the dominance of the
ENE–WSW direction of alignment, whereas closely
spaced WNW–ESE alignments are clearly illustrated in
the translations plot. These are parallel to geological
contacts, Early Ordovician to Middle Silurian diorite
and aplite dykes, exposed fracture zones and the Rishton
lineament and (sub) parallel structures.
Autocorrelation of the 239 gold deposits of the Charters
Towers District dataset yielded 56,882 spatial relationships,
illustrating a dominant ESE–WNW to E–W trend of
alignment, and minor ENE–WSW and NNE–SSW
trends (Fig. 20D). The ENE–WSW and NNE–SSW
trends are well illustrated in the translations plot,
whereas the ESE–WNW to E–W pattern may be ob-
scured by the high density of point data in the centre of
the diagram.
7.2. Interpretation of results
Spatial autocorrelation at the district scale (Charters
Towers District data) may be taken to imply that gold
deposit location was controlled at the largest scale by
ESE–WNW- to E–W-striking structures. The alignment
at the district scale is interpreted to be linked to control
on gold deposition by structures within and connected to
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80 65

Fig. 20. Fry plots and rose diagrams, illustrating the results of the spatial autocorrelation (Fry analysis) of gold deposits in the Charters Towers district.
(A) Charters Towers City dataset. (B) Charters Towers South dataset. (C) Hadleigh Castle dataset. (D) Charters Towers District dataset. (E) Overlay of
datasets (A) to (D), illustrating the relative frequency (darker colours indicate greater frequency) of alignment as revealed by spatial autocorrelation,
and the variability of alignment at the camp scale. See Table 2 for a comparison of alignment revealed by spatial autocorrelation and the orientation of
known shear zones, faults and lineaments.
 66
Table 2
Results of spatial autoeorrelation (Fry analysis) applied to 235 gold deposits and occurrences
Datasets Gold Spatial Principal directions of Spacing of Parallel structures Spacing of parallel
deposits relationships alignments alignments lineaments/structures

O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80

(in km) (in km)
Charters 120 14,280 ENE–WSW ∼2.3 Narrow mylonitic shear zones, diorite dykes, geological contacts, ∼0.001 to 3
Towers Sandy Creek and Stockholm–Gladstone lineaments and (sub-)parallel structures
City E–W to WNW–ESE ∼0.7 Narrow mylonitic shear zones, diorite and aplite dykes, geological contacts, lineaments ∼0.001 to 1
NW–SE to NNW–SSE ∼2.5 structures in the metamorphic basement (folds, foliations, shear zones, faults), bb0.001 to 10
narrow mylonitic shear zones, geo logical contacts, diorite dykes, Merrie Monarch
lineament and (sub-)parallel structures
Charters 78 6,006 E–W to ENE–WSW ∼2.7 to 5.3 Structures in the metamorphic basement (folds, foliations, shear zones, faults), bb0.001 to 10
Towers narrow mylonitic shear zones, diorite and aplite dykes, geological contacts,
South Stockholm–Gladstone lineament and (sub)parallel structures
NNE–SSW to NE–SW ∼2.9 Narrow mylonitic shear zones, aplite dykes, geological contacts, ∼0.001 to 10
Diamantina Road lineament and (sub-)parallel structures
N–S to NNW–SSE ∼0.9 to 1.1 Diorite dykes, Menie Monarch lineament and (sub-)parallel structures ∼0.001 to 5
WNW–ESE nd structures in the metamorphic basement (folds, foliations, shear zones, faults), bb0.001 to 10
Swedenborg and Oak Meadows shear zone, narrow mylonitic shear zones,
igneous foliation (Broughton River granodiotite), aplite dykes, geological contacts
Hadleigh 37 1,332 ENE–WSW ∼1.7 to 2.2 Boon lineament (=Basal fault zone) and (sub-)parallel structures, geological contacts ∼2 to 7.5
Castle WNW–ESE to NE–SW ∼1.1 fractures, geological contacts, diorite and aplite dikes, ∼0.001 to 2
Rishton lineament and (sub-)parallel structures
Charters 235 56,882 E–W to ESE–WNW nd Inferred crustal boundary (Charters Towers–Ravenswood lineament) ∼0.9 to 100
Towers NNE–SSW ∼0.9 Narrow mylonitic shear zones, aplite and diorite dykes, geological contacts, lineaments ∼0.1 to 10
District ENE–WSW ∼2.9 to 5.1 Narrow mylonitic shear zones, aplite and diorite dykes, geological contacts, l ∼0.7 to 12.1
ineaments: e.g. Stockholm–Gladstone, Boon (Basal fault zone) and Connolly lineaments
nd = not discernible on Fry plot due to extremely high data density.
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
a previously recognised ESE–WNW- to E–W-striking
crustal boundary in the basement of the Lolworth–
Ravenswood terrane (Fig. 13; Wellman, 1995; Hutton
and Rienks, 1997; Geoscience Australia, 2005: http://
www.ga.gov.au/map/national/).
Spatial autocorrelation at the camp scale raised an
interesting point. Rose diagrams (Fig. 20) illustrate
some common alignments but, taken as a whole, there
are significant differences between the Charters Towers
City, Charters Towers South and Hadleigh Castle
subsets (Fig. 20E). The cause(s) of these differences
are unknown. They may simply be linked to the inherent
natural variability of orientation of structures that
controlled gold deposition in each of the camps.
Alternatively, they could be related to camp-scale
heterogeneities in the strain field at the time of gold
deposition. The variability of patterns of gold deposit
alignment suggests that structures that localised gold
deposition in one camp did not necessarily control
mineralisation in other camps.
8. Fractal analysis
8.1. Results
The Charters Towers City data (Fig. 21A) show an
approximately linear relationship for box sizes of
r ≥ 1.5 km. The fractal dimension can be obtained
from the slope of the straight-line part of the data, giving
a D value of 1.28 (Table 3). For box sizes b 1.5 km, the
data depart from this linear relationship. The Charters
Towers South data illustrate an approximately linear
relationship for box sizes ranging from 1.5 to 6.0 km,
yielding a fractal dimension of 1.10 (Fig. 21B). The
Hadleigh Castle data yield a D value of 1.02 and display
a linear relationship for box sizes ranging from 1.0 to
10.0 km (Fig. 21C). The Charters Towers District data
(Fig. 21D) give a D value of 1.09, which is based on the
approximately linear relationship for box sizes ranging
from 1.5 to 10.0 km. By excluding the Charters Towers
City records from the Charters Towers District data, a
slightly lower fractal dimension of 1.02 is obtained for
box sizes ranging from 1.5 to 10.0 km (Table 3). A
normalised diagram for comparison of the Charters
Towers City, Charters Towers South, Hadleigh Castle
and Charters Towers District datasets is presented in
Fig. 21E.
8.2. Interpretation of results
As illustrated by the log–log plots of N(r) against r
(Fig. 21), the data depart from approximately linear
67
relationships for box sizes of b 1.0 to 1.5 km, respec-
tively (Table 3). This roll-off effect is a common feature
of fractal analyses and was interpreted by Blenkinsop
and Sanderson (1999) in the context of the spatial
distribution of gold deposits to reflect undersampling
linked to discovery of a random sample of the total
number of deposits.
The fractal dimensions of veins of the Charters Towers
goldfield range from 1.02 to 1.10, although gold deposits
assigned to the Charters Towers City subset have a
significantly higher D value of 1.28 (Table 3). This
discrepancy may be interpreted in terms of: (1) most or all
gold deposits of the Charters Towers City camp having
been discovered (i.e., fractal has been well sampled), or (2)
gold deposits of the Charters Towers City camp being
hosted by structures with D values higher than those of
structures elsewhere in the Charters Towers goldfield. Each
scenario has to be considered, given that there are
insufficient data to choose between them.
Proposition (1) is supported by fractal modelling
results reported by Blenkinsop and Sanderson (1999).
One of the end-member models of gold deposit
distribution tested by Blenkinsop and Sanderson
(1999) is applicable to the Charters Towers goldfield
scenario: a district containing well-explored major and
minor mining camps, where most gold deposits have
been detected. By including an undiscovered mining
camp to this model, Blenkinsop and Sanderson (1999)
found that the fractal dimension of deposit distribution
became smaller and the straight-line part of the data
more gentle than those of the original dataset. Hence, the
lower D values of the Charters Towers South, Hadleigh
Castle and Charters Towers District subsets, and the
more gentle slopes of the straight-line parts of these data
with respect to the Charters Towers City subset
(Fig. 21E), may imply that new deposits are more likely
to be discovered outside the boundaries of the Charters
Towers City camp.
Proposition (2) is consistent with the records of
Reid (1917) and Levingston (1972), describing the
most productive veins (Day Dawn-Mexican, Brilliant
and Queen) as those of greatest structural complexity.
If proposition (2) is valid, a different character of the
fault network (i.e., more bends and splays) could
explain the difference in the fractal dimension. In this
scenario, work addressing the fractal properties of
fault systems in the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane
would assist with directing exploration into areas of
greatest fault complexity.
An interesting aspect of this fractal analysis is that the
D value of the Charters Towers District dataset is very
similar to that calculated from Archaean lode-gold
68 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80

Fig. 21. Number of boxes, N(r), containing one or more gold deposits as a function of box size, r. (A) Charters Towers City dataset.
(B) Charters Towers South dataset. (C) Hadleigh Castle dataset. (D) Charters Towers District dataset. (E) Normalised diagram for datasets
(A) to (D).
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
Table 3
Fractal properties of gold deposits, Charters Towers goldfield
Dataset D n r (km) R S
Charters Towers City 1.28 119 1.0–10.0 − 0.9952
Charters Towers South 1.10 78 1.5–6.0 − 0.9941
Hadleigh Castle 1.02 37 1.0–10.0 − 0.9822
Charters Towers District a 1.09 313 1.5–10.0 − 0.9962
Charters Towers District b 1.02 194 1.5–10.0 − 0.9960
Abbreviations: D = fractal dimension; n = number of deposits; r = box
size; R = correlation coefficient; S = standard error of regression.
a
All Charters Towers District data (n = 313 deposits).
b
Charters Towers District data without the Charters Towers City
subset (n = 194 deposits).
deposits of the Zimbabwe craton (D ≈ 1: Blenkinsop and
Sanderson, 1999; Blenkinsop, 2004), raising the
possibility of similarities in the underlying controls on
gold deposit localisation in both districts.
9. The Charters Towers lode-gold system
The mineral systems approach (Wyborn et al., 1994)
promotes construction of geological process models in
which ore deposits are considered as focal points of
much larger systems of energy and mass flux, having
operated at scales from regional to local (e.g., Lord
et al., 2001; Hronsky, 2004). A key step in this mo-
delling approach is the identification of the critical
success factors (i.e., the critical geological elements
and processes) without which the formation of a par-
ticular ore deposit would have been precluded.
According to Wyborn et al. (1994), Hagemann and
Cassidy (2000), Lord et al. (2001) and Huston et al.
(2004), the critical geological process factors in the
genesis of lode-gold systems can be summarized as
follows: (1) sources of energy that drive a particular
system, (2) sources from which ore components (fluids,
metals and ligands) can be mobilised by melts or fluids,
(3) active transport pathways along which the mobilised
ore components can migrate, (4) effective, narrow fluid
or melt channels (i.e., trap zones) along which fluid flow
become focused, and (5) physico-chemical processes
that promote ore deposition within these trap zones.
Applied to the Charters Towers goldfield, the mineral
systems approach serves as a framework that can help
explorers to better understand why auriferous veins are
located where they are and what processes were essential
to forming these deposits (cf. Wyborn et al., 1994).
9.1. Source of energy
Significant uncertainty exists about the tectonic
setting of the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane at the
69
time of mineralisation and the exact timing, spatial
distribution, magnitude and significance of tectonother-
mal events that shaped this terrane. Injection of large
0.0289 volumes of melt and associated heat transfer into the
0.0492 middle or upper crust (cf. Withnall et al., 1997) of a
0.0518 potential Cordilleran-type magmatic arc environment
0.0144
(e.g., Kreuzer, 2005) at the same time as deformation
0.0139
(D4 of Kreuzer, 2004), uplift and erosion of the
Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane (e.g., Kreuzer, 2004;
Fergusson et al., 2005), is the most likely source of
energy for mobilisation and transport of ore components
from source to trap regions. The trigger for this
tectonothermal event is unknown. However, Goldfarb
et al. (2001) and Hagemann and Cassidy (2000)
suggested that plate interaction, plume tectonics or
combinations of both are critical far-field processes in
the formation of many lode-gold systems.
If the heat transfer concept of Withnall et al. (1997) is
appropriate, the mappable ingredients and guides for
area selections at the regional-scale would be accumula-
tions of Middle Silurian to Early Devonian intrusions
with compositions and inferred volumes similar to those
present in the Charters Towers and Etheridge goldfields.
9.2. Source of ore components
Little is known about the sources of metals, ligands
and fluids, their levels of concentration and their role in
the spatial distribution of the auriferous veins despite
previous and recent advances in the understanding of
their genesis (e.g., Peters, 1987a,b, 1993b; Peters and
Golding, 1989; Dowling and Morrison, 1989; Black
et al., 1997; Kreuzer, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) and the
nature of the basement to the Ravenswood batholith
(Hutton, 2004). However, agreement exists among these
workers that the geological and geochemical informa-
tion may be taken to imply that the local intrusions
mainly were passive hosts and did not contribute
significantly to the metal budget of the auriferous veins.
A model that accounts for the published geological
and fluid characteristics of the auriferous veins was
proposed by Kreuzer (2005). In this model, and based
on the concept of Stüwe (1998), fluids of metamorphic
origin were released through deformation and devola-
tilisation of the lower crust of the Lolworth–Ravens-
wood terrane approximately 20 my after peak
deformation (D1 and D2 of Kreuzer, 2004) of the
upper crust. Immediate transport of these metamorphic
fluids into the upper crust was prohibited by the low
permeability and porosity of the thick mass of freshly
accumulated intrusions of the Ravenswood batholith
until a new episode of fracturing linked to regional
70 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
shortening (D4 of Kreuzer, 2004) promoted metamor-
phic fluid flow into dilatant structures. Interaction of the
metamorphic fluids with the intrusions triggered wall-
rock alteration and quartz and sulfide deposition of
stages I and II (Fig. 8). This first episode of
hydrothermal fluid flow was followed by the release
of saline fluids from deep-seated zones of crustal
melting, possibly linked to underplating of the crust
by mafic magmas (cf. Hutton and Rienks, 1997; Hutton
et al., 1997) or asthenospheric mantle upwelling as
proposed for granitoid-hosted lode-gold deposits of the
Jiadong province, Eastern China (Qiu et al., 2002; Chen
et al., 2005). Gold and sulfide deposition of stage III was
caused by channelling of fluids that originated from
deep-seated zones of crustal melting into active
structures previously affected by stages I and II and
mixing them with cooler, more dilute fluids that
circulated in the upper crust (cf. Schreiber et al.,
1990a,b; Mishra and Panigrahi, 1999; Haeberlin, 2002).
In this model, the sources of ore components and
processes of mobilisation of ore components are
threefold: deformation of the lower crust and associated
metamorphic devolatilisation, deep-seated crustal melt-
ing and associated magmatic devolatilisation, and
downward flow of meteoric fluids into faults that were
actively being deformed. According to this model,
prospective areas should be those where Middle Silurian
to Early Devonian granitoid emplacement was contem-
poraneous with uplift and brittle deformation, and
magmatism can be demonstrated to have postdated
peak deformation by tens of millions of years.
9.3. Pathways
Hutton and Rienks (1997) suggested that, at the
district-scale, transport of ore components from source
regions to trap zones could have been controlled by the
Charters Towers–Ravenswood lineament, an ESE–
WNW- to E–W-striking suture zone in the basement of
the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane. Such a concept is
consistent with the spatial autocorrelation results, imply-
ing an ESE–WNW to E–W alignment of the auriferous
veins at the scale of the district. In the context of
percolation theory (cf. Cox, 1999, 2005; Cox et al., 2001),
the Charters Towers–Ravenswood lineament may be
taken as the backbone element, having provided a direct
link between source regions and trap zones. Reactivation
of the Charters Towers–Ravenswood lineament during
D4 may have locally enhanced its permeability, thereby
facilitating fluid flow up and along the backbone and into
reactivated and newly created fractures (dangling ele-
ments) connected to the backbone.
An understanding of the strain field present at the time
of mineralisation is necessary to identify zones of
dilational and contractional deformation that were critical
in focusing fluid flow and localising ore deposition within
the structural array (e.g., Sibson, 1996; Allibone et al.,
2002) of the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane. Only those
structures that were active during the time of gold
deposition are likely to host payable auriferous veins,
given that permeability is only enhanced and pressure
gradients that drive fluid flow can only be maintained
while fault and shear zones are being actively deformed
(e.g., Sibson, 1990; Cox, 1999). In the Charters Towers
goldfield, the identification of structures that were active
at the time of mineralisation is straightforward only where
exposed fractures are filled with auriferous quartz veins or
relative sense and timing of displacement along concealed
structures can be inferred from geological or geophysical
data with a high degree of confidence. In all other
situations, judgments about the age and nature of a
particular structure are made under conditions of
uncertainty. However, NNW–SSE- (±15°) and ENE–
WSW- (±15°) striking structures are more likely to have
active at the time of mineralization than structures of
different orientation, given that: (1) virtually all auriferous
veins are hosted by NNW–SSE- (±15°) and ENE–WSW-
(±15°) striking fractures, suggesting that these orienta-
tions were most favourable for the generation of new, and
reactivation of pre-existing, structures (Fig. 22A), and (2)
at the district scale, auriferous veins have abundance and
proximity relationships with NW–SE, NNW–SSE, NE–
SW and ENE–WSW-striking lineaments.
Given the same fracture density, groups of short
fractures are less well connected than those of long
fractures (Odling, 1997; Hodkiewicz et al., 2005). In
addition, longer and more continuous structures gener-
ally have the potential to tap fluids from larger volumes
of rock (e.g., Cox et al., 2001). These links are manifest
at Charters Towers (Fig. 22B; Table 1), where most gold
metal was extracted from the vein systems that are
longest and most continuous (i.e., Day Dawn-Mexican,
Brilliant and Queen reefs).
9.4. Trap zones
Fluid flow within shear or fault zones is essentially
controlled by gradients in permeability and hydraulic
head. These gradients are highest at splay faults, fault
bends, jogs and intersections (e.g., Cox, 1999; Cox et al.,
2001), localities that are commonly mineralised within
structures that host auriferous veins of the Charters
Towers goldfield (e.g., Reid, 1917; Peters, 1987a,b;
Kreuzer, 2004). According to Allibone et al. (2002), a
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80 71

Fig. 22. (A) Contained-ounces-of-gold diagram for the same dataset as in Fig. 3B but grouped according to the strike orientation of the host structures:
large deposits are hosted by E–W-striking structures only; NW–SE-striking structures host mainly small deposits. Data source: Table 1. (B) Crude
relationship between contained ounces of gold and strike length of structures hosting the thirty-five well-documented gold deposits (c = correlation
coefficient).

clear understanding of the deformation history, sense of
shear during mineralisation, and timing of ore genesis is
the key to defining the structural controls on mineralisa-
tion and developing a predictive structural targeting
strategy. Structural data from auriferous vein systems
analysed by Kreuzer (2004) are consistent with NE–SW
(±20°) orientation of the D4 shortening axis during the
time of gold mineralisation, resolving into reverse-dextral
shear on ∼N–S-striking and reverse-sinistral slip on ∼E–
W-striking host structures. Although problems are raised
in defining a bend (e.g., scale and position of observation),
historic mine plans serve to illustrate that a 5° to 10°
change of strike orientation may have been adequate for
significant dilation (and gold deposition) to occur at right-
hand bends of NNW–SSE- (±15°) and left-hand bends of
ENE–WSW- (±15°) striking structures (Kreuzer, 2004).
No payable gold accumulations have been reported from
zones of contractional deformation (e.g., Reid, 1917;
Peters, 1987a,b; Kreuzer, 2004).
A proximity relationship is evident between the
spatial distribution of the auriferous veins and domains
of low gravity values in the Lolworth and Ravenswood
batholiths, coinciding with distinct intrusions or com-
plex intrusive bodies (Figs. 2 and 19). The low gravity
values may indicate that these bodies have high silica
contents, and thus are highly brittle. More information
72 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
(e.g., isotopic age data of veins and intrusions) would be
required to constrain this relationship for the Lolworth
batholith. The proximity relationship between aurifer-
ous veins and domains of low gravity values in the
Ravenswood batholith could be explained with pre-
ferred localisation of auriferous veins (particularly those
N0.1 Moz) at or near geological boundaries where
focusing of fluid flow and physicochemical reactions
were most likely enhanced as a result of strain
heterogeneities from different mechanical properties of
adjacent rock units (cf. Ridley, 1993) and chemical and
rheological gradients.
A critical trap factor may be the apparent association
relationship between the spatial distribution of the
auriferous veins and felsic to intermediate, oxidised I-
type intrusions of the medium- to high-K calc-alkaline
Hogsflesh and Millchester supersuites and the high-K
calc-alkaline Broughton River suite (Kreuzer, 2005). It
could be argued that more auriferous veins are hosted by
intrusions that belong to these particular suites since
they make up a greater proportion of the outcrop area of
the Ravenswood batholith than other rock types.
However, cumulative production records suggest that
the affinity of auriferous veins for felsic to intermediate
intrusions of the Hogsflesh and Millchester supersuites
and the Broughton River suite is genuine: (1) most of the
N6.6 Moz Au produced in Charters Towers were
extracted from veins hosted by Ordovician and Middle
Silurian to Early Devonian intrusions of the Hogsflesh
and Millchester supersuites and the Broughton River
suite, and (2) all but two (Sunburst-Golden Gate and
Imperial reefs) out of 23 auriferous veins with
documented production greater 15,000 oz (Table 3)
are hosted by Ordovician and Middle Silurian to Early
Devonian granitoids of these suites.
9.5. Physicochemical processes
The range of temperatures and salinities recorded by
Kreuzer (2005) from quartz- and sphalerite-hosted fluid
inclusions may be taken to indicate mixing between
upward-flowing, deep-sourced, hotter, more saline
fluids and downward-flowing, shallow-sourced, cooler,
more dilute waters as the cause of gold deposition.
Hence, a key factor in quantifying the prospectivity of
the Charters Towers goldfield in the third dimension is
to establish the vertical range over which the deep
sourced fluids mixed with the cooler more dilute fluids
occurred, and the mechanisms by which the fluids
mixed with such uniformity at the district-scale.
Physi- and chemisorption of gold complexes on to
sulfide surfaces (cf. Knipe et al., 1992; Widler and
Seward, 2002) may have been important depositional
processes and controls on gold enrichment at the mm- to
cm-scale, given that sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and
gold minerals of stage III are virtually everywhere
spatially associated with aggregates of fractured pyrite
of stage II (Kreuzer, 2006).
10. Implications for prospectivity and targeting
The prospectivity of the goldfield may be considered
in three categories (Towsey et al., 2002): (1) known
auriferous vein systems, (2) undiscovered (new) aurifer-
ous vein systems, and (3) other styles of mineralisation.
10.1. Known auriferous vein systems
Virtually all payable auriferous veins of the Charters
Towers goldfield that were exposed at surface were
located within 2 weeks after the initial discovery of gold
at the base of Towers Hill in 1871 (Kay, 1993). It was
the efficiency of the historic prospectors and thorough-
ness of subsequent prospecting and exploration activi-
ties in areas of outcrop that contributed to the reputation
of Charters Towers as mature goldfield of limited
prospectivity. The efficiency of previous exploration
and high D value of the Charters Towers City data
suggest that the probability of finding additional,
outcropping or near-surface deposits within the Charters
Towers City camp is low. However, potential may exist
at depth for discovery of extensions to, or new structures
parallel to, known auriferous veins given the limitation
of the fractal analysis to two dimensions, scarcity of
drillholes with greater than 100 m downhole depth, great
vertical extent of similar grantoid-hosted lode-gold
systems elsewhere (e.g., 1.7 km at Parcoy-Pataz, Peru:
Schreiber et al., 1990a,b; Haeberlin, 2002; Haeberlin
et al., 2004), and evidence from historical reports for
inefficient and unsystematic exploration practices at
depth (Towsey et al., 2002).
10.2. Undiscovered (new) auriferous vein systems
The best chance of detecting new, sizeable lode-gold
systems within the Charters Towers district is in areas
where prospective rock types of, and structures cutting,
the Ravenswood batholith are poorly exposed or hidden
under the Tertiary to Quaternary cover (commonly 2 to
40 m thick: Aspandiar et al., 2003). Most of these areas
were not only inaccessible to the historic prospectors but
also have received relatively little attention from recent
explorers. Given that structure was the first order control
on the spatial distribution of auriferous veins in the
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
Charters Towers goldfield, the following steps in the
development of a targeting strategy for areas under
cover are suggested:
(1) To identify from geological and geophysical data
the ENE–WSW (± 15°) and NNW–SSE (± 15°)
striking structures and geological boundaries
within a 20-km-wide corridor parallel to and
centred upon the Charters Towers–Ravenswood
lineament that appears to have controlled the
spatial distribution of gold deposition at the
regional- to district-scale.
(2) To interpret from geological and geophysical data
the distribution of felsic to intermediate, pre-
Middle Devonian intrusions within these areas.
(3) To deduce from geophysical data the ENE–WSW
(± 15°) and NNW–SSE (± 15°) striking struc-
tures that cut or bound the intrusions identified in
step 2.
(4) To locate segments along the longest of the
structures identified in step 3 that deviate most
from the geometry of a straight line (e.g., potential
bends or splays) and/or intersect other structures
or geological contacts, or both.
(5) To define and rank potential targets within the
prospective areas identified in step 4 and to
systematically test the best ones.
10.3. Other styles of mineralisation
The Charters Towers goldfield is known for Late
Silurian to Early Devonian lode-gold and Late Carbon-
iferous to Early Permian porphyry-related, breccia-hosted
gold mineralisation (i.e., Mt Leyshon: Figs. 2 and 4).
However, rocks and sediments within the Charters Towers
goldfield host additional gold occurrences, such as
sheeted auriferous veins and vein stockworks assigned
as Permian or Carboniferous, and alluvial placers in
present-day drainage systems and lithified placers in
older, Tertiary to Quaternary leads and residuals (e.g.,
Hartley and Dash, 1993; Hutton and Rienks, 1997; Ewers,
1997; Towsey et al., 2002). While none of these styles
have proven payable, future exploration in the Charters
Towers goldfield should remain vigilant to encompass
and test for deposit styles other than the auriferous veins
described in this paper.
11. Conclusions
A variety of sites of gold mineralisation can be
demonstrated in the Charters Towers goldfield, NE
Australia. Despite a number of different controls on
73
mineralisation, the controlling factors can be related to a
single genetic model for orogenic, granitoid-hosted
lode-gold mineralisation in a D4 brittle deformation
regime of NE–SW to NNE–SSW shortening, under
conditions of supralithostatic fluid pressure and low
stress difference. It is salutary for exploration that many
possible factors, on different scales, need to be
considered to predict targets, even though mineralisation
was likely to have occurred in a single phase in the Late
Silurian to Early Devonian, and there is no evidence for
remobilisation.
In this example, which is considerably simpler than
many examples of older orogenic lode-gold deposits,
some of the important controls on mineralisation and
implications for exploration can be detailed as follows:
(1) Ore zones within the auriferous veins are
commonly located at or within fault bends, jogs,
intersections, relays and termination splays along
ENE–WSW- (± 15°) and NNW–SSE- (± 15°)
striking structures.
(2) Geophysical data illustrate three major groups of
lineaments in the Charters Towers (group I: NW–
SE to NNW–SSE; group II: NE–SW to ENE–
WSW; group III: E–W to WNW–ESE) and two in
the Hadleigh Castle (group I: NE–SW to E–W;
group II: NNW–SSE to NW–SE) areas, whereas
the Lolworth–Ravenswood terrane is characterised
by five major groups of lineaments (group I: NW–
SE; group II: ENE–WSW; group III: E–W to
WNW–ESE; group IV: NE–SW; group V: N–S).
Strike orientations of the auriferous veins are
parallel to the strike orientations of all lineament
groups listed above.
(3) A proximity relationship is evident between the
spatial distribution of auriferous veins and
domains of low gravity values in the Ravenswood
batholith, coinciding with distinct intrusions. The
relationship is interpreted to reflect preferred
localisation of auriferous veins at or near
geological boundaries where focusing of fluid
flow and physicochemical reactions could have
been enhanced as a result of strain heterogeneities
from different mechanical properties of adjacent
rock units and chemical and rheological gradients
(cf. Hodkiewicz et al., 2005).
(4) Spatial autocorrelation suggests an ESE–WNW
to E–W alignment of the auriferous veins at the
district-scale, supporting the concept of Hutton and
Rienks (1997) of gold deposit localisation along
the Charters Towers–Ravenswood lineament (new
name), an ESE–WNW- to E–W-striking suture
74 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80

zone in the basement of the Lolworth–Ravenswood support through School of Earth Sciences and Interna-
terrane previously inferred from geophysical and tional Postgraduate scholarships. Project setup and
geochemical data. At the camp-scale, auriferous supervision by, and discussions with Andrew Allibone,
veins have abundance and proximity relationships Nick Oliver and Simon Dominy are greatly appreciated.
with NW–SE-, NNW–SSE-, NE–SW- and ENE– Gregg Morrison (Klondike Exploration Services), Steve
WSW-oriented lineaments. The variability in strike King (Solid Geology), Malcolm Stallman (Normandy
orientation between different camps implies that Exploration) and Mike Sexton (Newmont Australia) are
structures that controlled gold deposition in one thanked for having made available important geological
camp did not necessarily control mineralisation in and geophysical datasets. Support of this project by and
other camps. discussions with previous and current staff members of
(5) Auriferous veins in the Charters Towers goldfield Citigold Corporation Ltd (Nigel Storey), Glengarry
are generally highly clustered. Fractal dimensions Resources Ltd (Tony Alston, David Richards), SMC
range from 1.02 to 1.10, although auriferous veins Gold Ltd (Brett Duck, Ian Hodkinson) also are greatly
in the main mining area are characterised by a appreciated. RJM gratefully acknowledges the support
significantly higher fractal dimension of 1.28. and permission of Citigold Corporation Ltd. Reviews by
This discrepancy may be taken to imply that most David Groves (University of Western Australia), Art
or all outcropping and near-surface deposits of the Schultz and Klaus Schultz (US Geological Survey), and
Charters Towers City camp have been discovered Ore Geology reviewers Alexander Yakubchuk (Gold
(i.e., the fractal has been well sampled) and that Fields International Services) and Craig Hart (Univer-
new discoveries are more likely to occur outside sity of Western Australia), and Nigel Cook (Editor-in-
the boundaries of this camp. However, this does Chief, Ore Geology Reviews) are greatly appreciated
not downgrade the potential within the Charters and helped to improve the manuscript.
Towers City camp for discovery at depth of
extensions to, and new structures parallel to,
known auriferous veins. Appendix A
(6) The best chance of detecting new, sizeable near-
surface lode-gold systems in the Charters Towers Australian map grid (AMG) coordinates of gold
district is in areas where prospective rock types deposits and occurrences (sources: Hartley and Dash,
and structures of the Ravenswood batholith are 1993; Hartley, 1996)
hidden under the Tertiary to Quaternary cover.
Exploration targeting in these areas will have to Name/reference # Grid reference
rely on geophysical data to identify prospective mE mN
areas along the Charters Towers–Ravenswood CT City
lineament. Aberdeen 423700 7777000
(7) Large portions of the Ravenswood batholith are Alabama 421480 7778720
poorly exposed or hidden under the cover. These Band of Hope 419530 7781260
Bonnie Dundee 424100 7779800
areas were inaccessible to the historic prospectors
Bramble Lode 423950 7779120
and have received relatively little attention from Brilliant 423280 7779030
recent explorers. Hence, we strongly reject the Captain 426100 7777420
notion of Charters Towers being a mature Chance 424980 7775900
goldfield of poor prospectivity. Clark's Gold Mine 421200 7778270
Columbia 423480 7781300
Commodore 420850 7778170
The approach taken in this paper, namely synthesiz- Contest 421620 7778470
ing a wealth of previous information with new data and Coronation 423300 7779100
a genetic model, in combination with spatial autocor- Craven's Caledonia 424180 7779090
relation and fractal analysis, could have implications for CT Consolidated 422600 7778300
Dan O'Connell 423500 7780050
the assessment of other “mature” goldfields worldwide.
Day Dawn 421200 7779500
Daybreak 423700 7775600
Acknowledgements Duke of Cornwall 426700 7777700
East Mexican 422800 7779200
This paper forms part of a doctoral study at James East Sunburst 425600 7780150
Eclipse 423600 7777960
Cook University by OPK, who received financial
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80 75

Appendix A (continued ) Appendix A (continued )

Name/reference # Grid reference Name/reference # Grid reference
mE mN mE mN
Gladstone 424870 7777805 Perfect Cure 426900 7776750
Golden Alexandra 425000 7775700 Perseverance 423200 7779200
Golden Gate 424880 7780020 Phoebe 423500 7779460
Golden Sunset 420850 7780350 Picanniny 424500 7775280
Golden Surprise 424600 7778200 Pilot 426000 7774900
Grand Secret 421600 7779500 Poverty 422500 7775940
Guiding Star 420600 7777550 Queen 424000 7779700
Havelock 421560 7777810 Queenslander 426740 7777000
Hidden Treasure 421050 7778640 Rainbow 422250 7778380
Homerule 423370 7779660 Rainbow-Wyndham 422150 7778680
Identity 425740 7778060 Recompense 420500 7777530
Independence 427100 7777150 Resolution 423320 7777520
Irishman 425200 7777900 Rose of Denmark 426900 7777700
John Bright 427100 7777460 Rose of England 424440 7777540
Just-in-Time Lode 424050 7779300 Royal George 423330 7779750
Kelly's Queen 423550 7779550 Ruby 423950 7777460
Kelly's Welcome 420320 7778200 RubyUnited 424100 7777600
Kroko 424100 7779000 Sir William Wallace 421200 7777650
Lady Antrim 426300 7778320 Sisters 420780 7779000
Lady Carrington 424050 7778900 Sons of Freedom 425600 7775000
LadyDon 427450 7777300 St Patrick 423430 7780120
Lady Florence 426300 7778360 Standard 421570 7778450
LadyMaria 421150 7778500 Sunburst 424920 7779990
Liverpool 424750 7780340 Bucklands Hill 420900 7782200
Lord Nelson 421130 7777500 Great Britain 419380 7781230
Madelaine 421300 7777570 Iceland 419850 7781300
Mafekin 427600 7778250 Shamrock 419330 7781320
Marquis of Lome 422200 7775740 Sunlight 420940 7778150
Marshall's Queen 423880 7779750 Talisman 422300 7779300
Martin Lyons 421340 7777690 Telegraph 429740 7778000
Mary 422450 7778180 Third Chance 423930 7779300
MaryLou 420850 7775900 Tuckett's Lode 423540 7779140
Maude St Ledger 423730 7779280 Union Lode 420390 7778180
Mayday 424250 7779100 Venus 426300 7778600
McDonald 424700 7777580 Vesuvius 424480 7779630
Millchester 427400 7777550 Victoria 424070 7779170
Millicans Caledonia 424370 7778980 Victory 423560 7779400
Mississippi 421750 7777920 Vixen 423100 7776380
Monte Christo 420620 7778300 Waniola 422740 77706U
Moonstone 423590 7779230 Warrior 424860 7774780
Morris' Lode 423530 7779164 Washington 425400 7775300
Mountain Maid 421420 7778940 Welcome 425700 7775190
Mystery Deeps 423500 7780850 Wellington 421100 7777460
Nellie Grant 426700 7777540 Worcester 423500 7779300
Nell's Extended 424800 7777230 Zerviles 427600 7776700
New Queen Cross 423900 7779150
New St Andrews 423600 7780000 CT South
Normanby 423000 7778500 #175670 417510 7766960
North Australian 421680 7778800 #176666 417600 7766600
North German 424540 7776000 #190709 419050 7770950
North Queen 424300 7779970 #191660 419150 7766000
North Star 423340 7780500 #192712 419200 7771200
Old Queen Cross 423800 7779400 #194670 419450 7767000
Pacific 425250 7775350 #197654 419660 7765360
Papuan 423830 7779270 #197658 419750 7765850
Pauline 427400 7777300 #203707 420260 7770700
Peabody 421500 7778560
(continued on next page)
76 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80

Appendix A (continued ) Appendix A (continued )

Name/reference # Grid reference Name/reference # Grid reference
mE mN mE mN
#210744 421000 7774400 Scandinavian 418600 7769900
#215739 421500 7773900 Silent Friend 424270 7773060
#217725 421700 7772530 Six Mile 415620 7773450
#221731 422070 7773090 Southern Cross 410800 7771500
#253730 425300 7773000 Stock Squad West 412930 7769750
#253734 425300 7773400 Stockholm Cross 418360 7774340
Anglo France 418120 7761580 Swedenborg 418800 7770100
Beary Creek 412800 7768900 Try Again 421260 7765500
Beary Creek West 412530 7768750 Try Again Group 412300 7771650
Black Jack Lode 418060 7772100 Union Jack 420100 7769920
Black Jack PC 418000 7771870 West Imperial 425260 7773940
Black Jack South 418820 7771870 Wheel of Fortune 424600 7773600
Black Knob 414300 7757240
Bonnie Doon 425550 7773350 HC
Butler Block 418300 7772280 #482726 448223 7772581
Caroline 422220 7773260 #486730 448554 7772981
Christmas Box 420800 7773050 #489733 448946 7773347
Clara 420900 7773250 #495729 449507 7772921
Clarke River Veins 414250 7757640 #495731 449516 7773051
Cumberland 420960 7771300 #497730 449671 7773043
Cumberland West 420900 7771300 #500724 449950 7772430
Curlew 409900 7769900 Alabama 455250 7773630
Curlew South 409500 7769000 Albion 458900 7776500
Debbie's Find 411750 7758100 Alma 453300 7773800
Democrat 414500 7756800 Arena 448821 7772766
Democrat East 414770 7757140 Arena West 448696 7772861
Democrat West 414000 7756800 Aurelia 448900 7774500
Golden Ant 420850 7771200 Battery 452100 7773750
Golden Bar 421040 7771040 Blue Duck 462600 7777770
Golden Gate South 411280 7770600 Bosun 447250 7773700
GoldenGateWest 411130 7771060 Captain 458720 7776500
Golden Spider 420980 7771060 Churchill 452600 7773500
Golden Spur 419980 7768940 Commodore 459382 7776903
Goldfinch 419500 7770080 Crossroads 455400 7775400
Gregory's Try Again 421000 7765900 Disraeli 451800 7774000
Hidden Secret 423300 7772670 Eden 452640 7773880
Hidden Treasure 413700 7756960 Elsie Koenig 451450 7774000
Imperial 425500 7774050 Englishman 447900 7770600
Ivory Elephant 420700 7766200 Forget-Me-Not 451000 7773500
John Bull 418200 7772000 Greek Extended 449319 7775261
Lady Musgrave 418980 7767500 Hadleigh Castle 459442 7777018
Ladybird 424700 7774050 Hadleigh Castle East 459935 7777121
Lubra 418250 7771750 Lightening 452300 7774300
LuckyProp 413420 7772660 Mi Mi 449669 7773160
Mabel Jane 423000 7767900 Mi Mi East 450124 7772857
Merrie Monarch 423040 7772080 Mickeries 460540 7779200
Monarch View 423820 7771940 Rishton 451050 7774100
Mount Censis 422200 7772960 Rishton Scrub 451000 7771000
Mount Charles 413500 7768830 Robinson Crusoe 457068 7776144
MtCharlesEast 413650 7768730 Rochford Syndicate 459000 7776000
Mt Pleasant North 413700 7762800 Try No More 451000 7773000
Mt Pleasant South 412980 7760050
Newtown Butler 418480 7772450 AMG coordinates were used as input data for spatial
Powerline 411930 7768230
autocorrelation in FryPlo and fractal analysis in Boxcount.
Republic 418500 7768250
Rollston 424600 7773060 Abbreviations: CT City = Charters Towers City camp;
Same as Usual 422700 7772000 CT South = Charters Towers South camp; HC = Hadleigh
Castle Camp.
 O.P. Kreuzer et al. / Ore Geology Reviews 32 (2007) 37–80
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