Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564

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Ore Geology Reviews

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The Miwah high–sulphidation epithermal Au–Ag deposit, Aceh, Indonesia: T

Geology and spatial relationships of gold with associated metals and
structures
⁎ ⁎
Thomas Muljaa, , Mohamad Nur Heriawanb, , Boby Dwi Herquariyanto Supomob
a
PO BOX 37025 Lonsdale PO, N. Vancouver, B.C. V7M 4M4, Canada
b
Research Group of Earth Resources Exploration, Faculty of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung 40132, Indonesia

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Geological, mineralogical, and whole–rock geochemical studies of the Plio–Pleistocene Miwah high–-
High–sulphidation epithermal Au–Ag deposit sulphidation Au–Ag deposit in Aceh, Indonesia, revealed evidence of a complex and dynamic interplay between
Geochemistry structural development and mineralisation. The mineralisation occurs in a zone of predominantly phreatic
Synchronous deformation and mineralisation breccias measuring 1.1 km long by 400 m wide and 200–350 m deep within a fault-bounded calc–alkaline
Miwah deposit
andesite ridge. Within this zone, low-grade disseminated Au-Ag has superimposed narrow, high-grade Au-Ag
zones. Hydrothermal alteration and mineralisation in three mineralised centres, the Miwah Bluff in the west and
the West Block M and East Block M in the east, are controlled by steeply dipping (> 60°) and northerly trending
pre- to syn-mineral feeders. This alteration displays an outward sequence of vuggy silica I, alunite + silica
(advanced argillic), and kaolinite + illite (argillic); a distal chlorite + smectite (propylitic) zone may precede or
constitute the end product of the above alteration. Late silica flooding converted parts of the vuggy silica I and
the alunite + quartz zone into variably sulphide-rich massive silica and vuggy silica II con-
taining pyrophyllite ± alunite, respectively. Penecontemporaneous with the massive silicification, main-stage
mineralisation initially deposited intergrowths of pyrite + enargite ± quartz, followed by scattered enargite
and pyrite, and finally, rapidly precipitated Ag-bearing native gold dendrites in vugs, with lesser amounts of
sulphides. The crack–seal texture of the host rocks, paragenetic variation in precious- and base-metal mineral
species, and selective dissolution, fracturing, and shearing of most of the metallic and gangue minerals are
interpreted to reflect transient pulses of fluid flows and mineralisation within zones of structural deformation.
High–grade Au zones and associated metals formed clusters along the feeders, whereas low–grade dis-
seminations of the same metals were spread across the deposit. These metals are zoned along the feeders from
apical Au + Ag to deep Cu + As; Sb, Te, and Sn are variably distributed. Laterally, the zonation is from Au + Ag
in the feeders, through Cu, As, Sb, Bi, Te, and Sn and finally to Pb or Zn in the periphery. While these bulk-rock
metal abundances indicate the efficacy of certain physico-chemical conditions of the fluids to accumulate the
metals, their ratios point to an upward paleo–flow path of the fluids along the northerly striking faults and
related fractures. Combining all of the above data, we propose that Miwah developed in fault-fracture networks
beneath paleo–solfataras in a volcanic crater where the ascending acidic magmatic gas or gas + fluids (vapours)
transformed the phreatic breccia host rocks first into vuggy silica and advanced argillic rocks, which were
subsequently resilicified and mineralised into Au- and base-metal-rich massive silica during the depressurisation
and condensation of the gas + fluid phases. Mineralisation processes terminated with limited Ag-enrichment by
late-stage fluids in the upper segment of the deposit and in deep fractures.

1. Introduction resource of 3.13 million oz (Moz) of Au at a cut-off grade of 0.2 g/t Au

(Taylor, 2011), it is the second largest deposit of its kind after the
Miwah is the first drill-delineated high-sulphidation (acid–sulphate) Martabe deposit (7.4 Moz Au and 70 Moz Ag with a head grade of
epithermal Au–Ag deposit in the mineral-rich but under-explored 2.76 g/t Au and 28.7 g/t Ag; G-Resource, 2016) located approximately
Province of Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia (Fig. 1). With an inferred total 480 km to the south-southeast in North Sumatra (Fig. 1). Miwah occurs

⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: mulja.thomas@gmail.com (T. Mulja), heriawan@mining.itb.ac.id (M.N. Heriawan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2020.103564
Received 26 July 2019; Received in revised form 16 April 2020; Accepted 23 April 2020
Available online 07 May 2020
0169-1368/ © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
T. Mulja, et al. Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564

Fig. 1. Regional geology and mineralisation of Aceh and location of Miwah within the Takengon Quadrangle (compiled from Katili, 1973; Cameron et al., 1983;
Carlile and Mitchell, 1994; Mulja et al., 2003). Also shown in the index map is the termination of the Sumatra Fault System (SFS) at the Andaman spreading centre
(Curray, 2005) and the Sundaland Craton, which underlies the entire Sumatra island and its vicinity. The subduction rate of the Australian plate ranges from 52 mm/
year offshore of north Sumatra, 57 mm/year in Central Sumatra to 60 mm/year in South Sumatra (Sieh and Natawidjaja, 2000).

within a crescent-shaped volcanic field (approximately 20 × 7 km),
which hosts several extinct cones, intrusive domes, solfataras, a few hot
springs, and a number of magmatic-hydrothermal Au–Cu occurrences
(Figs. 1 and 2). Approximately 7–8 km to the north-northeast is the
multi-crater Peuet Sague composite volcano that creates its own
younger volcanic landscape. The currently active Tutung crater has an
acid crater lake and fumaroles and is undergoing clay alteration similar
to active geothermal–mineralisation systems such as the Kawah Ijen in
eastern Java (e.g., Scher et al., 2013). This dynamic geological setting
thus makes Miwah an excellent example in which to study various as-
pects of volcanogenic high-sulphidation epithermal Au–Ag deposits.
Moreover, the property remains in an advanced exploration stage and
hence affords an opportunity to document the deposit while it is still
intact. In this contribution, we describe the host rocks, structure,
hydrothermal alteration-mineralisation, and whole-rock geochemistry
of the Miwah deposit with the aim of linking the spatial relationships of
Au and associated metals with structures and lithologic units. Our ob-
jective is to provide geological and lithogeochemical foundations for
future petrogenetic studies of the deposit.
1.1. History of exploration and discovery
The first systematic regional mineral reconnaissance of Aceh was
conducted by the Joint Indonesian and British Geological Survey from
1975 to 1980, and it resulted in the publication of 1:250,000-scale
stream sediment geochemical maps and quadrangle geological maps
(e.g., Cameron et al., 1983). One such map shows anomalous Cu, Ag,
and Au values in the −150 µm to +100 µm fractions of stream

2
T. Mulja, et al.
Fig. 2. A. District geology of Miwah (compiled from Cameron et al., 1983; MTE,
1996; Taylor 2011; and this study). The computer-generated rose diagram de-
picts the trends of the faults and fractures in the district. B. Shuttle Radar To-
pography Mission or SRTM digital elevation map of the district (Courtesy of
MPX Geophysics Ltd.). Circled star: Miwah gold deposit. Solid red dot: Zurham
porphyry Cu–Au and high-sulphidation epithermal prospects. SFS: Sumatra
Fault System. Dashed line: fault; Circle-dashed line: spherical structure inter-
preted from satellite images. FM: formation; Calc: calcareous; LS: limestone;
MS: mudstone; SS: sandstone; Bas: basalt; And: andesite; Dac: dacite; Grdn:
granodiorite; Qtz Dio: quartz diorite.
sediments located south of Miwah (Geological Survey of Indonesia,
1983). Cameron et al. (1983) reported the occurrence of strongly pro-
pylitised and silicified volcanic rocks and a mineralised float assaying
4 ppm Au and 17 ppm Ag from the nearby Krueng Sipopok (Krueng
means creek). These altered and metalliferous rocks led to the discovery
of the Miwah deposit in 1990 by Williamson and Fleming (1995), who
traced enargite-bearing, advanced argillic cobbles and boulders located
approximately 45 km downstream back to their source at Miwah. Fol-
lowing this discovery, Australian Highlands Gold Pty. Ltd., through its
Indonesian subsidiary PT. Miwah Tambang Emas (MTE), explored the
discovery area from 1992 to late 1995 and drilled 13 holes in the area,
with depths ranging from 24 to 528 m (at a median of 184 m) for a total
of 3,144 m of core. A preliminary resource estimate indicated 100
million tonnes of mineralised rock grading between 0.75 and 1.25 g/t
Au (Colony Pacific Exploration, 1997). Political and economic in-
stabilities in Southeast Asia in 1998, together with depressed global
metal prices, caused a nine-year hiatus in exploration activities in Aceh.
In 2006, the Indonesian company PT Bayu Kamona Karya obtained the
Miwah concession and partnered with East Asia Minerals Ltd. (EAS),
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Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564
and the latter company conducted a deposit-delineation drilling pro-
gramme that ended with 77 drill holes for a total of 16,162 m of core.
Taylor (2011), based on data from EAS, estimated that Miwah con-
tained a total inferred resource of 103.9 Mt. with metal contents at a
cut-off grade of 0.2 g/t Au as follows: 2.4 Moz Au and 6.74 Moz Ag in
partially oxidised rocks, 0.7 Moz Au and 2.11 Moz Ag in un-oxidized
(hypogene) rocks, and 0.03 Moz Au and 0.09 Moz Ag in oxidised rocks,
for a total of 3.13 Moz Au and 8.95 Moz Ag.
2. Regional geology and metallogeny
Miwah is located in the overriding segment of the Sumatran con-
vergent plate margin, where the Australian oceanic crust is subducted
obliquely below the Sundaland Craton along the Sunda Trench towards
the northeast (Fig. 1). The island-length Barisan Mountains lie parallel
to this collisional zone and rise to altitudes of ~3380 m in Aceh. These
mountains are underlain by a Permo–Triassic metamorphic basement
complex, which in places is overlain by or abuts the Jurassic–Cretac-
eous Woyla Group ophiolite assemblage. These older rocks were in-
truded by Mesozoic to Cenozoic magmatic rocks and are partially
covered by Paleogene to Neogene sedimentary sequences. The juxta-
position of the above various rock types and ages occurred through the
growth of Sumatra from the amalgamation of a series of allocthonous
terranes that migrated from northeastern Gondwana to the Indo–China
plate between the Late Devonian and the Triassic or Middle Jurassic
(Barber and Crow, 2009). This migration approximately coincided with
the opening of the ancient Meso–Tethys ocean in the present-day
Australian–Indian ocean. By the Triassic or Jurassic, subduction of the
Meso–Tethys oceanic crust into the western margin of ‘proto-Sumatra’
was in progress, and an intra-oceanic arc and an accretionary complex
(the future Woyla Group) were eventually thrust over Sumatra during
the Late Mesozoic. During the Paleogene, Sumatra underwent devel-
opment of large-scale horst and graben structure as well as erosion and
sedimentation, and by the Oligocene, the Barisan had commenced its
initial uplift. Concurrently, widespread volcanism covered the rising
Barisan and much of the eastern and western coastal areas with vol-
caniclastic rocks (Fig. 1).
Magmatism from the Mesozoic to the Cenozoic produced at least
three major north-northwest-trending metalliferous volcano–plutonic
arcs in Sumatra (Katili, 1973; Carlile and Mitchell, 1994; Crow and van
Leeuwen, 2005). In south-eastern Aceh, the Pre-Cretaceous arc hosts a
series of intermediate to felsic plutons, including the Serbajadi and
Tingkuh Tige diorite–granodiorite–granite complexes, which induced
exogenous Cu ± Pb ± Zn skarn mineralisation (Fig. 1). During the
Cretaceous, the second cycle of magmatism developed the Suma-
tra–Meratus arc, where the Sn–Mo-hosting composite Sikuleh batholith
and other smaller stocks along the coastal range were emplaced into the
Woyla Group and basement rocks. Hornblende from the biotite–horn-
blende granodiorite of the Sikuleh batholith yielded a K/Ar age of
97.7 ± 7 Ma (Bennett et al., 1981). Subsequently, when the subduc-
tion motion vector in the Neogene approached its current north–north-
easterly direction, a combination of volcanic and plutonic activity de-
veloped the Neogene–Pliocene? Sunda–Banda magmatic arc along the
entire length of Sumatra and the short, arcuate Aceh arc (Fig. 1). Rock
et al. (1982) and Gasparon (2005) linked the Aceh arc to a south-dip-
ping subduction zone along the Aceh Trench off the northeastern shore
of Aceh, as postulated by Curray et al. (1979). However, Barber et al.
(2005) disputed the existence of such a convergent plate margin, and
others, e.g., Sieh and Natawidjaja (2000) and Singh and Moeremans
(2017), did not report it in their tectonic studies of Sumatra and An-
daman, respectively. Regardless of the nature of these magmatic arcs,
the Miocene to Quaternary magmatism generated Brueuh Cu–Fe skarn
mineralisation at the margin of the 14.3 Ma Geunteut granodiorite
(Bennett et al., 1981) and the 3.8–2.1 Ma Martabe high-sulphidation
epithermal Au-Ag deposit (Sutopo, 2013) along the west coast margin
(Fig. 1 index map). In addition, this activity resulted in a chain of
T. Mulja, et al.
mineralisation along and near the axis of the Barisan from the 9–13 Ma
Tangse porphyry Cu–Mo prospect (van Leeuwen et al., 1987) through
the 4–4.66 Ma Buetong porphyry Cu–Au–Ag–Mo deposit (Hackman,
2014), and the 2.9? Ma Miwah epithermal Au–Ag deposit (Adams,
1994; in Williamson and Fleming, 1995) to the ~ 2 Ma Tengkereng-Ise
Ise porphyry Cu–Au–Mo prospects (EAS pers. comm.) (Fig. 1).
The regional structures in Aceh are dominated by the Sumatran
Fault System (SFS; Fig. 1), which has been active since at least the mid-
Miocene (Fitch, 1972; Sieh and Natawidjaya, 2000). This arc-trench-
parallel, dextral strike-slip shear zone extends almost vertically to the
asthenosphere, bisects the axis of the entire Barisan, and continues
northwards to join the Andaman spreading centres (Fig. 1). The SFS
accommodates a significant amount of the right-lateral component of
oblique convergence between the aforementioned Sundaland craton
and Australian plate (Sieh and Natawidjaya, 2000). Two sets of major
structures attributed to this shortening are the northwest-trending
thrusts and folds parallel to the SFS. The prominent Oligocene Sama-
langa–Sipopok fault, which swings northwards approximately 12 km
east of Miwah, is linked to the contentious south-directed subduction
along the Aceh Trench described earlier, rather than to any of the stress
fields recognised in Aceh (e.g., Curray et al., 1979; Curray, 2005). From
the Pliocene onwards and after the clockwise rotation of Sumatra, the
direction of σ1 (greatest compressive stress) from the above collision
turned north-northeast and induced north-south-striking tensional
fractures, some of which extend for approximately 35 km from their
intersection with the SFS in the south to the north of Miwah, where they
have been buried by recent pyroclastic rocks from Peuet Sague volcano
(Fig. 1). Other relatively smaller structures trending north-northwest
and northwest were induced by southeast-directed stress from the An-
daman spreading centres (Aldiss et al., 1983; Davis, 1984;
Sosromihardjo, 1988; in Williamson and Fleming, 1995).
3. District geology
Forming ridges in the east, the Permian to Triassic metamorphic
basement complex (MPsl-Mpn; Fig. 2A) is overlain unconformably by
shallow marine calcareous Paleogene-Neogene sandstone of the Semelit
Fm (Tls) and the Sipopok mudstone (Tlps). These siliciclastic rocks
extend to the south, where they straddle the older fluvial or littoral
marine sandstones (Tlm) and the younger shallow marine mudstone
(Tmp). Approximately 7 km west of Miwah, a portion of the fault-
bounded Woyla ultramafic assemblage is exposed along the nearby
Geumpang–Tangse road cut and includes thin chromite lenses. Mag-
matic rocks of the Oligocene and younger age pepper the area between
Miwan and Menawan, some of which, such as the Bateekeubeue quartz
diorite–granodiorite, host the Menawan porphyry and skarn Cu pro-
spects, and un-named stocks display epithermal showings (Fig. 2A).
Pliocene–Pleistocene volcanic rocks emanating from several north-
northeast- to northeast-trending volcanic edifices (Qvtl; Leuping Fm)
and the 2801 m high Peuet Sague composite volcano (Qvps; Peuet
Sague Fm) overlie the above lithologic units in the north–central part of
the district.
On the basis of a lithostructural interpretation of RadarSat, Aster,
and Landsat TM images, as well as reduction-to-the-pole (RTP) mag-
netic maps [compiled in MTE, 1996; Etheredge Henley Williams
(EHW), 1997; Taylor, 2011] and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission
(SRTM) imagery (this study), four dominant fault and fracture or-
ientations, which are either vertical or steeply dipping (> 60°), have
been delineated: northwest (310°–320°), north to north-northeast
(0°–020°), north-northwest (340°–350°), and east-northeast (070°–080°)
(Fig. 2A). Their cross-cutting relationships indicate that these linea-
ments are multi-generational, and the order of some local displace-
ments can be deduced. Moreover, older structures normally appear
faint on the RTP magnetic maps. Typically, parallel to the SFS, the
northwest-trending faults and fractures are among the earliest and
strike 315° on average. These lineaments and the north- to north-
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Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564
northeast-striking structures, which are relatively short, at < 5 km,
form structure arrays 0.5–3 km in width around Miwah. In general, the
north-northwest-trending lineaments are younger than most of the
previously described structures. They form prominent narrow valleys or
gullies mostly to the east of Miwah (Fig. 2B), where the drainage is
bounded on both sides by uphill-facing fault scraps. This relationship
with the topography implies a steep plane for the faults. Although they
are segmented, the east-northeast-striking structures extend from their
intersection with the SFS in the west to the ridges in the east, where
they dextrally or sinistrally displace the north-northwest- to north-
northeast-trending structures. Several parallel, closely spaced east-
northeast-striking factures and likely faults form a 3–5 km wide struc-
tural zone known as the Miwah–Menawan corridor (Leach, 1995) that
hosts the Miwah, Menawan, and other magmatic–hydrothermal mineral
prospects (Fig. 2A). In addition to the above lineaments, semi-circular
to circular structures are traceable on the images, suggestive of volcanic
crater rings or ring faults.
4. The Miwah deposit
4.1. Structural setting
Outcrops in and around Miwah are scarce or inaccessible in the case
of sheer rock walls. Therefore, in addition to the aforementioned li-
thostructural interpretation of remote sensing images (compiled in
Taylor, 2011), the deposit structures were interpreted from aerial and
field observations and faults and fractures in drill cores. Reaching al-
titudes up to 2,010 m above sea level, the Miwah Hill is 1.4 km by
600 m in plan and consists of Miwah Bluff (the Bluff) in the west-
southwest and the topographically higher Block M in the east, with a
round, northern slope and southwest- and southeast-facing cliffs, giving
it the appearance of a three-sided dome (Figs. 3 and 4). The contrasting
relief between the Bluff and Block M is caused by a pronounced,
5–10 km long normal fault that strikes 130°–140° and dips steeply
south-westward. Miwah is bounded by the 020°-striking, normal Camp
Fault in the west with high-angle westerly dips, the ~150°-trending
Rusa Fault in the east, and the 070°–080°-trending un-named faults in
the north and south. All are en echelon faults with vertical displacements
ranging from 50 m to 150 m, as determined from drill-hole lithologic
and Au grade correlations (Fig. 5). The east-northeast en echelon faults
created the steeply south-dipping fault scarps (cliffs) of the deposit,
where blocks from the Miwah Bluff slipped to become the Miwah South
subcrop (Fig. 3). Such step- or domino-like structures also appear rather
commonly across the deposit, in places forming north- to northeast-
striking fault arrays (e.g., Figs. 4B and 5). A narrow, northerly trending
ridge bridges the Bluff with the Gajah hornblende–biotite dacite dome
and its associated andesitic to dacitic dikes, which are also bounded by
a northwest-trending fault. Hornblende, reportedly from the dome,
yielded a 40Ar/39Ar age of 2.9 Ma (Adams, 1994; in Williamson and
Fleming, 1995). At the north-eastern edge of the dome is a large zone of
pyrite + clay ± native sulphur, which is either an expression of sol-
fataras or a subsurface hydrothermal system associated with the Rusa
fault (Leach, 1995).
4.2. Host rocks
The macroscopic features of the Miwah host rocks were determined
through examination of 15 drill holes, field observations, and several
rock slabs, and the mineralogy of representative samples was examined
on 20 polished sections and 20 regular thin sections with optical mi-
croscopes. Many of the polished sections were also analysed with a
scanning electron microscope coupled with an energy dispersive ana-
lyser (SEM-EDS). This information was supplemented by detailed pet-
rographic descriptions of 32 samples from 22 drill core samples by
Clark (2010) and 10 samples by Applied Petrologic Services and Re-
search (APSR, 2009), as well as an unreported number of samples from
T. Mulja, et al.
10 drill holes and surface samples by Corbett (1995). Collectively, the
petrologic data cover the different types of lithology, alteration, and
mineralisation across and over the vertical extent of the deposit.
The stratigraphy of Miwah Hill consists of, in a crude ascending
order, basaltic andesite ('andesite') lava, breccia, andesitic to dacitic
lava and tuff, and a veneer of post-mineralisation tephra cover. This
rock succession, which is part of the Plio-Pleistocene Leuping Unit of
the Peuet Sague Centre, dips slightly northward. Minimally altered
basal and upper andesite lavas are porphyritic, containing scattered
plagioclase and mafic phenocrysts and traces of magnetite, titanite,
apatite and rutile in a devitrified glassy groundmass (Fig. 6A). Inter-
calating with the upper lava are deuterically altered andesitic crystal
tuff consisting of broken andesine, clinopyroxene, hornblende, and
magnetite set in a mostly aphanitic groundmass (Fig. 6B), and lithic tuff
comprising fragments of pumice, porphyritic lavas, mudstone–siltstone,
quartz, and feldspars (Fig. 6C). Dacitic rocks are less abundant than
andesites, and are characterised by the presence of quartz phenocrysts
and minor mafic phases.
Several breccia types are present at Miwah (cf. Meldrum, 2009),
including heterolithic, monolithic and fault breccias. The gold miner-
alisation occurs almost entirely in heterolithic breccias, which consist of
angular to subrounded lithic and crystal fragments cemented by rock
flour, clay, and some sulphides (Fig. 6D, E and G). In places, these
breccias are clast-supported, and the groundmass comprises fine sub-
angular lithic and crystal fragments. APSR (2009) claimed to have
observed clasts containing ‘porphyry-style’ granoblastic quartz
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Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564
Fig. 3. The geology of the Miwah deposit com-
piled from this study and Corbett and Leach
(1997 and references therein) showing the dis-
tribution of the subsurface phreatic breccia
(PBX) over a vertical extent of 250–350 m*, the
outline of Miwah Hill (dark grey) and its 3-di-
mensional digital elevation model (inset profile,
looking north), surface phreatic breccia (solid
triangles), and faults and fractures (dashed
lines). For clarity, only representative structures
are displayed here. Solid circles and numbers are
drill collars and numbers along the cross-sections
(Points A–B and C–D) in the subsequent figures.
* We used a computer software to grid and in-
terpolate the PBX percentage in each drill hole
with the inverse distance weighing (IDW)
method with the following parameters: search
distance, 75; number of search sector, 4;
minimum points required, 1; maximum number
of samples per sector, 2; weight power, 2; and
coincident point, using average. A similar ap-
proach was used to generate Fig. 16A, but with a
search distance of 150.
aggregates and veinlets in a breccia sample from a drill hole in the
Bluff. As none of the above-mentioned clasts appears to be of juvenile
magmatic origin, the heterolithic breccias are interpreted to have re-
sulted from phreatic eruptions (cf. Meldrum, 2009). In this study, we
also included the so-called hydrothermal breccia, defined by EAS as
phreatic breccia because the latter is a subset of the former (cf. Sillitoe,
1985). Finally, the majority of the 'phreatic' breccia is intensely altered;
therefore, it is possible that other silicified or argillized breccia types or
lithic tuffs were inevitably logged as being 'phreatic'.
Projected onto the surface, the phreatic breccia forms several cir-
cular to elliptical areas, and the largest concentration lies in the Bluff.
These breccia bodies are traversed by closely spaced north-striking
structures, as well as located at the intersections between the northeast-
and northwest-striking structures (Fig. 3). Overall, based on drill hole
correlations and geostatistical-spatial analysis (see Heriawan et al.,
2015 for methodology), the phreatic breccia extends laterally between
~300 m and ~350 m (Fig. 5). However, around the periphery or at
depth, the breccia can be < 1 m wide. Taken together, the surface and
drill hole data are interpreted as indicative of coalescing highly dense
breccias to form larger bodies in the main part of Miwah and steep or
inverted cone geometries of the breccias along the margin and at depth
(Fig. 5). This deduction complements that of Corbett and Leach (1997),
whose proposal was based on the occurrence of the Bluff breccias
within a semi-circular structure.
Monolithic breccia occurs in andesites and is volumetrically sub-
ordinate to phreatic breccias, with which it has a variable contact
T. Mulja, et al.
relationship. In most cases, monolithic breccia consists of angular to
sub-angular wall-rock fragments set in a groundmass of rock flour and
coarser-grained rock chips, and these fragments show a crackle texture
along the margin and a mosaic texture in the core (Fig. 6F). As the
fragments were not rotated, the breccias are tensional joints that un-
derwent hydraulically assisted fracturing. By contrast, fault breccia,
which consists of unsorted angular to sub-rounded fragments of the host
rocks, is set in a weakly to highly altered groundmass of gouge material.
These breccias occur across the deposit but are more abundant in the
densely fractured Bluff and adjacent sections of Block M. The resulting
fracture zones are generally less than 10 m in width; the widest con-
tinuous fault breccia is 45 m true width, intersected in a core drilled
near the boundary between the Bluff and Block M.
Phreatomagmatic breccia was reported by Meldrum (2009) to occur
in the lower part of drill hole EMD 4 in the Bluff. It is clast-supported,
consisting of angular to subangular igneous fragments with a ground-
mass of seemingly the same rock type. Meldrum (2009) used this clast-
groundmass composition to distinguish phreatomagmtic breccia from
phreatic breccia. However, no such breccias were encountered else-
where during the course of the present study.
Both pre- and post-mineralisation intrusive dikes are present at
Miwah. The former, intersected in a drill core from the eastern margin
of Miwah Hill, underwent weak to intense alteration and local Au-Cu
mineralisation (Leach, 1995), whereas the latter, which occurs as por-
phyritic quartz diorite in and around the Miwah Hill (Fig. 5), is mini-
mally altered (Fig. 6H).
4.3. Hydrothermal alteration
Hydrothermal minerals were determined in 25 altered rocks with a
Philips X-ray Diffractometer (XRD) at the Geological Survey Center,
Geological Agency, Bandung, Indonesia. Additionally, two powdered
samples from intensely silicified rocks were analysed at the Department
of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British
Columbia, with a Bruker D8 Advance Bragg-Brentano diffractometer.
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Fig. 4. A. An oblique aerial photograph of
the half dome-like Miwah Hill and vicinity,
looking approximately west-northwest,
showing its crude arcuate morphology and
adjacent Gajah dome in the north and an un-
named volcanic peak in the west-southwest.
B. Looking north-northeast, the southern
cliff face of Block M exposes advanced ar-
gillic and silicic alteration, and an array of
vertical to sub-vertical, northerly-trending
faults. The dashed lines are faults, and the
dotted lines are channel sample traverses at
elevations of approximately 1,900 m and
1,625 m (lowest point).
Moreover, hydrothermal minerals from an unreported number of
samples from 10 drill holes and outcrops were identified with XRD by
Corbett (1995) and from 22 field samples with a portable infrared
mineral analyzer (PIMA) by Jenkins (2009).
Surface and subsurface hydrothermal alteration at Miwah varies
vertically or sub-vertically from a silicic core, through transitional ad-
vanced argillic and argillic zones, to a propylitic periphery and was
controlled largely by north-northeast- to north-northwest-trending
lineaments (Figs. 7 and 8). These general alteration trends become ra-
ther complex in densely fractured areas where more intense silicifica-
tion overprinted the adjacent, weaker alteration types and coalesced to
form wider silicic alteration zones (Fig. 8A and B). Table 1 lists the
characteristics of these alteration types and their associated miner-
alisation.
4.3.1. Early alteration
Silicification: Silicified rocks occur from surface or near-surface to
the deepest level of drilling at a depth of 433 m in drill hole 24 (Figs. 7
and 8). Generally, silicified rocks form zones ranging in width from less
than 1 m around the periphery of Miwah Hill to approximately 120 m
within the deposit; the average width is 24 m. Field and petrographic
observations indicate that they are a product of at least two major
episodes of silicification. The early stage, of which its original extent is
uncertain because of superimposition by later stage silicification
(Fig. 9), transformed mainly phreatic and monolithic breccias, and
other, subordinate rock types into vuggy (residual) silica, referred to
hereinafter as 'vuggy silica I', in which the near-surface cavities are
larger than those of their deep-seated equivalent (Figs. 9 and 10A). Also
in the upper environment, a substantial amount of vuggy silica I lea-
ched to form box-works and grooves, partly occupied by goethite
(Fig. 10B) or sugary silica. Because almost all primary textures of the
precursor rocks have been obliterated, we therefore do not exclude the
possibility that some of the silicified rocks had a tuffaceous protolith.
Selectively sheared clast relicts are common, indicating either micro-
deformation contemporaneous with silicification or pre-silicification. X-
T. Mulja, et al.
Fig. 5. Interpreted geologic east–west (A) and north–south (B) cross-sections showing the dominant lithologic units and structures at Miwah Hill; section lines are
shown in the inset map (also see Fig. 3). The outline of gold mineralisation is based on a cut-off grade of 0.2 ppm Au (Taylor, 2011; Heriawan et al., 2013). Faults in
the core, manifested by core loss, clayed gouge, and sheared breccia, are depicted vertically or steeply dipping (see Fig. 4B).
ray diffraction analyses show that the aphanitic groundmass silica is
composed of α-quartz with minor Fe-oxides, rutile (as much as 0.8 wt
%), pyrite, and zircon.
Advanced argillic alteration (alunite + silica): This alteration crudely
widens upward from 1 to 13 m wide at 300–400 m below the surface to
a maximum of 60 m wide at or near the surface (Fig. 8). Alunite
(KAl3(SO4)2(OH)6), which, together with quartz, defines this type of
alteration, occurs as randomly oriented and optically homogenous
needles or radiating clusters up to 2 cm across, replacing feldspar
(Fig. 10C). Kaolinite is ubiquitous, predominates over dickite, and co-
exists with pyrophyllite (Al2Si4O10(OH)2) in the deeper part of the
deposit. Pyrite is sparsely disseminated throughout the rock, although it
is locally concentrated around alunite and quartz masses. The
groundmass comprises mostly fine-grained quartz and clay minerals
and accessory rutile and barite.
Argillic alteration: The fissile argillic rocks (Fig. 6E) are mostly
barren of mineralisation, and hence their petrology has not been ex-
amined in detail. Generally, they vary from quartz + kaolin group of
minerals + alunite assemblage to quartz + illite ± smectite assem-
blage with increasing distance from the advanced argillic zone (Fig. 7).
In the former subtype, kaolin comprises kaolinite (including nacrite
polytype) and halloysite, and alunite and dickite are locally abundant.
By contrast, the latter subtype includes some tosudite (chlorite group)
and saponite (smectite group). Both assemblages typically contain
3–5%, rarely up to 10%, disseminated pyrite and host some pyrite
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Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564
veinlets.
Propylitic alteration: Propylitised rocks (Fig. 6D), which broaden
with increasing depth, either pre-dated or were the latest in the above
three alteration types. At or near the surface, weakly propylitised an-
desite and tuff consist of plagioclase phenocrysts, some of which are
rimmed by albite, and partially chloritised clinopyroxene and amphi-
bole crystals set in a smectite-dominated groundmass. More intense
propylitic alteration in deep drill holes is marked by complete re-
placement of plagioclase by albite and mafic minerals by chlorite + Fe-
oxides ± epidote. Both the weakly and strongly propylitically altered
andesites host disseminated pyrite (1–10%) and scattered carbo-
nate ± pyrite ± chalcopyrite veinlets.
4.3.2. Late alteration
Late silicification: this alteration flooded vuggy silica I with crypto-
crystalline quartz or chalcedony masses as well as precipitated various
opaque and non-opaque phases in cavities and as cross-cutting veinlets.
Consequently, the resulting rock has a massive texture ('massive silica'),
which has smaller and fewer cavities than vuggy silica I
(Figs. 9 and 10D). Importantly, the late silicification also precipitated
disseminated, veined and locally massive sulphides (Fig. 10E to G),
which are associated with gold and copper mineralisation. Moreover,
native sulphur occupied many cavities at depths of 90 m (Fig. 10F; also
reported by MTE in an undated internal report).
Late silicification also overprinted parts of the advanced argillic
T. Mulja, et al. Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564

(caption on next page)

zone to vuggy silica + pyrite + pyrophyllite + alunite rock and advanced argillic zones, and its vugs are partially filled with alu-
(Figs. 7 and 10H), which EAS designated as silica–alunite rock. This nite, barite, dickite and opaque minerals. Alunite is mostly natroalunite
silicified and dense advanced argillic rock is here termed 'vuggy silica (XRD data) and forms coarse-grained aggregates or laths intergrown
II'. It has a gradational contact with both of its adjacent massive silica with fine-grained quartz. Pyrite in vuggy silica II is ubiquitous, ranging

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T. Mulja, et al. Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564

Fig. 6. Representative lithologic units of Miwah. A. Minimally altered basal porphyritic basalt–andesitic lava showing phenocrysts of plagioclase (white) and mafic
minerals in an aphanitic groundmass. B. A near-surface crystal tuff containing euhedral to subhedral andesine and partly to entirely oxidised pyroxene and horn-
blende. C. Heterogeneous lithic tuff with various types of clasts and small rounded to trapezoidal cavities considered to be relicts of finely laminated clasts (Lmr). D.
Phreatic breccia showing groundmass-supported angular to sub-rounded heterolithic clasts of various sizes; propylitically altered. E. Phreatic breccia containing
angular to subrounded clasts cemented by rock flour in sharp contact with vuggy massive silica (VMSil). The argillic alteration transformed all the clasts to white
clays, hence inhibiting determination of their heterolithic or monolithic composition. F. Monolithic breccia within a 2.5 m wide fracture zone showing a crackle
texture in the relatively intact 'wall-rock' (WR) margin progressively transition to a mosaic texture in the centre. G. Phreatic breccia containing silicified sandstone
clasts with fine lamination and various vug sizes and pyrite contents, indicating early silicification → fracturing → resilicification (from Clark, 2010). H. Post-
mineralisation porphyritic diorite dike with weakly altered subhedral to euhedral plagioclase phenocrysts and finer sericitised mafic minerals.

from 3% to 20%, but it reaches 30% locally. In places, coarse-grained
quartz and pyrophyllite intergrowths exhibit undulose extinction and
are surrounded by aphanitic, recrystallised quartz (Fig. 10H). This
shearing-induced texture is in stark contrast to the mostly undeformed
nature of the advanced argillic precursor (Fig. 10C) and adjacent rocks.
Moreover, some of the pyropyllite-bearing vuggy silica II hosts appre-
ciable amounts of precious and base-metals (Table 1). Thus, vuggy si-
lica II with its high quartz content, distorted mineral fabrics, and pre-
cious and base-metal contents bears a strong imprint of syn-
deformation, silicification and mineralisation.
4.4. Oxidation
No supergene blanket is present; instead, in the upper part of
Miwah, botryoidal and banded goethite replaces, rims, or coats pyrite
in vugs and veinlets, infills fractures, and forms patches after dis-
seminated pyrite (Fig. 6C, 10B, 10D and 10I). However, partial oxidi-
sation occurs mostly along fractures as deep as 210 m below the surface
(Fig. 12K). The limited extent of this type of alteration is consistent with
its small Au and Ag resources in the oxidised zones (see last sentence of
Section 1.1).

Fig. 7. Patterns of alteration at the Miwah deposit in plain view (top) and draped on a 3-dimensional digital elevation model (DEM; bottom) based on the results of
this study combined with those of Williamson and Fleming (1995) and Taylor (2011). The advanced argillic and silicic alterations on the southern slope of Miwah are
subdivided into their respective variants. Section lines A–B and C–D are shown in Fig. 8. Prl: pyrophyllite, Alu: alunite.

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T. Mulja, et al. Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564

Fig. 8. Interpreted hydrothermal alteration across sections through the Miwah deposit, along lines (A) east-northeast and (B) north–south (see Fig. 7), based on drill
hole information and surface data. Owing to space limitations, both the advanced argillic and argillic alterations are undifferentiated. Subsurface argillic rocks have
not been differentiated into the two subtypes on surface alteration.

4.5. Mineralogy of the mineralised zone
4.5.1. Primary minerals
Pyrite is the most ubiquitous sulphide species, exhibiting various
textures and spanning throughout the entire episode of mineralisation
(Fig. 11). Stage I pyrite grains, particularly those occurring in silicified
rocks at depth, occur as anhedral, pervasively corroded masses with
curved or absorbed outlines (Fig. 12A and B). Stage II anhedral to
subhedral pyrite grains were only partially dissolved before being en-
closed by enargite masses (Fig. 12C). Pyrite fragments in shattered or
segmented pyrite veinlets have dissolved edges but planar surfaces
(Fig. 12D), indicating their contemporaneity with Stage II pyrite. These

Table 1
Summary of hypogene alteration types and associated mineralisation.
Alteration Main minerals Minor and rare minerals

Late alteration
Vuggy silica II; variably massive, small cavities, Quartz, pyrite I, II, III (3 to 20%), Pyrophyllite, alunite, native gold, sulphides, sulphosalts, rutile
< 10% pore space. ± enargite
Massive silica; small, variably mineral-filled cavities, Quartz, pyrite I, II, III (3 to 30%), Base-metal sulphides, native gold, gold tellurides, native Ag and Te, Ag-Se phase,
1–5% pore space. enargite. cassiterite, barite, cinnabar, native sulphur, rutile

Early alteration
Vuggy silica I; large cavities, 10–30% pore space. Quartz, pyrite (< 10%) Rutile, zircon
Advanced Argillic; some cavities Alunite, quartz, pyrite (< 7%) Pyrophyllite, rutile
Argillic Quartz, kaolinite Alunite, pyrite < 5% (mostly)
Quartz, illite Smectite, pyrite < 5% (mostly)
Propylitic Chlorite, smectite, epidote Carbonate, pyrite 1%, magnetite, apatite, zircon

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local, micro-fractured pyrite veinlets are fairly common in pyrite-rich

Fig 9. Silicified heterogeneous phreatic breccia on a southern cliff of Miwah
Hill, showing predominantly early vuggy silica I above and left of the sample
channel, and late, cavity-rare massive silica below and to the right. The
boundary of the silica rock variants is approximate. Rounded to subrounded
cavities are formed by removal of clasts, typically igneous clasts, whereas
rectangular or trapezoidal cavities are the result of leached out sedimentary
clasts, some exhibiting traces of lamination. The hammer length is 32 cm.
rocks. Late-stage pyrite crystals (Stage III onwards) are euhedral to
subhedral and corrosion-free and display various modes of occurrence:
discrete aggregates and overgrowths on early pyrite, dissemination, or
fracture and vug infills. In the first mode of occurrence, pyrites co-exist
with rutile and occur as packed subhedral clots with ~120° triple
junctions (Fig. 12E), which indicates that the pyrites underwent
thermal annealing during relatively slow cooling after deposition (e.g.,
Craig and Vaughan, 1981). The disseminated pyrites typically vary
from specks to 50 µm in diameter, finer than other types of pyrite, and
are locally massive, making up to 30% of the rock by volume, which
can grade to 30–50 ppm Au over 1 m. Fine-grained pyrites also form
rings around cavities (Fig. 12F), and their high sphericity indicates late-
stage crystallisation, later than the dissolution and deformation stages
mentioned previously. Vug- and fracture-filling pyrites show similar
textures to those of other late-stage counterparts. SEM-EDS analysis of
pyrite grains from various parageneses indicates that only the late
pyrites contain notable Cu spectra (Clark, 2010). We propose that the
co-occurrence of the various pyrite types and textures resulted from
overprinting of the earlier pyrite by the later pyrite.
Enargite (Cu3AsS4) referred to here may include other members of
the enargite (orthorhombic)–luzonite (tetragonal)–famatinite (Cu3SbS4;
tetragonal) series, although all the samples examined show prominent
As and weak Sb peaks in energy dispersive spectra, consistent with it
being enargite; Corbett (1995) reported the presence of luzonite at

Fig. 10. Photographs and photomicrographs of various alteration types at Miwah (see Fig. 6D and E for propylitic and argillic alteration, respectively). A. Early vuggy
silica I with heterolithic relicts of single crystals, pumice (Pmc), and other un-identified clasts. B. Low density and partially oxidised vuggy silica I with grooves
partially filled with goethite. C. Masses of coarse-grained alunite and quartz replacing feldspars in advanced argillically altered rock. D. Massive silica (1 m @ 29 ppm
Au) resulted from late silicification of vuggy silica I, with mineral-filled cavities, at 1825 m elevation. The greyish swirls and veinlets are rich in sulphides and
sulphosalts; the oxidised opaque minerals are goethite. E. Crack–seal texture in the massive silica showing quartz-filled fractures and vugs set in a cryptoquartz
(chalcedony) groundmass (1 m @ 5 ppm Au). F. Massive silica with sulphide-rich (black) veinlets and small cavities in a pyrite-rich grey groundmass. Some of the
cavities are filled with native sulphur. G. Brecciated massive silica with auriferous massive Py ≫ Eng infillis between the clasts (1 m @ 30 ppm Au). H. Vuggy silica II
showing sheared coarse quartz–pyrophyllite intergrowths in the high-grade zone (1 m @ 64 ppm Au) surrounded by recrystallised aphanitic quartz. All minerals
display undulose extinction. I. Selective oxidization along fractures and around cavities in massive silica (1 m @ 0.9 ppm Au). Samples A, B and D came from cliff
faces 50–100 m below summit, whereas samples E-I are drill core.

11
T. Mulja, et al.
Fig. 11. Paragenesis of minerals associated with gold mineralisation at Miwah. Bar thickness indicates the relative abundance of a mineral over other members
within its group.
Miwah, whereas Clark (2010) suspected the occurrence of famatinite.
In the absence of crystallographic unit-cell parameters and judging
from the above EDS, we consider the sulphosalt phase to be 'enargite'.
The first enargite occurs in massive silica and vuggy silica II, where it is
intergrown with and replaced the earliest pyrite, and both minerals are
corroded (Fig. 12A). This symplectic texture points to co-precipitation
of the two minerals, which, together with quartz, could indicate that
they are pseudomorphs of phenocrysts or xenocrysts. Subsequent
moderately corroded enargite replaces the pyrite inclusions (Fig. 12B)
or is contemporaneous with subhedral pyrite (Fig. 12C). In other cases,
the enargite was subjected to brecciation and further replacement by
quartz (Fig. 12G). Late-stage enargite grains, up to 300 µm in diameter,
with smooth edges and slightly pitted surfaces, commonly formed
monomineralic cavity infillings or intergrowths with quartz. Enargite of
any paragenesis is zoned weakly to strongly with Te ± Sb bands and
hosts specks of suspected native Te (Fig. 12G). APSR (2009) reported an
assemblage of tennantite–tetrahedrite, pyrite, and quartz in vuggy
massive silica. We noted that the sulphosalts underwent substantial
resorption along the edges only, similar to the enargite in Fig. 12C.
Gold grains, as determined semi-quantitatively with SEM-energy
dispersive spectroscopy, contain 10–17 wt% Ag (Clark, 2010) and are
therefore native gold rather than electrum (cf. Shikazono and Shimizu,
1987). Typically, native gold forms minute inclusions (1–2 µm) in
pyrite and barite associated with pyrite-dominated sulphide dis-
seminations, which range from 5% to 30% of the rock regardless of the
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Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564
stratigraphic level and form the bulk of the gold mineralisation. Al-
though minute free gold grains are microscopically visible, on the basis
of 63–84% Au recovery reported in cyanide leach tests (Hawthorn,
1997), we interpret that most of the gold occurs either as a substituting
element in the crystal lattice of the host mineral, i.e., refractory, or as
sub-microscopic inclusions in pyrite. By contrast, coarse-grained native
gold dendrites occupy interconnected cavities up to 150 × 200 µm
(Fig. 11H and I) in late stage silicified rocks, which generally lie in the
upper part of the deposit. Texturally, the vug-filling native gold grains
have undergone little or no deformation, indicating their precipitation
at the terminal stage of mineralisation. Gold also occurs as the minute
telluride minerals sylvanite, petzite and calaverite (Fig. 11), included or
within fractures in enargite. With the exception of petzite, the above
gold tellurides co-occur in a high-grade Au zone that also hosts rare,
1–5 µm inclusions of Bi-S and Ag-Se phases in enargite.
Among minor and accessory opaque minerals, covellite and digenite
are the most common copper sulphide minerals that have been iden-
tified. While the former occurs as anhedral masses up to 100 × 300 µm
intergrown with suhhedral to euhedral pyrite or infilling the cavities,
the latter is small, partly occupying hairline fractures in enargite. Other
trace minerals also observed exclusively in the silicified rocks are pyr-
rhotite (1–50 µm) inclusions in early pyrite, cassiterite (1–4 µm), galena
(1–2 µm), and molybdenite (1–10 µm) inclusions mostly in late pyrite
or rarely in enargite, suspected native silver in barite, and cinnabar
(1–3 µm) in discrete quartz and in vugs. On the other hand,
T. Mulja, et al. Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564

Fig. 12. Photomicrographs of hypogene mineralisation and effects of oxidation. A. Pervasively corroded and dissolved Stage I pyrite (Py) and enargite (Eng; purplish
and bluish tints) intergrowths with lesser quartz (Qtz) pseudomorphing mafic minerals? In vuggy silica II. B. Less-corroded Stage I pyrite grains with concave outlines
indicating extensive dissolution prior to being enclosed by enargite. C. Inclusions of Stage II subhedral pyrite having partially linear and curved contacts with enargite
in vuggy silica II. D. A shattered Stage II pyrite veinlet and Stage III pyrite euhedra to subhedra in massive silica. E. Stage III pyrite + rutile (Rt) clots with minor
annealing texture in auriferous massive silica. F. Nested Stage III pyrite rings around cavities in sulphide-rich massive silica. Some pyrite grains are coarser than the
majority of the crystals. G. Backscattered electron (BSE) image of a broken and partially dissolved enargite showing Te sector zoning and containing a native Te?
inclusion in a vuggy silica II. The advancing drusy quartz truncated the enargite. Samples H, I and L came from downthrown blocks of silicified rocks in the Bluff. H.
BSE image of gold clusters in and around cavities in massive silica. I. A close-up of gold dendrites in interconnected cavities. Sparsely distributed pyrite grains (light
grey) occur around the cavities. J. Anhedral to sub-rounded Ag-poor gold grains hosted by a suspect scorodite in a vug of partially oxidized high-grade phreatic
breccia. The roundness of the grains is caused by late-stage oxidising fluids that also leached out Ag from the gold (i.e., refinement, see text). K. In a more oxidized
rock, the scorodite appears receding and freeing the sub-rounded gold. L. Fracture-filling gold and hydrated Fe-oxides in silicified phreatic breccia with intense
oxidation. Photomicrographs G, J, K and L are from Clark (2010).

chalcopyrite (1–15 µm) and sphalerite (1–10 µm) are included in as
well as disseminated with pyrite in silicified, argillised and proplylitised
zones. Furthermore, chalcopyrite + quartz ± carbonate veinlets cut
the last altered rock.
4.5.2. Secondary minerals
Scorodite (Fe3+AsO4·2H2O) is locally ubiquitous, partially to almost
wholly replacing alunite and opaque phases particularly, in oxidised
vuggy-massive silica and in narrow fractures at depths (Fig. 12J). In
extensively oxidised host rocks, native gold containing < 2 wt% Ag
occurs as individual anhedral to slightly rounded grains enclosed in
scorodite (Fig. 12J), in the grain boundary between quartz and oxidised
scorodite (Fig. 12K and L), or as aggregates in vugs up to 100 µm in
length. In contrast to the primary Ag-rich native gold, the Ag-poor
native gold associated with secondary minerals reflects its substantial
refinement during late-stage alteration or oxidation. Woodhousei-
te–svanbergite [SrAl3(PO4)(SO4)(OH)6 to CaAl3(PO4)(SO4)(OH)6] re-
placed alunite and dickite in the vuggy massive silica zone and apatite
in argillic rocks. This aluminium phosphate-sulphate solid solution
belongs to the beudantite group, which commonly occurs in the ad-
vanced argillic zone of hydrothermal ore deposits (e.g., Stoffregen and
Alpers, 1987).
4.6. Geochemistry of the host rocks
The whole-rock major element compositions of 25 core samples
from several drill holes were determined at the Geological Survey
Center, Geological Agency, Bandung, Indonesia, with a Philips PW2400

13
 T. Mulja, et al.

Table 2
Representative whole-rock chemical composition of lithologic units. BasAnd: Basaltic andesite; PBX: phreatic breccia; FBX: fault breccia (andesite), PROP: Propylitic; ARG: Argillic; AARG: Advanced argillic; SIL: Silicic.
Drill hole 22 14 8 3 9 EXD1 8 15 41 22 15 3 3 15 3

Interval 105–107 185–187 2–3.6 4–6 21–23 169.50–170.35 52–54 126–128 83.6–85 145–147 50–51 26–27 35–36 28–29 10–11
Sample No. 5,008,361 5,006,513 5,005,195 5,004,783 5,005,416 5,013,432 5,005,239 5,006,636 5,012,357 5,008,383 5,006,566 5,004,805 5,004,815 5,006,542 5,004,787
Lithology Basalt BasAnd BasAnd BAsAnd PBX PBX FBX FBX PBX PBX PBX PBX PBX PBX PBX
Alteration PROP PROP PROP PROP/ARG ARG ARG ARG AARG AARG AARG SIL SIL SIL SIL SIL
SiO2 wt.% 47.51 48.18 55.97 49.60 54.29 55.93 62.49 58.36 65.19 81.92 84.83 88.37 92.95 92.27 95.2
TiO2 0.72 1.16 0.71 0.81 0.57 0.7 0.5 0.82 0.63 0.48 0.61 0.44 0.68 0.55 0.64
Al2O3 17.72 17.83 16.99 24.64 19.12 15.66 17.04 15.67 17.43 0.79 0.8 0.28 0.28 0.17 0.5
Fe2O3 6.85 10.44 9.63 8.74 7.03 5.5 10.81 11.94 7.44 5.48 6.79 5.36 4.59 3.81 2.81
MnO 0.22 0.18 0.38 0.18 0.7 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.03
CaO 8.15 2.46 5.65 0.05 0.88 0.17 0.14 0.08 0.13 0.06 0.11 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.06
MgO 2.14 6.66 2.15 0.84 2.82 – 0.51 0.16 – – 0.02 – 0.01 – 0.09
Na2O 1.95 3.17 3.73 0.14 2.52 0.63 0.2 0.17 0.16 0.14 0.13 0.1 0.09 0.08 0.13
K2 O 0.8 0.3 1.21 1.65 2.13 0.54 0.71 0.69 0.03 0.08 – – –
P2O5 0.34 0.3 0.3 0.17 0.26 0.29 0.24 0.23 0.3 – 0.04 0 0.02 0.01
LOI 11.94 7.52 2.93 12.97 8.12 14.71 6.57 11.47 8.14 7.24 2.97 2.16 0.33 1.36 0.33
Total 98.33 98.20 99.64 99.79 98.44 94.13 99.23 99.60 99.46 96.20 96.34 96.77 98.97 98.30 99.8

Au ppm 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 < 0.005 0.35 0.01 0.17 0.04 < 0.005 1.25 35.15 3.44 8.21 0.87

14
Ag 0.70 0.60 0.70 0.10 0.60 1.00 0.10 1.10 1.40 0.50 4.50 109 18 14 3.20
Cu 30 50 23 17 19 542 18 138 53 30 1150 2930 329 1640 14
Pb 6 12 7 12 11 62 20 111 74 8 54 149 218 120 85
Zn 97 209 99 70 157 22 200 24 26 84 14 24 16 11 26
As 16 8 2 8 24 154 14 384 220 18 907 2120 315 2440 11
Sb <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 34 174 15 121 <5
Bi <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 7 510 <5 92 <5
Te < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 40 80 < 10 90 5.0
Mo 1.0 1.0 2.0 <1 <1 4.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 1.0
Sn < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 40 < 10 40 < 10
Cr 40 20 17 14 10 16 10 19 186 42 49 279 58 209 36
Co 20 36 20 12 22 24 10 4 7 24 26 14 15 17 10
Ni 12 12 7 4 4 14 1 1 5 7 22 9 8 18 4
V 133 312 139 162 120 82 126 170 117 155 21 6 8 17 4
Sc 12 26 13 12 9 2 10 10 6 12 2 1 3 1 1
Sr 289 272 528 15 248 166 125 457 821 259 51 18 9 113 9
Ba 189 140 260 186 317 92 291 210 283 355 53 1 1 334 376
Ga 20 30 10 20 20 20 20 30 20 20 10 0.01 0.01 10 1
La 18 13 17 10 16 5.00 9.00 18 8.00 15 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00
Li 17 24 17 23 19 24 32 37 35 26 1.00 0.01 0.01 1.00 4.00
Y 19 16 17 8 21 3 11 15 5 16 1 4 6 2 3
Zr 88 50 62 132 94 21 66 92 24 60 18 16 83 28 32
Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564
T. Mulja, et al.
X-ray fluorescence spectrometer equipped with a rhodium anode. These
analyses were performed on melted tablets of powdered samples
weighing approximately 15 g. On the other hand, the trace-element
contents of the samples were provided by EAS. Table 2 shows that the
propylitized, i.e., least altered, basalt-andesite range from 47.5 to 56 wt
% SiO2 and 1.5 to 5 wt% total alkalis (Na2O + K2O), thus belonging to
calc–alkaline basalt to basaltic andesite in the chemical classification of
volcanic rocks of Le Bas and Streckeisen (1991). This host-rock affinity
is common in high-sulphidation epithermal systems (e.g., Hedenquist
et al., 2000; du Bray, 2017). Among the high-field strength trace ele-
ments in volcanic rocks, Zr and Y potentially possess petrological sig-
nificance because they can be conserved during alteration (Pearce and
Norry, 1979; Russell and Stanley, 1990). At Miwah, the average Y/Zr
values of the least altered basaltic andesite lava and tuff, such as those
shown in Fig. 6A and B, vary from 0.16 to 0.22 (mean = 0.19; standard
deviation = 0.02; number of samples = 66; statistical correlation
(R) = 0.87). These statistically invariant ratios extend to the con-
tiguous argillised rocks across the deposit, regardless of their strati-
graphic position. Thus, the basaltic andesite piles, at least in the upper
300 m of Miwah Hill, likely originated from a common magma re-
servoir. Moreover, the propylitised and argillised phreatic breccias have
a similar range of Y/Zr values, which implies that these rocks also had a
basaltic andesite precursor. An exception to this commonality is the
propylitic rocks in the north-western corner of Miwah Hill, where their
Y/Zr values range from 0.17 to 0.49 (mean = 0.32; standard devia-
tion = 0.07; number of analyses = 77; statistical correlation
(R) = 0.46) and overlap those of the aforementioned equivalent rocks
from the rest of Miwah. Considering their location and low correlation
coefficients, we interpret the large Y/Zr variations in the basaltic an-
desites to reflect different batches of magma.
5. Spatial relationships between gold, associated metals, and
structures
East Asia Minerals submitted channel and core samples mostly at 1-
m intervals to an Indonesian commercial laboratory for analysis of Au
with fire assay-atomic absorption methods and analysis of Ag, Cu, Pb,
Zn, As, Sb, Bi, Te, Sn, Mo, Cr, Al, Ba, Ca, Fe, Ga, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Na,
Ni, Sc, Sr, Ti, V, W, Y, and Zr with inductively coupled plasma atomic
emission spectrometry. Several of these elements, such as Ga and Li,
were excluded in the sections to follow because of their low abundances
or uncertain relevance. Details of the analytical methods and assay
verification are given in Taylor (2011).
5.1. Gold mineralisation and structure
Applying the lower cut-off grade of 0.2 ppm Au used in the resource
estimates by Taylor (2011) and Heriawan et al. (2013), we subdivided
the Au assays into 40th–75th, 75th–93rd, 93rd–94th and 95th percen-
tile intervals, which correspond to 0.2–0.99 ppm, 1–2.99 ppm,
3–3.99 ppm, and > 4 ppm Au, respectively. This grade scheme defines
at least three major gold mineralisation centres: the Bluff (including the
North Miwah Bluff), West Block M, and East Block M (Fig. 13A), each of
which is characterised by high-grade (> 4 ppm) or 'bonanza'-grade
(> 30 ppm) Au intervals within the mineralised zones (≥0.2 ppm) and
is separated from the adjacent mineralised centre by a barren or weak
Au (< 0.2 ppm) zone. Spatial analysis of the mineralised zones shows
that the lateral continuity of Au averages 20 m with a maximum width
of 45 m and, additionally, a zone of influence of 20 m. The Au grade
averages 1.45 ppm for all mineralised zones, 1.71 ppm in the Bluff,
1.3 ppm in West Block M, and 1.27 ppm in East Block M (Table 3); the
latter two values are statistically comparable. Collectively referred to as
‘metals’, associated metals and semi-metals such as Ag, Cu, As, Sb, Bi,
Pb, Zn, Sn, and Cr concentrations are slightly higher in the Bluff than in
either of the Block M segments. However, East Block M is richer than
the other two centres in Te. Owing to their overlapping standard
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Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564
deviations, the concentrations of the associated metals in the two Block
M centres are statistically indistinguishable. The Cr content averages
74 ppm (ranging 2–1020 ppm), which falls between that of felsic
(20 ppm) and mafic (220 ppm) igneous rocks (Motzer, 2004). This
transitional metal is not among the metals listed in Arribas (1995) or
John et al. (2018) to be associated with high sulphidation epithermal
Au–Ag deposits. As the host andesite has a median value of 14 ppm Cr
(N = 33), we interpret that the elevated Cr contents in the mineralised
silicified rocks originated from the chromium seams in the adjacent
Woyla serpentinates (see Section 3). Interestingly, the auriferous host
rocks (> 1 ppm mean Au) in the Martabe district, North Sumatra
contain 105–192 ppm mean Cr (Sutopo, 2013). However, the author
did not explain the source for the Cr.
Main-stage gold mineralisation occurs at elevations of 1700–1875 m
in the Bluff, 1630–1800 m in the North Bluff, and 1750–1950 m in the
entire Block M (Fig. 13A, B and C). As the current data show that there
is only one Au intercept at approximately 1535 m elevation (360 m
below the surface) and that almost all drill holes passed the mineralised
zones, the above lower elevation ranges indicate the levels of main-
stage Au mineralisation. The elevation differences are the result of the
post-mineralisation faulting that displaced phreatic breccia hosts
(Fig. 5), hence abruptly discontinuing the Au grades (Fig. 13B and C).
Most of the high-grade intercepts coincide with north- to northwest-
trending faults and fractures. This alignment, together with the struc-
turally controlled alteration zonation (Figs. 7 and 8) and the limited
lateral Au continuity mentioned earlier, strongly indicates that the
principal mineralised zones are restricted to the northerly and north-
westerly steep structures (Figs. 3–4, 13B and C). Indeed, this spatial
association is demonstrated in the 3-dimensional distribution of the
high- to bonanza-grade Au zones from all drill cores, where they occur
within several parallel, north to north-westerly trending faults or frac-
ture zones (Fig. 14). Further geochemical evidence for these structures
as hydrothermal-mineralisation feeders is provided in the following
sections on metal zonation and metal ratios across the Miwah deposit.
5.2. Metal zonation
At Miwah, the individual mineralised silica zones are distributed
semi-symmetrically to symmetrically from Pb or Zn at the periphery
through Sn, Te, Bi, As, Cu, and Ag to Au in the inner part of the conduit
(Fig. 15A–B). With the exception of Pb and Zn, the metal tenors drop
sharply near or at the contact with the weaker altered rocks. By con-
trast, Pb or Zn spreads into the argillic zone. Accordingly, Au is cor-
related strongly with Ag, Cu, As, Sb, Te, and Sn (correlation coefficient,
R = 0.80–0.93); moderately correlated with Bi (0.55 > R < 0.80),
and inversely correlated with Zn and Pb (R < 0.10). This pattern of
metal zoning is similar to that of the mineralised fault gouges, which we
interpreted to indicate synchronous deformation and mineralisation
(Fig. 15B). In contrast to the above normal to log-normal distribution
pattern for most elements, Mo and Cr contents increase sharply from 1
to 67 ppm and from < 50 to 698 ppm, respectively, at the edge of the
mineralised vuggy–massive silica and then hardly vary across the zone,
i.e., uniform distribution.
At the deposit scale, the Au content decreases with depth and dis-
tance from the feeders. Vertically, the trend commences where the first
auriferous silicification occurs. Generally, the distributions of Ag and Bi
coincide with or slightly overlap that of Au (Figs. 16A and B). However,
Ag concentrations are elevated near-surface at the Bluff and at depth in
East Block M, where the Au grade is < 0.2 ppm. These elevated Ag
anomalies in both centres, together with the corresponding high Ag/Au
values, will be explained in section 6.3. All significant Cu grades >
0.5% (maximum 7 m @ 4.8%) occur at depths of > 250 m below
surface and appear diagonally across from the North Bluff to the
southeastern East Block M. Despite the Cu trend paralleling that of the
high Au grades (Fig. 14), it occurs at deeper levels. Along this deeper Cu
swath, the Au contents are < 1 ppm. On the other hand, moderate to
T. Mulja, et al. Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564

Fig. 13. A. Gold distribution map of the Miwah deposit showing the Au value in each 1- or 2-m long channel sample. The densely forested northern slope inhibited
systematic rock sampling programmes. B and C. E–W and N–S cross-sections illustrating down-hole average gold grades that correlate vertically with the surface gold
profile. In the North–south longitudinal section across the Bluff (C), gold grades are particularly high at depth to the north. Solid circles represent drill hole pierce
points.

low Cu concentrations at higher elevations are scattered around the
larger and higher-grade Au anomalies (Figs. 16A and B). Thus, Au and
Cu display different vertical distributions.
High concentrations of As, Sb, and Te coincide more closely with the
anomalous Cu than Au; the As in deeper sites is correlated poorly with
Au as well (Figs. 16A and B). These anomalously high As and Sb con-
tents correspond to the ubiquity of enargite and perhaps tetra-
hedrite–tennantite. Although some Pb anomalies overlap those of Au,
they generally occur along the periphery of Au- or Cu-dominant areas.
Across Miwah, elevated concentrations of Zn, Mn, Ti, Sc, and Zr form
distal halos above and below the gold mineralised zones and in the
adjacent advanced argillic rocks. Anomalies of minor trace elements
such as Sn, Mo, and Cr display an erratic spatial relationship with the
high-grade Au zones. For example, some of the highest contents of Sn
(100–400 ppm), Cr (500–1000 ppm), and Mo (60–100 ppm) occur in
low-grade Au zones at elevations between 1770 m and 1550 m.
The spatial correlations of the seemingly complex relationships
between Au and its associated metals at the deposit scale were resolved
and quantified with a multivariate geostatistical method. These calcu-
lations were achieved with a variogram and cross-variogram fitting
model (described in Heriawan and Mulja (2017)). A strong R value
between two variables is defined when R > 0.70; the results showed

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Table 3
Mean, range, and standard deviation (SD) of metal contents in gold mineralized zones from cliff traverses and drill cores across Miwah.
All Miwah Bluff West Block M East Block M

Mean Range SD Mean Range SD Mean Range SD Mean Range SD

Au 1.45 0.2–170 3.29 1.71 0.2–64 3.37 1.3 0.2–51 2.16 1.27 0.2–170 3.88
Ag 4.99 0.5–194 9.77 7.37 0.5–194 13.5 2.95 0.5–100 4.35 3.39 0.5–73 4.91
Cu 978 2 ppm-21% 3843 1075 2 ppm-21% 5334 984 2 ppm-3.2% 2365 892 2 ppm-4% 2139
Pb 119 2–6140 179 107 2–6140 167 85 2–927 99 156 2–5420 229
Zn 16 2–2850** 45 22 2–2850** 67 12 2–92 7.74 11 −201 11
As 716 5 ppm-6.7% 1771 738 5 ppm-6.7% 2140 691 5 ppm-3.4% 1490 732 5 ppm-2.2% 1453
Sb 32 5–1400 56 36 5–1400 70 25 5–777 40 32 5–375 44
Bi 18 5–779 35 34 5–779 41 11 5–75 9.5 17 5–382 26
Te 32.1 5–590 42 21 5–590 48 29 10–290 31 41 10–470 43
Sn 27 10–400 32 32 10–400 39 27 10–350 33 23 10–210 20
Cr 74 2–1020** 130 78 2–1020** 134 97 2–957 155 56 3–848 103
Mo 4.5 1–104 8.7 4.84 1–76 9.62 5.9 1–53 10 3.15 1–104 5.75

**highest 4320 ppm Zn and 2202 ppm Cr outside the limit of mineralized zone of 0.2 ppm Au.

that Au displays a close spatial correlation (ρ) with co-variables Sb, Bi,
As, and Ag.
Based on the above information, we thus interpret the metal dis-
tribution at Miwah to reflect numerous metal zones, each of which is
centred on a mineralised feeder zone (Fig. 17). Individual zonation has
an Au + Ag- or Cu-dominant core with variable amounts of As, Sb, and
Te, followed by a Pb margin and a Zn periphery; both outer zones also
contain subordinate amounts of other metals. Minor elements such as
Sn, Mo, and Cr are locally anomalous and may be associated with Au,
Cu or both. As indicated previously, the lower-grade gold mineralisa-
tion spreads laterally from the feeders, hence overprinting the vertically
zoned metal distribution, particularly in the upper part of the deposit
(Fig. 17).
5.3. Metal ratios
The zoned metal distributions associated with the vertical to sub-
vertical feeders were further tested with ratios of metals having con-
trasting volatility. Such ratios are temperature-dependent, so they po-
tentially indicate the flow direction of the fluids (Goodell and Petersen,
1974; Petersen et al., 1977; Bartos, 1990; Velador, 2010; Clark and
Gemmell, 2018). In geothermal/epithermal systems, As, Sb, and Au are
more volatile than, listed in decreasing order, Cu, Ag, Pb, Fe, Zn, and Bi
(Ewers and Keys, 1977; Silberman and Berger, 1985; Williams-Jones
and Heinrich, 2005; Pokrovski et al., 2008). Based on the increasing
Cu/Au values with depth and to the north in a few drill holes, the
preponderance of enargite over luzonite, and the persistent advanced
argillic zone at depth, Corbett and Leach (1997) hypothesised that the
mineralising fluids originated from a shallow intrusion lying below the
breccia between Miwah Hill and the Gajah dome in the north. These
fluids migrated southwards to form the Miwah deposit. No explanation
was given for the cause of the lateral or diagonal flow paths.
In this study, we selected several metal ratios from drill holes across
Miwah and used the high-grade Au zones, which represent feeders, as
the spatial reference for the metal ratio variations across the deposit.
Overall, the Ag/Au values increased from < 10 near the surface to > 50
at depth, at a maximum of 220, except in parts of the Bluff where the
trend reverses (Fig. 18A). Similarly, the ratios increased laterally from
the feeders, albeit at shorter distances, and they overlapped with high-
grade Au zones in a few places. These subtle to moderate silver en-
richments in un-oxidized rocks can be attributable to its variable con-
centrations of 10 to 17 wt% (Section 4.5.1)., which are in turned caused
most likely by changes in the chemistry of the fluids during main-stage
mineralisation (e.g., Gammons and Williams-Jones, 1997). However,
the elevated Ag contents in the shallow environment and in restricted
areas aforementioned in section 5.2 requires a different explanation,
and this is given in section 6.3.
On the relationship between Cu and Au, in a broad sense, the values
of Cu/Au × 1000, Te/Au × 100, and Bi/Au increase downwards and
northwards, where the first pair attains high ratios of +100 mostly at
250–350 m below the surface in the North Bluff (Fig. 18B and D). This
result thus confirms the aforementioned increasing Cu:Au ratios with
depth, as reported by Corbett and Leach (1997). A few high Cu/Au
values overlapped the Ag/Au highs on the southern margin of Block M

Fig. 14. Plan of the 3-dimensional distribution of

gold intercepts across the Miwah deposit showing
high-grade gold clusters, which, for the purpose of
this illustration, are divided into very high-(15
to < 30 ppm Au) and bonanza (30 + ppm Au)-
grade zones. The northerly and northwesterly
trends of the high- to bonanza-grade gold zones
from different drill holes were deduced from their
alignment on the same plane. Darker hues of the
colour legends indicate deeper zones.

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Fig. 15. Vertical projections of metal distributions in two drill holes from Miwah Bluff. The maximum metal values are in ppm and wt% per 1-m core length.
Lithologic units in the left column are andesite (green), phreatic breccia (mottled), fault breccia (grey), and fault gouge (horizontal S). Alteration types in the right
column are undifferentiated silicic I and II (purple), advanced argillic (red), argillic (yellow), propylitic (green), and clay fault gouge (indigo). The elemental
abundances in both profiles shift systematically from Pb or Zn at the periphery through a series of metals to Au in the inner part of the silicified zone (further
explained in text). A spatial and probably synchronous relationship between shearing (fault) and mineralisation is evident in (B). (For interpretation of the references
to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

(Fig. 17A–B). As expected, high Pb/Au and Zn/Au values (not shown)
are located distally from the feeder zones. Although Sb and As have a
similar volatility rank, the Sb/(Sb + As) values increased upwards, and
some of the highest ratios coincided with or were proximal to the high-
grade Au zones (Fig. 18D). This phenomenon indicates that Sb is pre-
ferentially associated with Au rather than As. Indeed, As values at lower
depths are correlated weakly with Au (Figs. 13, 16A and B). Typically,
Sb is partitioned into the lower temperature member of the enargite/
luzonite–famatinite solid solution in the presence of tennantite–te-
trahedrite (Feiss, 1974), which could be the case for Miwah. In sum-
mary, the metal zonation and ratios outlined above further verify the
roles of vertical to subvertical north- to north-westerly trending struc-
tures as fluid conduits in the formation of the Miwah deposit.
6. Discussion
6.1. Volcanic setting
The Miwah deposit occurs almost entirely in phreatic breccias and is
associated intimately with vuggy (residual) to massive silica
(quartz ± pyrophyllie ± alunite) and enargite, and as such possesses
many characteristics of volcanogenic high-sulphidation epithermal
Au–Ag deposits (e.g., Arribas, 1995; Sillitoe and Hedenquist, 2003).
Phreatic breccias are pyroclastic deposits of ballistic projectiles that
result from the violent expansion of a confined pocket of stream and gas
within a geothermal system with no direct involvement of magma, and
they occur with or without the contribution of juvenile fluids (Barberi
et al., 1992, and references therein). Such a stream-blast eruption
generally constitutes a relatively minor event within the context of a
composite volcano, hence limiting its effects and products. This is true
in the case of Miwah, which stands dwarfed by the massive Peuet Sague
volcano (Fig. 2). Where an active volcanic crater hosts hyperacidic
fumarolic vents inside solfataras such as in La Fossa Volcano, Italy
(Fulignati and Sbrana, 1998; Boyce et al., 2007), or both solfataras and
a hyperacidic crater lake such as Kawah Ijen in East Java, the sur-
rounding rocks undergo hydrothermal alteration and mineralisation
analogous to high-sulphidation epithermal deposits (van Hinsberg,
et al., 2010; Scher et al., 2013). In the above volcanic setting, the hy-
peracidic fluids transformed the wall rocks into advanced argillic and
silicic alteration (Fulignati and Sbrana, 1998; Boyce et al., 2007; Scher
et al., 2013) equivalent to that observed at Miwah (Fig. 7). However,
the lack of lacustrine sedimentary rocks across the Miwah deposit im-
plies that its development was related more to the solfatara than to the
acid lake. Thus, the native sulphur that infilled the vugs in the massive
silica (Fig. 10F) was precipitated in paleo-solfataras during the reaction
of degassing H2S-dominating S(g) with O2 according to the reaction
2H2S + O2 = 2S(s) + 2H2O (e.g., Delmelle et al., 2000). Considering
that Miwah Hill is a silicified dome-like ridge, its modern analogue is

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Fig. 16A. Plan view of isotropic grade shells of selected metals across the southern cliff face of the Miwah deposit with high-grade Au zones > 4 ppm (white
outlines). The method and its parameters to generate these geochemical maps are given in Fig. 3 footnote.

akin to the solfataras on the crater wall of Upas crater of Tangkuban
Perahu volcano in West Java, Indonesia (Fig. 19). Here, the ascending
gas or gas + fluid mixtures from the subvolcanic magma seep through
the fracture arrays beneath the crater rim to form the above solfataras.
In similar solfataras elsewhere, native Au + native Te ± base-metal
sulphides crystallised from fumaroles at 540–600 °C (La Fossa volcano,
Fulignati and Sbrana, 1998; Colima volcano, Taran et al., 2000), and in
extinct equivalents such as the El Indio high-sulphidation epithermal
Au-Ag-Cu deposits (Chile), base-metal sulphide + sulphosalt + quartz
assemblage precipitated from a vapour phase at elevated tempera-
tures > 550 °C (Mavrogenes et al., 2010; Henley and Berger, 2012;
Henley et al., 2012). The paragenetically early pyrite + enargite ±
quartz assemblage shown in Fig. 12A and B resembles that of the
above-cited high-sulphidation epithermal deposits; thus, we interpreted

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Fig. 16B. Geochemical anomalies along the north–south longitudinal sections of the Miwah Bluff; white areas are high-grade Au zones > 4 ppm. These sections,
together with those of Fig. 18, were computer-generated with the minimum curvature method at an interior tension of 100. Although the estimated values are under
or over-shoot the limits of the input data, the anomalous shapes are smooth and comparable to manual contouring, hence making them useful for comparing multi-
elemental distributions.

20
T. Mulja, et al.
Fig. 17. Interpreted metal zonation along the east–west longitudinal section across Miwah (top) and along the north–south cross section on the Bluff (bottom).
it to have likely formed within that temperature range. This inference is
plausible because the terminal temperature range of hydrothermal
processes at Miwah occurred at 320 to 231 °C, interpreted from the
homogenisation temperatures of primary liquid-vapour fluid inclusions
in late-stage fracture-filling quartz from Au-sulphide-bearing vuggy
massive silica rock (APSR, 2009).
6.2. Structural controls
At Miwah, many mineralised feeders are parallel to the regional-
scale lineaments (Figs. 2, 3, and 16A, B) and some correlate with in-
dividual lineaments. This spatial and temporal relationship implies that
the mineralised structures could be developed by the same stress fields.
Two regional stress fields, which affected the Miwah region (Aldiss
et al., 1983; Davis, 1984; Sosromihardjo, 1988; in Williamson and
Fleming, 1995), were the Middle Miocene to the Late Miocene 'An-
daman Sea' compression and the Pliocene-Present 'Andaman' compres-
sion (Fig. 20). The former directed a 170° axis of maximum compressive
stress σ1 to produce dextral 135° and sinistral 020° trending structures,
whereas the latter has a 140° σ1 with conjugate dextral 110° and 170°
sinistral faults. This change in the direction of σ1 is likely related to the
20° clockwise rotation of Sumatra since the Late Cenozoic (Ninkovich,
1976; Barber et al., 2005).
As demonstrated earlier, the northerly trending faults and tensional
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Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564
fractures controlled most of the alteration and mineralisation at Miwah.
Based on the above regional compressive chronology, the tensional
fractures, which generally form parallel to the σ1 plane, correlate with
the Miocene stress field. Moreover, the compression regime could have
induced the north-northeast-trending faults that are also mineralised
(Figs. 13 and 14). Rocks in the shallow environments undergoing such a
compressive regime could develop a fluid-driven fault-fracture mesh
structure of en echelon tension crack shear zones (Sibson, 1996). These
networks of structures enhance permeability for the fluid flows, and the
dilations provide structural traps for the mineralizing fluids to pre-
cipitate Au and associated metals. We thus propose that the spotty high-
grade zones at Miwah (Figs. 14 and 16B) developed through these
processes. Future work should involve measurements of the actual at-
titudes of the faults and fractures at Miwah to confirm this inference.
Because the deposit as well as the host rocks are younger than the
duration of the compression force (Pleistocene vs. Miocene), this age
variant implies that the Miocene compressive regime generated the
structures in the older rocks that underlie the Miwah-hosting Leuping
lithologic units (Fig. 2). During the Plio-Pleistocene, fault reactivation
and up-lifting were common in the Takengon Quadrangle (Fig. 1), and
volcanic and hydrothermal activities were intense in the Miwah district
as well (see Section 2). Therefore, the northerly mineralised faults and
fractures at Miwah developed through the reactivation and propagation
of the Miocene structures into the younger overlying rocks according to
T. Mulja, et al.
Fig. 18. Metal ratios on west-east and north–south cross sections (see Fig. 3 for locations). The ratios of Bi/Au are similar to those of Cu/Au, and therefore not
depicted here. White areas are high-grade gold zones, which are part of the feeder zones.
the concept of structural inheritance (see Butler et al., 2006), In addi-
tion to these reactivation-induced structures, the Pliocene-Present 'An-
daman' compression produced the NNW- and NW-trending faults, some
of which are also mineralised.
The above hypothesised connection between the stress fields and
the mineralisation-controlling faults and fractures may also be geome-
trically envisaged in Riedel-style mechanics (Fig. 20). Using the SFS as
the principal deformation zone (PDZ), we represent the north- to north-
northeast- and northeast-trending structures as secondary Riedel ten-
sional fractures (T) and R′ sinistral faults. This causal-effect relationship
explains the development of the north-striking structures on the SFS
from their point of propagation to their subsequent traverse through
Miwah Hill (Figs. 1, 2 and 4). Moreover, it is consistent with the
aforementioned relationship between the reactivation of the Miocene
structures and the ensuing fracturing of the overlying rocks during the
Plio-Pleistocene. The other main sets of faults striking north-northwest
(including Camp Fault), northwest and east-northeast observed at
Miwah (Figs. 3 and 15) correspond to Riedel R, Y, and X structures,
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Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564
respectively. Similarly, this interpretation relates Riedel X fracturing to
the formation of the ~1.5-km wide Miwah–Menawan corridor. Thus, by
inference, the EW corridor is predicted to be sinistral. However, the
east–west-oriented normal faults that slice the southern cliff of Miwah
Hill deviate slightly from Riedel X domino faults. This departure may be
due to the anisotropy of the underlying lithologic units. Alternatively,
because block faulting occurred post-mineralisation, the deviation from
the ideal trends reflects the changes in the values of the effective
stresses in response to the rotation of Sumatra that remains operating
presently. Thus the preceding regional- and deposit-scale structural
analysis demonstrates that the structurally controlled hydrothermal
alteration and mineralisation at Miwah developed within tensional
fractures in a deformation zone. These structures were related to the
regional compressive stress fields.
6.3. A working model for the formation of Miwah
Integrating the preceding interpretations of the geological,
T. Mulja, et al. Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564

Fig. 19. A. Location map of Tangkuban Perahu volcano. B. North-looking cross section of the volcano depicting Upas crater and its twin Ratu crater with hypothetical
alteration and mineralization below the solfatas as modern analogue of the Miwah high-sulphidation Au-Ag deposit. C. West-looking Upas crater of Tangkuban
Perahu volcano showing a dry crater floor and active solfataras with their resulting acid-sulphate alteration reaching the mid-level of the second wall ring. D. A close-
up of the solfataras on the wall (photograph by Bjorn Grotting). The foreground ridge separates the Upas crater from the Ratu crater.

mineralogical and geochemical data, we propose herein that the for-
mation of Miwah in a (former) active volcanic crater (Fig. 19) com-
menced with phreatic eruption(s) through northerly trending vertical to
steeply dipping faults and fractures, along which the andesitic-basaltic
crater wall rocks were brecciated. This event triggered a decrease in
confining pressure, which, in turn, led to silica deposition (see Fournier,
1985) and vapour growth in the fluids. The crack–seal texture and si-
licified feeders (Figs. 6G, 10D–G, 13, 14 and 17) are evident of re-
petition of fracturing/faulting and silicification that converted the fluid
conduits to zones of high vertical permeability and low lateral hy-
draulic connectivity. Along these zones while the vapours were coa-
lescing or en route to the area of vapour accumulation, i.e., compart-
ments or structural traps (Section 6.2), highly volatile elements such as
Au, As, Sb, and, to some extent, Cu, partitioned preferentially into the
vapours, whereas less volatile Ag, Pb, Zn, and Sn were partitioned into
the liquid phase (see Heinrich et al., 1999; Williams-Jones and
Heinrich, 2005; Larocque et al., 2008; Zezin et al., 2011; Hurtig and
Williams-Jones, 2014). Continuous vapour expansion destabilised its

Fig. 20. A comparison of the Miwah struc-

tures (A and B) to a schematic representa-
tion of the Riedel shear model with pre-
dicted secondary structures resulting from
dextral, strike-slip motion of the Sumatra
Fault System, or SFS (C; after Davis et al.,
2000). Also shown in B are the three com-
pressive stresses that produced the struc-
tures in the region (described in text). The
rose diagram depicts the orientations of all
faults and fractures in the Miwah district
area (see Fig. 2). Within the Riedel diagram,
R represents Riedel synthetics, P is the sec-
ondary synthetic minor fault, R′ represents
Riedel antithetics, T is a tension fracture/
normal fault, Y is a synthetic shear or mi-
crofault parallel to the principal deforma-
tion zone (PDZ), and X represents folds and
domino faults. The internal friction angle
between P and R is 40° for pyroclastic rocks
(Rovida and Tibaldi, 2005) and 20° between
R and the PDZ.

23
T. Mulja, et al.
solubility equilibria, resulting in the precipitation of high-temperature
sulphosalt–sulphide minerals (Mavrogenes et al., 2010; Henley and
Berger, 2011; Fig. 12A and B in this study). Because vapour expansion
is finite, when it eventually bursts, it sends shock waves with pressures
reaching 1 GPa accompanied by micro-liquid jets capable of fracturing
solid materials near the vapours or bubbles (Tinguely, 2013), i.e., the
compartments described earlier. Alternatively, the vapours collapsed
because of episodic faulting or fracturing events at Miwah, which oc-
curred during the hydrothermal alteration and mineralisation as de-
scribed previously (see also Figs. 6, 10 and 12). Thus, regardless of the
ultimate causes, the sudden release of pressure and hence temperature
decrease in the metal-laden vapours led to rapid, massive mineralisa-
tion (see Weatherly and Henley, 2013) that was confined to the com-
partments along the feeders (high-grade zones; Figs. 14 and 15).
Gold in expanding vapours occurs as AuS (Henley, 2015); hence, the
above temperature drop and volatile escape from the collapsing va-
pours decreased its solubility, leading to its deposition according to the
reaction AuS + H2 ↔ Au + H2S. Moreover, the massive pyrite-domi-
nated sulphide precipitation that consumed much of the S in the H2S
contributed to native gold precipitation. Another compelling indication
of such drastic events is provided by the dendritic textures of the cavity
gold (Fig. 12H and I); electrum (Saunders, 1994) and pure metal
(Glicksman and Lupulescu, 2004) dendrites form under supercooled
and turbulent conditions (the condition of electrum precipitation was
apparently deemed applicable to that of native or Ag-poor gold). The
above massive pyrite deposition occurred through sulphidation of the
liberated Fe from the decomposed mafic minerals according to the re-
action Fe2+ + 2H2S ↔ FeS2 + 2H+ + H2. This excessive local pro-
duction of H+ eventually led the acidic fluid to dissolve the early pyrite
and enargite (Fig. 12A, B, C and G). Finally, the vapour collapse and
fracturing enabled some lateral fluid flow between the feeder arrays
through the relatively porous and permeable phreatic breccias strad-
dling the underlying and overlying porphyritic basaltic andesite aqui-
tards. These escaping fluids caused late stage silica flooding or altera-
tion, which formed the lower-grade, disseminated mineralisation
between the high-grade feeders, as well as overprinted the high-grade
zones by the low-grade dissemination.
Our hypothesised vapour-transport of Au and associated metals has
an important and relevant implication for the Ag enrichments outlined
in Sections 5.2 and 5.3. As pointed out earlier, the Miwah deposit is
well-preserved by the post-mineralisation lavas and tephra covers and
there is no supergene blanket. Elsewhere such as the Pascua high-sul-
phidation Au–Ag–Cu deposit, Chile-Argentina border (Chouinard et al.,
2005), the nature of Ag enrichment is similar to that of Miwah, and the
authors attributed this phenomenon to the transport of Ag as a halogen-
bearing gas species in highly oxidizing magmatic fluids during the
waning stages of hydrothermal activity. The Ag, together with Au, was
deposited during condensation of the vapours. At Miwah these late-
stage hydrothermal processes leached Ag from native gold (which
contains < 1 wt% Ag in oxidized rocks) and then deposited it elsewhere
(Fig. 12L).
Considering that the cavity-filling native gold grains remain intact
(Fig. 12H and I) that many of the high-grade Au profiles are unimodal
(Fig. 15A and B), and that the metals are regularly zoned (Fig. 16A), the
main-stage mineralisation was most likely ephemeral; if repeated, the
mineralisation had occurred in another conduit. An implication of this
hypothesis, as argued by Berger and Henley (2011) for many high-
sulphidation epithermal deposits elsewhere, is that only one fluid rather
than two was involved in generating the alteration and mineralisation.
That is, the stages of hydrothermal activity represent a continuum of
the evolving fluid.
7. Conclusions
The Miwah high-sulphidation Au–Ag deposit was the product of
protracted and periodic structural events that controlled magmatic-
24
Ore Geology Reviews 123 (2020) 103564
hydrothermal activities in a volcanic crater. Hydrothermal activities
took place beneath paleo-solfataras where the ascending magmatic gas
or gas-fluid mixtures were focussed on northerly to north-westerly
trending structures. Condensation of these gasses generated hyperacidic
fluids that transformed the wall-rocks into impervious central high–-
silica–alunite zones and porous peripheral argillic to propylitic zones
with respect to the feeders. Episodic faulting and fracturing synchro-
nously with silicification maintained the fluid flows in the feeders as
well as created structural traps for the fluid. Within these compart-
ments, Au and associated volatile elements were preferentially parti-
tioned into the expanding vapours. Collapse of these vapours, either
due to their finite growth or structural disturbances, led to rapid de-
position of the gold and associated minerals, hence creating high-grade
mineralised zones along the feeders. Immediately following the vapour
bursts, the escaping fluid spread laterally between the feeders, forming
zones of low-grade disseminated mineralisation. This dominantly hy-
pogene mineralisation was subsequently followed by late-stage fluids
that significantly up-graded the tenor of Au, Ag, or both at the top of the
deposit and narrow fractures at some depths.
Acknowledgements
This paper constitutes an offshoot of the research collaboration
between East Asia Minerals Ltd. and the second author representing
Research Group of Earth Resources Exploration, Faculty of Mining and
Petroleum Engineering, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). The
authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Mike Hawkins and the
assistance and cooperation of the EAS field staff. D. Gibson and D.
Marshall of Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada, generously
allowed us to use their petrographic microscopes; D. Marshall also as-
sisted us with the scanning electron microscope operation. We sincerely
thank, in alphabetically order, A. Arribas, R.W. Henley, S. Kruse, A.E.
Williams-Jones, and an anonymous Ore Geology Reviews referee, who
constructively and meticulously reviewed the earlier versions of the
manuscript. Their contributions, particularly to structural geology and
hydrothermal geochemistry of gold, improved the manuscript sig-
nificantly. R.W. Henley and D. Lentz kindly provided us with additional
references on volcanic geothermal systems and epithermal Au-base
metal deposits. We appreciate the encouragement from associate editor
D. Lentz and editor Huayong Chen. Nonetheless, the authors remain
responsible for any errors or omissions.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2020.103564.
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