Chapter 17: Epithermal Gold Deposits Related to Alkaline Igneous Rocks in the Cripple Creek District, Colorado, United States

Abstract

Cripple Creek is among the largest epithermal districts in the world, with more than 800 metric tons (t) Au (>26.4 Moz). The ores are associated spatially, temporally, and genetically with ~34 to 28 Ma alkaline igneous rocks that were emplaced into an 18-km2 diatreme complex and surrounding Proterozoic rocks. Gold occurs in high-grade veins, as bulk tonnage relatively low-grade ores, and in hydrothermal breccias. Pervasive alteration in the form of potassic metasomatism is extensive and is intimately associated with gold mineralization. Based on dating of intrusions and molybdenite and gangue minerals (primarily using 40Ar/39Ar and Re-Os techniques), the region experienced a protracted but intermittent history of magmatism (over a period of at least 5 m.y.) and hydrothermal activity (intermittent over the final ~3 m.y. of magmatic activity). Key factors that likely played a role in the size and grade of the deposit were (1) the generation of alkaline magmas during a transition between subduction and extension that tapped a chemically enriched mantle source; (2) a long history of structural preparation, beginning in the Proterozoic, which created deep-seated structures to allow the magmas and ore fluids to reach shallow levels in the crust, and which produced a fracture network that increased permeability; and (3) an efficient hydrothermal system, including effective gold transport mechanisms, and multiple over-printed hydrothermal events.