Ore-controlling Structure Analysis and Metallogenic Prediction of the No. 33 Gold-bearing Quartz Vein, Shuangquan Area, Eastern Junggar

The East Junggar Shuangquan gold district in Xinjiang exhibits at least two gold mineralization events. In addition to the previously reported strike-slip ductile shear zone-type gold mineralization, this study has identified an additional ore-controlling structure dominated by thrusting system, typically represented by the southern No. 33 vein in the Hongliugou gold deposit. The thrust sheets exhibit a complex geometry characterized by imbricate, duplex, and back-thrust stacking. Mineralization types include altered tectonic rock type, quartz vein type, and altered wall rock type. The thrust faults serve dual roles: as ore-feeding channels, whose activity provided pathways and driving forces for ore-bearing hydrothermal fluids, and as ore-hosting structures, strictly controlling the distribution of syn-tectonic quartz veins and altered cataclasites. The early regional axial plane cleavage and gently south-dipping shear fractures were reactivated as significant ore-hosting structures, becoming key sites for ore precipitation under the coupling of tectonic stress and fluids. Within this geometric framework of ore-controlling structures, the root zone and the main basal thrust fault of the concealed thrust nappe structure south of Hongliugou in the study area are inferred to be prospective target areas for gold exploration.