RESOURCE GEOLOGY, vol. 54, no.

2, 187–195 2004

Timing of the Mineralization and Volcanism

at Cibaliung Gold Deposit, Western Java, Indonesia

Agung HARIJOKO, Kenzo SANEMATSU, Robert A. DUNCAN*,

Sukmandaru PRIHATMOKO** and Koichiro WATANABE

Department of Earth Resources Engineering, Kyushu University, Hakozaki 6-10-1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan
[e-mail: aharijoko@ugm.ac.id]
* College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
** PT. Cibaliung Sumberdaya (Austindo Resources Corporation NL), Graha Irama 3rd Floor, Jl. H. R. Rasuna Said, Kav.
1-2, Jakarta 12950, Indonesia
Received on Aug. 27, 2003; accepted on June 4, 2004

Abstract: The Cibaliung deposit is a low-sulfidation type epithermal gold deposit situated about 70 km west of the Bayah
dome complex. The gold-bearing quartz veins are hosted by basaltic andesite of the Honje Formation, which is comparable
to the host rock of gold deposits at the Bayah dome complex.
In order to clarify the timing of the mineralization and the volcanism at the Cibaliung area, two radiometric dating
methods were applied. First, 40Ar/39Ar dating was conducted on six adularia samples to elucidate the age of mineralization.
Second, K-Ar method was applied to two samples of the host rock, andesite and the Cibaliung tuff, in order to reveal the tim-
ing of volcanism.
The 40Ar/39Ar dating determined mineralization ages in the range from 11.18 to 10.65 Ma while the K-Ar dating indi-
cated the age of the andesite and the Cibaliung tuff to be 11.4±0.8 Ma and 4.9±0.6 Ma, respectively. These results imply that
the epithermal gold mineralization in the Cibaliung area is related to the volcanic activity that produced the Honje
Formation, while the Cibaliung tuff played an important role in the preservation of the Cibaliung deposit. The Cibaliung
deposit is the oldest epithermal gold deposit yet discovered in western Java.
Keywords: epithermal, Cibaliung, western Java, 40Ar/39Ar dating, gold deposit

dome complex (Fig. 1). The host rocks are volcanics,

1. Introduction comparable to those at the Bayah dome complex. They
consist of Oligocene to Pleistocene basaltic andesite
The western part of Java is known as one of richest intruded by dikes and are unconformably overlain by
gold producing areas in Indonesia. Some gold deposits the Cibaliung tuff (Angeles et al., 2002). However, up to
have been discovered in the western Java, especially in now, there are no radiometric age data for the host rocks,
the Bayah dome complex. They are Cikotok,
Cikidang, Cirotan, Ciawitali and Gunung
Pongkor among others (Fig. 1). They are low-
sulfidation type epithermal gold deposits. Jakarta
40Ar/39Ar dating on adularia from the Pongkor
Cibugis
deposit revealed the age of 2.05±0.05 Ma Gn. Limbung Bogor
(Ciguha and Ciurug veins, Milesi et al., 1999), Cibaliung
Ciawitali
while K-Ar dating on other deposits resulted in Gn. Pongkor
1.7±0.1 Ma (Cirotan), 2.1±0.6 Ma (Cipangleser- Cipangleseran
Cikidang Bandung
an), 1.5±0.1 Ma (Ciawitali) (Marcoux and Epithermal deposits Cirotan
Milesi, 1994) and 2.4 Ma (Cikidang) (Rosana Porphyry copper deposits Cikotok
and Matsueda, 2002). The volcanic rocks in the Operating epithermal mine
Bayah dome complex, mainly of andesitic lava, Plio Pleistocene
volcanic rocks
are 14 to 2 Ma in age (Marcoux and Milesi, Bayah dome complex
1994).
Honje igneous complex 0 75 km
A recent discovery (in 1992) is the low-sulfi-
dation type epithermal gold deposit in the Fig. 1 Location of the Cibaliung gold deposit and other gold
Cibaliung area, about 70 km west of the Bayah deposits at western Java.

187
188 A. HARIJOKO, K. SANEMATSU, R. A. DUNCAN, S. PRIHATMOKO and K. WATANABE RESOURCE GEOLOGY :

or for the Cibaliung mineralization.

Angeles et al. (2002) deduced the host Alluvial deposits
rock age to be Oligocene to Pleistocene. Basalt flow
In this paper, we report the result of two
Cibaliung Sedimentary rocks
methods of radiometric dating. One is
40 Ar /39 Ar dating on adularia from the Kuparonyok Cibaliung tuff
Cibaliung deposit. The other is the K-Ar Honje Formation
Kar-01
dating on volcanic rocks around the
K-Ar dating sample
deposit. These age determinations enable
40 39
us to clarify the timing of the mineraliza- Ar/ Ar dating sample
tion and volcanism at the Cibaliung Quartz veins
deposit and compare it with the mineral- Lineaments
ization in the Bayah dome complex.
Advantage of the 40Ar /39Ar method
compared to the K-Ar method is that the Pematangluhur
40Ar/39Ar method provides valuable infor-

mation to detect the existence of excess Kar-02

2 km
argon and reheating effect (McDougall
and Harrison, 1999). Therefore, the
40Ar/39Ar dating method can provide more (after Angeles et al., 2002)
accurate ages than conventional K-Ar dat- Fig. 2 Geologic map of the Cibaliung area and the location of dating sam-
ing method. As epithermal gold mineral- ples. Modified after Angeles et al. (2002). The outlined area is the location
ization forms in relatively short time and of the Cikoneng and Cibitung shoots. This area is enlarged in Figure 3.
reheating commonly occurs, therefore the
40Ar/39Ar dating method is suitable to date mineralization – east, while the late Miocene to Pliocene belt occurs fur-
age of epithermal gold deposit. ther north parallel to the older belt and in places is over-
lain by Quaternary volcanism.
2. Regional Geology The Cibaliung deposit is situated in the Honje Igneous
Complex that is mainly comprised of Miocene basaltic
Java is situated in the Sunda-Banda volcanic arc andesite volcanic rocks of the Honje Formation. The vol-
extending from the northern tip of Sumatra through Java canic rocks are overlain by sedimentary rocks more or
and Bali, continuing to the eastern part of Indonesia. The less equivalent to the Pliocene Cipacar Formation
western tip of Java is situated in the transition from (Angeles et al., 2002; Sudana and Santosa, 1992). The
oblique subduction (west) to normal subduction (east). sedimentary rocks consist of conglomerate, calcareous
This area is bounded by the Cimandiri fault, a northeast- sandstone and limestone.
erly sinistral strike slip fault and the Ujung Kulon fault, a
prolongation of the dextral Sumatran fault (Malod et al., 3. Geology of the Cibaliung Deposit
1995). The volcanic arc was formed along the northern
margin of the active convergence plate of the subduction The geology of the Cibaliung deposit was described
of the Indian-Australian plate beneath the Eurasian plate by Angeles et al. (2002). The host rock of Cibaliung
during Cenozoic time and has been active since at least deposit is the Honje Formation, which comprises
Eocene time (Hamilton, 1979; Katili, 1975). This sub- basaltic andesite lava and volcanic breccia intercalated
duction resulted in a volcanic chain along Java (Van with tuffaceous sedimentary rocks (Fig. 2). The lavas
Bemmelen, 1949; Whitford et al., 1979; Katili, 1975). are massive showing trachytic textures in thin section.
The volcanic front has migrated from south to north with The volcanic breccia shows textures of hyaloclastites
time and has remained calc-alkaline in composition indicative of quenching during the formation, and
throughout its history (Nicholls et al., 1980; Soeria- implies a sub-aqueous environment. Furthermore, the
Atmadja et al., 1994). Honje Formation is intruded by sub-volcanic andesite
Furthermore, Soeria-Atmadja et al. (1994) applying K- and diatreme breccia. The Honje Formation surrounding
Ar dating showed that the volcanism in Java can be the veins has undergone hydrothermal alteration. The
grouped into three magmatic belts, these are late Eocene alteration is weakening to the south, so a fresh rock
to early Miocene, late Miocene to Pliocene and sample was collected for K-Ar dating. Therefore, it can
Quaternary belts. The late Eocene to early Miocene belts be considered as a pre-mineralized rock with respect to
were emplaced along southern part of Java trending west the mineralization at the Cibaliung deposit.
vol. 54, no. 2, 2004 Timing of Mineralization and Volcanism at Cibaliung Au Deposit 189

AC-001 AC-004
(m) 0

0 200m 400 10
Scale
Cibaliung tuff
Drilling points 20
(Pliocene)
Quartz veins
Cikoneng shoot 30
AC 004
A'
AC 001 40
AC 020
A CDDH 15 Citeluk tuff
50

60
Honje Formation
(Late Miocene)
70

80
B'
AC 013

Cibitung shoot Soil Lithic tuff

Quartz
B Pumice lithic tuff veins
Andesites
Accretionary
lapilli tuff
Fig. 4 Stratigraphic column showing the relationship of
Cibaliung tuff, Citeluk tuff and the Honje Formation
based on the drilling core of AC 001 and AC 004.
Melinjo

Table 1 Chemical composition of the K-Ar dating

Fig. 3 Map showing distribution of the drilling point and samples (volcanic rocks of the Cibaliung area).
quartz vein (the Cikoneng and Cibitung shoots). % Andesite lava* Cibaliung tuff
SiO2 54.0 70.5
TiO2 1.1 0.7
The Honje Formation is unconformably overlain by
Al2O3 17.2 14.5
two tuff units: an unnamed tuff and the Cibaliung tuff. Fe2O3 9.1 4.9
For the discussion, hereafter we use the name of Citeluk MnO 0.2 0.1
tuff instead of unnamed tuff. The unconformity is indi- MgO 4.3 1.3
cated by two different layers of paleosol, which separate CaO 9.0 3.2
the Cibaliung tuff from the Citeluk tuff and the tuff Na2O 3.4 2.4
units from basaltic andesite of the Honje Formation. K2O 0.9 1.9
This is indicative that the Honje Formation was exposed P2O5 0.2 0.1
and weathered before the deposition of the Cibaliung LOI 0.5 0.1
tuff. The presence of paleosols can be seen clearly in The data are normalized to 100%
* member of the Honje Formation
drilling cores AC 004 and AC 001 (Figs. 3 and 4), and
also at the outcrops near the discovery outcrop of the
Cikoneng shoot. altered rock fragments, fresh pumice and obsidian in
Drill holes AC 004 and AC 001 intersected the addition to phenocrysts such as plagioclase and quartz.
Cibaliung tuff over a 50 m interval (with a drilling incli- The fragments and phenocrysts are embedded in
nation of about 55°). The Cibaliung tuff consists of sev- aphanitic groundmass.
eral tuff units including pumice lithic tuff, ignimbrite In some places the Cibaliung tuff crops out as fresh
(welded tuff) and accretionary lapilli of dacitic compo- rock but it seems to be weakly altered in the drilling cores.
sition (Table 1). The textures imply that the Cibaliung X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the Cibaliung tuff
tuff was formed by pyroclastic flow and air fall. These contains clinoptilolite. It indicates that water – rock inter-
features combined with the fact that the tuff is underlain action occurred to alter the volcanic glass to clinoptilolite.
by paleosol imply that the tuff is formed in the sub-aerial The Cibaliung vein-type deposit consists mainly of
environment. The tuff consists of weathered and/or adularia, quartz, clay minerals and sulfides-rich black
190 A. HARIJOKO, K. SANEMATSU, R. A. DUNCAN, S. PRIHATMOKO and K. WATANABE
bands exhibiting stratiform-colloform, massive,
Cikoneng shoot
brecciated and bladed quartz textures. In addi-
tion, calcite also occurs in places. Microscopic - 80 mRL
observation revealed that the ore mineral assem-
blage is comprised of electrum, acanthite, spha-
lerite, galena, pyrite and chalcopyrite. In general
the electrum is in coexistence with adularia.
4. Dating Experiments
-160 mRL
Dong and Morrison (1995) and Browne
(1978) stated that adularia is one of the indica-
tions of boiling events that are one mechanism
believed to be a trigger for the deposition of gold
(Drummond and Ohmoto, 1985). Because adu-
laria is closely associated with the other gangue Fig. 5 Location of the adularia samples used for the 40Ar/39Ar
and ore minerals in the Cikoneng and Cibitung
shoots, adularia can be used to define the age of
mineralization, moreover it is a suitable mineral
40 /39
for Ar Ar dating sample due to its high K
content.
With respect to the mineralization, the Honje Forma-
tion and the Cibaliung tuff are classified as pre- and
post-mineralization, respectively. The eruption ages of
both units are unknown. In order to document the rela-
tionship between these volcanic rocks and mineraliza-
tion, one sample from each unit was analyzed using K-
Ar dating method.
4.1. Dating samples
40Ar/39Ar incremental heating experiments have been
carried out on six adularia samples collected from the
Cikoneng-Cibitung ore shoots (Fig. 3). Four of them are
from drill cores of AC-020 (Cknar-01, Cknar-02 and
Cknar-03) and drill core of CDDH-015 (Cknar-04) that
intrude the Cikoneng shoot, and the rest are from drill
cores of AC-013 (Cbtar-01 and Cbtar-02) that intrudes
the Cibitung shoot. Following the classification of adu-
laria by Dong and Morrison (1995), most of adularia at
the Cibaliung deposit occurs as saccharoidal aggregates
of euhedral crystals exhibiting colloform-stratiform tex-
ture (Cknar-01, Cknar-02, Cknar-03 and Cbtar-01) and as
tabular adularia crystal (Cbtar-02). All of the samples
were collected from the drilling core located at deeper
levels. As shown in Figure 5, the samples were selected
representing the margins and center part of the veins indi-
cating the earlier and later vein formation, respectively.
The basaltic andesite lava of the Honje Formation
was collected from the outcrop at Pematangluhur vil-
lage. Even though the outer part of the rock is weath-
ered, the inner part is quite fresh and suitable for K-Ar
dating. The andesite consists of phenocrysts of plagio-
clase and rarely clinopyroxene with the groundmass of
acicular plagioclase exhibiting trachytic texture. The
RESOURCE GEOLOGY :
Cibitung shoot
AC-020
A A' B B'
- 80 mRL
Cknar 01 AC-013
Cknar 02
Cknar 03
Cbtar-01
Cbtar-02
-160 mRL
50 m
quartz vein Samples used for 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating experiments
experiment of mineralization age. Each section was taken along
lines A-A’ and B-B’ from Figure 2. The present surface level is
+160mRL. The samples are corresponding to those in Table 2.
andesite contains small amounts of smectite. The whole
rock K2O content of the andesite is 0.92 wt% while the
SiO 2 content is 54 wt% (Table 1).
The sample of the Cibaliung tuff was collected from
the small quarry at Kuparonyok village. The pumice frag-
ments are still fresh and have not been affected by weath-
ering or hydrothermal alteration. The whole rock K2O
content of the Cibaliung tuff is 1.92 wt% and the SiO2
content of the tuff is about 71 wt% (Table 1).
4.2. Analytical techniques
For 40Ar/39Ar dating, we used separated mineral sam-
ples of adularia collected from the quartz vein. The occur-
rence of adularia at the drilling core was, first, confirmed
by staining the core using cobalt nitrate. Then the pres-
ence of adularia was confirmed by X-ray diffraction
analysis as well as microscopic observation of thin sec-
tions. The result shows that adularia coexists with quartz,
calcite, clay and/or ore minerals.
Samples were crushed and sieved to collect 150 –
300 mesh fractions. Adularia was separated from the
other mineral grains by utilizing magnetic and heavy
liquid methods. We used sodium polytungstate (SPT)
with a specific gravity of 2.65 to separate adularia from
quartz. Then, in order to concentrate adularia and to
remove the impurities such as calcite that probably still
remained, the acid treatment was also conducted at the
last stage by utilizing dilute hydrofluoric acid and nitric
acid. We separated more or less 300 mg of each adular-
ia sample to be analyzed.
The 40Ar/39Ar incremental heating experiments were
performed at Oregon State University (OSU). Experi-
mental methods follow those described by Duncan and
Hogan (1994) and Plesner et al. (2002).
vol. 54, no. 2, 2004 Timing of Mineralization and Volcanism at Cibaliung Au Deposit
Table 2 The results of 40Ar/39Ar dating on adularia samples from the Cibaliung deposit.
No. Location N** %39Ar*** Initial 40Ar/36Ar MSWD**** Total
Cikoneng
Cknar-01 AC-020 (301 m) 14 98.78 298 ± 6
Cknar-02 AC-020 (322 m) 6 73.37 296 ± 3
Cknar-03 AC-020 (343 m) 7 92.04 293 ± 3
Cknar-04 CDDH-015 (161 m) 5 69.66 295 ± 6
Cibitung
Cbtar-01 AC-013 (330 m) 6 76.12 296 ± 3
Cbtar-02 AC-013 (333 m) 7 93.70 299 ± 2
Note: * error is in 2σ
** N: number of step age data used in the plateau age calculation
*** %39Ar: cumulative 39Ar released
**** MSWD: Mean Square Weighted Deviation
The samples were irradiated in the OSU TRIGA
reactor in the Cadmium-Lined In-Core Irradiation Tube
(CLICIT) for 6 hours at 1 MW with a fast neutron dose
of about 5 × 1017 n/cm2. During irradiation, the samples
and the standard monitors were wrapped in copper foil
and sealed in an evacuated quartz tube. The FCT-3 stan-
dard is biotite with intercalibrated age of 28.02±0.16
Ma (Renne et al., 1998). It is utilized for monitoring the
flux gradient and the efficiency of the conversion of 39K
to 39Ar by neutron capture in order to define the J para-
meter of the irradiation.
The experiments comprised 9 to 15 individual heating
steps with the increment of temperature ranging from 75
to 100°C over the range of measurement from 600 to
1400°C, following an outgassing step at 400°C. The sam-
ples were mostly heated in a low-blank double vacuum
furnace, except one sample that was heated by low CO2
continuous laser to obtain the gas. This sample was heated
with the laser due to the broken of copper foil wrap. Each
step heating was conducted for 20 minutes, with an addi-
tional 5 minutes gettering clean-up before the extracted
gas was admitted into the mass spectrometer (MAP 215-
50). The argon isotopes (40Ar, 39Ar, 38Ar, 37Ar and 36Ar)
were then measured by electron multiplier over 12 cycles.
The step compositions were corrected with system blanks
(measured prior to each sample at 900 and 1400°C). The
correction also was conducted for the interfering of argon
isotope result from the Ca, K, and Cl (McDougall and
Harrison, 1999). The age calculation, then, was performed
by means of ArArCALC computer program (Koppers,
2002).
The K-Ar dating experiment on the whole rock samples
was conducted at Activation Laboratory, Canada. The K-
Ar dating procedure at this Laboratory required very fine
grain size about 10 µm. In order to collect such grain size,
the rocks samples were pulverized and subjected to gravi-
tation settlement. Since the Cibaliung tuff contains older
rock fragments the fragments were removed from the
samples, by hand picking under the binocular before pul-
verization.
191
fusion age Isochron age
(Ma)* (Ma)*
Plateau age
(Ma)*
0.83 11.15± 0.09 10.95± 0.08 10.98 ± 0.07
0.47 11.59± 0.58 10.64± 0.12 10.65 ± 0.08
1.21 11.32± 0.11 11.11± 0.07 11.09 ± 0.07
0.06 11.21± 0.20 11.18± 0.20 11.18 ± 0.20
0.95 11.40± 0.09 11.14± 0.07 11.14 ± 0.06
0.26 11.11± 0.09 11.09± 0.09 11.10 ± 0.09
5. Results
Results of the 40Ar/39Ar age dating are presented in
Table 2, the age spectra and inverse isochron age data are
presented in Figure 6. The apparent age of each step heat-
ing is plotted with respect to cumulative percent of 39Ar
gas-released. The plateau age then is calculated from at
least three contiguous steps with the cumulative 39Ar gas
released more than 50 %. The results reveal the age of
mineralization ranging from 11.18 to 10.65 Ma (Table 2).
The error of the age is presented as 2σ. Most of the analy-
ses resulted in very small relative errors, ranging from 0.5
to 0.7 % except sample number Cknar-04 with 1.8 %.
Figure 6 presents the inverse isochron plot of
36Ar/40Ar versus 39Ar/40Ar. The isochron plot is useful
to support the 40Ar/39Ar dating, especially to recognize
the occurrence of excess argon. In the inverse isochron
plot, the excess 40Ar is recognized from the intercept
with 36Ar/ 40Ar axis. The excess argon is identified
when the 40Ar to 36Ar ratio is higher than that of atmos-
pheric value i.e., 295.5 (McDougall and Harrison,
1999). In these experiments the initial 40Ar/36Ar are not
statistically different from the atmospheric value, and
we conclude that excess 40Ar is not a significant contri-
bution to the age data (Table 2).
In order to test the goodness-of-fit of the isochron,
we calculated the Mean Square Weighted Deviation
(MSWD) that has an expected value of one (Wendt and
Carl, 1991). Much lower or higher values of MSWD
indicate an overestimate or underestimate of experimen-
tal error, respectively (McDougall and Harrison, 1999).
Data points used in the calculation of MSWD are those
used to calculate the plateau age. These experiments
resulted in the values of MSWD in the range of one
standard deviation of MSWD. That is MSWD±σ, where
σ = ±(2/f)1/2 in which f is degrees of freedom (n-2) and
n is number of data points (Wendt and Carl, 1991). An
exception is the result for CDDH-015 whose MSWD is
much less than one, indicating that the step age errors
are much larger than what would be expected from vari-
192 A. HARIJOKO, K. SANEMATSU, R. A. DUNCAN, S. PRIHATMOKO and K. WATANABE RESOURCE GEOLOGY :

Cikoneng shoot
Cknar 01
24 0.0040
M SWD=0.83
0.0035
20
0.0030

36Ar/40Ar
0.0025
Age(Ma)

16
10.98 ± 0.07Ma 0.0020
12 0.0015
0.0010
8
0.0005

4 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.20 0.24 0.28 0.32
Cumulative 39Ar released (%) 39Ar/40Ar

Cknar 02
42 0.0040
M SWD=0.47
0.0035
34
0.0030
36Ar/40Ar 0.0025
Age(Ma)

26
0.0020
18 10.65 ± 0.08Ma 0.0015
0.0010
10
0.0005
2 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.20 0.24 0.28 0.32
Cumulative 39Ar released (%) 39Ar/40Ar

Cknar 03
20 0.0040
M SWD=1.21
18 0.0035
0.0030
16
Age(Ma)

0.0025
36Ar/40Ar

14 0.0020
11.09 ± 0.07Ma
0.0015
12
0.0010
10
0.0005
8 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.20 0.24 0.28 0.32
Cumulative 39Ar released (%) 39Ar/40Ar

Cknar 04
18 0.0040
M SWD=0.06
0.0035
16
0.0030
14
36Ar/40Ar
Age(Ma)

0.0025
11.18 0.20 M a
12 0.0020
0.0015
10
0.0010
8 0.0005
6 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.20 0.24 0.28 0.32
Cumulative 39Ar released (%) 39Ar/40Ar

Fig. 6 Plot of spectrum and inverse isochron age of the 40Ar/39Ar age determination of adularia samples from the Cibaliung
deposit. The solid symbols represent the fraction used in the regression while open symbols do not.
vol. 54, no. 2, 2004 Timing of Mineralization and Volcanism at Cibaliung Au Deposit 193

Cibitung shoot
Cbtar 01
16 0.0040
0.0035 M SWD=0.26
11.10 ± 0.09Ma
12 0.0030

36Ar/40Ar
Age(Ma)

0.0025
8 0.0020
0.0015
4 0.0010
0.0005
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.20 0.24 0.28 0.32
Cumulative 39Ar released (%) 39Ar/40Ar

Cbtar 02
18 0.0040
M SWD=0.95
0.0035
16
0.0030

36Ar/40Ar
Age(Ma)

14 0.0025
0.0020
11.14 ± 0.06Ma
12 0.0015
0.0010
10
0.0005
8 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.20 0.24 0.28 0.32
Cumulative 39Ar released (%) 39Ar/40Ar

Fig. 6 (continued) Plot of spectrum and inverse isochron age of the 40Ar/39Ar
age determination of adularia samples from the
Cibaliung deposit. The solid symbols represent the fraction used in the regression while open symbols do not.

ance of the step ages. Based on these con- 12 12

a) b)
siderations, the results of these experi-
Total fusion age (Ma)

11.6 11.6
Isochrone age (Ma)

ments are acceptable estimates of the min-

eralization age of the Cibaliung deposit. 11. 2 11.2
Moreover, comparing the plateau age
with isochron age and total fusion age, the 10. 8 10.8
plateau ages are statistically indistinguish-
10. 4 10.4
able from the isochron ages, while the total
fusion ages are in four cases older than the 10 10
plateau ages (Fig. 7a and b). 39Ar loss in 10 10.4 10.8 11.2 11.6 12 10 10.4 10.8 11.2 11.6 12
the reactor can produce older apparent ages Plateau age (Ma) Plateau age (Ma)
at the lower temperature steps. These steps data points with error bars of 2σ
are included in the calculation of total
Fig. 7 Comparison of plateau age to other ages. a) Isochron age versus
fusion age; but are excluded from the cal- plateau age. b) Total fusion age versus plateau age.
culation for plateau age and isochron age.
The older apparent ages at lower temper-
Table 3 K-Ar dating result for volcanic rocks of the
ature steps could also be due to the presence of excess Cibaliung area. The samples are corresponding to those
argon from fluid inclusions and/or melt inclusions in Table 1.
(Kelley, 2002). The decrepitation temperature of fluid 40Ar , nl/g
rad %K %40Arair Age (Ma)
inclusions is a function of inclusion size, the smaller Andesite lava 0.37 0.84 81.0 11.4±0.8
inclusion the higher the decrepitation temperature. The Cibaliung tuff 0.29 1.54 89.8 4.9±0.6
fluid inclusions with the diameter size less than 5 µm may
decrepitate up to 600°C, while the inclusions less than 1
The K-Ar dating analysis resulted in the ages of
µm diameter may remain up to the melting temperature of
andesite lava and the Cibaliung tuff of 11.4± 0.8 Ma
mineral (Kelley, 2002; Shepherd et al., 1985).
and of 4.9±0.6 Ma, respectively (Table 3).
194 A. HARIJOKO, K. SANEMATSU, R. A. DUNCAN, S. PRIHATMOKO and K. WATANABE
6. Discussion
6.1. Volcanism in the Cibaliung area
The volcanic rocks at the Bayah dome complex
consist of Oligocene to Quaternary rhyolitic to
andesitic rocks. The K-Ar dating revealed the ages of
those volcanic rocks are of 14 to 2 Ma (Marcoux and
Milesi, 1994), comparable to the timing of volcanism
in the Cibaliung area (11.4 to 4.9 Ma, this study).
The presence of two paleosol layers (Fig. 4) sug-
gest that there was a relative paucity or hiatus of
volcanic activity in the Cibaliung area and possibly
also in the Bayah dome complex and perhaps in the
western Java area during that time. Our K-Ar dating
from the Honje Formation and the Cibaliung tuff
indicates that the volcanic activity responsible for
the formation of the Citeluk tuff occurred between
11.4 and 4.9 Ma, and could be related to that
occurred in Central Java (Soeria-Atmadja, 1994).
6.2. Timing of mineralization and preservation
From margin to center in the veins, the 40Ar/39Ar ages
range from 11.18 to 10.65 Ma as summarized in Figure 8.
Thus, it is estimated that the quartz veins in the Cibaliung
deposit were initiated at 11.18 Ma and continued until
10.65 Ma with duration of about 530,000 years. This
duration is similar to that of the Yamada zone of the
Hishikari deposit of 550,000 years (Watanabe et al.,
2001).
The mineralization age is slightly younger than the
Honje Formation and much older than the Cibaliung tuff.
Therefore, the mineralization in the Cibaliung area is most
probably related to the later stages of volcanic activity that
produced the Honje Formation. The younger tuff units
(Citeluk and Cibaliung tuffs) do not host mineralization
and are not subjected to alteration related with the miner-
alization, but these units and younger sedimentary units
play an important role in preservation of the ore deposit in
the Cibaliung area.
Our study suggests that the time difference between the
mineralization and the deposition of the Cibaliung tuff is
about 5.5 m.y. The deposition of the Citeluk tuff covers
the Cibaliung deposit before the deposition of the
Cibaliung tuff, and shortens the time difference between
mineralization and deposition of cover rocks. Assuming
the rate of erosion in an island arc terrain of about 0.1
mm/year (Hedenquist, 2000), the depth of erosion would
reach maximal 550 m. Thus, the upper part of the
Cibaliung deposit may have already been removed.
Up to now, the dated epithermal gold deposits in Java
are only deposits located in Bayah dome that yield miner-
alization age ranging from 2.1 to 1.5 Ma (Milesi et al.,
1999; Marcoux and Milesi, 1994; Rosana and Matsueda,
RESOURCE GEOLOGY :
Age Cikoneng Cibitung
shoot shoot Host rocks
(Ma)
4
Cibaliung
tuff
5
10 Honje
Formation
11
12
Honje Formation Cibaliung tuff quartz vein
Age with error bar of the samples
Fig. 8 Temporal relationship between mineralization and vol-
canic rocks in the Cibaliung deposit.
2002). This study revealed that the Cibaliung deposit is so
far the oldest known epithermal gold mineralization in
western Java. Moreover, it suggests that the Miocene vol-
canism in western Java is not barren. The Miocene
epithermal deposit may still exist if there is preservation
process due to coverage of younger volcanic rocks and/or
sedimentary rocks that prevent the deposit from erosion.
7. Conclusion
Regional mapping, lithostratigraphic correlations and
age dating indicate that volcanism in the Cibaliung area
was prevalent during late Miocene to Pliocene time
(11.4 to 4.9 Ma). This prevalence of volcanism is simi-
lar to the situation in the Bayah dome complex in west-
ern Java where many epithermal Au deposits occurred.
The 40Ar/39Ar age determination of adularia from the
Cibaliung deposit yielded the age of mineralization
ranging from 11.18 to 10.65 Ma, from margin to center
of veins. We estimate that the mineralization in the
Cibaliung deposit initiated at 11.18 Ma and continued
until 10.65 Ma with a duration of 0.53 m.y. The miner-
alization is probably related to the later stages of vol-
canic activity of the Honje Formation (11.4 Ma). The
Cibaliung deposit is so far the oldest known epithermal
gold deposit in western Java.
The deposition of tuff units (Citeluk and Cibaliung
tuffs) and sedimentary rocks has provided an important
role in the preservation of the Cibaliung gold deposit.
These younger units have prevented further erosion of
the deposit until recent times. The maximum time span
of erosion is inferred to be about 5.5 m.y. based on the
radiometric age data from our study. Assuming that the
vol. 54, no. 2, 2004 Timing of Mineralization and Volcanism at Cibaliung Au Deposit 195

rate of erosion in the island arc is about 0.1 mm/year, Jour. Geochem. Explor., 50, 393–408.
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Acknowledgments: The authors wish to acknowledge Thermochronology by the 40Ar/39Ar Method. 2nd ed.,
the management of P.T. Cibaliung Sumberdaya and Oxford University Press, New York, 269p.
Milesi, J. P., Marcoux, E., Sitorus, T., Simandjuntak, M.,
Austindo Resources Corporation N.L. for the permis-
Leroy, J. and Baily, L. (1999) Pongkor (West Java): A
sion to publish this paper. We are grateful to Dr. Akira
Pliocene supergene-enriched epithermal Au-Ag-(Mn)
Imai for his review and also to John Huard for his assis- deposit. Mineral. Deposita, 34, 131–149.
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