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BUSHVELD – WITWATERSRAND, A MAGMATIC-TECTONIC PAIR WITH LARGEST GOLDFIELDS ON EARTH AND ITS COUNTERPARTS IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST​

A. M. Zhirnov

Institute for Complex Analysis of Regional Problems, FEB RAS; Jewish Autonomous Region, Birobidzhan, Russia​

The two world’s largest known Proterozoic gold provinces in South Africa are: the Bushveld Complex mafic layered intrusion (with conformably layered platinum group element (PGE)- and iron-bearing chromites) and Witwatersrand Basin (with the largest gold deposit ever discovered). Despite their contemporaneous discovery in the late 19th century and proximity to each other (30 km), in most cases, these provinces have been explored separately in the literature. In view of a paleoplacer model for Witwatersrand’s origin adopted by most researchers in the past, the Witwatersrand gold deposits were not designated as ore lodes in the mineral deposit classifications. Although numerous research investigations in the latest 20th and early 21st century proved hydrothermal metasomatic processes to have played a key role in forming these deposits, the hypothesis of their paleoplacer origin still remains a subject fairly widely discussed. This article provides additional information on structural controls and mineral and geochemical specifics of the hydrothermal sources of these deposits. Similarly paired igneous-tectonic complexes in the Russian Far East (Chiney-Udokan and Getkan-Ulkan) are also considered.

Keywords: South Africa, Russian Far East, Proterozoic structures, Witwatersrand gold, hydrothermal deposits.

DOI 10.20403/2078-0575-2026-1-66-73

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