PROCEEDINGSOFTHESULAWESIMINERALRESOURCES2011SEMINARMGEIIAGI

2829November2011,Manado,NorthSulawesi,Indonesia

MineralDepositsofSulawesi

TheoM.vanLeeuwenandPeterE.Pieters

ABSTRACT

Sulawesi can be divided into three geologicalmetallogenic provinces: 1) Northern Sulawesi, which consists of
series of Late Cenozoic calcalkaline magmatic arcs built on a basement of Early Cenozoic tholeiitic basaltic
volcanicsunderlainbyoceaniccrust;itcontainsnumerousmineraldepositsandoccurrencesofpredominantlyLate
MiocenePliocene age, including porphyry CuAuMo, high, intermediate, and lowsulphidation epithermal Au
Ag, sedimenthosted Au, intrusionrelated base metalAu, skarn, and VMS styles of mineralization; 2) Western
Sulawesi,composedofLateCenozoichighKcalcalkalinetoultrapotassicigneoussuitesoverlyingaseriesofEarly
Cenozoic sedimentary rocks and subordinate calcalkaline volcanics deposited on a basement of metamorphic
complexes and Late Cretaceous flysch deposits; mineralization styles include porphyry Mo, porphyry CuAu,
intrusionrelated(?)Au,intrusionrelatedbasemetalAu,andVMS;and3)EasternSulawesi,comprisingawestern
metamorphicbeltandeasternophiolitebelt,whichareinterthrustedwithMesozoicEarlyCenozoicsedimentary
rocks and unconformably overlain by Late Cenozoic postorogenic sequences; weathering of the ophiolite has
givenrisetoanumberofNiandFelateritedeposits,andchromitebeachsands;goldmineralizationofuncertain
originislocallyhostedbymetamorphicandpostorogenicsedimentaryrocks.

MineralexplorationandminingactivitieshavebeenundertakeninSulawesisincetheturnofthe19thcentury,but
byworldstandardslargepartsoftheregionremainunderexplored.Todateonlytwocommoditieshavebeenmined
onasignificantscale,viz.goldwithatotalproductionofabout90t(excludingartisanalmining),andnickeltotaling
about4.8Mt.Golddepositsfoundtodateareofsmalltomodestsize(<2MozAu)andmostlylowgrade(<4g/t),
whereasNilateritedepositsvarygreatlyinsize(3Mttogreaterthan200Mtdryweightaveraging1.3%to2.3%
Ni).EstimatesofpotentiallyeconomicCuAuresourcesinporphyrydepositsinNorthernSulawesivaryfromabout
300Mtto350Mtaveraging0.6%Cuandbetween0.3and0.5g/tAu.

Factors that have led to significant mineral discoveries since 1970 include: 1) exploration of known mineral
districts(Ni,Au);2)localknowledge(Au);3)streamsedimentsampling(porphyryCuAu&Mo,Au);4)mineralized
float (Au); and 5) remote sensing interpretation (Ni). Over the past 40 years exploration has evolved from
greenfieldstobrownfieldsinvestigations.Thistrendreflectsinpartasignificantincreaseinknowledgeanddata
pertainingtoSulawesisgeologyandmineralwealthgainedovertheyears.

Keywords:Metallogeny,copper,gold,nickel,explorationhistory,Sulawesi,Indonesia

1.0 INTRODUCTION standards. Most of the mineral deposits found

Sulawesi (formerly Celebes) is located in the
centre of the Indonesian Archipelago, straddling
the equator. It is a region where three major
platesconvergeandinteract(Figure1),whichhas
given rise to a highly complex and diverse
geology, consisting of metamorphic complexes,
ophiolite terranes, volcanic arcs, granitoid belts,
andsedimentarybasins.Thisinturnhasresulted
inadiversityofmineraldeposittypes.
The history of mineral exploration and mining in
Sulawesigoesbackmorethan150years,butthe
region remains underexplored by todays
todate are of modest size, with the exception of
several nickel laterite deposits. Exploration
efforts have been targetting shallow
environments with surface geochemistry as the
priciple prospecting tool, or in the case of nickel
laterite, remote sensing methods. Sofar little
attention has been paid to buried or conceptual
targets. Gold, nickel and copper have been the
majortargetcommodities,whichhasresultedin
the development of a number gold and nickel
mines.
Sulawesi has an average NS length of about
800kmandisabout400kmwide,coveringaland

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Table1.MaingeologicalandmetalogeniccharacteristicsofNorthern,WesternandEasternSulawesi

NORTHERNSULAWESI WESTERNSULAWESI EASTERNSULAWESI
Tectonicsetting IslandArc Continentalmargin Suture
Basement Oceanic(backarc)crust Continental fragments; Continental fragments;
accretionary accretionary
rocks/mlange; overlain rocks/mlange;
byLateCretaceousflysch ophiolites; Mesozoic
deposits. Paleogene sedimentary
terranes.
Paleogene LowK tholeiitic, bimodal Calcalkaline:
magmatism (basalticfelsic); intermittent and
submarine; intense, localized.
widespread.
Neogenemagmatism MediumK calcalkaline, Voluminous highK calc Minor,localized.
predominantly andesitic;alkaline (mostly
also bimodal during granitoids); and
latest Pliocene
shoshonitic to ultra
Pleistocene. potassic.
Paleogene Minor;deepsea. Synrift siliciclastics
sedimentation overlain by platform and
deeper marine
carbonates; pelitic
sedimentsinthenorth.
Neogene Siliciclastics in isolated Marine sediments and Widespread deposition
sedimentation basins, including Plio volcaniclastics; Plio ofCelebesMolasse.
Pleistocene Celebes Pleistocene Celebes
Molasse. Molasse.
Main mineralization Porphyry CuAu; high, PorphyryMo; intrusion LateriticNi&Fe.
types intermediate, and low relatedAu.
sulphidationepithermal
AuAg; sedimenthosted
Au.
Otherstyles VMS; intrusionrelated VMS; intrusionrelated Primary and secondary
base metal Au; base metal Au; chromite; alluvial Au;
FeAuskarn alluvial Au; FeAuskarn; Mn epithermalAu,Sb.
Febeachsands. ironstones.

Figure1.RegionaltectonicsettingofSulawesi(afterWilsonandMoss,1999)

Figure2.DigitalterrainmodelSulawesi

3
area of 172,000km2. It is the most mountainous
of the larger islands within the Indonesian
archipelago.Withtheexceptionofsomenarrow
stretches of coastal lowland and intermontane
plains, the terrain consists entirely of mountain
ranges with the highest peaks being in excess of
3000m (Figure 2). Unlike the other larger
islands/island groups in Indonesia, which are
partlyborderedbyextensiveshallowshelfareas,
the sea bottom off the Sulawesi coasts drops in
mostplacesrapidlybelow100m,andthe1000m
bathymetriclineislocatedatadistanceofonlya
few10sofkilometersorlessfromthecoast.
TheislandhasapeculiarKshape,consistingof Papers on individual deposits and prospects can
four peninsular known as Arms, which are
separated by deep gulfs and united in central
Sulawesi(Figure3A).Thenarrownorthtrending
partoftheNorthArm,iscommonlyreferredtoas
theNeck.
The Sulawesi region can be divided into four
distinct geological and metallogenic provinces,
namedhere (modifiedafterSukamto, 1978),the
Northern, Western and Eastern Sulawesi
Provinces and BanggaiSula Province (Figure 3B).
As the latter province does not contain any
significantknownmineralization,ithasnotbeen
includedinthisreview.Themaingeologicaland
metallogenic features of the other three
provincesareshowninTable1.
Thepresentpaperconsistsoffourparts.Thefirst
part describes the history of mineral exploration
and mining in Sulawesi. It is followed by an
overviewoftheregionalgeology.Themainpart
of the paper comprises a detailed review of the
various mineral deposit types found in each of
the three provinces together with some
additional exploration history data. In the last
section we discuss how the various deposit
typesaredistributedinspaceandtime,whenand
howtheywerediscovered,andhowtheyfeature
in Sulawesis mining industry. It also briefly
addressespastandpresentexplorationtrends.
Anumberofsourcesofinformationareavailable
for the history of exploration and mining in
Sulawesi,andtheregionsmineralresources.For
the Dutch colonial era these include the
Jaarboek van het Mijnwezen (Mining
Yearbook), ter Braake (1944), van der Ploeg
(1944), and van Bemmelens (1949) Economic
Geology of Indonesia. A publication by the
Indonesian Mining Association and Mining and
Metal Agency of Japan (IMAMMAJ, 1995), the
anually published Register of Indonesian
Gold/RegistrerofIndoPacificMining,andvarious
trade journals record mineral exploration
activities post1967. Several review papers on
thecopperandgoldmineralizationofNorthern(+
Western) Sulawesi have been published (Carlile
et al., 1990; Kavalieris et al., 1992; Soeria
Atmadja et al, 1999; Pearson and Caira, 1999).
be found in various proceedings and journals.
Mostoftheseareincludedinthereferencelistof
thepresentpaper.Moredetailedinformationis
containedinCOWcompanyreports,whicharean
open file in the library of Pusat Sumber Daya
Geologi (PSDG). Unfortunately a number of
reports are missing, often the more informative
ones, and the quality of the reports is rather
variable (some discuss at great length weather
conditions, topography, etc but give little
geological information). Websites of foreign
junior companies are another source of
information, although they tend to focus on
trenchanddrillresults.
Recently Pusat Sumber Daya Geologil published
two geochemical atlases covering the northern
and southern halfs of Sulawesi, which include
mapsforthefollowingelements:As,Co,Cr,Cu,
Fe, K, Li, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn (PSDG, 2008). They
also compiled a mineral resources atlas for
Sulawesi as part of a series of atlases for the
entire country (PSDG, 2010). It comprises a
series of maps for each Kabupaten
(administrative district), including geology and
minerallocationsmaps,andalistofmetallicand
nonmetallicmineralresources(nameofdeposit,
coordinates and resource figure). No geological
information or references are given, limiting
somewhat its usefulness for mineral
explorationists.
Forthisreviewwehavemadeextensiveuseofa
GISdatabasecalledIndonesianMineralDeposit
Database(IMDD),thatwehavebeencompiling
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Figure3.Sulawesi.(A)Geographicdivision;(B)Geologicalmetallogenicprovinces

Figure 4. Simplified geological map of Sulawesi (modified after
Sukamto,1975b;Hamilton,1979;Silveretal.,1983;Parkinson,1991)

5

Table2.HighlightshistoryofmineralexplorationandmininginSulawesi

Year Results
18961908 SmallquantitiesofAuproducedatSumalata.
18961929 Palelehmine;6.2tAu,5tAg,550tPb.
1900 G.Panidiscovered.
19001921 Totokmine;3.7tAu.
1911 AbendanonrecognizesNiFelateritepotentialofESulawesi.
19131931 ThreeminesinBolaangMongondowdistrict;5tAu,4tAg.
19161919 SeveralNiandFelateritedepositsfound,includingPomalaaandSoroako.
1938 NilateriteminingstartsatPomalaa.
1968 Large2ndgenerationCOWareaawardedtoPTInco.
1969 SasakporphyryCuAuprospectidentified.
1970 SecondgenerationCOWawardedtoEndeavourResources;BahodopiNilaterite
depositdiscovered.
19721973 TapadaaandTombulilatoporphyryCudistrictsidentified.
19741975 Discovery of the Cabang Kiri, Cabang Kanan and Kayubulan Ridge porphyry
prospects.
1976 Commercial ferronickel production starts at Pomalaa; Malala porphyry Mo
discovered.
1977 3rdgenerationcontractsignedbyRioTinto.
1978 CommencementofnickelmatteproductionatSoroako.
19801982 Drill testing of Cabang Kiri, Cabang Kanan, Kayubulan Ridge and Sungai Mak;
combinedresourceof296Mt@0.57%Cu,0.47g/tAu.
19831984 Motombotohighsulphidationsystemdrilled.
19861987 Twentytwo4th generationCOWssigned.
1987 Severaldiscoveriesmade,includingBulagidun(porphyryCuAu),Binabase(HS),
andTototopo,Anggrek,Tanoyan(IS).
1988 MiningofchromitebeachsandscommencesinESulawesi
1989 MeselandAwakMasdiscovered.
1994 TokaTindungandPoboya discovered.
19941997 115th7thgenerationCOWssigned.
1998 RiskaandMasabofound
1999 Palopodistrictdiscovered.
2004 MiningstartsatRiska;annualproductionca50.000ozAu.
2008 GoldrushatBombanainvolving>20,000localminers.
2011 FirstgoldpouredatTokaTindung;annualproductionca160,000ozAueq.

6
since 2005 (van Leeuwen and Pieters, 2011). It
contains all available relevant descriptive
information about deposits and prospects,
including location details, commodity, deposit
type, host rock, mineralization, alteration,
structure, resource data, exploration history etc.
Most of the data in IMDD are derived from
sources mentioned above and unpublished
companyreportts.
Thepresentpaperisaimedprimarilyatgeologists
engaged in mineral exploration in Sulawesi and
those who wish to assess its mineral potential.
The focus is on providing descriptions of the
more significant mineralizing districts and
individualdeposits.
2.0 HistoryofMineralExplorationandMining
inSulawesi
The documented history of mineral exploration
and mining in Sulawesi spans a period of about
125 years, but traces of iron slag with a Ni
content of 12% found at an archeological site
near Lake Montano suggests there was already
some mining activity more than 1000 years ago
(Bulbecks, 2000, in Rafianto, 2011). The
highlights of the past 125 years are summarized
in Table 2 and discussed below in some more
detail.
Local gold mining activity in Northern Sulawesi
wasrecordedasearlyas1813andhascontinued
uptothepresentday,itsintensitydependingon
the price of gold and economic conditions.
BritishmapsofSulawesipublishedin1885show
agoldmineintheRatatotokdistrict,namedMt.
Tottik. Mining there was done by local people
from the neighbouring province of Bolaang
Mongondowtoprovidegoldfortheirchief.
In1848,thegovernmentoftheNetherlandsEast
Indiesdecidedtoinvestigatethemineralrichesof
the archipelago. It was thought that six mining
engineers would be sufficient to carry out the
task. They were employed by Het Mijnwezen
(BureauofMines),foundedin1852,thattwenty
years later began to publish Jaarboek van het
Mijwezen(MiningYearbook).Initiallythefocus
wasonJava,SumatraandBorneo.Investigations
inSulawesistartedmuchlater,aroundtheendof
the 19th century.The reason for this was
threefold: i) Sulawesi was highly inaccessible; ii)
theislandhadnotyetbeenpacified;andiii)very
little was known about its mineral endowment
(Rutten,1927).
The first government mining engineer to
investigate some of the gold deposits known at
that time in Northern Sulawesi was van Schelle
(1889). Private enterprise soon followed,
prompted by historical reports of artisan gold
mining in the region. Between 1896 and 1929
fourundergroundmineswereoperated(Table2)
and in the Ratatotok district elluvial deposits
were also exploited using hydraulic mining
methods.Inadditiontwounsuccessfulattempts
were made to carry out underground mining at
G. Pani between 1900 and 1910. Mining of
nearby alluvials produced only marginally better
results. Also not overly impressive were the
results of alluvial mining at Tapaibekin in the
Doup district. When more than 50 years later
geologists of Endeavour Resources undertook a
mineral survey in the central part of the North
Arm they observed short trial adits in even the
mostremotepartsoftheregion,suggestingthat
ithadbeenthoroughlycoveredbytheearlygold
prospectors(Trailetal.,1974).
Truscott (1901) published a description of gold
minesandprospectsintheNorthArm knownat
the time, presenting highly optimistic
evaluations. Healsonotedthatcopperdeposits
in the hinterland of Gorontalo were being
developed, but no further records are available.
Attempts to produce copper at Buhu, Molosipat
andBukalintheearly1900sallfailed.Twoofthe
gold mines in Northern Sulawesi were
investigated in some detail by government
engineers and geologists, namely Sumalata
(Molengraaff, 1902) and Totok (Ratatotok)
(Koperberg,1900;Hirsh,1911).Theoriginofthe
gold mineralization at Totok, which is hosted by
limestone,wasexplainedintwoways:i)thegold
wasoriginallyderivedfromrockslocatedfurther
inland and transported by the Totok river at a
timethatitslevelwasseveralhundredsofmeter
higherthanatpresent.Goldandsilicawerethen
7
dissolvedanddepositedfromdescendingfluidsin
fractures and cavities in the limestone, believed
to be younger than underlying andesite, and ii)
the limestone was intruded by the andesite and
gold deposited from associated hydrothermal
fluids.
During the early part of the 20th century
government geologists discovered several
preciousmetal,basemetalandironoccurrences
in central Western Sulawesi, including at Sasak,
which more recently has been explored for its
porphyry copper potential. A rather curious
copper occurrence was found in the Latimojong
Mountains,wheresmallpocketsofnativecopper
arepresentinslates,thesocalledKoperLeienor
CopperSlates(vanBemmelen,1949),thesedays
knownasToradjaFormation.
Far more important (from a presentday
perspective) was the work done in Eastern
Sulawesi. Abendanon (191517), who
investigated the region in 1909/10 was the first
to observe the presence of extensive ultramafic
rocksandtheirlateriticweatheringproducts.He
wasconvincedthatironandnickeloreswouldbe
found in this part of the island. Following his
recommendation, a more systematic survey was
initiatedin1915,andinarelativelyshortperiod
of time significant iron and nickel laterite
resources had been outlined. One of these, the
Larona Fe laterite deposit was explored in
considerable detail outlining proven reserves of
370 Mt (air dried) averaging 49% Fe (Dieckmann
and Julius, 1925). Extensive studies were
undertakenintheensuingyearsonthepossibility
of establishing an iron and steel industry in
Sulawesi, but without much success, one of the
reasons being the lack of known coking coal
depositsinIndonesia.Theoutlookfordeveloping
the more Nirich laterite deposits was equally
discouragingbecauseofthelowNicontents(0.50
1.15%), whereas at the time grades of 3.5
4.0% were required. Using the rich nickel
deposits of New Caledonia as a model efforts
were subsequently directed towards finding
highergradegarnierite(Nisilicate)ore.Afteran
extensivesearch thistype oforewasdiscovered
inthehillssouthofLakeMantanoatSoroakoand
near Malili (Pomalaa). In 1934, two private
companiesweregiventherighttofurtherexplore
and develop these deposits. By applying a
method of selective mining, which involved
careful stripping of overburden and removing
peridotite boulders, dry ore of 3.5% Ni was
produced at Pomalaa, and shipped to Japan and
Germany, starting in 1937. By 1940, a
government engineer had succeeded in
developing a new process for the treatment of
these Nisilicate ores on site, but before it could
beappliedJapaneseforcesinvadedIndonesia.By
that time a total of about 150.000 t of ore had
beenexported(Darmono,2009).
Before the outbreak of the Pacific War the
Japanese had obtained nickel ore from Canada
andNewCaledonia,butthesesourceswerenow
cut off. Sulawesi became an important new
source to supply their war industry. The Dutch
miningoperationsweretakenoverbySumitomo
Metal Mining, which built a smelting plant to
produceNimatte,butbeforeitwascompletedit
was destroyed by the allied forces. Between
1942 and 1945 a total of 184.000t of nickel ore
was produced (Darmono, 2009). The Japanese
alsocarriedoutlimitedminingforbasemetalsat
SangkaropiincentralSulawesi.
After the Dutch returned in 1946 they resumed
nickel mining, but only for three years. Eight
years later NV Perto (Pertambangan Toraja)
shipped nickel ore still remaining in stock piles
fromtheJapaneseoccupationtoJapan.In1961,
it became PT Pertambangan Nickel Indonesia, a
stateownedenterprise,whichthenmergedwith
several other stateowned mining companies to
become PT Aneka Tambang (Antam). This
company has been operating the Pomalaa mine
since 1968. In the central part of Eastern
Sulawesi, including the Soroako area, all
exploration activities were suspended until 1965
becauseoflocalinsurgency.
Following the promulgation of new foreign
investment and mining laws in 1967, Indonesia
offered for tender several areas with known tin
and nickel laterite potential, including a large
block in Eastern Sulawesi. This concession was
awardedin1968toaconsortiumheadedbyINCO
(International Nickel Cooperation) of Canada.
8
The consortium company, which includes
Sumitomo Metal Mining as a shareholder, is
usuallyreferredtoasPTINCO.Intheearlyyears
the company carried out extensive exploration
with the assistance of the Geological Survey of
Indonesia(GSI) and about 40 geology students
from the Institute Teknologi Bandung (ITB).
Initially the exploration focus was on the coastal
areas, but in mid1969 it shifted to Soroako,
wherefouryearslaterminedevelopmentbegan.
Soon afterwards oil prices escalated and the
international nickel market deteriorated. In
ordertocounterthesenegativedevelopmentsPT
INCO built a hydroelectric plant and tripled
annual production capacity to 45,000 tonnes of
nickel matte, but it had to wait until 1988,
following an improvement in the nickel market,
to see its operations become profitable (van
Leeuwen,1994).
The first company to carry our gold and base
metal exploration in Sulawesi was Newmont,
which between 1967 and 1969 undertook
reconnaissanceandlimitedfollowupworkinthe
NorthArmwithporphyrycopperdepositsasthe
main target. They examined recorded
mineralization and diorite rocks easily accessible
from the north and south coast, and in the
hinterlandofGorontaloandtheBoneValley,and
made more detailed investigations around the
abandonedG.Panigoldmine,andatafewother
localities,includingtheBuhucopperprospect.
Intheearly1970stwoothercompaniesinitiated
porphyry copper searches, namely Endeavour
Resources, a junior Australian company, and Rio
Tinto. The former obtained a 2nd generation
ContractofWork(COW),knownasBlockII,which
coveredanareaof12,000km2inthecentralpart
oftheNorthArm.Theirobjectivewastotestthe
hypothesis that the Philippines porphyry copper
belt might extend into northern Sulawesi, an
initiative that was rewarded by the discovery of
porphyry Cu style mineralization in the Tapadaa
and Tombuililato districts. Following a literature
study and the second years survey work that
revealedthatgoldmineralizationwaswidespread
inBlockII,thescopeofthesurveywasextended
toincludealluvialandhardrockgoldtargets.
The two porphyry districts were investigated in
moredetailinjointventurewithKennecottfrom
1973 to 1976. In 1980, Utah International took
controlofEndeavourslocalcompanyandcarried
out an intensive exploration campaign in the
Tombuililato district until 1982. Together these
efforts resulted in the discovery of three
porphyry prospects in the Tapadaa district and
five porphyry prospects in the Tombuililato
district, including Cabang Kiri, Kayubulan Ridge
andSungaiMakwithacombinedresourceof296
Mt @ 0.57% and 0.47 g/t Au (van Leeuwen,
1994). In addition high sulphidation AuCu
mineralizationwasfoundatMotomboto.
RioTintoappliedforalargeCOWarea,BlockIII,
located to the west of block II and covering an
area of 17,200km2in 1973, which was granted in
1977. In the intervening years reconnaissance
geochemical sampling identified 18 anomalous
areas,followupofwhichledtothediscoveryof
the Malala (Anomaly B) porphyry molybdenum
deposit in the Tolitoli district. Drilling between
1978 and 1982, partly in JV with SANTOS of
Australia, outlined a resource of 100 Mt @ 0.14
MoS2, which was not economically viable at
prevailingmolybdenumprices.
Further south, GIS carried out reconnaissance
geochemical surveys in the late 1960searly
1970s, outlining three areas anomalous in base
metals, i.e. Sasak, Seko and Sangkaropi. These
were subsequently investigated together with
Antam, and drilled. Porphyry Cu mineralization
was found in the former two locations, but
appearedtobeoflowgrade(0.30.4%Cu)andof
limited extent. In the Sangkaropi area, three
VMS deposits were subjected to detailed
exploration that failed to outline an economic
resource.
Inthoseearlyyearsexplorationwasoftencarried
out under conditions reminiscent of the Dutch
days, requiring a true pioneering spirit. This is
exemplified by the story of the Kuda mati
berdiri(standingdeadhorses)(Geomin,2010).In
1975, Antam decided to drill test Seko, located
200km to the north of Sangkaropi at an altitude
of 1000m, which could for the most part be
reached only on foot. The party included 30
9
porters and 70 horses. As the track followed
mostly mountain ridges grass and water were
very scarce. After 10 days one of the horses
refusedtomoveevenaftersomeofitsloadhad
been decreased. It took a while to realize that
the poor animal was already dead, probably
because of dehydration. A number of other
horses died the same way without falling over.
Thelocationwasfinallyreachedafter30days.
By the mid1980s the porphyry search was
virtually over and the focus shifted to gold. In
Northern Sulawesi the gold search was
spearheaded by BHP Minerals (which had taken
over Utah in 1984), soon to be joined by
Newmont, Ashton, Placer Dome, and New Hope
Colliers. A total of thirteen 4th generation
COWsweresignedinthelate1986and1987.
The gold exploration undertaken during the
second half of the 1980s and early 1990si
Northern Sulawesi was quite successful.
Newmont discovered a sedimenthosted gold
district in an area of old Dutch workings
(Ratatotokdistrict).Itsubsequentlydevelopeda
mine (Mesel), which between 1996 and 2004
produced1.9MozAu.Anothergolddistrictwas
identified by Ashton at the northern tip of the
North Arm centred on Toka Tindung. This
company was also involved in the discovery of
high sulphidation gold mineralization in the
BinabaseBawone area on Sangihe island. BHP
drilledfivegoldprospects,includingMotomboto.
In addition, a high resolution aeromagnetic
survey identified several targets, only some of
which were followed up. A reevaluation of the
Tombuililato district resulted in a geological
resource estimate of up to 356 Mt @ 0.6% Cu,
0.37 g/t Au, including a mining reserve of
between67Mt@1.08%Cu,0.43g/tAuand118
Mt @ 0.94% Cu, 0.40 g/t Au at a strip ratio of
~2.75:1 (BHP Minerals Sulawesi, 1997). Finally,
New Hope Colliers geochemical sampling
identified a number of gold anomalies which
were subsequently followed up by Newcrest,
resulting in the discovery of gold mineralization
atTototopoandPetulis.
Concurrentlywiththesigningofthe13COWsin
Northern Sulawesi, nine 4th generation COW
agreements were entered into for areas in
Western Sulawesi, but serious exploration was
carried out only by Aberfoyle Resources, which
held a block containing Sasak and Sangkaropi
(relinquished in 1994), and new Hope Colliers,
which discovered the Awak Mas deposit in the
LatimojongMountains.
In Eastern Sulawesi PT Palmabim commenced
exploration for chromite beach sands in the
Bungkuareawhereitoutlined700,000tonnesof
recoverable chromite. The deposit was put into
operationin1988.Ithassincebeencloseddown
(yearnotknown).
The 1990s witnessed the signing of one 5th
generation Cow by Newcrest covering most of
the old Endeavour Block II, and two 6th
generation COWs, also located in Northern
Sulawesi (Newmont in the Bolaang Mongondow
district, and Aurora Gold, which had acquired
Ashtons areas in 1993,in an area adjacent to
their Toka Tindung COW), and eight 7th
generationCOWs,allbutonelocatedinWestern
Sulawesi, including two blocks held by Rio Tinto
and one by North Ltd). The latter company had
selected a large block in central Western
Sulawesi, which based on the widespread
occurrence of potassic alkaline volcanic and
intrusive rocks combined with the presence of
known porphyry mineralization (Sasak) was
believed to have good potential for finding
Parkestype porphyry copper deposits. (The
Parkes mine in Australia was operated by North
at the time). Arguably the most comprehensive
investigations were carried out by Newcrest,
which between 1993 and 1998 covered their
entire COW area in Northern Sulawesi with
drainage reconnaissance sampling, resulting in a
largenumberofanomalies.Manyofthesewere
investigatedin1996/97.Atotalof168prospects
were identified (including previously known
ones),twelveofwhichweredrilltested,inmost
casesdowngradingtheireconomicpotential.
The highlights of the 1990s include Newmonts
discovery of the Northern Lanut trend, which
contains several styles of mineralization,
including highsulphidation epithermal gold
mineralization. Work by Aurora outlined a
10
mineral district around Toka Tindung, containing
seven epithermal gold systems. In Western
Sulawesi, Rio Tinto discovered the Masabo
porphyry copper and the Poboya gold deposits.
Rather surprisingly the latter deposit was
previously not known despite being located only
7km from the provincial capital Palu and next
doortoPoboyavillage,formingadistinctoutcrop
withhighgoldgrades.RioTintoalsodiscovered
towards the end of the decade the La Sampala
laterite deposit in Eastern Sulawesi, believed to
beoneofthelargestundevelopednickellaterite
resources in the world. Around the same time
Antam found several new gold prospects near
Palopo Sulawesi. The company also initiated an
intensive exploration programme in Eastern
Sulawesi with the objective to find additional
nickel laterite resources to supply their
ferronickelplantatPomalaa.Severalprospective
areaswereoutlined.
As elsewhere in Indonesia, the combined effect
of the Busang scandal (the largest fraud in the
history of mining, which was committed in East
Kalimantan), the Asian economic crisis, and
domestic political instability that took place
towardstheendofthe20thcenturyhadasevere
impact on the mineral exploration activities in
Sulawesi (and elsewhere in Indonesia). Most
foreigncompanies,bothbigandsmall,withdrew
fromtheregionorcurtailedtheiractivities.
The first decade of the 21st century saw some
important new developments: 1) regional
autonomy gave the local government of
Kabupaten(Districts,subdivisionsofProvinces)a
significant direct say in mining and related
matters ; 2) a new mining law was promulgated
in 2009, which among other initiatives
introduced a tender system for new areas,
abolishedtheCOWsystem,whichuptothenhad
been the cornerstone of Indonesias modern
miningindustry,andpromotedprocessingofore
toatleastasemifinishedstatewithinIndonesia;
3)commoditypricesstartedtorisearound2004,
which spurred an increase in domestic
involvement in exploration and mining,
particularly of nickel laterites; and 4) the
explorationfocuswasonknown,moreadvanced
prospects.
Some of the highlights of the decade include
commencement of gold production at Riska and
Toka Tindung, and revisiting of some old tired
prospects. At Riska, which was discovered by
Newmont in 1988, Avocet Mining started
productionin2006withanannualproductionof
about50,000ounces.TokaTindungwasbought
by Archipelago Resources in 2002; after long
delays the first gold was poured in 2011 with a
forecastedannualproductionof160,000ounces.
Gunung Pani (looked at by 7 companies since
1967) and Awak Mas (investigated by 5
companies since 1988) are presently under
detailed investigations by One Asia Resources
Ltd. The Tombulilato porphyry Cu and Malala
porphyry Mo deposits, discovered in the mid
1970s, are being reinvestigated by Bumi
Resources and Victory Moly West respectively.
The former company also acquired the Poboya
golddeposit,butuptillnowhasbeenprevented
from carrying out exploration because of illegal
mining activities.The latter company has
expanded its activities into nickel laterite and
base metal explorations in central Sulawesi.
Antam started exploration at Esang, which had
been discovered during North Ltd regional
exploration programme in central Western
Sulawesi a decade earlier. A new arrival on the
scene is Golden Peaks Resources which recently
acquired the Palopo gold property in Western
Sulawesi and the Tanoyan and Anggrek gold
prospects in Northern Sulawesi. And finally, in
2008 seven domestic companies started nickel
laterite production, all being relatively small
operations.
Theonlyimportantnewdiscoverythathasbeen
reported since 2000 is the rich alluvial gold
depositatBombanainSESulawesifoundbylocal
villagers in 2008. It is the first indication of the
presence of potentially significant gold
mineralizationinEasternSulawesi.
In summary, the documented history of mineral
explorationandmininginSulawesicanbedivided
intosixstages:
1)1813 1888. Local gold mining activities in
various parts of Northern Sulawesi, which
11
 have continued intermittently until the
presentday.
2)1889 1941. Exploration by the Netherlands
EastIndiesgovernmentandprivateenterprise
that resulted in the development of several
goldandnickellateritemines.
3)19421967. Relatively small scale nickel
laterite mining by Japanese, Dutch and
IndonesianStatecompanies.
4)1968 1984. Exploration with the main focus
on nickel laterite and porphyry copper
deposits; initially reconnaissance surveys of
largetractsofland,followedbymoredetailed
investigations of selected areas; mine
developmentatSoroako.
5)1985 1999. Focus shifts to gold; 23 COWs aNEtrendandthisregion,theMinahasasection,
signed; exploration mix of regional surveys
and prospect evaluation; several significant
gold discoveries made, one of which (Mesel)
wasdevelopedintoamine(nowclosed).
6)2000 present. Activities that began to
decrease sharply in the late 1990s pick up
again around 2004/5 with increased
involvementofdomesticcompanies,mainlyin
nickel laterite exploration and mining; focus
on known gold and nickel laterite
deposits/districts; two gold mines developed
(RiskaandTokaTindung).
3.0 Geology
Inthischapterwebrieflydescribethegeologyof
the Northern, Western and Eastern Provinces.
Theformertwoprovincesareoftentreatedasa
single tectonostratigraphic unit, referred to as
the West Sulawesi Pluton Volcanic Arc (WSPVA),
whereas the Eastern Sulawesi Province is
commonly divided into a western Central
Sulawesi Metamorphic Belt and an Eastern
OphioliteSulawesiBelt.
SeparatingtheWSPVAintotwodifferententities,
as first proposed by Taylor and van Leeuwen
(1980), is based on the recognition of significant
differencesintectonicsetting,ageandcharacter
of rock units (Table 1). The tectonic relationship
between the two domains is not clear. They
probably formed a more or less continuous belt
throughout the Cenozoic, but were definitely
connectednotlaterthantheEarlyMiocene(van
Leeuwen and Muhardjo, 2005). A simplified
geologicalmapofSulawesiisshowninFigure4.
3.1 NorthernSulawesiProvince
TheNorthernSulawesiProvinceoccupiesalarge
part of the North Arm and the row of islands
extending to the north as far as Sangihe Island
(Figure 3B). The EW part of the North Arm,
referred to as the Gorontalo section (van
Bemmelen, 1949), is made up of Cenozoic arc
volcanics and associated sedimentary rocks.
TowardstheeasttheNorthArmbendssharplyto
islargelycoveredbyPliocenetoRecentvolcanics.
The young volcanic arc continues northwards
through the Sangihe Island group and is often
referred to as the Sangihe Arc. Like the rest of
Sulawesi, Northern Sulawesi consists of
mountainous terrain, although rarely reaching
altitudes higher than 2000m. The landscape of
thenorthernpartoftheprovinceisdominatedby
the presence of (partly eroded) volcanic cones,
someofwhicharestillactive,likeLokonVolcano,
which erupted as recently as October 2011.
Several grabenlike depressions occupy the
centralpartoftheGorontalosection.
The rock sequences that make up Northern
Sulawesicanbedividedbroadlyintothreegroups
thatareseparatedbyregionalunconformities.In
this paper they are informally referred to as the
Early,MidandLateCenozoicgroups.
TheoldestgroupconsistsofathickpileofMiddle
EoceneLate Miocene submarine oceanic arc
volcanics,namedPapayatoVolcanics(Trailetal.,
1974; van Leeuwen and Muhardjo, 2005), which
are widely exposed in the southwestern part of
theGorontalosectionforminga275kmlongbelt,
andarefoundfurthereastassmallerexposures.
This unit consists of a thick series of basaltic
volcanics that occur in bimodal association with
much less voluminous felsic rocks. It contains
12
subordinate intercalations of red calcareous
mudstone, red limestone, greywacke, and
radiolarian chert, and is intruded by basaltic
dykes, locally occurring as dyke swarms, and
stocks of gabbro and diorite. The basaltic
volcanics include massive, autobrecciated or
pillowed lava flows, and volcanic breccia. The
bulk of the mafic and felsic rocks have
geochemicalcompositionsthataretypicaloflow
K tholeiitic island arc (IAT) volcanics, but some,
thought to have been produced late in the
evolutionofthevolcanicarc,showahighKcalc
alkalineaffinity(Elburgetal.,2003;vanLeeuwen
and Muhardjo, 2005), and contain small
volcanogenicmassivesulphidedeposits.
Near Labanuki on the north coast of the
Gorontalo section, the Papayato Volcanics are
underlain by basalts, which show geochemical
similarities with basalts that form the basement
of the Celebes Sea and are interpreted to
represent backarc basalts (Priadi et al., 1997).
Bothbasaltsequencesareoverlainbygreenand
black mudstone. These similarities suggest that
the Labanuki basalts formed as part of the
CelebesSeacrust(Ranginetal.,1997).Anumber
ofauthorshavesuggestedthatmostoftheNorth
Armisunderlainbysimilarcrust(e.g.Taylorand
vanLeeuwen,1980;Kavalierisetal.,1992;Rangin
etal.,1997).
TheEarlyCenozoicrockscommonlydisplaysteep
dips, and in places are highly deformed
(Koperberg, 1929; Trail et al., 1974; Kavalieris et
al.,1992).This,together withthepresenceofa
regional unconformity separating the unit from
the MidCenozoic group (Koperberg, 1929;
Ratman, 1976; Carlile et al., 1990; Pearson and
Caira, 1999) indicate that a significant tectonic
eventtook place in the Early Miocene (van
LeeuwenandMuhardjo,2005).Thecauseofthis
eventisnotcertain.Ithasbeensuggestedthatit
may be related to the collision between the
North Arm and either a small continental
fragment or the Sula Spur (van Leeuwen and
Muhardjo,2005;SpakmanandHall,2010).Inthe
latter scenario the Sula Spur was subsequently
fragmented during extension caused by
subductionrollbackindeBandaregion.
TheMidCenozoicgroupoccupiesalargepartof
the Gorontalo section, and is locally exposed in
the southern part of the Minahasa section. It
consists of a predominantly volcanic unit
(Bilungala Volcanics), a mixed sedimentary
volcanic unit (Dolokopa Formation), and several
sedimentary units, including the Ratatotok
Limestone, which hosts Mesel and associated
gold deposits. The volcanic rocks consist
predominantly of andesitic lava flows and
pyroclastics, debris flows, and related
volcaniclastics,markingmultipleperiodsofuplift
anderosion duringthedevelopment ofthe mid
Cenozoic volcanic arc (Pearson and Caira, 1999).
Felsicrocksarecommonlypresentinsomeareas,
includingtheTombulilatodistrict(Perello,1994).
The base of the MidCenozoic group has been
observedonlyinafewlocalities,whereitconsists
of chaotic masses of Papayato Volcanics
fragments or poorly sorted conglomerates (Trail
et al., 1974; van Leeuwen and Muhardjo, 2005).
Thesequenceisintrudedbycomagmaticbodies,
varying in size from dykes and stocks to
batholiths of diorite, quartzdiorite and
granodiorite (e.g. Trail et al., 1974; Pearson and
Caira, 1999). Limited radiometric age dating
results (Lowder and Dow, 1978; Polv et al.,
1997; Pearson and Caira, 1999) suggest that
batholithsizedbodieswereemplacedduringthe
EarlyMiddleMiocene(1612Ma),irregularstock
and dykelike intrusions of diorite and
monzodiorite composition during MiddleLate
Miocene times, and small stocks and plugs of
quartz diorite composition during the latest
Miocene (85 Ma). According to Pearson and
Caira (1999) the batholiths were probably
exposedbyoneormoreperiodsofintraMiocene
erosion. Published geochemical data for the
volcanicandplutonicsuitessuggestthattheMid
Cenozoic was dominated by mediumK calc
alkalinemagmatism(Polvetal,1997).Porphyry
CuAuMo and intrusionrelated base metal Au
mineralization is commonly associated with the
MiddleLate Miocene suites. However, most
depositsaresmalland/oroflowmetaltenor.
ThestructureoftheMidCenozoicrockshasbeen
studiedinmostdetailintheTombulilatodistrict,
where several periods of lowangle thrusting
13
were followed by development of highangle
northerly trending faults, which was succeeded
by several stages of easttrending block faulting
(Perello, 1994). A regional unconformity
between the Mid and Late Cenozoic sequences
marks a major tectonic event that is generally
believed to be related to the collision of the
BanggaiSula continental fragment with Sulawesi
(e.g.Perello,1994;PearsonandCaira,1999).
The Late Cenozoic, which was the most
productivemineralizing period, witnessed
widespread and intensive volcanism. The Early
Pliocene Wobudu Breccia, exposed along the
north coast of the Gorontalo section, is
composedalmostentirelyofbasaltictoandesitic
agglomerates, breccias, pyroclastics, and lava
flows(Trailetal.,1974).Alongthesouthcoast,a
series of dominantly dacitic volcanics and co
magmatic highlevel intrusions are exposed,
named Pani Volcanics (Trail et al., 1974). They
form major caldera complexes that have
developed within the SW corners of large arc
parallel and arcnormal fault rhombs, and host
significant gold mineralization (Pearson and
Caira, 1999). Similar rocks are found in the
Tombulilato district, where they have been
named Motomboto Volcanics by Perello (1994).
K/Ar dating suggests the two units were formed
between5.3and2.0Ma(Perello,1994;Polvet
al., 1997; Pearson and Caira, 1999). Significant
porphyryCuAuandepithermalAumineralization
isassociatedwiththismagmaticevent.
ThePinogoVolcanics(Trailetal.,1972)constitute
a volcanicsedimentary succession that occurs
over a distance of 170km along the south coast,
from40kmwestofTototopotomorethan60km
eastofTombulilato,whereitisupto300mthick.
Isolated remnants are present within the central
LimbotoBone rift valley, and up to 40km to the
north. The unit is thought to have formed in
latest PliocenePleistocene times, a period
dominated by explosive volcanism (Kavalieris et
al.,1992;Perello,1994;PearsonandCaira,1999).
Thevolcanicsarecharacterized,atleastinpart,by
a bimodal association of basaltic andesite and
rhyolite(Kavalierisetal.,1992).Throughoutthe
Gorontalo section diatreme and irregular
magmatichydrothermalbrecciabodiesappearto
postdate and intrude the Pani Volcanics. They
include postmineralization diatreme breccias at
theCabangKiriandSungaiMakporphyrycopper
deposits(CarlileandKirkegaard,1985).
Volcanic units in the Minahasa section include
the locally named Maen Volcanics and Toka
Tindung Breccia (Wake et al., 1996), which are
contemporaneouswiththegoldmineralizationin
the Toka Tindung district and of Late Pliocene
age, and the Tondano Tuff of Effendi (1976),
which are the result of explosive eruptions from
the Tondano caldera, now occupied by the
Tondano Lake. Quaternary to Recent volcanics
mask most of the older rocks in the Sangihe Arc
(i.e. northern Minahasa section to Sangihe
Island).
The Late Cenozoic units are mostly flat lying to
gently dipping. Significant subrecent vertical
movements in the Gorontalo section are
evidenced by the elevation of young coral
limestone up to height of 5501000m, and the
formationofbroaddepressions(Rutten,1927).
The Gorontalo section is dominated by three
structural elements: i)long ESE trending fault
corridors, which are arcparallel structures; ii)
regularly spaced NWNNW arcnormal fault
zones;andiii)shortNEENEarcnormalconjugate
faults (Carlile et al., 1990; Kavalieris et al., 1992;
Pearson and Caira, 1999). Carlile and al. (1990)
andKavalierisetall.(1992)observethatmuchof
the most recent faulting along the arcparallel
structures comprise normal vertical movements,
resulting in uplifted EW trending mountain
chainsandgraben.IntheMinahassasectiontwo
fault sets dominate: i) NE, showing vertical
movement,andii)NW,whichprobablycomprises
an orthogonal tensional fracture system
comparable to the Gorontalo section (Carlile et
al.,1990).
3.2 WesternSulawesiProvince
IntermsofgeomorphologyandgeologyWestern
Sulawesi can be divided into three parts:
Southwest (SW), Central West (CW) and
Northwest (NW) Sulawesi (Figure 3B). SW
Sulawesi is geomorphologically separated from
14
CW Sulawesi by a NW trending depression filled
with Quaternary sediments, which may mask a
major structure. It differs from the rest of the
province in being less tectonically deformed and
less mountainous, lacking large Neogene
granitoid bodies, and having Neogene volcanics
with isotopic and trace element characteristics
that are different from those found in CWNW
Sulawesi(e.g.ElburgandFoden,1999).Themain
differencesbetweenCWandNWSulawesiarein
the nature of Late EoceneEarly Miocene
sedimentation (dominantly carbonate and
dominantly siliclastic respectively) and the
relative scarcity of Neogene volcanic deposits in
thelatterarea.CWSulawesihasthemostrugged
terrain, with many mountain ridges between
20003000m altitudes reaching a maximum
heightof3495m.
Western Sulawesi contains an almost complete
stratigraphic sequence ranging between Late
Cretaceous and Recent, which developed on a
basement of continental fragment and
accretionary/mlange rocks. It represents
severalmajorperiodsofsedimentation,including
Late Cretaceous flysch, Eocene synrift
siliciclastics, Late EoceneMiddle Miocene
platform and deeper marine carbonates, Middle
MioceneEarly Pliocene shallow marine deposits,
and latest Cenozoic synorogenicsedimentary
successions. The sedimentation cycles were
accompaniedorinterruptedbyseveralmagmatic
eventsthattookplaceduringthePaleocene,mid
Eocene to midOligocene, Early Miocene, and
Middle Miocene to Pliocene, locally continuing
into the Quaternary (e.g. van Leeuwen and
Muhardjo,2005;vanLeeuwenetal.,2010).
PreTertiaryaccretionary/mlangecomplexesare
exposedin theBantimalaandBarrublocksinSW
Sulawesi and in the Latimojong Complex in SW
Sulawesi. They consist of imbricated tectonic
slices of both continental and oceanic rocks,
whichhavebeenmetamorphosedtogreenschist
amphibolite and blueschist facies (Sukamto,
1986;Wakitaetal.,1996;Maulanaet al.,2010).
The complexes have been interpreted by
Parkinson et al. (1998) to belong to a
dismembered midCretaceous accretionary/
subduction zone that extended from central
Eastern Sulawesi through southern Western
SulawesiandSEKalimantantocentralJava.
Three metamorphic complexes are exposed in
NW Sulawesi, i.e. the Palu, Karossa and Malino
MetamorphicComplexes,whicharecomposedof
continental fragments derived from the
AustralianNewGuineamargin,andinthecaseof
the former two complexes, also contain slices of
oceaniccrust(vanLeeuwenandMuhardjo,2005;
vanLeeuwenetal.,2007).ThePaluMetamorphic
Complex hosts a gold deposit named Poboya,
which is of uncertain origin. The metamorphic
complexes are believed to form part of asingle
large fragment (or composite fragment) that
underlies most of Western Sulawesi, the
MakassarStraits,JavaSeaandEastJava,andhas
been named the East JavaWest Sulawesi Block
by Hall (2009). This author interprets the
fragment(s) to have been separated from NW
Australia in the Jurassic and accreted to the SE
SundalandmargininthemidCretaceous.
The basement complexes are unconformably
overlain by weakly metamorphosed Late
Cretaceous flysch deposits, which occur
widespread throughout the province and in CW
Sulawesi host significant gold mineralization.No
mineralization, other than minor sediment
hostedCuoccurrences,hasbeenfoundtodatein
the unconformably overlying siliciclastics and
carbonate sequences which were deposited in
midEocene to midMiocene times. Volcanism
thattookplaceduringthisperiodappeartohave
been intermittent and localized, as a result of
which no major continuous volcanic arc
developed (van Leeuwen and Muhardjo, 2005;
van Leeuwen et al., 2010). The volcanic rocks
arecalcalkaline in composition and generally
believed to be related to active subduction (e.g.
Yuwono et al., 1986, 1988; Elburg et al., 2002,
2003). The only mineralization known to be
associated with the Early Tertiary volcanism is
Kurokotype VMS near Sangkaropi in CW
Sulawesi.
A major tectonic event took place in the early
MiddleMioceneunderextensionalconditions.It
wascharacterizedbyblockfaultingthatresulted
inlocalunconformitiesanddevelopmentofa
15

Table3SelectedfeaturesofporphyryCuAuMosystemsinNorthernSulawesiexamples

Prospect Hostrocks Alteration Mineralization Vertical Resources Age

Name Type Mineralogy extent Mt Cu% Au
(cm) g/t
Bulagidun hydrothermal collapse (upper)muscchlorthqtzillkaol; sulphide cpypymgt;Auwith 500 37 0.61 0.6 9.4(HR)
bx associated with (inner)btqtzmgt cement cpy and in native 8.15(A;bt)
diorite &qtz diorite (outer)chlepi. fillingbx form
stocks
Dunu diorite porphyry & (inner)btqtzalb stk&bxfilling cpypo(pymo); Au 12.5(A;bt)
tourmalinebx (outer)chlactepi withCp
Tapadaa qtz diorite; andesite (early)qtzchlbtanhalbmgt stk&dissem pycpybo; chalc 100 43 0.54 0.08 5 &2.5 (A;
volcanics (late)ser+qtzdiaspandpyroph. blanket up to 40m bt)
thick
CabangKiri qtz diorite stock; 1. (top)kaoldiaspal stk&dissem cpypybomgt, 400 105 0.42 0.43 5.25 (HR;
(andesitevolcanics) 2. clayserchlmgt chalccovpy hbl)
3. chlmgt 2.93(A;bt)
4. (bottom)qtzseralbchlmgt
bt
Kayubulan pipelike breccia qtzmgtbt overprinted by serill Stk&dissem cpypybo 150 32 0.60 0.33 2.36(A;bt)
Ridge complex chl 92
SungaiMak diorite porphyry, sill qtzmgtbt overprinted by serill Stk&dissem chalcblanket,upto 200 82 0.74 0.29
like chlvuggysialkaol 176m;+pycp 159 0.69 0.27

Source:vanLeeuwenandPieters(2011)

Abbreviations(Tables35):A=alteration;act=actinolite;al=alunite;alb=albite;ad=adularia;and=andalusite;anh=anhydrite;aspy=arsenopyrite;Au=gold;
ba=barite;bo=bornite;bt=biotite;bx=breccias;carb=carbonate;chalc=chalcocite;chald=chalcedony;chl=chlorite;cov=covellite;cpy=chalcopyrite;diasp
=diaspore;dissem=disseminations;en=enargite;epi=epidote;ga=galena;HR=hostrock;ill=illite;kaol=kaolinite;luz=luzonite;mgt=magnetite;mo=
molybdenite;musc=muscovite;orth=orthoclase;py=pyrite;pyroph=pyrophyllite;po=pyrrhotite;qtz=quartz;ser=sericite;si=silica;sph=sphalerite;stib=
stibnite;stk=stockwork;
16
major strikeslip fault in SW Sulawesi (Walanae
FaultZone),alongwhichanoceanicfragmentwas
emplaced (van Leeuwen et al., 2010). Another
oceanic fragment exposed further north, the
LamasiOphioliteComplex,mayhaveaccretedto
theWesternSulawesicontinentalmarginaround
thesametime.
Thetectoniceventheraldedtheonsetofaperiod
of widespread shoshonitic to ultrapotassic
magmatismthatlastedtotheEarlyPliocene,and
locally continued into the Quaternary
(Lompobatang Volcano). Over 5000m thick
deposits of volcanic, comagmatic intrusive,
volcaniclastics and intercalated sedimentary
rocks cover large parts of SW and CW Sulawesi
(e.g. Sukamto, 1982; Bergman et al., 1996). In
NWSulawesi,theirdistributionismorerestricted
(Elburg et al., 2003). The potassicultrapotassic
suiteshavebeenreferredtoasHKseriesbyPolv
et al. (1997).In CW and NW Sulawesi, the HK
seriesmagmatismwasaccompaniedbyadistinct
magmatic event that started around the
beginning of the Late Miocene and produced
large volumes of granitoids and subordinate
amounts of tuffs that were exclusively felsic in
nature and of highK calcalkaline composition,
the CAKseries of Polv et al. (1997). This event
lasted until the Pleistocene, making the granites
oneoftheyoungestintheworld.
Most of the mineral deposits and occurrences
foundinWesternSulawesiarerelatedtotheHK
andCAKmagmatism.TheyincludeporphyryMo,
porphyryCuAu,intrusionrelatedbasemetalAu,
and probably also the Awak Mas and Poboya
golddeposits,andothersfoundinthesamebelt,
which in this paper we refer to as intrusion
relatedAudeposits.
Synorogenicsedimentary deposits of Plio
Pleistocene age, collectively known as Celebes
Molasse (Sarasin and Sarasin, 1901) occur
widespread throughout Western Sulawesi. They
reflect a major tectonic event, involving rapid
uplift, folding and thrusting (? gravity sliding) in
CWandNWSulawesi.Thiseventhaspreviously
beenattributedtocollisionbetweentheBanggai
Sula microcontinent and the East Arm (e.g.
Bergman et al., 1996; Hall and Wilson, 2000).
However,thereisincreasingevidencetosuggest
that the CWNW SulawesiNorth ArmGorontalo
Bay region has been in extension since the Early
Pliocene,whichmayhavebeendrivenbyrollback
of the subduction hinge at the North Sulawesi
Trench (Cottam et al., 2011). However, the
extremelyrapidratesandlargeamountsofuplift
and subsidence in the region (ca 3km and >2km
respectively) suggest that significant flow of
lower crust, from beneath basins towards
topographically elevated areas, may also have
beenacontributingfactor(Hall,2011).
3.3 EasternSulawesiProvince
TheeasternSulawesiProvincecomprisestheEast
and Southeast Arms, the eastern part of central
Sulawesi,andtheislandofButon.Theterrainis
inmanyplacesveryrugged.This,combinedwith
thehighlytectonizednatureoftheregion,means
thatitsgeologyisstillpoorlyunderstood.
As discussed by Hamilton (1979), the province
consists of several quasicentric arcuate belts,
which are composed of, from west to east: 1)
shearedmetamorphicrocks,2)highly tectonized
mlange of ophiolitic, metamorphic, and
MesozoicPaleogene rocks; the latter also
occuring as more coherent masses; and 3)
predominantlyophioliticrocks.Afourthzoneof
imbricated Mesozoic and Paleogene rocks that
fringes the southeast margin of the East Arm
belongs to the BanggaiSula Province and marks
the collision zone between the BanggaiSula
continentalfragmentandtheophioliteterraneof
theEastArm.Therocksthatconstitutethefour
zonesareunconformablyoverlainbysyntopost
orogenic sedimentary deposits (Celebes
Molasse).
Metamorphic rocks form a 460km long, 80km
wide zone, including the Pompangeo
Metamorphic Complex in central Eastern
Sulawesi (Parkinson, 1991; 1998), and the
MehonggaandTeimosiMetamorphicComplexes
in the SE Arm (Rusmana and Sukarna, 1985).
Severalsmallermassesoccuratthesouthendof
the SE Arm and on Kabaena Island. In central
Sulawesi,themetamrphicbeltisboundedonthe
west by a profound tectonic dislocation, the
17
Median Line (Brouwer, 1947), against Western
Sulawesi,andtotheeastitgradesintoatectonic
mlange. In the SE Arm, the southwestern
boundaryofthemetamorphiczoneismarkedby
a narrow strip of ophiolite, whereas a major
strikeslip fault (Lawanopo Fault) forms the
northeastern boundary, separating the
metamorphiczonefromtheophiolitezone.
The metamorphic rocks include both blueschist
and greenschistamphibolite facies (e.g.
Parkinson, 1998; Helmers et al., 1989; 1990). In
central Eastern Sulawesi an increase in the
degreeofmetamorphiccrystallizationisapparent
fromeasttowest(Brouwer,1947).Thistogether
withthestyleofdeformationofthePompangeo
Schists is consistent with successive
underthrustingofslicesofdowngoingmaterialin
a westdipping subduction, which based on
limited K/Ar dating of the schists probably took
place during the midCretaceous (Parkinson,
1991; 1998). Parkinson (1998) suggests that the
protolithsofthemetamorphicsconsistsinpartof
Jurassic sedimentary rocks, similar to the ones
exposed in small terranes to the east. Until the
recent discovery of gold in metamorphic rocks
near Bombana in the SE Arm the metamorphic
complexeswereconsideredtohavelittlemineral
potential.
The contact zone between the metamorphic
rocks and the ophiolite is marked by a tectonic
mlange in central Eastern Sulawesi, which is
composed of a highly complex mosaic of
tectonized and metamorphosed ophiolite
fragments, schist fragments and variably
disruptedMesozoicsedimentaryrocks.K/Arages
of 2832 Ma suggest that the mlange was
formed during the middle to late Oligocene,
possibly as the result of eastward subduction
beneath the ophiolite terrane, that was
subsequently thrusted westward over the
metamorphicbasement(Parkinson,1996).
Largeophiolitemassesaredistributedovermost
of the East Arm and the northwest part of the
Southeast Arm, and on the adjacent islands of
ButonandKabaena.Theycoverover15,000km2
and are known as the East Sulawesi Ophiolite or
ESO (Simandjuntak, 1986). From an economic
pointofviewthisisthemostimportantrockunit
in Eastern Sulawesi, as it has given rise to
extensiveNilateritedepositsandchromitebeach
sandsdeposits.
A complete, but highly imbricated ophiolite
sequence has only been observed in the East
Arm, whereas elsewhere only the lower,
ultramafic portion of the sequence is present.
Theageoftheophioliteispoorlyconstrained.A
widerangeofK/Arageshavebeenobtainedfrom
ESO rocks, varying from Cretaceous to Miocene
(Mubroto et al., 1994; Monnier et al., 1994;
Simandjuntak, 1986), which are difficult to
interpret.IthasbeensuggestedthatCretaceous
deepmarinepelagicsedimentaryrockswhichare
spatiallyassociatedinseveralplaceswiththeESO
may represent the uppermost part of the
sequence(e.g.Kndig,1956).Variousoriginsand
timing of emplacement have been proposed for
the ESO. It is likely, however, that the ESO is a
compositeterranewithmorethanoneoriginand
ofdifferentages(HallandWilson,2000).
MesozoicPaleogene sedimentary rocks are
mostlyinterthrustorininterminablefaultcontact
with the metamorphic basement and ophiolite
sequencesthroughoutEasternSulawesi.Broadly
speaking,theyconsistoffluvialtoshallowmarine
siliciclastics and subordinate carbonates of late
TriassicJurassic age that were formed along the
Australian continental margin, and Cretaceous
Oligocene deep marine, pelagic sedimentary
rocks,whichwerelaiddownonfragmentsrifted
from the margin and transported westwards to
theSulawesiregion(e.g.PigramandPanggabean,
1984;Villeneuveetal.,2001;Surono,2008).
Synto postorogenic deposits are widely
distributed throughout Eastern Sulawesi. They
can be divided into clastic and carbonate
sequences with coarsegrained clastic sediments
dominating (Surono, 2008). Deposition started
earlier in the southern part of the province
(around the Early Miocene) than further north
(MiddleLateMiocene).
18
4.0 Mineraldeposits
Inthischapterwepresentareviewofthevarious
mineralization styles that are known to occur in
the Northern, Western and Eastern Sulawesi
Provinces.Examplesofeachtypearedescribedin
some detail as either individual deposits or
mineral districts, for which a brief summary of
their exploration history is also given. We have
assignedthemto17categories,whichareshown
in Figure 5 together with their map symbols for
Figures 6, 25 and 35. In this paper we have includes vein deposits which usually contain
adopted the most widely used nomenclature.
The reader will be familiar with most of the
terms,butafewneedfurtherexplanation.
1) High, intermediate and lowsulphidation
epithermalAuAg.Thisbroadgroupofepithermal
mineral deposits has been subjected to over a
dozenclassificationschemessincethelate1970s,
which in part reflects the wide range of
characteristic features displayed by orebodies
belonging to this group (Simmons et al., 2005).
The currently most widely used terminology of
high, intermediate and lowsulphidation, terms
introduced by Hedenquist (1987), Hedenquist et
al(2000)andEinaudietal(2003),isbasedupon
the sulphidation state (or sulphur fugacity) of
sulphurbearing minerals that occur in the
epithermal mineral assemblage. Intermediate
sulphidation is a relatively new term, which was
previously included in the lowsulphidation
category. Sillitoe and Hedenquist (2003)
emphasize the linkage between sulphidation
types and volcanotectonic settings; most high
sulphidation deposits are generated in calc
alkalineandesiticdaciticarcsunderneutralstress
state or mild extension conditions, and
commonly show a close connection with
porphyry Cu deposits; intermediatesulphidation
deposits occur in a broadly similar environment
but lack such close relationship; and most low
sulphidation deposits are associated with
volcanicsuitesinabroadspectrumofextensional
settings.
Corbett and Leach (1998) divided the low
intermediate sulphidation deposits into two
broad groups. The first group dominates in
magmatic arcs and displays an association with
intrusionsgradingawayfromtheintrusionsource
as; quartzsulphideAu+/Cu, carbonatebase
metalAu and epithemal AuAg. The second
group,termedadulariasericiteepithermalAuAg,
dominates in rift settings. Corbett (2007)
subsequently renamed the latter group banded
chalcedonyginguro epithermal veins. Where
appropriatewerefertothisclassificationscheme
inthetext.
2)IntrusionrelatedbasemetalAu. Thiscategory
significant amounts of base metal sulphides and
show,orareinferredtohave,acloseassociation
with (porphyry) intrusions. It overlaps with the
quartzsulphideAu+/CucategoryofCorbettand
Leach(1998).
3)Intrusionrelated Au. This category has been
assigned to a few deposits in Western Sulawesi,
includingAwakMas,MangkalukuandPoboya.As
discussed below, the origin and classification of
thesedepositsisproblematic.Wedescribethem
in 4.2.4 under the (more neutral) heading Gold
inmetamorphicterrains
Asformanymineraldepositsandoccurrencesin
Sulawesi there is no detailed information
available,assigningthemtoaparticularcategory
can be quite subjective. In a few cases where
therewastoolittletogoby,oranoccurrencedid
notseemtofitanyofthecategories,weassigned
themtothenotclassifiedcategory.
For each of the three provinces we have
prepared a map showing mineral localities and
the names of deposits/prospects or mineral
districts mentioned in the text. The maps were
compiled from the Indonesian Mineral Deposit
DataBase(vanLeeuwenandPieters(2011).
4.1 NorthernSulawesiProvince
Northern Sulawesi is relatively well endowed
with mineral deposits and prospects (Figure 6).
Asdiscussedearlieritisaregionofbothpastand
presentgoldminingactivity.Anumberofmineral
styles have been recognized todate. These are
porphyryCuAuMo,high,intermediateand
19

Figure5.MineralizationtypesfoundinSulawesiandtheirsymbolsusedinFigures6,25and35

Figure 6. Northern Sulawesi. Distribution of mineralization types, and location of prospects and
mineralizeddistrictsmentionedinthetext;forsymbolsseeFigure5

20
lowsulphidation epithermal AuAg, sediment
hosted Au, brecciahosted base metalAu
mineralization, intrusionrelated base metalAu
veins, FeAu skarns, and CuPbZn volcanogenic
massive sulphides (VMS). The VMS
mineralizationistheonlystyleassociatedwiththe
Paleogene volcanic activity. All the others were
formed during the Miocene and particularly
Pliocenemagmaticepochs.Tables3and4show
selected features of the more significant
Northern Sulawesis porphyry copper and
preciousmetalsystemsrespectively.
4.1.1 PorphyryCuAuMomineralization
More than 40 porphyrystyle deposits and
occurrences have been identified, which
commonlyoccurinclusters.Theycanbedivided
into two groups, Late Miocene and Pliocene.
Their main features have been described by
PearsonandCaira(1990).
The Late Miocene group (e.g. Bahumbang, and
Dunu) are hosted by irregular dykelike bodies of
dioritetoquartzdioritecompositionintrudedinto
comagmatic basaltic andesite andesite
volcanics. A central quartzbiotitemagnetite
zone grades outwards to chloriteepidotecalcite
alteration, and upwards to quartzsericite
carbonateclay assemblages. Albite is present in
some prospects. Advanced argillic lithocaps are
absent. In some deposits sheeted quartz veins
are well developed (e.g. Petulu) but most are
characterized by quartz stockworks. The
porphyry systems are poorly mineralized,
showing the following zonation: central
chalcopyrite+molybdenite pyrite+chalcopyrite
pyrite leadzinc. Gold is associated with units have been recognized, referred to as Old,
chalcopyrite. Molybdenite commonly occurs in
earlyveins.RatherunusualisBulagidun(4.1.1.2)
whereCuAumineralizationishostedbyaseries
ofhydrothermalbrecciasdevelopedperipheralto
a biotite altered, but unmineralized diorite
complex.
The Pliocene systems show both similarities and
differenceswiththeMiocenesystems.Examples
include the Tapadaa district (4.1.1.3) and
Tombulilato district (4.1.1.4) and Taware on
Sangihe Island (4.1.1.5). With a few exceptions
(e.g. Taware) the Pliocene systems are better
mineralized. They are centred on multiphase
cylindricalstocksanddykesshowingfractionation
to more felsic endmembers (quartz diorite to
dacite porphyry) that are associated with co
magmatic volcanics of dacite composition.
Diatreme breccias are commonly present.
Alteration zonation consists of a central quartz
albitemagnetitebiotitechlorite core, an outer
chloriteactinolitemagnetite zone, and an upper
sericitekaolinitealunitediaspore zone. Quartz
sulphide stockworks are well developed. Higher
gold grades show a strong association with
bornite,magnetiteandchalcopyriteinthecentral
zone that grade outwards to a pyrite zone with
supergenechalcocite.Au:Curatiosarerelatively
high.
4.1.1.1 Bahumbung
Bahumbung is the only Miocene porphyry Cu
prospect that has been described in some detail
(Lubis et al., 2011). It consists of several
mineralizedcentresupto500x400mindiameter.
The area was identified during Newcrests
regionalexplorationprogrammeinthelate1990s
asaCuAuanomaly.Itwasinvestigatedinmore
detail by Ivanhoe Mines Ltd in the late 2000s,
includinggroundmagneticsanddrillingof3deep
holes(1,544m)and13shallowholes(561m).
The prospect area is underlain largely by
andesitic lava, tuff and volcanic breccias
belonging to the Bilungala Volcanics. These are
accompanied by minor dacitic volcanics and
intruded by multiple intrusives ranging in
compositionfromdioritetoaplite.Threediorite
IntermediateandYoungDiorite.
TheOldDiorite(onlydetectedintwodrillholes)
ischaracterizedbystrongalteration(potassicand
pale green mica), moderate to high density
quartz stockwork, and moderate copper grades
(0.3%0.4%). The Intermediate Diorite has a
lowerdensityofquartzstockwork(upto3%)and
lower copper grades (0.10.3%), and is
moderately altered (PMG). The Young Diorite
occurs as latemineral dykes with low sulphide
andCucontents,<1%and<0.1%respectively.
21

Potassicalterationhasaffectedmoststronglythe
Old Diorite and andesitic wall rocks. Very fine
grained secondary biotite and magnetite
completely replace mafic minerals, and are
intergrown with actinolite in veinlets. The
alteration is associated with quartz stockwork
zones, varying in intensity from 3 to 10%, and
<2% sulphides consisting of chalcopyrite, lesser
pyrite and minor bornite.The sulphides fill
fractures and occur as disseminations in quartz
veinletsandalteredhostrocks.BetterCugrades
(>0.4%)havebeenobtainedfromstronglyaltered
andesitic wall rocks adjacent to the Old Diorite.
Palegreenmicaalterationischaracterizedbythe
presence of shreddy chlorite and green sericite,
which replace earlier secondary biotite and
primary feldspar. In rocks that are not too
weathered chalcopyrite and pyrite can be
observed.
Sericitechloritemagnetite alteration
associated with the Young Diorite. Mafics are
replacedbychloriteandmagnetiteaccompanied
by various amounts of pyrite. Primary feldspars
are partially or totally altered to sericite. This
alteration assemblage is prominent in ore zones
of a number of major Philippine porphyry CuAg
deposits (Sillitoe and Gappe, 1984), but at
Bahumbung contains only very little
chalcopyrite.Molybdenite appears to be mostly
associated with sericitechloriteclay alteration
overprintingpotassicalteration.
4.1.1.2 Bulagidundistrict(Figure7)
This district is located 170km WNW from
Gorontaloand10kminlandfromthenorthcoast.
It is the largest known Miocene system in
Northern Sulawesi, covering an area of 50km2,
and encompassing five separate prospects of
porphyry, vein and skarn styles, of which the
largest known is the Bulagidun prospect. The
districtisoutlinedbya790ppmCu80#stream
sediment anomaly, while Au anomalism is
centred on Bulagidun, and Pb and Zn anomalies
are related to peripheral vein systems. It is
covered by dense tropical rain forest with steep
relief(500to1700m).
Thedistrictwasidentifiedin1987byBHPduring
followup of stream sediment and panned
concentrate geochemical anomalies. Systematic
exploration until 1991, including ~8000m of
drillingoutlinedageologicalresourceof14.4Mt
@ 0.68 g/t Au and 0.61% Cu in three separate
breccia bodies. Further investigations were
carried out by Newcrest and Cyprus in 199697
involving detailed surface work and drilling
(Bulagidun,2793m;Matinan9,760m;Matinan6,
1484m). The results of the two campaigns are
discussed by Lubis et al. (1994), PT Newcrest
Nusa Sulawesi (1999) and Pearson and Caira
(1999).
ThegeologycomprisesadeeplyerodedMiocene
volcanic centre within a sequence of
volcaniclastics and immature sediments covered
by andesite lava, which in turn is overlain by
andesite pyroclastics and volcanogenic
conglomerates. Two samples of unaltered
is andesitelavayieldedKArwholerockagesof9.4
Ma. The sequence is intruded by a sequential
fractionation intrusive suite consisting of seven
partially superimposed plutons that range in
composition from pyroxenebiotite diorite to
quartzbiotite feldspar porphyry and aplite.
Limited whole rock analyses presented by Lubis
etal.(1994)suggestthattheigneousrocksinthe
BulagidunareabelongtothemediumandhighK
calcalkalineseries.
A regional scale NNWtrending arc normal
structurepassesthroughthewesternpartofthe
system. A set of NEtrending faults bracket this
system linking it across to another arc normal
structure, 20km to the east. Intrusive bodies
forming aligned circular features, 2 to 4km in
diameter, are centred on the Bulagidun and
Matinan prospect areas, suggesting a collapsed
magma chamber at depth. Mineralization is
strongly controlled by EW structures and
intersections with crosscutting NS structures.
This pattern is consistent with dextral
transpressuring of the arc normal structures.
Twelve breccia pipes have been mapped in the
system.
The Bulagidun/Matinan alteration system
extendsover7kminanENEdirectionwitha
22

Figure 7. Simplified geological map of Bulagidun district and prospect locations (modified after PT
NewcrestNusaSulawesi,1999)

Figure 8. Simplified geological map of Tapadaa district and prospect locations (modified after PT
NewcrestNusaSulawesi,1999)

23


Figure9.SimplifiedgeologicalmapofTombulilatodistrictandprospectlocations
(modifiedafterPerello,1994)

Figure10.CartoonshowingporphyryCudepositstylesintheTombulilatodistrict

24
width of 3km. It is concentrically zoned with a
biotite core (2000mx300m) surrounded by an
albitemagnetite zone that grades outwards into
an albitesericitepyrite assemblage. Another
shell of epidotechloritecalcite surrounds these
assemblages. Sericiteclay
chloritequartzcarbonate alteration, both
pervasiveandstructurallycontrolled,crosscutall
theearlyassemblages.WholerockKArdatingof
thisassemblageyieldedanageof8.75Ma.Late
stage claypyrite alteration occurs as narrow
zones along faults and fractures. Disseminated
blebs and fracture fillings of radiating black
tourmaline are found in biotite magnetite and
sericiteclaychlorite altered rocks. It typically
constitutes 12% of the rocks, but locally may
attainvaluesof1020%.
Styles of hypogene CuAu mineralization include
a porphyryrelated collapsedrawing down
brecciainfillinatleast7brecciapipes(Bulagidun)
and disseminated mineralization controlled by
microlitic cavities in the causative intrusions,
representing orthomagmatic mineralization
(Matinan9).Drillingofthemainbrecciapipehas
demonstratedthatthemineralizationextendsto
greater than 500m depth. The dominant
sulphides are chalcopyrite and pyrite (largely in
veinlets and breccia matrix). Molybdenite is
locally abundant, whereas bornite, galena and
sphalerite are rare. Gold is associated with
chalcopyrite and pyrite in solid solution or as
minuteintergrowths.
Breccias are fragment supported with angular
fragments ranging in size from cm to 10s of m
withlittleornorockflourmatrixandnoevidence
ofhydrothermalstreamingorfragmentedmilling.
The breccia void spaces are filled with coarse
grained, pegmatitic, hydrothermal minerals,
which have a remarkably consistent paragenesis
across the system, from earliest to latest;
magnetite (replaced by specularite in places),
apatite, biotite (partly replaced by chlorite),
molybdenite, quartz, tourmaline, chalcopyrite,
galena, pyrite, ankerite. A characteristic of the
Bulagidun district is the apparent lack of quartz
stockworkdevelopmentassociatedwithzonesof
CuAu mineralization. Preliminary fluid inclusion
studies show a wide range of homogenenization
temperatures (180oC to 700oC) and salinities,
suggesting multiple separate stages of
hydrothermal fluid and mixing between saline
magmaticanddilutemeteoricfluids.
Quartz veins, partly sheeted, occur adjacent (up
to 500m lateral distance) to the mineralized
breccias. They are up to 2m thick and contain
minorsphaleriteandgalena.Inexcessof10g/t
Au was recorded in surface samples, but in drill
holesonly0.52g/tAuwasobtained.Insome
placesmeterwidezonesofabundanttourmaline
occurincloseproximity.
A large tabular body of magnetiteepidote
garnetpyrrhotite skarn (Matinan6) is found
within the propylitic zone, 2km to the NNW of
thecentralCuAuzoneatBulagidun.Itcontains
patchygoldmineralizationinnativeform.
4.1.1.3 Tapadaadistrict(Figure8)
Discoveredin1971byEndeavourResources,the
district was investigated in some detail by
Kennecott between 1972 and 1974, including
1,222m of diamond drilling. Four small systems
were outlined (Tapadaa South, Central and
North, and Mogi Wapo), each containing
between 2 and 15 Mt @ 0.20.4% Cu in primary
ore and a total of 20 Mt @ 0.61.0% Cu in
supergeneenrichedore(vanLeeuwen,1994).In
1994,NewcrestobtainedalargeCOWareawhich
included the Tapadaa district. It undertook
regionaltoprospectscalesurfacework,whichled
tothediscoveryofafifthsystem,TapadaaWest.
The best result obtained was 252m of chip
sampling averaging 0.39% Cu and 0.13 g/t at
TapadaaSouth.
LiteratureontheTapadaadistrictinludespapers
byLowderandDow(1977;1978)andareportby
PTNewcrestNusaSulawesi(1999).
ThedistrictgeologyconsistsofMioceneBilungala
Volcanics, which are primarily andesitic to lithic
tuffs. They have been intruded by a series of
porphyritic diorite stocks and dykes on the
western margin of the Miocene Bone batholith.
These have been subdivided into premineral
weakly porphyritic diorites, synmineral quartz
25
diorite plugs and quartzdacite porphyry dykes,
and postmineral andesite porphyry dykes.
Pleistocene Pinogu dacite tuffs (some with
mineralized clasts) unconformably overlie much
ofthearea,includingpartofthemineralizationat
TapadaaNorthandCentral.
TheTapadaaprospectsliewithina>90mppmCu
elliptical halo defined by stream sediment
sampling. Internal to this is a >4 ppm Mo halo,
that only includes Mogi Wapo. Plots of Cu and
Au in rock show small Au bull eyes (>0.1 ppm)
within larger Cu (>500 ppm) zones. At Tapadaa
West the largest Au anomaly measures
460mx400m. Porphyry mineralization appears
almost continuous from Tapadaa South through
to Tapadaa North, except where obscured by
postmineral Pinogu Volcanics over an area of
100300m by 3000m. Mogi Wapo measures
about 200mx1000m, and Tapadaa West has the
smallest exposure (200x400m). Mapping by
Newcrest has shown that the Tapadaa West
mineralization is hosted by the Bilungala
Volcanics,andnotbydioriteintrusiveasthought
by previous explorers. This introduces the
possibility of a larger concealed intrusivehosted
system.
The porphyry prospects occur in a NWtrending
structurally controlled blocks. Copper
mineralization is associated with early alteration
consisting predominantly of quartzchlorite
biotiteanhydrite, and in areas of better grades
(0.20.4%)alsogreensericiteandalbitetogether
withalbitequartzandmagnetitequartzveinlets.
TwosecondarybiotitesamplesyieldedKArages
of5and2.5Ma.Sulphidecontents(chalcopyrite,
bornite, pyrite) are typically low. Sulphides and
magnetite are present mostly as fracture infill,
andalsoasdisseminationsandinquartzveinlets.
There appears to be a positive correlation
between primary Cu grades and magnetite
concentrations.
The early alterationmineralization assemblages
areoverprintedbysericite+quartzorclay,quartz
sericitediaspore, and/or andalusitepyrophyllite
assemblages. Corundum and specularite are
associatedwithhighpyritecontents.Supergene
blankets, up to 30m thick, are locally developed
underlying of strongly leached pyritic zones in
advancedargillicrock.
4.1.1.4 Tombulilatodistrict(Figure9)
The Tombulilato district has been an exploration
teaserformanyyears.Followingitsdiscoveryin
1971byEndeavourResources,Kennecottcarried
out exploration between 1972 and 1975 which
ledtothediscoveryofCabangKiriwhere1,070m
ofdrillingoutlinedaresourceof24Mt@0.7%Cu
and 0.75 g/t Au, Kayubulan Ridge with an
estimated resource potential of 200 Mt @ 0.5%
Cu and 0.35 g/t Au based on surface data only,
and Cabang Kanan. Following Kennecotts
withdrawalin1976,Endeavourdrilled6holesat
Kayubulan Ridge, one of which intersected
significant mineralization. Between 1980 and
1982 Utah International embarked on a major
exploration programme involving 5 drilling rigs
and2helicopters.Thethreeknowndepositsplus
a new discovery, Sungai Mak, were drill tested
(~1600m)outliningacombinedresourcesof296
Mt @ 0.57% Cu and 0.47 g/t Au. The original
Endeavour COW was terminated in 1986. Two
years later BHP entered into a JV with Antam
whichobtainedtwosocalledsuperKPsoverthe
district. In 1991, a national park was declared
overtheareaandallworkceased.Aftera2year
exploration permit was obtained from the
MinisterofForestryin1996BHPembarkedona
heliborne magnetic survey, which identified a
numberofanomalies,twoofwhichappeared to
beassociatedwithpreviouslyunknownporphyry
stylemineralization,i.e.GunungLintahandWest
Kayubulan Ridge. Because of uncertainties
pertainingtothenationalparkandotherreasons
BHPwithdrewinlate1997.Recentlythedistrict
was excised from the park and exploration title
wasawardedtoBumiResources.
TheTombulilatodistrict(LowderandDow,1978;
Carlile and Kirkegaard, 1985; Carlile et al., 1990;
Perello, 1994; BHP Minerals Sulawesi, 1997) is
composed of a >3400m thick volcano
sedimentary sequence in which three main
stratigraphic units are recognized: i) Bilungala
Volcanics (Upper Miocene base Pliocene)
divided into a Lower Member (tholeiitic basaltic
and spilitic volcanics), Middle Member
26
(alternating andesitic and felsic volcanics with
minor sedimentary intercalations), and Upper
Member (subaerial andesitic fragmental
volcanics); ii) Motomboto Volcanics (Upper
Pliocene), which consists of subaerial felsic to
intermediate volcanic rocks; iii) Pinogu Volcanics
(Pleistocene), characterized by poorly
consolidated, subaerial bimodal volcanics.The
sequence is intruded by strongly porphyritic
bodies of andesitic to dacitic composition, and
equigranular bodies of granodioritic to dioritic
composition. Field relationships and two whole
rocks KAr ages of 2.35 and 2.05 Ma suggests a chalcopyriteborniteveinletstypifymineralization
LatePlioceneagefortheseintrusions.Afoliated
granodioriteexposedintheNEpartofthedistrict
isprobablyMiddleMiocene(orolder).
The structure of the Tombulilato district is
characterized by northerly striking highangle
faults, normally a few metres wide and
containing tectonic breccias, hightomoderate
angle normal faults showing an easterly trend
and of postmineralization origin, and common
lowangle thrust faults, typically accommodated
by ductile sedimentary intercalations in the
Bilungala Volcanics and showing a random
orientation.Allintrusivebodiespostdatefolding
andthrusting.
Five mineralized system have been identified
todate, i.e. Cabang Kiri, Sungai Mak, Kayubulan
Ridge, Cabang Kanan, and Gunung Lintah which
show both similarities and differences (Figure
10).
Mineralization at Cabang Kiri East is hosted by a
cylindrical multiple diorite porphyry stock
intruded in the Middle Member of the Bilungala
Volcanics. Synmineralization breccias occur at
the intrusivewall rock contact. Post
mineralization breccias are also present. The
bulk of the mineralization occurs in intrusive
phases, with some hosted by volcanic wallrocks.
The deposit displays subhorizontal alteration
zonation, from top to bottom, claysericite
alunitediasporepyrite (30150m thick),
montmorillonitesericitepyrite (4060m),
chloriteactinolite (060m), sericitesilica
montmorillonite (030m), and silicaalbite
sericitechloritemagnetite (>150m). The
alteration geometry may be the product of the
superimposition of several hypogene events
coupled with the effects of latemineralization
intrusions.RemnantsofbiotitebearingKsilicate
alterationispresent,whichyieldedaKArageof
2.93Ma.
Mineralization at Cabang Kiri has been tested
over 400 vertical meters. It is associated with
moderate to strong quartz stockwork zones.
Increasing potassium feldspar and magnetite
alteration with numerous hairline magnetite
atdepth.ThereisasteadyincreaseinAuvalues
going downward with a corresponding decrease
in Cu/Au ratios, from >1 at the top to <0.3 at
deeper levels, where gold grades average 2 g/t.
Drillingstoppedinthebestore.Minorchalcocite
enrichmentoccursathigherlevels.Thegeological
resourceatCabangKiriis103mt@0.42%Cuand
0.43 g/t Au. A preliminary feasibility study
undertaken in 1982 suggested that the deposit
wouldbeamenabletoblockcavemining.
AtSungaiMak,asilllikedioriteporphyrybodyis
intruded in Lower Member Bilungala Volcanics.
Hydrothermal alteration is strongly telescoped
with quartzstockworked Ksilicate alteration
(quartzmagnetitebiotite) being overprinted by
intermediate argillic assemblages (sericiteillite
chlorite),whichinturnareobliteredbyadvanced
argillic alteration (vuggy silica, alunite, kaolinite,
minor native sulphur). Postmineralization
brecciascutthedeposit.
Atleasttwostylesofmineralizationarepresent:
i)hypogene,withvariablesupergeneenrichment,
associated with the diorite intrusion, and ii)
supergenechalcociteintheupperlevels,forming
an irregular blanket up to 176m thick. The
blanket consists of sooty chalcocite with minor
covelliteanddigenite,butpyriteisalsocommon,
and chalcopyrite and bornite are present in
subordinate amounts. Chalcocite is present on
fractures and as disseminated grains, typically
coating sulphides. Supergene Cu mineralization
is developed best in intensely veined and
argillized intrusives with kaolinite and alunite as
thedominantalterationminerals.Ingeneralthe
orebody is mushroomlike shaped with a
27
geological resource of between 82 Mt @ 0.74%
Cu,0.29g/tAuand159Mt@0.69%Cu,0.27g/t controlled by N to NE trending steeply dipping
Au (depending on the search ratio). It is
amenabletoopenpitmining.
At Kayubulan Ridge, intrusion and host rock
composition are similar to those of Sungai Mak.
Much of the mineralization is associated with a
majorpipelikebrecciacomplexthatsurroundsa
weakly mineralized intrusion. Mineralization is
also similar to Sungai Mak in that the highest
copper grades (>1% Cu) are associated with
strongly developed quartz vein stockwork zones
at high levels. As at Cabang Kiri, remnants of
quartzmagnetitebiotite alteration are also
present. The geological resource was estimated
to be between 32 Mt @ 0.60% Cu, 0.33 g/t Au
and92Mt@0.60%Cu,0.34g/tAu.
Intrusions at Cabang Kanan occur as feldspar
porphyrydykes.Copperandgoldmineralization
is hosted both by the dykes and hornfelsed
stockworkbearing wallrocks. Mineralized
intrusions display weak to moderate potassium
silicate alteration of the groundmass, numerous
hairline magnetiteKfeldspar veinlets, and
chloritized hornblende. Only three holes have
been drilled with the best intercept being 138m
@0.5%Cuand0.35g/tAu.
Gunung Lintah, a relatively new discovery, is a
north eastern extension of Cabang Kanan. It is
characterized by a high magnetic anomaly wich
lies at the intersection of NW and NE trending
lineament. Detailed mapping and grid soil
sampling has identified a 400x400m zone of
quartzsericiteclaychlorite alteration coinciding
with copper and gold soil anomalies. Drilling
intersected zones of sericitic alteration with
quartzstockworksandcoppermineralization.
A number of goldbearing quartzveins are
present in the southern part of the Tombulilato
district, including at Kaidundu, Mamungaa,
Mootadaa,andBilogantunga.Thesearebelieved
to represent distal manifestations of the
porphyry CuAu cluster located further to the
north,andareclassifiedasintrusionrelatedbase
metalAuveins(see4.1.6).Theveinsarehosted
inregionallychloritizedvolcanicsbelongingtothe
Upper Member Bilungala Volcanics, and
faults. Single veins vary from 5cm to 3m in
thickness.
The best studied prospect is Kaidundu with a
total known length of 350m and an average
thickness of 2.5 to 3m. Quartz from the main
lode is both crystalline and chalcedonic,
displayingcombandcockadetextures.Atypical
feature is open vugs, up to several decimeters
acrosslinedwithcoarsegrained,terminatedand
botryoidal quartz. Adularia is conspicuously
absent.Sulphides(<5vol%)consistofpyriteand
chalcopyrite with subordinate galena, sphalerite,
andtetrahedritetennantite.AuAgtelluridesare
alsopresent.Freegoldfillsfracturesinpyriteor
forms intergrowths with tellurides. Ag/Au ratios
arerelativelylow(0.2312.3).Goldvalues,upto
127g/t,averagearound33g/t,andsilvervalues,
upto359g/t,areerratic.Narrowveinenvelopes
with wall rock fragments are dominated by illite
alteration. Primary, liquidrich inclusions in vug
filling quartz homogenize at temperatures
between 66 and 286 oC with salinities between
0.50.8 wt % NaCl equiv. Primary vaporrich
inclusions show similar ranges (172324oC) and
average0.2wt%NaClequiv.
4.1.1.5 Tawaredistrict
TheTawaredistrictislocatedatthesouthernend
ofSangiheisland.Itsgeologyandmineralization
have been briefly described by Carlile et al.
(1990)andBautistaetal.(1998).
Mineralization was first discovered in pan
concentrates in the Taware drainage in 1986.
The discovery was soon followed by a local gold
rush involving mining of both rich alluvials and
quartz veins. Drilling was undertaken during
19871988 and 19941997 by Muswellbrook
EnergyandMineralsandBrexrespectively.
The area is underlain by andesitic volcanics,
including lapilli tuffs and lavas with minor
interbedded sediments, which are intruded by a
porphyritic microdiorite stock. The sequence is
ofprobableMioceneage.NWandNEstructures
dominate. Intersection of these structures
28
probablycontrolsthehighlevelemplacementof
themicrodioriteporphyry.
PorphyrystyleCuAumineralizationiscentredon
themicrodioritestockwithperipheralauriferous
goldveinsoccurringwithinaradiusof2km.A2.5
by 1.5km clay altered zone (claysilica
chloritepyrite) with some local structurally
controlled phyllic (silicaclaypyrite) zones
characterize the surface alteration. It grades
downwards to biotitemagnetite alteration. Cu
Au mineralization is hosted in diorite porphyry
and andesitic volcanics, occurring as pyrite and
chalcopyrite disseminations and stringer zones,
quartzchalcopyritepyrite veinlets, and quartz
carbonate veins with pyrite and base metal
sulphides. Highest grade zones (0.471.97 ppm
Au, 0.14%0.38% Cu) are largely confined to the
intrusive contact. Available evidence suggests
that the mineralized body is small (ca
200mx200m). Multiple intrusions are absent,
whichmayexplainthelowCutenor.
The peripheral mineralization appears to be
controlled by the NEtrending fracture set. It
occursinsilicarichphylliczones(Kupa,Sedeand
Mou) and mesoepithermal quartz veins
envelopedbysilicaclayalterationzones(Taware
Ridge and Kelapa). The latter are characterized
by massive to simple banded (dogtooth)
texturedquartz,indicatingahightemperatureof
formation. Gold mineralization is hosted in
sheeted quartz veins and stockworks associated
with minor pyrite, arsenopyrite, galena,
sphalerite and sulphosalts. It appears to be
erraticallydistributedandisoveralloflowtenor.
However, in the oxidized zone supergene
enrichment has occurred, resulting in the
commonpresenceoffreegold.
4.1.1.6 Comments
ThePlioceneporphyrysystemsarecharacterized
by strong development of advanced argillic
alteration, which locally may be associated with
ore grade mineralization. Lowder and Dow
(1978)suggestthatthisisrelatedtothepresence
of albite and montmorillonite instead of potash
feldspar, to the dioritic nature of the host rocks,
andtounusuallyacidorefluids.Advancedargillic
alteration is absent in the Miocene porphyry
systems, which have similar host rocks and
commonlycontainalbite.Apossibleexplanation
is that these systems have been eroded to a
deeperlevel(Lubisetal.,2011),eitherduringor
afterthelatestMiocenetectonicevent.
The Pliocene porphyry systems, especially the
ones in the Tombulilato district, are better
mineralizedthantheMiocenesystems.Carlileand
Mitchell (1994) note that at Tombulilatodioritic
stocks intrude older basaltic and andesitic
volcanicrocksofMioceneagetolevelsjustbelow
or just above an unconformity with overlying
Pliocenedaciticvolcanicsthatarecoevalwiththe
mineralized stocks. They point out that such a
relationship suggests that the generation of
(better mineralized) porphyry coppergold
systems may be dependent on the ascent of
magma to a high level, at or near the base of
eroding andesiticdacitic volcanoes, as proposed
bySillitoe(1990).
Lowder and Dow (1978) observe that field
evidence indicates that the Tapadaa district is
more deeply eroded than the Tombulilato
district, which has exposed a shallow plutonic
environment where total sulphide contents and
metal grades are relatively low due to strong
fracture control on mineralization, erratic or
patchy nature of the hydrothermal system, and
dilution by younger intrusions. The intrusive
stocks at Tombulilato are interpreted to form
cupolas above Tapadaatype intrusions. This
interpretation is supported by the presence of
higher temperature minerals at Tapadaa with
respect to Tombulilato, i.e. albite instead of
montmorillonite, and andalusite or corundum
instead of pyrophyllite or diaspore. The high
levelstocksatTombulilatohadachannelingand
concentrating effect on hydrothrmal circulation,
which at this higher structural level provided a
greater opportunity to mix with meteoric fluids
(LowderandDow,1978).
A marked increase in Au/Cu ratios with depth
observed at Cabang Kiri has also been reported
fromsomeotherporphyrydepositsinIndonesia,
e.g. Grasberg (Van Nort et al., 1991) and Batu
Hijau(Meldrumetal.,1994).Moreunusualisthe
29
common presence of tourmaline at Bulagidun,
whichisgenerallylackinginporphyrydepositsin
the southwestern Pacific region, in marked
contrast to Cordilleran porphyry Cu deposits in
the western Americas. Bulagidun possibly
formed from magmas which incorporated more
subducted boron than is usual in the region or
theboronmayhavebeenextractedbymagmaor
fluidinteractionwith compositionallydistinctive
islandarccrust(Silltoe,1994).Tourmalineisalso
present at Masabo in Western Sulawesi and
Mamut in Sabah (see 4.2.1.3). In all three cases
associated intrusive rocks are relatively potassic
rich,whichmaysuggestapossibleconnection.
4.1.2 HighSulphidation Epithermal AuAg
Mineralization
Foursignificanthighsulphidation(HS)epithermal
clusters are present in the Northern Sulawesi
Province, three in the North Arm (Motomboto,
Lanut and Bakan ) and the fourth on Sangihe
Island(BinabaseBawone).
4.1.2.1 Motomboto(Figure11)
Mineralization in this area, which forms part of
the Tombulilato district (Figure 9) is represented
by a highsulphidation Lepanto style CuAu
system, located 1.5km west of Sungai Mak,
consisting of three deposits (Motomboto East
and West, and Tulabolo). It was initially
identifiedby Kennecottin1977duringfollowup
stream sediment sampling in the Tombulilato
district, which led to an outcrop of silicapyrite
rock anomalous in Cu and Au was. Enargitetype
mineralizationwasrecognizedbyUtahgeologists
in1980andfollowedupbyBHPstartingin1984.
Between then and 1996, 8378m of drilling was
done with the best intersection obtained from
the last hole (51m @ 1.6% Cu, 11.2 g/t Au, 75.6
g/tAg),whichintersectedablindorezoneunder
250m of postmineralization cover at the
Tulaboloprospect(BHPMineralsSulawesi,1997).
The Motomboto CuAuAg system has been
described by Perello (1994). It is located at the
contact between an Upper Pliocene hornblende
daciteporphyry,probablyanendogenousdome,
and strongly altered volcanics. Parts of the
mineralized bodies and associated alteration are
buried by postmineralization Pinogu Volcanics,
whichareupto250mthick.
Mineralization at Motomboto, which has been
dated at 1.89 Ma (KAr; alunite), is associated
withamultiphasehydrothermalbrecciacomplex,
withastrikelengthof>4.5kmandawidthlocally
exceeding 250m. A central zone of vuggy silica
with an average width of 150m is surrounded
progressively by zones of quartzalunite (0
120m), quartzkaolinite, and chloriteepidote
calcite. Several stages of brecciation and
silicification have affected the central zone.
Pyrite, enargite and luzonite are locally major
components (up to 15%), occurring a
disseminationsorasvugfillings.Nativesulphuris
locallypresent.
Oregrade CuAuAg mineralization is restricted
tothesilicifiedcores,whereasthequartzalunite
and quartzkaolinite assemblages are
characterized by lower gold values, typically <1
ppm. Two main styles of mineralization have
been recognized: i) multiphase, sulphide
cemented breccias with significant Cu, Au, Ag,
and locally Zn, values; and ii) vuggy silica zones
with AuAgCu. The former style dominates at
Tulabolo.Thebrecciasconstitutelinearfeatures,
200mto700mlong.Typically,theycontainclasts
of residual silica, finegrained pyriteenargite
intergrowths and earlierformed hydrothermal
breccias. These are cemented by several phases
of pyrite (earliest phase), galena, sphalerite,
enargite,luzonite,andmarcasite.Covelliteisan
important constituent. The second style of gold
mineralization occurs in irregular ledges of
residualsilicaandpervasivelysilicifiedrocks,and
is characterized by enargite, covellite, scorodite,
and limonite assemblages. The latter two
minerals developed by supergene oxidation of
coppersulfosaltsandpyriterespectively.
4.1.2.2 Lanutdistrict(I)
TheLanutdistrictcomprisesalargehydrothermal
system, measuring 7x9km, which straddles a
major NWstriking arctransverse strikeslip fault
zone, 30km long and 4km wide, which has been
referred to as the Kotamobagu Shear Zone
30
(Surmontetal.,1994)orInobontoFault(Flindell,
2003). The district contains several styles of
mineralization (Figure 12) : 1) highsulphidation
epithermal Au, including the Riska and Effendi
deposits (discussed below), 2) intermediate
sulphidation epithermal Au, including Tobongan
and Lanut (4.1.3.3.), 3) porphyry Cu; and 4) an
activemetalrichhotspringsystem.
Tobongan and Lanut were mined by the Dutch
during the early part of the 20th century. The
latter deposit became a significant local mining
areaintheearly1980s.Itwasinvestigatedbya
PlacerDomeBHPAntamjointventurefrom1986
to1990,including4560mofdiamonddrilling.In
1990, following the joint ventures withdrawal
fromthearea,Newmontinitiatedasurveyovera
largeCOWblockthatincludedtheLanutdistrict.
A number of anomalous areas were identified.
Detailed investigations were undertaken
between 1998 and 2000, focusingon the Riska
and Effendi prospects, which involved 6332m of
diamonddrilling.Atotal resourceof14.2Mt@
1.5g/tAuand4.5g/tAgwasoutlined,wellbelow
the companys minimum target, and
consequently the property was divested to
Avocet. In the meantime Oropo (previously
Flinders Gold NL) investigated Lanut under an
agreementwithacooperativeoflocalminers.It
withdrew in 2003 and Lanut became part of
Avocets holdings. This company focused its
activities initially on Riska, which was brought
into production in 2004, based on a resource of
about 600,000 oz. The same year a resource of
110,000ozwasoutlinedatEffendi.
TheKotamobaguShearZonecutsthroughaLate
Miocene sequence of shallow marine platform
limestone and calcareous, volcaniclastic
mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. This is
overlain by a Pliocene sequence of subaerial
pyroclasticrocksthatincludesandesitictodacitic
crystallithic tuff, tuff breccia and isolated
fluviallyreworked volcanic sandstone and
siltstone.Thisisthedominantunitintheproject
area and is informally known as the Lanut
Sequence. A series of diorite and dacite plugs
punctuatetheLateMiocenePliocenesequences.
PleistoceneRecent dacite ashcrystal tuffs
blanketthenortheasternmarginofthefaultzone
and cover a significant portion of the Lanut
district. They were erupted from the nearby
dormant Ambang volcano and postdate
mineralization(Flindell,2003).
TheRiskadeposit(Figure13)hasbeendescribed
byNugrohoetal.(2005).ItishostedbytheLanut
Sequence and consists of a mineralized body,
450m long 350m wide, that comprises mostly
silicaalunite assemblages. It has an EN WSW
trend reflecting the initial structure that
controlled early and more widespread advanced
argillic alteration. The body is crosscut by
several narrow, 28m wide, 100250m long,
verticallydipping,NNEtoNStrendingstructurally
controlled hydrothermal breccias that served as
pathways for magmatic volatiles and the
subsequent main phase of alteration and gold
deposition.Riska is similar to most high
sulphidation deposits in that a core of vuggy,
massive silica and silicasulphide assemblages,
occurring along feeder structures, is enveloped
by silicaalunitesulphidedicketepyrophyllite
diaspore alteration that funnels out near the
surface and forms a broad alteration halo. The
silicaalunite is in turn surrounded by kaolinite
illitetoillitesmectiteassemblages.
The following sequence of events has been
recognized: i) early zoned vuggy silica, silica
alunite and intermediate argillic alteration along
ENE structures with fine grained pyrite and
enargiteluzonite plus gold deposited along
feeder structures and favourable lithologies; Au
grades range from 0.5 to 2 g/t Au in the feeder
zones, and 0.1 to 0.5 g/t Au in the silicaalunite
shell; ii) main event consisting of
hydrobrecciation and fracturing of the silica
alunite cap accompanied by alunite and gold
deposition along NNE to NS structures; sub
microscopicgoldwasdepositedinporespacesof
tuffs, structural controlled breccias, and in
broader alunite >> silica altered wall rock with
gradesof>10g/tAuinthebreccias,1.0to5.0g/t
Au in the peripheral hydrofractured zones, and
1.0to3.0g/tAuintheouter,aluniterichshells;
and iii) intensive but structurally constrained
supergeneoxidationandweathering.
31


Figure 11. Motomboto. (A) Simplified geology map; (B) Map showing
alteration zonation; (C) Cross section of simplified geology and alteration
zonationatTulabeloandMotombotoEast;legendalterationasinFigure10B

(modifiedafterPerello,1994)

32

Figure 12. Simplified geological map of Lanut district showing location of different styles of
mineralization(afterFlindell,2003)

Figure13.Riska.(A)Alterationmap;(B)Crosssection(afterNugrohoetal.,2005)

33
Petrographic studies indicate a very high
temperature gradient between the lower and
upper sections of Riska during the main events,
possibly due to the capping effect of the silica
alunite zone in the upper part of the deposit.
Isotopic characteristics of alunite material
indicateastrongmagmaticinput.AKAralunite
age of 2.09 0.08 Ma indicates that the main
eventtookplaceduringtheLatePliocene.
High gold values in pitch limonite veins in the
oxide zone, the presence of native sulphur at
depth, and a broad increase in Au grades at the
oxidesulphide zone interface suggest supergene
leaching and reprecipitation of gold during the
laterevent.
Inconclusion,Riskafollowsasimilarevolutionary
pathway to most high sulphidation deposits, but
possess a unique feature in that the main
mineralization event is characterized by alunite
dominant alteration deposited along structures
thatareofadifferentorientationthanthosethat
controlledtheearlyalterationphase.
4.1.2.3 Bakandistrict(Figure14)
TheBakandistrictwasinitiallyidentifiedduringa
regional survey carried out by a Placer Dome
BHPAntam team in the late 1980s as a broad
zone of scattered AuAgPbZn(Cu) stream
sediment anomalies associated with vuggy silica
alteration.ThesewerefollowedupbyNewmont
in1995,whichledtothediscoveryofseveralsub
cropping silica ledges. Detailed investigations
(mapping, soil and trench sampling, and various
geophysicalsurveys)resultedintheidentification
of nine mineralized sites. Between 1996 and
1998 five of these were drill tested (17 holes
totaling 2008m). Although several significant
gold mineralization intervals were intersected
Newmont decided to shift its activities to the
Lanut district as Bakans perceived potential did
notmeetitscorporateobjectives.
Avocet acquired the tenement in 2002 and
following the commencement of developing the
Riska Mine in North Lanut, began exploration in
the Bakan district targeting a similar style of
mineralization, i.e. oxide highsulphidation gold.
The companys programme consisted of two
phases, target generation and resource
definition. By 2007 a small high grade Au
resourcewasoutlinedattheOselaprospectand
a larger resource, but with lower grade, at the
Durianprospect,totaling16.87Mt@0.96g/tAu.
AcomprehensivediscussionofBakansdiscovery
and exploration history is presented by Harjana
andSweeney(2011).Theirreportformsthebasis
ofthefollowingsummaryofthedistrictsgeology
andmineralization.
The geology consists of a thick sequence of
Middle to Upper Miocene marine to submarine
sedimentary rocks that is overlain and/or
interfingers with andesitic lava flows. These
rocksareintrudedbystocksanddykesofdiorite.
Unconformablyoverlyingthe Miocenebasement
is the informally named Bakan Sequence that
consists of a series of PlioPleistocene subaerial
daciticpyroclasticrocksandcoevaldaciticstocks
or domes. During the waning stage of the felsic
volcanism, diatreme and hydrothermal breccias
were emplaced and the dacitic rocks were
reworked. Renewed volcanism during the
PleistocenetoearlyRecenttimesresultedinthe
formation of tuffaceous laharic breccias and
debris slide breccias. Continued uplift of the
districtinrecenttimesledtothedevelopmentof
raised alluvial gravels, outwash fans and
extensivesloperubble.
The structure of the district is dominated by a
conjugatesetofNWSEandNNESSWfaultswith
subvertical dips. These constituted the main
channelways for the hydrothermal fluids. High
sulphidation alteration assemblages hosted by
structures of different orientation form zones
that coalesce into a large area at Bakan,
measuring 2.5x3.5km. Structurally controlled
vuggy silica cores grade outwards into silica
alunite, kaolinitealunite, and illitesmectite
alterationassemblages.
Disseminated gold and silver mineralization is
largely restricted to the silica core zones in the
upper parts of the alteration system, where it is
associated with pyrite, whereas enargite and
covellite are found at depths in some of the
prospects. The NNESSW structures, which
34
control mineralization at Durian and Osela,
appear to host higher grade, especially where
intersected by NWSE faults, and at Osela also,
wherethestructurebendstothenortheastatits
northern end, possibly reflecting a dilational
zone.AtOsela,goldappearstohavebeenadded
by a later phase of chalcedonic veining and
extremely finegrained quartz deposition typical
ofintermediateandlowsulphidationepithermal
styles. Gold enrichment has also occurred by
supergene processes, as evidenced by the
presence of gold in vugs and cavities in
association with goethite, limonite and
supergeneclays.
4.1.2.4 BawoneBinabasedistrict
TheBawoneandBinabasedepositsarelocatedin
the southern part of Sangihe Island. The first
recordofmineralexplorationontheislanddates
back to 1987 when Muswellbrook undertook
reconnaissance exploration in the southern part.
ThisresultedinthediscoveryofAu,AgandBa high levelstocks of porphyritic andesite and
bearing rock float on the coast at Binabase.
Results of extensive soil and outcrop sampling
and limited geophysical survey were used to
develop drill targets. A 5000m diamond drilling
programme was completed between 1989 and
1993, which mainly tested targets at Binabase
andBawone,andtoalesserextent,atSalurang.
This work led to the discovery of gold
mineralization at Binabase and Bawone. Ashton
Mining Ltd, which had taken over the property
from Muswellbrook in 1990, relinquished the
areain1994.Limitedtrenchingwasundertaken
by an Indonesian company in 2006. The
following year East Asia Mineral Corporation
commenced drilling at Bawone and Binabase, in
part testing anomalies identified from an IP
dipoledipole survey. The two deposits are
estimatedtocontainatotalinferredresourceof
oxidematerialof11.3Mtwithagradeof1.27g/t
Au and 20.23 g/t Ag. In addition Bawone
containsabout6Mtofsulphidematerialgrading
1.12g/tAuand0.97g/tAg,andBinabase10Mt
withagradeof0.49g/tAuand13.60g/tAg.
Descriptions of the geology and mineralization
Binabase and Bawone have been provided by
Swift and Alwan (1990), Corbett and Leach
(1998), Bautista et al. (1998), WilliamsJones
(2008), Wisanggono et al (2011), and Sangihe
GoldCorporation(2011).
Sangihe Island is composed of volcanic rocks
eruptedfromatleastfourvolcaniccentres,which
became progressively younger in a NNW
direction. These centres include the active Awu
volcano in the north of the island, the Tahuna
caldera immediately to the south of Awu, the
extinct Tamako volcano in the centre of the
island, and the deeply eroded Taware volcanic
centre in the south. The Binabase and Bawone
prospectsarelocatedimmediatelytotheeastof
Tamako. Prominent easttrending structures
dissect the area between the volcanoes. Other
majorlineamentstrendnorthwestandnortheast.
TheoldestrocksintheBinabaseBawonearcare
andesitic pyroclastics (Binabase Group), which
are the main host to alteration and gold
mineralization. They are intruded by dykes and
dacite domes. Polymitic breccia intruded the
older units and consists of similar material. The
youngest lithological units are unconformably
overlying basaltic andesite flows and
volcaniclastic rocks derived from the Tamako
volcano (Tamako Group) and epiclastic and
marine sedimentary rocks of the
penecontamporaneousPintarengFormation.The
presence of Stegadon fossils in the Pintareng
formationindicatesaLatePliocene(2Ma)toLate
Pleistocene age. The young unitscontain
fragments of hyddrothermally altered volcanic
rocks,includingsilicapyritematerial.
NNENE trending structures transect southern
Sangihe island and control regional alteration
pattern. In the BawoneBinabase area, a NNW
trending structural corridor is defined by
magnetic lineaments. Its subdued topographic
expression suggests it may be a grabenlike
feature. Mineralization is localized where it
intersectsthethroughgoingNEstructures.
AtBinabase,fourENEtoNEstrikingzonesofgold
mineralization have been identified with a
combined overall dimension of 900m x 425m.
Both o xi d ea n d s u l p h i d e typ es o f gold
35


Figure14.MapofBakandistrictshowingalterationzonation,structuresandprospectlocations(after
HardjanaandSweeney,2011)

Figure15.SchematiccrosssectionthroughtheBinabasedeposit(afterSangiheGoldCorporation,2011)

36


Figure16.BawoneBinabase,structuralsettingandfluidflowmodel(afterCorbettandLeach,1998)

Figure17.SimplifiedgeologicalmapofGunungPanidistrictshowingprospectlocations(afterNewcrest
NusaSulawesi,1999)

37
mineralizationarepresent.Theoxidezoneisup
to 60m thick, with an abrupt transition to
sulphide mineralization. Gold grades commonly
exceed 1 g/t. Supergene enrichment played an
important role in producing economic precious
metal grades. Silver grades increase significantly
toward the base of oxidation. At a deeper level,
the mineralization is closely associated with
pervasivesilicapyritebaritealterationzonesand
brecciation. The breccias consist of +10mm
quartzbariterich clasts, pyrite grains and
chalcocitebearingpatchessetinapredominantly
finegrained quartz groundmass. Common
cavities, vugs and veinlets locally contain traces
ofchalcopyrite.Inplacesappreciableamountsof
Cu,Pb,ZnandAgarepresentwithin,oradjacent
to, the zones of gold mineralization. The main
gold zone is interpreted to occur as a vertical to
subvertical body that flares in the upper levels
where oxidation is most intensely developed
(Figure15).
AtBawone,thegoldmineralizationisinterpreted
to occur as a vertical to steeply dipping tabular
bodywhichtrendsinaNWdirectionoverastrike
distance of 300m and has a maximum width of
around75m.Itishostedwithinbrecciazonesin
pyritealunitequartzbarite altered rocks.
Angular to subangular quartz and sulphiderich
clasts are embedded in a grey to greenishgrey
groundmass. Pyrite is the most abundant
alterationmineralfollowedbyquartz,clay,barite
and marcasite. Massive pyrite is cut by thin
bariteenargitepyrite veins. Alunite has been
confirmed by XRD analyses. Significant amounts
ofcopperareassociatedwithgoldrichintervals,
andZn,Pb,AsandAgaremoderatelyanomalous.
Copper minerals include chalcopyrite, covellite
and enargite. Sphalerite is generally Fe poor as
indicated by its light yellowish colour. The main
mineralized body appears to be zoned with
stockworks and breccias surrounded by selvages
of claysilicapyritebarite alteration. Wall rock
alterationaroundanearbydioriteporphyrystock
consists of a 2.5km x 1.5km zone of claysilica
chloritepyrite with some local structurally
controlled claysilicapyrite and Kfeldspar
quartzsericitepyritebiotite assemblages in
areasofquartzchalcopyritepyriteveining.
Early workers, who noted at Binabase the
common presence of gypsum and barite
(implying a major seawater component to the
hydrothermal fluids), a strong stratabound
control,andtheveryfinenatureofthesulphides
with colloform and framboidal textures(
indicating rapid deposition), tentatively
interpreted the mineralization to have been
deposited from volcanicrelated seafloor
hydrothermal exhalations (Swift and Alwan,
1990;Garwin,1990).CarlileandMitchell(1994)
drew a comparison with the VMS deposits on
WetarIsland,notingthatbothappearedtohave
a highsulphidation component. Corbett and
Leach(1998)andthegeologicalstaffofEastAsia
Minerals subsequently proposed a high
sulphidation epithermal origin for the
mineralization on the grounds that pyrite is
largely secondary in origin, alunite and kaolinite
are important alteration minerals, and high gold
grades are associated with the occurrence of
enargite.
Detailed core logging at Bawone by Williams
Jones (2008)hasshown that in goldenriched
zones finegrained crystal tuff isreplaced by very
finegrained pyrite and minor to subordinate
silica, varying from incipient pyritization along
fracturestocompletereplacementofthetuffby
pyritequartz assemblages. This alteration was
followed by fracturing and brecciation, partial
infilling of the remaining open spaces by barite
pyriteenargite assemblages, and the formation
of veins up to 0.5cm thick, containing the same
mineral assemblages. In only partly pyritized
rocks, crystal fragments, and commonly also
groundmass, have been partially replaced by
kaolinite and alunite. The fact that pervasively
pyritized rock devoid of later brassy pyrite and
bariteenargitepyrite generally contains >1 g/t
Ausuggeststhatmuchofthegoldmineralization
wasearly.However,thecoincidenceofhighgold
grades in intervals with bariteenargitepyrite in
pores and veins impliesthat there was also
significant introduction of gold late in the
evolutionofthehydrothermalsystem.Thegoldis
either in the structure of the pyrite or as
nanoparticles that are not visible under a high
power electron microscope (WilliamsJones,
writtencomm.,2011).
38

Wisanggono et al. (2011) note two phases of
barite fracture filling crosscutting silicasulphide
alteration. Barite is typically massive to weakly
crystallineintheearlyphaseandaccompaniedby
light coloured spalerite, galena and minor
chalcopyrite, whereas the later phase is coarse
crystalline and lacks base metal sulphides.
Decreasing amounts of barite fracture fill with
depthsupportaseawatersource.
The primary sulphidegold mineralization and
alteration at Binabase are quite similar to those
observed at Bawone, with the main difference
being that the former deposit contains
considerablymoresilica.Thisindicatesthatboth
deposits owe their origin in large part to the
same hydrothermal processes (WilliamsJones,
2008), an interpretation that is consistent with
themodelproposedbyCorbettandLeach(1998).
These authors infer a magmatic source for the
highsulphidationsystemlocalizedonthemargin
ofaNNWgrabenbytheintersectionofthrough
going NNE structures, and dilation of ESE
structuresbysinistralrotationonNNWstructure
(Figure 16). Fluid upflow was centred on
Bawone with hot magmatic fluids having been
derived from the vicinity of a nearby diatreme
breccia.Thefluidsflowedlaterallyalongdilatant
structures to the northwest (Binabase) and
southeast (Salurang). The model explains the
declining metal grades and alteration intensity
from upflow to outflow. Mineral assemblages
also indicate a distal relationship of Salurang to
Bawone, while Binabase is marginal to the fluid
upflow zone (Bautista et al., 1998). The local
sharp contacts between residual silica, silica
alunite and peripheral clay alteration are
indicative of a high level setting/distal
relationship to the inferred magmatic source.
The abundant gypsum and barite suggest that
incursion of seawater could have occurred,
possibly from the NW. A seawater source is
supported by the decrease in the amount of
baritefillwithdepth(Wisenggoroetal.,2011).
In a recent paper Wisanggono et al. (2011)
suggest that the mineralization is not of high
sulphidation origin, but more characteristic of
low/intermediatesulphidation epithermal
mineralization for the following two reasons: i)
the alunite is supergene in nature, and ii) the
vuggy silica is not a residual primary product,
butratherrepresentsoxidizedboxworkremnants
of silicapyrite altered breccia. They suggest that
the interaction of seawater with possibly weakly
acid fluids may have had a buffering effect. This
interpretationisnotsharedbyA.WilliamsJones
(written comm., 2011) who comments: The
alunite is clearly hypogene and intimately
associated with auriferous pyrite, and our
evaluation of changes in bulk rock chemistry
shows clearly that silica was leached during
hypogene alteration, consistent with the
presenceofvuggysilica.
4.1.2.5 Comments
Corbett and Leach (1998) categorize high
sulphidation(HS)systemsas:
Porphyryrelated
Lithologicalcontrolled
Structurallycontrolled
The latter two categories are endmembers of a
continuum with many systems displaying a
combination or variation between these two
elements.
Atypicalexampleofaporphyryrelatedsystemis
thehighsulphidationalterationmineralizationat
CabangKiri.Itshowsastyleofalterationthatis
indicative of progressive cooling and decrease in
fluid pH away from the porphyry intrusion. It is
initially dominated by andalusite, than
pyrophyllite+diaspore, and most distally,
alunite+kaolinite. Significant CuAu
mineralization occurs in andalusitepyrophyllite
zones, but does not extend out into the alunite
bearingassemblages(LowderandDow,1978).
Motomboto can be classified as a structurally
controlled system. Alteration and mineralization
areapparentlycontrolledbyriftfaultsparallelto
the Neogene arc (Kavalieris et al., 1992). Based
on the limited information available the Bakan
deposits are probably also dominantly
structurally controlled. Riska and Binabase
Bawone display aspects of both lithological and
39
structural control. Structural control is provided
by dilatent structures and lithological control by
permeable rock units such as pyroclastics.
Hydrothermal breccias appear to be a common
feature,anddiatremeshavebeenreportedfrom
MotombotoandBinabaseBawone.
A (spatial) association of highsulphidation
depositswithporphyrycoppersystemshasbeen
commonly observed (e.g. Sillitoe, 1983) and in
recentyearsageneticconnectionhasbeenmore
firmlyestablished(e.g.Heinrichsetal.,2004).In
the case of the Northern Sulawesi HS systems,
such association is most obvious at Cabang Kiri.
Motomboto displays a clear spatial relationship
to a porphyry copper system, 1.5 km east at
Sungai Mak. Similar ages shared by the two
systemssuggestthattheymaybealsogenetically
related. Alternatively, a blind porphyry Cu body
may be present at depth. Perello (1994)
proposes a model whereby one or more
hydrothermal systems developed around several
quartz diorite porphyry stocks, about 3 Ma ago,
which was accompanied by porphyry CuAu
mineralization. Following collapse of the
hydrothermal system(s), ca 2.352.00 Ma,
enargitebearingCuAuAgformedaround1.9Ma
at Motomboto. Weak porphyry Cu
mineralization/alterationhasalsobeenobserved
intheotherthreeHSepithermalAudistricts,but
its relationship to the HS mineralization is
unclear.
CorbettanLeach(1998)notethatHSsystemsin
the southwest Pacific are generally remarkably
lowinsilver,unlikethoseintheeasternPacific.
Motomboto appears to be an exception (Table
4). The authors also note that in most HS
systems coppergold mineralization postdates
the formation of silicaaluniteclay alteration. At
Motomboto, the timing and location of the gold
dposition is known only poorly. At least one
phase of enargiteluzonite mineralization
posessesagoodcorrelationbetweenCuandAu,
but EDS scanning failed to detect gold in the
copper minerals, pyrite and marcasite; limited
metallurgical test work suggests it may be free
(Perello, 1994). As we have seen, at Riska the
main gold mineralizing event postdates
enargiteluzonite depsition, and is accompanied
by alunite. For BinabaseBawone two scenarios
have been proposed: the main gold mineralizing
event is early (WilliamsJones, 2008; see above)
ortookplaceduringalaterphaseofsilica,pyrite
and minor chalcopyrite deposition (Wisenggoro
etal.,2011).
4.1.3 IntermediateSulphidation Epithermal Au
AgMineralization
The category of intermediatesulphidation (IS)
epithermal AuAg mineralization is well
represented and includes (bonanzastyle) vein
systems (e.g. Bolangitang, Lanut) associated, at
least spatially, with andesiticdacitic volcanics,
and mineralization related to felsic volcanic
domediatreme complexes (G.Pani and
Tototopo). Mineralization styles include
stockwork,disseminated,veinandbrecciahosted
gold mineralization. Veins and stockworks
consist of commonly colloform banded quartz
adularia carbonate. Most vein systems have
very low sulphide and base metal contents (e.g.
Bolangitang and Lanut), whereas a few carry a
higher sulphide and base metal content (e.g.
Doup)(Carlileetal.,1990;vanLeeuwen,1994).
Pearson an Caira (1997) note numerous mineral
occurrences hosted by hydrothermal breccias,
whicharecommonlyassociatedwithrhyodacite
dacite intrusions and contain gold and/or base
metals. They occur in six ENEtrending
mineralized corridors that are defined by Plio
Pleistocene regional dilatant zones. The authors
recognize two metal associations: CuPbZn and
AsSbPbZnMo, characterized by chalcopyrite
covellitegalena sphalerite and tetrahedrite
tennantitemolybdenite assemblages
respectively.Thebrecciascommonlyoccurinthe
unconformity zone between Pliocene subaerial
felsic volcanics and Miocene andesitediorite
basement. The unconformity has provided a
reservoir for groundwaters, which have been
superheated by high level felsic intrusions and
mixed with magmatic fluids, forming extensive
argillicandadvancedargillicalterationzones.The
breccias are common along volatilerich
apophyses and margins of larger Pliocene felsic
intrusivebodies(e.g.Buata).
40

Table4SelectedfeaturescharacteristicsofAuAgsystemsinNorthernSulawesiexamples

Deposit Class DepositStyle HostRocks Ag/Au MetalSignature Age(Ma) Resource Mineralogy Alteration
Name ratio
Bawone high qtzpyba andesitic tuff & tuff 1:1 Au,Ag,Cu ?Pliocene 27.3 Mt @ 0.95 py (cpcoven alkaobapy
Binabase sulphid. bx;baenvns breccia g/t Au, 13.6 g/t sph); Au in pyrite
Ag lattice
Bolangitang interm qtzcarbvn subvolcanicandesite 8:1 Au,Ag Pliocene 4 Mt @ 2.72 g/t Au as electrum qtzillad; chl
sulphid. Cu,Pb,Zn Au,21g/tAg minorpy&BM epipy
Doup interm qtzcarbsulphvns; qtzdiorite,sedrocks 2:1 Au,Ag,As MMiocene 17 Mt @ 2.15 g/t pygasph(cpy) serillcarbad
sulphid. replacement Cu,Pb,Zn Au
GunungPani interm qtzvns, dissem, rhyodacitevolcanics; <1 Au,As,Sb Pliocene ~3.2 9.9Mt@1.57g/t Au as electrum & 1) qtzadser
sulphid. fractures,bx domediatremecomplex (HR) Au nativeforminpy 2) chlser
Lanut interm qtzstwk; fracture interbeddedvolcanics&se Au(Ag,Cu,Pb) MMiocene 19 Mt @ 1.8 g/t FreeAuminorpy, 1) qtzadill
sulphid. dissm,bx dimentaryrocks Au cpy,bo 2) chlillpy
Mesel sediment replacement; minor limestone, jasperiod <0.5 Au, As, Sb, Hg, MMiocene 8.8Mt@7.10g/t py,aspy,marc
hosted qtzvns rocks Tl Au(premining)
Motomboto high hydroth,bx,vns andesiticvolcanics 25:1 Au,Ag,Cu,As Pliocene 3.5 Mt @ 1.5% pyenluz, native 1) qtzalpy
sulphid. 0.841.89(al) Cu,4.0g/tAu Au 2) kaochl
Paleleh intrusion qtzvns&bxzones diorite & andesite 1:1 Au,Ag,Pb,Zn LateMiocene 1 Mt @ 6.2 g/t pypoga(cpy qtzillchl
related volcanics Au, 5 g/t Ag (pre sph)
BMAu mining)
Riska high hydrothermalbx; andesiticpyroclastics 3:1 Au,Ag,Cu Pliocene 1Mt@1.5g/tAu yyenluz qtzal(dick
sulphid. fractures,dissem (premining) pyrophdiasp)
Tanoyan interm qtzchaldvns andesiticbx/aggl. 1:1 Au,Ag,(Cu) ?Pliocene 2.2 Mt @ 1.3 g/t py(cpy) qtzclay
sulphid. Au
TokaTindung low qtzchaldad stk, andesiticvolcaniclastics 2:1 Au, As, Sb, Hg, Pliocene 15.5Mt@3.4g/t Au as electrum & qtzadchlill
sulphid. vns Mo 1.72.7(HR) Au, 8 g/t Ag (all native form; Ag
1.82.2(ad) deposits) Sesulphides,py
Tototopo interm Qtz rhyodacitevolc; dome Au,As,Sb,(Pb) Pliocene 5.4Mt@3g/tAu Au as electrum & qtzadillpy
West sulphid. diatremecomplex native form; py
(aspystibsphga)
Source:vanLeeuwenandPieters(2011)
Abbreviations:seeTable3
41

4.1.3.1 GunungPanidistrict(Figure17)
The Pani district, located 120km west of
Gorontalo and 10km inland from the southern
coastoftheNortharm,coversa120km2areaand
encompasses 11 separate prospect areas. It is
defined by a >0.19 g/t Au in 80# stream
sediment anomaly that follows an EW axis
coincidentwithamajorarcparallelstructure(PT
Newcrest Nusa Sulawesi, 1999). The centre of
the district is occupied by the Pani Ridge
prospect.
As mentioned earlier the district has a long
history of gold exploration and mining activity
(alluvial and hard rock), starting around the turn
of the 18th century. Sampling of old Dutch
undergroundworkingsbyNewmontin19671969
yielded Au values in the 1.2 to 13.4 g/t range.
Between 1973 and 1993 systematic exploration
was undertaken in the district by Endeavour
Resources, Kennecott, Utah and BHP, which
included surface sampling, drilling and the
excavation of 3 adits. BHP calculated a resource
of6Mt@2.3g/tAu.In1994,miningrightswere
granted to a local cooperation (KUD) over the
central part of the area (Pani Ridge). Two years
latertheKUDsignedatechnicalcooperationwith
PTPertiwiNusaMega,whichinturnenteredinto
a JV agreement with Paramount Ventures and
Finance, and in 1998 with Azure Resources,
subsequently renamed Pencari Mining
Corporation. The property was acquired by Pan
Asia Resources (recently renamed One Asia
Resources) in 2009. A forestry permit was
recently obtained and drilling is expected to
commenceinlate2011.
In the meantime, the area surrounding the KUD
becamepartofNewcrestsCOW.Between1992
and1999,whenitwithdrewfromIndonesia,the
company carried out an aeromagnetic/
radiometric survey, regional stream sediment
sampling and detailed followup work, which
outlined 15 prospects, 6 of which were drill
tested.Theareawassubsequentlytakenoverby
Avocet in 2007, but the company did not carry
outanywork.(In2011Avocetsolditsproperties
inNorthernSulawesitoJSM).
The geology and mineralization of the Pani
districthavebeendiscussedbyKavalieris(1984),
Kavalieris et al. (1984;1990), Newcrest Nusa
Sulawesi (1999), Pearson and Caira (1999),
Walters(1999)andPooley(2004).
The Pani district is composed of a rhyodacitic
diatreme and flow dome complex of Pliocene
age, measuring 6kmx15km, which represents an
eroded volcanic edifice emplaced on a Miocene
dioritic and granodioritic basement. It is located
in the southeast quadrant of a large caldera
structure. Early dacitic dykes show a strong NE
orientation. Extensive development of intrusive
breccia bodies occurred along with synor post
mineralintrusiverhyodacitedomes.
The district is bounded by NWtrending right
lateral strikeslip faults, about 60km long, which
may have resulted from the collision of the
Northern Sulawesi arc with the continental edge
or fragments of the Australian Plate during the
MiocenePliocene. These NW structures control
the distribution of the Pliocene rhyodacitic
volcanics at the southern portion of the district.
However secondary conjugate NNE and WNW
tensional structures appear to effect the
localizationoftheintrusivehostedandveinstyle
mineralization.TheGunungPaniDomecomplex
was emplaced at the intersection of these two
faulttrends.Itissurroundedbythreelatedome
complexesandassociatedfragmentalvolcanics.
Thevolcanicstratigraphyoftheareaconsistsofa
porphyritic rhyodacite lava dome and coeval
interbedded pyroclastic breccias and tuff. Three
main rock units have been recognized: i)
polymict breccias, which represent the oldest
unit, showing textural features that suggest
explosive fragmentation in a central vent
environment; ii) rhyodacitic lapilli tuff, which is
the most widespread unit covering mostly the
flanks of the dome ridges; and iii) porphyritic
rhyodacite, believed to represent apophyses
fromashallowendogenouslavadome.
Three main alteration assemblages have been
mapped at Pani Ridge: i)
silicaadulariasericite/illite (silicification); ii)
42
sericite/illitesilicasenderite (argillization), and
iii) chlorite sericite/illitepyrite (chloritization).
Silicification is characterized by pervasive silica
replacement of the rhyodacite groundmass, and
locally as quartz overgrowths of fractured
phenocrysts and recrystallization of fractured
phenocrysts. Primatic quartzadularia fills open
spacesinfracturesandvugs.Argillicalterationis
pervasive in pyroclastic units and reflects the
increasing invasion of meteoric fluids in the
hydrothermalsystemastherhyodaciteascended
towards the near surface. Chloritization is the
earliest alteration event following alkali
metasomatism that accompanied crystallization
and cooling of the rhyodacite lava. It is
commonly present in the core of the dome
complex.
Gold mineralization at Pani Ridge is hosted by
silicasericite altered porphyritic rhyodacite and
associated pyroclastics as fracture and breccia
fillings, quartzadularialimonite veins, and as
disseminations in permeable volcanic rocks and
atcontacts.Goldoccursaselectrumaslaterims
on or intergrowths with pyrite. In the oxidized
zone,pyriteisalteredtolimonite,andsupergene
gold occurs in fractures and drusy veins.
Significant supergene enrichment has taken
place.Themineralizedzoneis>1000mlongand
about 400m wide, following the general outcrop
patterns of the porphyritic rhyodacite and the
dominantstructuraltrends.
The gold mineralization is controlled by WNW
extensional fractures and along NNE millimeter
wide, but closelyspaced fractures. Lithological
control is shown by pyritelimonite fillings in
vugs, quartzadularia along fractured wall rocks
onthemarginsofsilicifiedrhyodacite,andinthe
matrix of hydrothermal breccias and permeable
volcanic rocks. The pyroclastic and rhyodacite
intrusive contacts also exert strong lithological
control on the mineralization, probably because
of hydrofracturing along the margins due to
escaping fluids from the intrusive. The primary
control of mineralization at Pani Ridge is a NNE
trend, with a series of silicified and nonsilicified
flow banded units that have a shallow westerly
dipawayfromtheridge.Intersectionwiththree
NWtrendingstructuralzonescrossingPaniRidge
may control the location of high grade shoots.
Recent interpretations as a result of new 3D
geological modeling indicate the possibility of
stackedsheetsofmineralization.
On a districtwide scale mineralization and
alterationareassociatedwithawide,latecrackle
breccia and fracture event that commonly hosts
drusyquartzlinedcavities,theyoccurinzonesof
strong structural control, such as around the
margins of diatremes and along throughgoing
faults. Quartzillite alteration is pervasive with
broad haloes of adularia. The AuAg epithermal
adulariasericite system is transitional at depth
intoabasemetalcarbonatesystem.Latedomes
arefreshordisplayonlyweakalteration.
Goldoccurrencescanbedisseminatedoroccurin
facture and vein stockworks, microveining, and
traction breccias. High grades are focused in
hydrothermal breccias, shears, quartz veins, and
where rhyodacite dykes cut basement. Broad,
lowgrade drill intersections of gold
mineralizationarefoundinporphyriticrocksnear
the margins of diatreme bodies and their
concentricringfractures.ThePaniRidgedeposit
occurs within big blocks of rhyodacite hosted
within the large central diatreme. The phreatic
breccias themselves are poorly mineralized,
probably because their high clay content has
renderedthemvirtuallyimpermeable.
Stronglyanomalousantimonycoincideswithhigh
gold. Elevated base metal values occur in
basement rocks, in deeper epithermal levels
within the rhyodacite, and in carbonate veins.
There is a zonation from higher base metals in
theNWtohighSbandAsinthesouthandeast.
4.1.3.2 Tototopodistrict(Figure18)
The area is located 55km west of Gorontalo and
measures 13km x 8km. It was explored by New
Hope between 1987 and 1991. Their work
located narrow, lowgrade NEtrending quartz
veinsintheupperpartoftheTototopodrainage
(Lalunga and Motebo prospects). Newcrest re
assessed the district between 1994 and 1996,
recognizingthatitisunderlainbyafelsiccaldera
43
complex. The work was concentrated on the
Motebo and Lalunga prospects where 14 holes
(2427m)weredrilledwithasbestintercept86m
@0.6g/t.Subsequentmoredetailedmappingat
Tototopo West in 1996 identified narrow Au
bearingquartzadulariaveins.A9holes(3021m)
scoutdrillingprogramwasundertakenin1998to
test the depth extensions of the veins and the
presence of conceptual large tonnage
unconformityrelated disseminated
mineralization similar to the McDonald gold
deposit in Montana, USA. Further work was
carried out, including an IP/resistivity survey to
definefollowupdrillingtargets.Soonafterwards
Newcrest withdrew from Sulawesi. Renewed
explorationwasundertakenbyAvocetin2007/8,
which outlined an Inferred Mineral Resource of
5.4Mt@3g/tAuattheBundulipuprospect.
The following summary of the geology and
mineralization of the Tototopo district is largely
based on reports by PT Newcrest Nusa Sulawesi
(1999), Pearson and Caira (1999), Santos et al.
(1999),andBudimanandHardjana(2011).
The Tototopo district is centred on a dacite
volcanic complex considered to
contemporaneous with the Early Pliocene Pani
Volcanics. It unconformably overlies a Miocene
basement consisting of andesitic volcanics
intrudedbyapolyphasalbatholith(granodiorite
quartzdioritediorite), which contains earlier
porphyry CuAuMo style mineralization. The
dacitic volcanics include subaerial pyroclastics
and lavas and are accompanied by epiclastics.
Thesequenceisintrudedbyhighlevelrhyodacite
dykesandstocksandcutbyassociateddiatreme
breccias. Surface outflow from the volcanic
system deposited sinters. These are closely
associated with lacustrine sediments, which are
strongly silicified (interpreted as silica caps).
Hydrothermalbrecciabouldersarefoundontop
of a diatreme body. All of the above rocks are
flanked by young sediments and an extensive
dacite pyroclastic cover collectively marking an
ancientventareawithintheTototopocaldera.
EW to ESEtrending arcparallel fault corridors
transect the district and are cut by NW to NNW
trending arcnormal faults, one of which bounds
the western flank of the caldera. A major arc
parallel structure forms the northern margin of
the district. Broad zones of silicaclay alteration
with associated quartz veining are emplaced in
NE to ENEtrending structures. These are
interpretedtobedilationalsplayfaultsrelatedto
sinistral wrenching of the regional fault fabric,
and to roughly define the boundaries of a pull
apart basin that played an important role in the
gold deposition of the pyroclasticepiclastic pile, and
emplacementofdiatremeandauriferousbreccia
veinzones.
Zones of epithermal quartz stockwork straddle
the unconformity between the Pliocene volcanic
complex and Miocene basement within zones of
quartzilliteadulariapyrite alteration. At least
threebroadzonesarepresent,namelyTototopo
West,LalungaandMotebo.Lowgradegoldand
silvermineralizationwithhighergradepatchesis
present in association with minor base metals
and molybdenum in the stockworks at the
Motebo and Lalunga prospects. Thousands of
localminersbecameactiveontheseprospectsin
1996. At Tototopo West, a
quartz+illiteadulariabarite alteration affects all
be rock types except the younger pyroclastic
cones/domes and dacite dykes. These are also
the most common gangue minerals occurring
withtheauriferousbrecciaveins.Steamheated
alteration consisting of kaolinite dickitealunite
and displaying vuggy leached surfaces occur in
the area of hydrothermal breccia boulders. This
alterationassemblageandthepresenceofsinter
indicate the upper levels of an epithermal vein
system. Quartz, illite/smectite, ankerite,
chloriteepidote alteration occurs at depth and
peripheraltotheveinfield.
Mineralization at Tototopo West includes
diatremebreccia, vein style and unconformity
related dissemination style. The former style
occursinsteeplydippingquartzveinsandveinlet
stockworks concentrated at the edge of the
diatreme. Gold is present in the form of native
goldandelectruminseveralgenerationsofgold
bearing veins. The early mineralization is
associated with sphalerite, barite, galena,
chalcopyrite and stibnite as cement and cavity
filling,whereasthelatermineralizationoccursas
44

map of Tototopo district
Figure 18. Simplified geological

(modifiedafterBudimanandHardjana,2011)

Figure19.DiagramshowingtheevolutionoftheTototopoWest

epithermalgoldsystem(modifiedafterSantosetal.,1999)
45


Figure 20. Simplified geological map of Doup district showing
prospectlocations(modifiedafterPorter,1997)

of Toka Tindung district showing
Figure 21. Simplified geological map
prospectlocations(modifiedafterAngeles,2001)

46
cementandisassociatedwithquartz,pyriteand
arsenopyrite. Fluid inclusion studies yielded
homogenizationtemperaturesof221246oCand
0.701.04 wt % NaCl eq. The primary fluid
inclusions are generally vaporrich and CO2
bearing. These findings combined with the
occurrence of hypogene hematite, bladed barite
and late kaolinite, and breccia vein textures are
indicative of deposition resulting from fluid
mixingandboiling.Severalveinsystemsshowa
marked increase in gold grade from surface
towardsdepth.
The Oletanggungaloba, SolupiteNiwu and
Bandulipuprospectsareinterpretedtorepresent
different structural levels in the hydrothermal
system. At the highest level is Oletanggunga
loba, which is characterized by a thick silica cap,
illiteillite/smectitekaolinitesilica alteration and
chalcedonic, simple banded veining, features all
typical of a low temperature environment of
formation.VeinsatSolupiteNiwushowmultiple
banded and dogtooth textures. At Bandulipu,
mineralization zones consist of quartzsulphide
veins, veinlets and stockworks. Veins are
generally thin (< a few cm) and have narrow
haloesofsilicaorphyllicalteration.Goldgrades
aregenerally>5g/t.
There are at least four major events in the
development of the Tototopo West epithermal
goldmineralizationasshowninFigure19.
4.1.3.3 Lanutdistrict(II)
The exploration history and geology have been
describedin4.1.2.2.Herewebrieflydescribethe
LanutandTobongandeposits.
At Lanut (Carlile et al., 1990; Register of Indo
Pacific Mining, 2004), gold mineralization is
hosted by a Miocene sedimentaryvolcaniclastic
sequence and overlying Pliocene volcanic unit,
which consists of trachyandesitic lavas and
interbedded volcanics. The volcanic section,
which is at least 250m thick, hosts most of the
mineralization.Itisdevelopedasquartzadularia
veinveinlets zones enveloped by chloriteillite
pyritehaloesandoverprintedbykaolinitepyrite
marcasite assemblages in the upper part of the
system. The quartz veinveinlets are generally
sulphide poor and include green to grey chert
veinlets, dog tooth quartz veins and
veinlets/stockwork, and quartz cemented wall
rockbrecciazones.Thedifferentstylesofquartz
veining developed from multiple events of
hydraulic fracturing. The richest gold
mineralizationoccursinquartzveinsupto1.5m
wide,whichinplacesshowevidenceofepisodes
ofbrecciationrecementedbylatergenerationof
quartz. Fluid inclusion temperatures of 175250o
Chavebeenreported.Carlileetal(1990)observe
that the contact between the sedimentary
volcaniclasticandvolcanicunits hada significant
controlonthemineralizationwiththeupperunit
formingacaptofluidsfocusedalongfaultsinthe
lower units. Lateral flow along the contact
produced brecciated, flatdipping veins and a
stockworkinthehangingwall.
At Tobongan (Carlile et al., 1990), mineralization
occurs in quartz veins and stockworks, and as
fracturedisseminationshostedbyandesiticrocks
andsurroundedbyillitepyritealterationgrading
outwards to chlorite. As is the case at Lanut,
pyriteandbasemetalcontentsarelow.
4.1.3.4 Doupdistrict(Figure20)
The Doup district is located about 10km SW of
the Mesel district in the Regencies of
Mongondow and Minahasa. It hosts four
intermediatesulphidation epithermal Au
prospects (Doup, Benteng, Tungau, Parabo) and
an alluvial Au deposit (Tapabeken). The Dutch
carriedoutbothhardrockandalluvialminingin
the area. The district was investigated by Placer
Domebetween1984and1991,including7252m
of diamond drilling at the two main prospects,
DoupandBenteng.Aresourceofabout12Mt@
2.09 g/t Au and 4.4 g/t Ag was outlined. Initial
metallurgicaltestworksuggestedthatthedeeper
mineralization,whichcontainssulphides,maybe
refractory. The upper 40m of the prospects is
oxidized and gold is recoverable using
conventionalcarboninleachtechnology.Antam
subsequentlyobtainedaKPovertheareaandin
1995 entered into a joint venture with Pacific
Wildcat Resources, which conducted further
drilling.Inlate1996,thecompanycalculatedan
47
inferred resource totaling 17 Mt @ 2.15 g/t Au
(uncut) or 1.64 g/t Au (using a 20 g/t topcut).
Preliminary test workconfirmed that the primary
ore from both Doup and Benteng is refractory,
but might be amenable to a biooxidation
process. In 1998, reconnaissance sampling was
undertaken around Doup, which generated
severaltargetsincludingHuluSita(upto156g/t
Au),butworkwasstoppedin2000.Theproperty
was obtained in 2007 by Avocet, which carried
out 11,288m of diamond and reverse circulation
drilling and in early 2009 announced an Inferred
MineralResourceof25Mt@1.2g/tAu.
The following account is largely based on
unpublished reports by Porter (1997) and Wake
andLapian(1998).
The Doup district is located 30km northeast of
the Gunung Ambang Volcanic Complex, which is
anareaofactivegeothermalsystems.Itconsists
of Miocene volcanic and marine sedimentary
rocks, which are intruded by diorite stocks and
overlain by Late Miocene limestone and
calcareous clastic sediments and Pliocene to
Recent volcanics and alluvium. Structurally the
area is complex with subduction related NE
trending arc parallel faults and subsidiary NW
trending fault development. The interaction of
these faults is interpreted to control the
emplacement of shallow and deeper level
intrusivebodies,togetherwithproximalporphyry
and intermediatesulphide styles
mineralization(Doup),andmoredistalsediment
hosted (Mesel) and highsulphidation (Hutu Sita)
styles.
The DoupBenteng area is largely covered by
alluvialdioriticdaciticboulderconglomerateand
wastematerialproducedbytheDutchandmore
recentartisanminingactivities.Thehostrockto
theDoupmineralizationisaquartzdioritewhich
hasundergoneanearlyporphyrystylealteration
(biotiealbite) overprinted by intense illite/illite
smectitepyriteadularia alteration assemblages.
Late finegrained andesitic to dacitic porphyrys
cutthealtereddiorite.Themineralizationformsa
pipelikebodythatextendstoadepthofatleast
200m,andis100by200mindiameterelongated
in a NWSE direction. At Benteng, a separate
dioriticbodyispresentthatintrudessedimentary
rocks and shows alteration that is similar to the
clay assemblage seen at Doup. Goldbearing
silicapyrite replaces calcareous mudstone in an
EW oriented zone, 50100m wide and 300m
long,thatextendstoadepthof300m.
Three styles of gold mineralization occur in the
district.Theseare:
1) Early porphyry CuAu mineralization
associated with quartzmagnetitesulphide
stockwork stringers/veinlets centred on
altered diorite intrusions. These show
relatively high Au/Cu ratios like the Taware
porphyry deposit on Sangihe Island with
betterintersectionoftheorderof0.71.32g/t
Auand0.10%Cu.
2) Higher grade, carbonatebase metalAu/Ag
veins associates with sericitecarbonateclay
alteration controlled by dioritesediment
contactsandfaultintersections.Theveinsare
generallynarrow(<1mwide)andtheprimary
target of local mining activity. Disseminated
to massive sphalerite galena mineralization
invariably occurs within the orebearing
material. One of the better drill intercepts
included2mat49g/tAuand27g/tAg.
3) Sedimenthosted, replacementtype base
metalAuAgAs mineralization. This style is
of associated with strong carbonate
sericite/claysulphidealteration,andrelatively
minorsilicificationincalcareous,volcaniclastic
mudstones and sandstones. Drill intercepts
example:116m@3.33g/tAu,17g/tAg.
Ageneralizedparageneticsequenceofalteration,
veiningandmineralizationobservedatDoupand
Benteng consists of four stages; 1)
porphyry/metasomatic; 2) quartzadularia
sericite; 3) pyritebase metalsulphidesgold; and
4)carbonateclaymarcasite.
4.1.3.5 TanoyanAnggrekdistrict
The following account is largely based on
unpublished reports by Pieters (2003) and
Mclean and Williams (2010). Mineralization in
48
the district was discovered by a Placer Dome
BHPUtahAntamjointventurein1986,whichled
to artisanal gold rushes at both Tanoyan and
Anggrek. At the latter prospect mineralization is
centred on a diatreme breccia forming Patung
Hill. In 1987, 120 processing units were in
operationatTanoyan.Bothproperties(excluding
PatungHill)weresubsequentlyacquiredbyAMS
who undertook limited exploration in 2004, and
two years later Avocet acquired an interest in
them.Thiscompanycarriedoutdetailedsurface
work at Tanoyan and Anggrek, and a 4,400m
drilling programme at the former prospect,
outlining an inferred resource of 3.95 Mt @ 2.1
g/t Au. Golden Peaks Resources acquired the
properties in 2010, and started drilling at
Tanoyan the following year. Patung Hill is
currentlybeingexploitedbylocalminers.
The geology of the Tanoyan prospect is
dominatedbyandesiticpyroclasticsandlava,and
dacitic tuffs belonging to Pliocene Pinogu
Volcanics.Thesehavebeenintrudedbyavariety
of dioritic stocks and dykes. Four lode systems
havebeenidentified,trendingpredominantlyNE
with subvertical dips and NNE to N trending
splays.AconjugatesetofgenerallyNWtrending
faults, locally contain brecciahosted sulphide
mineralization.
The lode systems consist of elongate altered
zones of quartzchalcedony and brecciation,
typically with a silicified core and argillic halo.
Theyareupto2.3kminstrikelengthandfrom2
to 15m wide. The volcanic sequence has
undergone widespread propylitic alteration.
Cockade vein textures are dominant and
accompanied by crustiform, bladed
carbonatepseudomorphsandcombtextures,and
colloform banded sulphide stringer veins. Pyrite
isthedominantsulphidephase;chalcopyritewas
locally observed. Visible gold is relatively
common. Local miners reported gold grades in
theorderof17to67g/tAu.
AtAnggrek,thePatungHilldiatremebrecciapipe
is about 700m in diameter and intrudes a series
of Miocene volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks and
maficintermediate volcanics. The sequence is
alsointrudedbynarrowdykesandsmallstocksof
diorite, andesite and dacite porphyry. The
diatreme is a polymict clast supported breccia
withmilled,roundedclastssetinamatrixofrock
flour.NEtoNNEtrendingdextralstrikeslipfaults
are the dominant structure, and locally contain
mineralized breccia zones. Secondary faults
includeNWtrendingstrikeslipandnormalfaults,
which are also associated with gold
mineralization. Relatively narrow halos of silica
pyritelimonite and minor kaoliniteclaysericite
alteration assemblages envelop quartz veins,
which are up to 15m wide and show cockade
crustiform textures.Magnetite andbarite are
locallypresent.
Six zones of alteration and coincident
geochemical anomalies and gold mineralization
have been identified, including the OsingOsing
prospect. Gold mineralization in this prospect
occurs in a 1.5 km long hydrothermal breccia
zone,varyinginwidthfrom1to3m.Thebreccia
ispolymictwithamatrixofrockflourandquartz
flooding with associated sulphides, adularia and
strongargillicalteration.
4.1.3.6Comments
Intermediatesulphidation deposits possess
sulphidation states between those of the high
and lowsulphidation types, typically with
stability of chalcopyrite, tetrahedritetennantite,
and Fepoor sphalerite, but lacking appreciable
arsenopyriteandpyrrhotite(Einaudietal.,2003).
Sillitoe and Hedenquist (2003) list several other
defining characteristics, including a genetic
relationship with andesite to rhyodacite rocks,
sericite as the key proximal alteration mineral,
but adularia generally uncommon, common
carbonate gangue, barite and Mnsilicates
present locally, and sulphide abundances of 5 to
20%.Geneticallyrelatedigneousrockscommonly
includediatremeanddomecompexes.
TheISdepositsofNorthernSulawesimeetsome
ofthesecriteria,butdifferinotherrespects.The
Gunung Pani and Totopo West deposits, for
example, contain Fepoor sphalerite and barite,
and are associated with felsic diatremedome
complexes, but have low sulphide contents,
while adularia is a significant alteration product.
49
Carbonate is not a prominent gangue mineral in
thesedeposits.ItisintheBolangitangandDoup
deposits, but the former is sulphide poor. Many
of the Northern Sulawesi deposits appear to be
transitionaltothelowsulphidationclass.Theyfit
more closely the category of epithermal quartz
goldsilver systems of the classification scheme
proposed by Corbett and Leach (1998), which
include the following characteristics; i) veins are
dominated by quartz which is intimately
associated with either adularia or illite, smectite
and/or kaolin clays, and locally with carbonates;
ii)thesulphidecontentisgenerallylowandbase
metal sulphides are rare; iii) the mineralogy is
silver rich; 4) hypogene hematite is locally
present(ase.g.atG.PaniandTotopoWest);and
5) diatreme or milledmatrix fluidized
(phraetomagmatic) breccias are common.The
maindifferenceshownbytheNorthernSulawesi
depositsisthattheyaregenerallysilverpoor.
The Northern Sulawesi epithermal gold deposits
demonstratethatitisnotalwayspossibletohave
a one fits all classification. With so many
variables, it is not surprising that there are so
many variations in deposit character and
transitions between deposit types.A good
example is Mexicowhere three types of
epithermaloredepositshavebeenrecognizedin
addition to rare HS deposits, named A, B, and C
(Camprubi and Albinson, 2007). Type A (or IS
type) contains exclusively from top to bottom IS
styles of mineralization with a consistent
polymetalliccharacterandatendancytoformin
deeper environments. Type B (or LSIS type)
exhibits dominant LS characteristics but has
polymetallic IS roots. Type C (or LS type) shows
only LS styles of mineralization and represents
shallow boiling deposits. These three types are
notmutuallyexclusiveintimeandspaceasisthe
caseincertainotherareasliketheGreatBasinin
Nevada (John et al., 1999). G. Pani is the only
Northern Sulawesi deposit which to date has
beenshowntohavepolymetallicrootsandhence
to be similar to type B in Mexico. More detailed
work, including deeper drilling, at some of the
other deposits may similarly reveal type B
characteristics.
4.1.4 LowSulphidationEpithermalAuAg
AuAgmineralizationintheTokaTindungdistrict
istheonlyexampleinSulawesithatsharesmany
featureswiththelowsulphidation(LS)type.
4.1.4.1 TokaTindungdistrict(Figure21)
The district is located in the Minahasa Peninsula
at the northern tip of the North Arm. Records
suggest there was little activity relating to gold
explorationandminingintheregionuntilthemid
1980s, when the Teweti Group commenced
exploration. It was continued by Ashton Mining
Ltd in late 1989. Their activity was the first to
identify goldbearing quartz float shedding into
creeks surrounding Toka Tindung, and produced
a best result of 3.6 g/t Au in a grab sample.The
source of the Aubearing quartz float was
discovered by Aurora Gold Ltd in 1993 following
their takeover of Ashtons gold interests in
Indonesia. Further prospecting identified gold
veinsystemsatthreemajorprospectareas:Toka
Tindung, Batupangah and Talawaan. The
companycarriedoutextensivedrillingduringthe
next 5 years (72,000 diamond drilling, 49,000m
RC) at Toka Tindung and on adjacent prospects,
resulting in a global resource estimate of about
1.75Mozgoldequivalent.Theprojectwassoldin
2002toArchipelagoResourcesandafterlengthy
delayswasbroughtintoproductionin2011.
The following account on the geology and
mineralization of the Toka Tindung district is
based on Wake et al. (1995, 1996, 1997), Moyle
et al. (1997a & b), and Angeles (2001), and
additional information provided by B.Wake
(writtencom.,2009,2010).
The Toka Tindung district is located at the tip of
the North Arm and covers an area of about
400km2. It contains a number of gold deposits
and occurrences of which the Toka Tindung
deposit is the largest known one. The
Batupangaharea,locatedabout4kmSSEofToka
Tindung, contains four other significant vein
deposits; Araren, Pajajaran, Blambangan and
Kopra. The deposits are exposed in windows of
PlioPleistocene volcanics within a widespread
cover of Late Quaternary tephras and other
50
volcanicsderivedfromrelativelyrecenteruptions
of the nearby Dua Saudara or Klabat
stratovolcanoes.
The PlioPleistocene sequence consists
predominantly of basaltic andesite flows
containing intercalations of volcaniclastic
rocksthat range in composition frombasaltic
andesite to rhyodacite,and are locally associated
with hydrothermal eruption breccias, silica
sinters and carbonaceous tuffaceous sediments.
These rocks are partly overlain by poorly
consolidated volcaniclastics of basaltic andesite
and rhyodacite composition, with minor
interbedded limestone which are thickest in the
northern part of the district. The sequence is
intruded by rhyodacite domes and dykes.
Limited age dating results (Figure 22) and
geological considerations indicate that the
basaltic andesites and rhyodacites are
contemporaneous, i.e. they are the result of
bimodalmagmatism.
TheTokaTindungandBatupangahdepositsoccur
in a 2km wide structural corridor defined by a
seriesofNNWtrendingfaultsthatextendovera
strike length of >15km. Other prominent
structuraltrendsinthePlioPleistocenerocksare
ENE, NNE and NW. Circular fracture sets
representing possible caldera features have also
been observed. The main gold deposits are
interpreted to lie peripheral to one such circular
feature associated with dilational Ntrending
fracturesetsattheintersectionofNNWandENE
trendingfaults.Thegoldmineralizationismostly
hosted by fault controlled veins, stockworks and
breccias.
The Toka Tindung deposit is a series of steeply
dipping linear stockwork vein zones with more
than60veindomains,upto200mwideandover
1.7km long, elongated along a northerly striking
structure.Ithasadrilltesteddepthof175m.At hosted in a porphyritic basaltic andesite unit
the southern end this zone is separated into the
AkoandWesternveinsystemswithlowintensity
stockwork veining occurring between them.
Volcaniclasticrockssandwichedbetweenbasaltic
andesite flows are the primary host of the gold
mineralization. They comprise massive to thick
bedded volcaniclastic conglomerate grading
upwards into thinner bedded, locally
carbonaceous, volcaniclastic sandstones,
siltstones, mudstones interbedded with silica
sinters at the top of the package. The coarse
sediments are interpreted to have been
deposited as a series of massflows in a fault
bounded basin changing with time into a
lacustrineenvironment.
Atleastthreesilicasinterbeds,eachuptoseveral
metres thick and separated by fine grained
volcaniclastic rocks, are recognized at Toka
Tindung. These occur at the top of the
mineralized zone; the lower sinter horizons are
cut by the gold veins. The silica sinters, which
generally form thin beds, are composed of
chalcedony after an opaline silica precursor.
They show rhythmic wavy laminations, geyserite
pearls, vertical growth structures (fossilized
filamentous algal mats), dehydration cracks,
hydrothermal brecciation, and are characterized
bylocallyanomalousSbHgMogeochemistry,and
lowlevelAuanomalism.
Themineralizedzoneisoverlainbyhydrothermal
eruption breccia, up to 50m thick, composed of
fragments of all the underlying rock types,
including some mineralized vein, wall rock and
silica sinter material at its base. The breccia
matrix comprises multiple generations of
silicified, locally carbonaceous and sulphidic,
hydrothermal mud together with comminuted
rockflour.Thebrecciacrosscutsthelowersinter
beds and terminates(?) within a third sinter bed
horizon exposed at the northern end of Toka
Tindung.ThebrecciaunitproducesstrongAs,Sb,
Hg and Mo anomalies, whereas anomalous Au
values occur only where the breccia has
incorporated mineralized fragments or is cut by
weaklydevelopedveinstockwork.
The vein systems in the Batupangah area are
overlain by recent mantlebedded tephra, up to
5m thick. The main gold deposits found to date
lack the nearsurface features present at Toka
Tindung, such as sinters and hydrothermal
breccias, and are interpreted as deeper level
deposits.Thesedepositsconsistof1)Pajajaran,
two parallel NWtrending composite veins, 27m
51
thick, 800m long, with a drill tested depth of
250m, intersected by a Ntrending vein set; 2)
Blambangan, single curvilinear Ntrending
composite vein, 1 to 15m thick, 1.25km long, >
200m vertical extent; 3) Araren, two parallel N
trending vein sets, 17m thick, with highgrade
gold mineralization restricted to localized pods
associated with crosscutting faults or flexures,
and 4) Kopra, composite vein system comprising
eight anatomizing veins, including centrally
located main vein, 25m thick, 600m long, drill
testedtoadepthof135m.
The Talawaan area, located about 15km west of
Batupangah, contains several vein deposits, the
mostimportantofwhichisBima.Thisisasimple
NWtrending sheeted vein stockwork system,
definedbydrillingoverastrikelengthof1kmand
widths of up to 125m, and to a depth of 140m.
Stockworkveinsrangeinthicknessfrom0.1mto
5m. Twelve principal veins make up the
northwestern portion of the deposit, which
progressivelyreducetoasinglemainveinalonga
WNWtrendingfaultinthesoutheast.Theseare
hosted by a rhyodacitic flow dome and breccias
complex.
At Marawuwung, located 3km NW of Toka
Tindung, gold mineralization is associated with
silicified sulphidic hydrothermal breccias and
minor banded quartzadularia veins. In contrast
to the Toka Tindung
Batupangahdeposits,significant
mineralization(>1g/tAu)atMarawuwungoccurs
in the matrix of sulphidic breccias and is
accompaniedbypronoucedAsSbHganomalism.
The goldbearing veins in the Toka Tindung
district consist predominantly of chalcedony,
quartz and adularia. The strongest gold grades
occur in colloform banded, ghostsphere, ghost
lattice bladed,and mosstextured chalcedony
adularia rich veins. Lower grade gold grades
generally occurin brecciated veins cemented by
later stage crystalline quartz. Vein breccias are
generally younger than the chalcedonyadularia
veins. Late barren to poorly mineralized calcite
havebeenobservedinanumberofdeposits.The
sulphidecontentoftheveinsisgenerallyverylow
(<1vol%),mainlyfinegrainedpyrite.
At Toka Tindung, the volcaniclastics show
pervasive silicification and adularization within
and around vein systems. The matrix of the
volcaniclastic rocks is completely replaced by
microcrystallinequartz,adulariaandamixtureof
chloriteilliticclays.Thesemineralsalsooccuras
overgrowths on phenocrysts in lithic fragments.
In contrast, in the Batupangahand Tawalaan
areas the wallrock alteration is characterized by
narrowenvelopesofstrongsilicailliticclaypyrite
alteration which grade outward into zones of
weaker chloritesmectitezeolite alteration.
Adjacent to the veins plagioclase phenocrysts in
porphyritic andesite are altered to adularia or
albite,andthenpartlyreplacedbyillitesmectite.
Gold occurs as sub20m anhedral free grains
and as electrum occupying interstices between
quartz and adularia together with pyrite, minor
seleniumbearingsilversulphides(Seacanthiteor
aguilarite) and traces of chalcopyrite, sphalerite
and galena. Gold grades are relatively low at
TokaTindung;average3to5g/tinveins,locally
up to 30 g/t, and 0.2 to 3 g/t in intervening
stockworks. The highest average grades are
found at Bima (57 g/t Au). Higher grades are
also present in portions of the Pajajaran and
Blambangandeposits.Intheformerdepositthe
higher grade portions are associated with vein
breccias, occasionally very vuggy, in the central
and part of vein where a narrower set of composite
gold veins trending NS coalesce. A characteristics
featureoftheveinsintheBatupangahareaisthe
presence of gingurolike brownblack siliceous
bands of disseminated sulphides and rare red,
pyritic jasper. These bands are associated with
the strongest gold (+10 g/t Au) and silver (+100
t/gAg)grades.Silvervaluesaregenerallylowin
alldepositswithAg:Auratiosintheorderof2:1.
TokaTindunghasthelargestresource(7.9Mtat
2.9g/tAu),whereastheotherscontains11.8Mt
with average grades varying from 2.9 to 5.7 g/t
Au.
KAr dating of adularia material from veins and
wallrockyieldedagesintherangeof2.16to1.88
Ma. This falls within the age range of the
bimodalvolcanicsuitethathoststhemineral
52


Figure22.Schematic stratigraphy, mineralization and radiometric agedates
TokaTindungButapangahprospects(B.Wake,writtencomm.,2009)

Figure23.Simplifiedgeologicalmap ofRatatotokdistrict(after
HendriandFarmer,1997)
53


Figure24. Geological interpretation of Mesel deposit, section20280mE (after
HendriandFarmer,1997)

Figure 25. Western Sulawesi. Distribution of
mineralization types, and location of prospects
andmineralizeddistrictsmentionedinthetext;
forsymbolsseeFigure5

54
ization indicating that mineralization and
magmatismarecogenetic.
4.1.4.2 Comments
Asmentionedatthebeginningofthissection,the
deposits and prospects in the Toka Tindung
district show many of the characteristics of LS
mineralization as defined by Sillitoe and
Hedenquist (2003). These include association
with bimodal volcanism, presence of sinter,
proximal alteration dominated by illite/smectite
and adularia, nature of vein filling (crustiform,
colloform, chalcedony, quartz, carbonate
replacement textures), carbonate gangue
relativelyminorandlate,lowsulphidecontent(<
1%), low base metal content,low Au/Ag
ratios,andanomalousMo,As,Sb,andHg
Bimodal volcanic suites are a characteristic
feature of extensional tectonic settings. Such
settings are conducive to formation and
preservation of hotspring sinter, and their
usuallylowtopographicreliefleadstodeposition
of fluviolacustrine sediments (Sillitoe and
Hedenquist, 2003). The sedimentation is broadly
contemporaneous with hydrothermal activity
(SillitoeandHedenquist,2003),asappearstobe
also the case in the Toka Tindung district (Wake
etal.,1997).
As discussed by Wake et al. (1997), the AuAg
bearing stockwork vein systems underlying the
sinter and hydrothermal breccia zones were
formed in a dilation zones produced by a
combination of reactivated faulting along major
regionalstructuresandhydrofracturingcausedby
overpressuring of upwelling hydrothermal fluid.
The pervasive distribution of quartzadularia
alteration at Toka Tindung is a function of the
primary porosity and permeability of these rock
types,actingasalargegeothermalaquifer.This
style of alteration may have had some effect on
the structural preparation and broader
development of stockwork, resulting in a larger
body of mineralization than at veins that
developed in basaltic andesite flows, e.g. at
Batupangah, where vein development is tighter,
and wallrock adularia alteration less widespread
because of the lower permeability of the host
rock.
Themineralizedveinandstockworksystemsand
pronouncedgeochemicalzoninginverticalprofile
through the fossil hot spring system occurred in
response to boiling of rapidly upwelling, near
neutralpH,alkalichloritefluidsfocusedonhighly
permeable fracture zones (as evidenced by the
commonpresenceofadularia).Ventingofthese
fluids at the paleosurface produced the silica
sintersexposedatthehigheststratigraphiclevel.
A hydrothermal eruption occurred late in the
hydrothermal cycle, producing the shallow
breccia apron in the upper part of the
stratigraphy. This generally marks the
terminationofhotspringactivity.Thebulkofthe
goldsilver mineralization and the overlying
breccias occur within 150m from the
paleosurfaceofthefossilhotspringsystem.
As mentioned earlier, in Corbett and Leachs
(1998)/Corbetts (2007) classification scheme
adulariasericiteepithermal/bandedchalcedony
giguro goldsilver systems are the equivalent of
lowsulphidation systems. They are subdivided
with increasing depth of formation as systems
dominated by i) sinter and hydrothermal
breccias; ii) stockwork or sheeted veins, and 3)
fissure veins. All three styles are represented in
theTokaTindungdistrict.Blacksulphidicginguro
bands, which are a typical feature of this
category, have also been obderved in the Toka
Tindung district, although they do not appear to
beaprominentfeature.
4.1.5 SedimenthostedAumineralization
Sedimenthosted gold mineralization is
prominently developed in the Ratatotok district,
which also contains other styles of gold
mineralization. Other occurrences have been
observed at Doup (Kavalieris et al., 1992) and in
the GabanboraBatumaja district (Pearson et al.,
1999).
4.1.5.1 Ratatotokdistrict(Figure23)
The Ratatotok district, measuring 8km x 4km,
contains sedimenthosted disseminated gold
55
mineralization at Mesel, paleokarst breccias and
contact siliceous replacement at the interface
oflimestoneandandesiticrocksatLobonganand
Alason, and widespread residual clayquartz
breccias resulting from the weathering of the
othertwostylesofmineralization.Thetotalpre
mininggoldcontentofthedistrictisestimatedto
exceed93 t(vanderPloeg,1945;Turner,2002).
Papers by Turner et al. (1994), Garwin et al.,
(1995),CorbettandLeach(1998),andHendiand
Farmer (1997) form the basis of the following
summary.
Gold mining in the Ratatotok District dates back
toatleastthe1850swhenitappearedonBritish
maps of Celebes as the Mt. Tottik gold mine. It
was carried out initially by local people, both at
surface and underground. Between 1900 and
1921theDutchminedabout5tAu,mostlyfrom
unconsolidated eluvial deposits and locally from
underground hard rock mineralization at Hais in
the Lobongan area.In the early 1980s an
unnamed Japanese company sampled some of
the underground workings in Hais. Local mining
activity resumed in 1985, involving 8000 miners,
before it was restricted by the regional
government.
In 1989, Newmont initiated a gold exploration
program in Indonesia, and the Ratatotok district
was one of several areas selected, based on
historical reports. Exploration was initially
directed at the old Hais workings and Alason
area, locally returning very high gold grades.
Followup drill testing in 1987, however,
produced disappointing results. The next year
Meselwas(re)discoveredandexploredindetail
duringtheensuingthreeyears.Thefirstgoldwas
poured in 1996 and the mine closed down in
2004,havingproducedatotalof1.9Moz.
TheRatatotokdistrictisunderlainbyarestricted
extensional sedimentary basin that is separated
from a volcanicdominated terrain to the north
by the ENEtrending Limpoga fault. Lithologies
consist of a mixed siliciclasticcarbonate
successiondominatedbylimestone.Itisoverlain
byandesiticvolcanicandvolcaniclasticrocks,and
intruded by sills, dykes and laccoliths of
porphyritic andesite composition. Volcanic
conglomerates unconformably overlie the
sequence and are particularly thick to the north
oftheLimpogafault.Thedistrictisdominatedby
ENEtrending arcparallel and NNWtrending arc
normal faults. Movements along these faults
affected sedimentation and controlled facies
distribution.
The Mesel deposit and several smaller satellite
deposits are hosted by a sequence of limestone,
polymiticconglomerateandsedimentarybreccia,
mudstone and mixed siliclasticcarbonate
horizons.Thecarbonatesuccessionwasintruded
by andesite forming a laccolith that overlies the
mineralized sequence and locally reaches a
thicknessof>100m.Althoughitrarelyhostsany
gold mineralization it is strongly argillized where
in contact with mineralized carbonates. At the
surfaceitischaracterizedbya2040mthickzone
of yellow and red clay. Calcareous planktonic
foraminifera and nannofossils indicate a
maximumagerangeof13.711.4whichoverlaps
with the age range of the emplacement of the
andesite intrusions (13.90.5 to 11.20.3 Ma,
based on K/Ar dating of hornblende separates
from 3 samples). This suggests that the
sedimentationandintrusiveeventswereroughly
contemporaneous.
Gold mineralization is both lithologically and
structurally controlled (Figure 24). Lithological
control is provided by permeable carbonaceous
and enhanced by dolomitization.Orecontrolling
structures in the Mesel area are inferred to be
ENE trending zones of imbricate high angle
reverse faults and tight folds that emplaced
receptive limestone into the relatively
impermeable andesite intrusion along the Heins
FindFaultZone.Anotherimportantcontrolisthe
NNW trending sinistral Mesel Fault and its
intersection with the Heins Find Fault Zone,
characterized by high grade mineralization and
extensivehydrothermalalteration.
Alteration and mineralization occur within the
carbonate rocks and locally in the overlying
andesitesills.Fourmainstagesofhydrothermal
activity are recognized: 1) early decalcification
and dolomitization adjacent to major faults and
alongthecontactswiththeoverlyingandesite;2)
56
intense silicification, in the form of open space
fillingandreplacementofcalciteanddolomiteby
smectiteillite; decreasing intensity away from
areas of inferred fluid upflow; alteration is
present in the andesite but its distribution is
restricted to an envelope of 15m either side of
theHeinsFindFaultZoneanda25thickflatlying
zoneabovealteredlimestoneclosetotheMesel
Fault; 3) gold mineralization in association with
quartzsulphide deposition during polyphasal
brecciation of the silicified dolomite and altered
limestone; the dominant sulphides are early
marcasite and pyrite, and later pyrite that
becomes progressively more arsenicrich during
thisstage;and4)postmineralcalciteveining.
Goldissubmicroninsizeandassociatedwithvery
fine grained (<10 micron) arsenical pyrite. High
grade (>10 g/t) gold zones are highest in the
polyphasal silicified breccias proximal to feeder
(fluid upflow) structures. Gold contents decline
rapidlyfromtheupflowzonesbelowtheandesite
sills. The gold is accompanied by anomalous
values of As, Sb, Hg and Tl. Stibnite occurs as a
latesulphidephaseassociatedwithbothstage3
quartzveinsandstage4calciteatshallowlevels
andinzonesperipheraltotheorebody.
In the Lobongan area, karst terrain has been
extensively developed consisting of at least two
phases. The first phase preceded andesitic
volcanism, the products of which covered much
of the limestone. Mineralization formed at and
below the unconformity, with gold being
deposited together with quartz and calcite in
openspace karst breccias, and with siliceous
replacement of finegrained clastic sediments at
the contact. The anastomosing veins are
crystalline and vuggy to banded and crustiform,
andcommonlycontainvisiblegold.Highergrade
Au mineralization mostly formed at major
structuralintersections,whichalsocontrolledthe
formationofthepaleokarst,afeaturethatisalso
commonly observed in the Bau district, West
Sarawak (Wolfenden, 1965). Base metals occur
in negligible to minor quantities as chalcopyrite,
sphalerite, galena, covellite, bornite, chalcocite,
and native copper. Arsenic values (in
arsenopyrite)arevariableupto3%andSbisalso
anomalous.Verylittleinsitumineralizedcontact
and paleokarst breccias remain in the Alason
area.
Residual quartzclay breccias, derived from the
insitudeflationofamineralizedkarstsurfaceare
widespread in the Ratatotok district, formed by
weathering of both Mesel and Lobongan/Alason
styles of primary mineralization. The difference
betweenbothweatheringproductsistheformer
doesnotcontaineasilyextractablegold,whereas
in the latter type relatively coarse gold is
commonandcanbeextractedbylocalminers.
Sparse,possiblymainstage,fluidinclusionsfrom
quartz in jasperoid peripheral to Mesel gave
temperaturesof238oto296oCwithevidenceof
CO2liquidpresentinmanyinclusions.Thesedata
and calculations of cover rock thickness suggest
thatthemineralizationwasformedatadepthof
at least 1000m. Primary fluid inclusions
homogenization temperatures from late stage
quartzandcalcitearewithinarangeof119170o
C, recording the waning stage of the
hydrothermal system. Fluid inclusions in vein
quartzandcalciteatLobonganindicatetheveins
formedattemperaturesrangingfrom270to152o
Cfrom lowsalinity, CO2 bearing boiling fluids.
Stable isotopic data on orerelated minerals
suggest ore fluids consisted of magmatic fluid
that evolved by interactions with limestone and
mixingwithmeteoricwater(Turner,2002).
4.1.5.2 Comments
Sillitoe (1994) observed Mesel is the first large
sedimenthosted Au accumulation (>60 tonnes
Au)definedinanoceanicislandarcsetting.We
are not aware of other sedimenthosted gold
deposits having since been found in a similar
setting,i.e.Meselmaybeuniqueinthisrespect.
Otherwise it shows many similarities with
sedimenthosted Au deposits in Nevada (the
classic Carlintype), including micronsize gold in
arsenian pyrite, a distinct AuAsSbHgTl
geochemical association, and passive alteration
of silty carbonate units characterized by
decalcification, dolomitization, silicification, and
argillization(Turneretal.,1994),andcontrolby
highanglefaults(Sillitoe,1994).
57
Like several of the other mineralized districts in
Northern Sulawesi, the Ratatotok district is
characterized by the presence of more than one
mineralizationstyle.Carlileetal.(1994)notethat
the spatial association of the Mesel
mineralization with intermediatesulphidation
veins may suggest a genetic relationship where
similar structurally focused mineralizing fluids
may either pervade porous reactive hostrocks,
orbecontainedwithinstructuresinimpermeable
rocks to form veins. More speculative is
Kavalieris et al.s (1992) suggestion that high
sulphidationmineralizationatSimbalang,located
20 km away,may also be related to the same
magmatichydrothermalsystem.
Various models have been proposed for the
genesis of sedimenthosted gold deposits
(HofstraandCline,2000,andreferencestherein),
including; i) intrusiondriven circulation of
meteoric water, plus or minus magmatic fluid
input;ii)meteoricfluidcirculationresultingfrom
crustalextensionand/orwidespreadmagmatism;
and iii) ascent of metamorphic fluids to shallow
levelsinthecrust.InthecaseofMesel,isotope
characteristics suggest a direct connection with
magmatism (see above). Another example is the
BaudistrictinSabah,whereageneticallylinkhas
been proposed between porphyry stocks and
skarn , vein, and distal sedimenthosted gold
mineralization (Sillitoe and Bonham, 1990). As
mentioned above, porphyry type mineralization
has been observed in the nearby Doup district.
This, or another proximal porphyry system, may
have been the source of the gold deposited at
Mesel.
4.1.6 Intrusion related base metal gold
mineralization
Numerousbasemetalgoldveinandveinswarm
occurrences are present in Northern Sulawesi.
They occur at varied distances around individual
intrusions, commonly porphyries or within
porphyry Cu districts, of both Miocene and
Pliocene age. Examples include Taware Ridge
(4.1.1.5), Kaidundu (4.1.1.4), Paleleh, Sumalata,
and Petulu. Some of the vein and vein swarms
(e.g. Paleleh, Sumalata, Dinuke, Kwandang, and
Kasia) have witnessed production from both
underground and surface mining methods for
decades by the Dutch and more recently by
artisanminers.
Published information regarding this style of
mineralization is limited. According to Kavalieris
et al. (1992) at Petulu, sheeted quartz
chalcopyritebornitemagnetite veins intersect a
zone of magnetite alteration and are (spatially)
associated with dacitic dykes inferred to be
relatedtoadeepergranitoid.Goldispresentin
pyriterich veins peripheral to the magnetite
zone.ItshouldbenotedthatPearsonandCaira
(1999) classify Petulu as a porphyry CuAu
deposit. Palelehis hosted by diorite porphyry
withAuoccurringinnativeformassociatedwith
chalcopyrite was a significant producer of gold,
silver and lead during the Dutch time. Miocene
andesitic volcanics are intruded by diorite.
Pervasive quartzchloriteillite alteration is
developed along the intrusive contact, which
appears the main control on mineralization.
Quartzgoldpyritepyrrhotitechalcopyrite
galenasphalerite mineralization is localized
within subvertical zones of hydraulic fracture
breccias that grade outwards to veinlet and
fracture zones in both volcanic and intrusive
rocks. Gold occurs in native form (Carlile et al.,
1990;PearsonandCaira,1999).
4.1.7 Volcanogenic massive sulphide
mineralization
Volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS)
mineralization is hosted in the Papayato
Volcanics in two localities at the western end of
Northern Sulawesi. These are referred to as the
Papayato and Bukal prospects (Aspinall et all.,
1980).
The Papayato prospect is exposed in the
Papayato River, about 20km upstream from its
mouth. A 32m thick massive pyrite body with
intercalations of pyritic mudstone occurs in a
sequenceoffelsictuffs.Thesulphidesdisplayin
places colloform banding or fine laminations.
Samples taken across the body gave values of
only0.1%CuandtracesofPb,Zn,andMo.
58
The Bukal prospect is located in the headwaters
of the Bukal River. It was investigated in some
detail by a London based company in 1900 that
excavated shallow pits and aidits in the main
body(DixonLode)overastrikelengthof130m. in the Gunung Pani district, where 2.8 M cum
Several companies revisited the area in the
1970s,includingUtahandRioTinto.
The mineralization occurs as two enechelon
stratiform lenses in massive rhyolitic volcanics,
which are chloritized, especially along the
hanging wall contacts. Where exposed in old
trenches it consists of a 2.25m thick zone of
massive pyrite and chalcopyrite overlain by
0.75mofsphalerite,chalcopyriteandsubordinate
pyrite.Thesulphidesshowinplacesfinegrained
banding. Gangue minerals include barite and
quartz. In addition, an up to 2.7m thick
discordantlensispresentconsistingofsphalerite,
chalcopyrite, pyrite, tetrahedrite, and minor
galena, enveloped by pyrite selvages.
Disseminated chalcopyrite and sphalerite occur
withinnarrowzonesofkaolinizedrhyolite.
While base metal grades are high (3.812% Cu,
2.733.7% Zn, 0.52.6% Pb,) the length of the
lensesappearstobelimited(upto140m).
4.1.8 Skarns
Skarns are developed as partial aureoles in the
propylitic zones surrounding several Miocene
porphyry stocks (Kavalieris et al., 1992; Pearson
and Caira, 1999). Examples include Matinan6
(4.1.1.2) , Adapi, and Boloila. The skarns are
hosted by the Dokokapa Formation. They are
controlled by both steeply dipping faults and
calcareous beds. Their mineralogy consists of
magnetite,pyrite,epidote,andgarnet,containing
locallyhighgoldvalueswhichareassociatedwith
horizons of pyrrhotite, pyrite, magnetite, galena,
sphalerite,andtetrahedritetennantite.
4.1.9 PlacerAuandFedeposits
The widespread occurrence of primary gold
mineralization in Northern Sulawesi has resulted
in the common presence of alluvial gold
throughout the province. However, the deposits
are generally small and/or of low grade. The
Dutch worked alluvial deposits at Tapaibekin in
the Doup distric between 1938 and 1942
producing in total 68 kg Au and 13 kg Ag.
Endeavour Resources carried out Bangka drilling
@265mgAuand400500,000cum@500mgAu
were outlined in two deposits. They also carried
outexplorationinthePaguyamanriverreporting
a resource of 0.5 M cum @ 169 mg Au/cum. A
larger resource figure (1.6 M cum @350 mg
Au/cum) is given by PSDG (2010). No other
alluvial gold exploration has been reported,
reflecting its restricted potential for company
scale exploitation. However, in recent years the
regionhaswitnessedextensiveartisanalpanning
and sluicing activities supported by high gold
prices.
The lack of large size alluvial deposits is due to
the mountainous nature of most of Northern
Sulawesi with poor development of alluvial
plains. Dilution of grades occur in areas with
unconsolitatedsedimentary/volcaniccoverrocks.
PSDG (2010) reports the presence of a few Fe
placerdepositsalongthecoastoftheMinahasa
section up to 31M cum in size (hypothetical
resource).Nofurtherinrormationisavailable.
4.2 WesternSulawesiProvince
Western Sulawesi appears to be less well
mineralized than Northern Sulawesi.
Furthermore it hosts mostly different styles of
mineralization,reflectingsignificantdifferencesin
geologicalsettingbetweenthetwoprovinces.As
mentioned earlier, mining activities have been
verylimitedtodate.
The oldest known mineralization comprises
chromiteintheCretaceousBarruComplex,which
is hosted in serpentinized peridotite intruded by
dioriteanddacite,andisbestdevelopedinshear
zones and at intrusive contacts (Purawiardi,
2008). Copper occurs in the socalled Koper
Lei (CopperSlate) Formation, now known as
Toraja Formation, in the foothills of the
LatimojongMountainsassmallpocketsofnative
copper and malachite in a shaly sequence (van
Bemmelen, 1949). Only a few porphyry Cu
59
prospects/occurrences are known, all of which
appear to be associated with Neogene potassic
alkaline intrusives and have peripheral vein
and/or skarn mineralization. Mineralization
associated with intrusive rocks other than
porphyry style, include base metal veins at
Baturappe, base metalAu veins at Esang, and
magnetitehematite skarns at Tandjung and Salo
Talimbangan. A small cluster of Kurokotype
deposits is found near Sangkaropi.
Manganiferous ironstones, the weathering
product of sulphide and magnetite
mineralization,occurwidespreadintheBiruarea.
AnotablefeatureofthemetallogenyofWestern
Sulawesi is the apparent poor development of
typical epithermalstyle gold mineralization. In
the central eastern part of the province several
significantgolddepositsarepresentintheAwak
MasandPalopodistrictsandnearPalu.Wehave
tentativelyclassifiedthemasintrusionrelatedAu
vein deposits and discuss them under the
headingGoldinmetamorphicterrains
Following are description of the more significant
and/or interesting deposits and occurrences in
Western Sulawesi. Their locations and those of
others are shown in Figure 25. Table 5
summarizes the main features of some of the
moreimportantdeposits.
4.2.1 Porphyrycoppergold
Known porphyry copper
prospects/occurrences are present atSasak and
Seko, both found during a reconnaissance
geochemicalsamplingprogrammecarriedoutby
the Geological Survey of Indonesia in CW
Sulawesi and drill tested by Antam in the early
1970s, and at Masabo and Malawa. No
informationisavailableforSeko,otherthanthat
only low grade Cu mineralization (0.40%) was
intersected (Geomin, 2010). It is located about
200kmnorthofSangkaropi,butitsexactposition
is not known. Malawa, which is present near
Malawa village in SW Sulawesi, is a recent
discovery. Only preliminary investigation has
been carried out todate
(www.terrafirmaresources.com). Copper
mineralization (malachite, chalcopyrite in
veinlets, covellite and Cubearing gossan) occurs
as float and outcrop associated with an altered
andsheareddioritebody.Potassicalteration(K
feldspar and biotite segregations) is overprinted
by phyllic assemblages (quartzsericitepyrite
kaolinite)andsurroundedbypropyliticalteration.
Skarn veins, dominated by carbonate and
containing chalcopyrite pyrite and arsenopyrite,
have also been observed. The other two
prospects, Sasak and Masabo, are described
below.
4.2.1.1 Sasakdistrict
Porphyry copper mineralization was discovered
near Sasak in 1969. It has been intermittently
explored between 1972 and 1998 by Antam,
Aberfoyle, and North Ltd, and is currently being
investigated by Victory West Moly. The
explorationactivitiesincludeddrillingofabout43
holes. The following account is based on Taylor
and van Leeuwen (1980), Muller (1998) and
Schwager (1998). A crosssection is shown in
Figure26.
The Sasak area comprises mainly andesites,
diorites and various tuff breccias, which have
been intruded by monzonite stocks and related
dykes. The region forms a large magnetic high
anomalyreflectingthehighmagnetitecontentof
the dioritic and andesitic lithologies that
dominate thegeologyatSasak.The monzonites
have medium to coarsegrained porphyritic
Cu texturesandconsistoflargeplagioclaseandalkali
feldspar (up to 10mm) crystals and smaller
biotite,setinafinegrainedgroundmassofalkali
feldspar and minor quartz. No geochemical and
age dates have been reported for the intrusive
rocks, but they are likely to belong to the
Neogene potassic suite. Three types of tuff
brecciashavebeenrecognized:andesiticbreccia,
polymict breccia with diorite, andesite,
monzonite and silicified siltstone fragments, and
afelsictuffbreccia,whichhasbeendescribedas
afragmentedmonzonite.
The Sasak area is crosscut by a NWtrending
structural corridor, which forms a magnetic low
anomaly, probably reflecting the presence of an
elongated monzonite stock at depth. A second
welldevelopedfracturefaultsystemhasaNE
60


Table5SelectedfeaturesofporphyryCuAu&MoandAubasemetalveinssystemsinWesternSulawesiexamples

Deposit Class DepositStyle HostRocks Ag/Au Metal Age(Ma) Resource Mineralogy Alteration
Name ratio signature
Malala porphyry qtzkfspveins quartzmonzonite MoCuPbZn 4(HR) 100 Mt @ 0.14% momgtpysph 1) qtzbtkfsp
(AnomalyB) Mo MoS2 gacp 2) carbser/illchl
Sasak porphyry 1) disspy+cp monzonite stocks CuAuPbZn Late pycpbomgt 1) btmgt
CuAu 2) qtzkfspsulphveins &dykes;breccia Miocene 2) serillchl
Masabo intrusion 1) diss syenite dykes; CuMoPbZn Late pycppo 1) actalb
relatedAu 2) qtzvns,micro metabasalt Bo Miocene 2) btmgt
fractures
AwakMas intrusion qtzalbcarb metasediments <1 AuSbAs ( ?Pliocene 41.7 Mt @ 1.23 g/t py(cpsph) albcarb
related vns,partlysheeted,stk, Hg) Au(2004)
Au bx 20.4 Mt @ 0.82 g/t
Au(2011)
Mangkaluku intrusion qtzcarbvns metasediments, <3 AuAgAs ( Pliocene Au as electrum; 1) kfspbtactqtz
relatedAu qtzmonzonite CuPbZn). pyaspy (arg 2) qtzchlser/ill
cpcov) 3) qtzchlepiact
Poboya intrusion qtzcarbvns metamonzonite, <1 Pliocene 18Mt@3.4g/tAu py nearby zone of
relatedAu gneiss,schist kaoldickqtzal
Esang intrusion qtzcarbvns metasediments py,arsenianpy qtzser/illpy
related pocp
Au

Source:vanLeeuwenandPieters(2011)
Abbreviations:seeTable3
61


Figure26.Crosssectionshowinggeologyandalteration zonationatSasakporphyryCu
Auprospect(PTNorthMiningToradja,1999)

Figure 27. Simplified geological map Masabo porphyry Cu prospect (PT

MandarUliMinerals)

62
trend. The NEand NWtrending systems have
beeninterpretedtobecontrolledrespectivelyby
extensional and compressional forces, related to
right lateral strikeslip fault movement along the
nearby northerly trending Sadang fault system,
whichmaybethenortherlyextensionoftheEast
Walanae fault system. The NEtrending
extensional structures include narrow alteration
zones, galena veins, dykes and hydrothermal
breccias.
The Sasak porphyry system is characterized by a
zoned alteration pattern, which is typical for
porphyry CuAu deposits worldwide. Propylitic
alterationextendsoveranareaofapproximately
3.5 x 2.5 km, including a zone with strong clay
pyritejarositealterationcoveringanareaof1000
x 700 m. Central potassic (biotitemagnetite)
alteration is exposed in three zones at S. Doi, S.
Darung (~800 m NW of Doi) and S. Patani (~600
m SE of Doi). All three zones occur within the
NWtrendingstructuralcorridor,thelattertwoat
the intersection of NE trending faults. The
potassic alteration is surrounded and partly
overprinted by argillic (kaolinitejarosite) and
phyllic (pyritesericite) alteration. Late stage,
crosscutting anhydrite veins are a common
feature. In places, anhydrite replaces earlier
pyrite veins. Argillic alteration is commonly
structurallycontrolled.
The S. Darung zone extends over about 130 m
andissurroundedbykaolinitejarositealteration,
which grades outwards into propylitic alteration.
Several quartzpyritechalcopyritesphalerite
galenaveinsoccurbothtothenorthandsouthof
thispotassiczoneandcontainupto8.9g/tAu.At
S. Patani, the potassic zone outcrops over 80 m
and is overlain by moderately to strongly
kaolinitejarosite altered rocks. It contains
coherent anomalous Au and Cu values,
suggesting the possible presence of porphyry
stylemineralizationatdepth.Thisinterpretation
is consistent with the presence of argillic
alterationintheoverlyingandsurroundingrocks,
and of potassic altered monzonite dykes
containingquartzpyritechalcopyriteveining.
PorphyryCuAumineralizationinS.Doiishosted
by a succession of monzonitic tuff breccias and
crosscutting synto post mineralization
monzonite dykes. It stops abruptly at 40 m
depth, truncated by a low angle fault dipping to
the NNE. The thrust fault has emplaced the
mineralizedbodyontopofapolymictbrecciaina
southwesterly to southeasterly direction. A
buried monzonite intrusive to the NW of Sasak
could include the lower, autochthonous part of
the mineralized porphyry system. Mineralized
quartzveins,stockworksandfracturesmimicthe
main structural orientations with quartz
Kfeldsparpyritechalcopyritebornitemagnetite
veins being crosscut by steeply dipping NE
trending quartzpyritechalcopyritebornite
veins. The sulphide vein mineralization
overprintsearlierdisseminatedmagnetitepyrite
chalcopyritemineralization.Betterdrillintercepts
include76m@0.4g/tAu,0.22%Cuand99m@
0.35g/tAu,0.25%Cu.
TheSasakdistrictalsocontainsintrusionrelated
base metalAu veins and skarn occurrences (van
Bemmelen,1949).
4.2.1.2 Masabo(Figure27)
The Masabo porphyry Cu prospect sits about
25km inland from the west Sulawesi coast in
rugged terrain. It was located by Rio Tinto in
1998 by following up a BLEG anomaly (136 ppb
Ag, 4 ppb Au) in S. Masabo, which initially let to
the discovery of a quartz vein in the middle
reachesoftheriverwithsignificantAu,AgandAs
values. Subsequently a robust Pb stream
sediment anomaly was identified with several
areas of elevated Cu on the Masabo watershed.
A5601000ppmCuinsoilanomalywithelevated
B,MoandPbwastestedbyfourshallowholesin
2000, two of which averaged 0.3 to 0.4% Cu for
theirentirelengthandupto1.0%Cuovershorter
intervalswithgoldbeingconspicuouslyabsent.
Thefollowingdescriptionisbasedonareportby
Kavalieris(2001).
TheMasaboprospectishostedmainlybyfoliated
metabasaltsofamphibolitefacies,whichbelong
to the Karossa Metamorphic Complex (van
LeeuwenandMuhardjo,2005).Themetabasalts
have been intruded by metatonalite, which
63
yielded a U/Pb zircon age of 51.5 Ma (van
LeeuwenandMuhardjo,2005),andraredykesof
syenite and related Krich intrusives, which also
contain copper mineralization. A larger body of
syenite,about3kmindiameterisexposed1.3km
SWoftheprospectarea.Theserocksarecutby
postmineralization syenodiorite dykes. The K
rich rocks were formed during the MiddleLate
Miocene potassic alkaline magmatic event (see
3.2.).
Copper mineralization is closely associated with
biotitemagnetiteactinolitealbite alteration
occurring in several irregular areas distributed
over several sq km, without a clear center, and
without a typical porphyry zonation. Porphyry
type quartz veins (<10% vol %) occur on the
marginsofmineralizedsyeniteintrusionsandare
sparsely distributed in the metabasalts. The
mainstyleofmineralizationisfinelydisseminated
chalcopyrite in microfractures, along foliation in
metabasalt, and in quartz veins. In the latter
case it infills centerlines in the veinlets and is
invariably associated with molybdenite. In
addition, chalcopyrite occurs in tourmaline
arsenopyritepyrite veins localized by major sub
vertical structural zones up to several meters
wide, and in galenasphaleritecarbonate veins.
Associated with the disseminated style is
pyrrhotite and minor pyrite, but the total
sulphidecontentislow(<23vol%).Thecopper
mineralization correlates reasonably to zones of
strongerbiotitealteration.Ageneralparagenesis
for the Masabo system may be actinolitealbite
biotite magnetite porphyrytype quartz
veins with chalcopyritepyrrhotitemolybdenite
sericite(minor)polymetallictourmalineand
basemetalcarbonateveins.Acloserelationship
between stages of magmatism and porphyry
veiningissuggestedbytheintrusionofmmwide
aplitedykesincenterlinequartzveins.
TheprospectareaiscutbyaseriesofN120Efault
zones,whichmaybeanimportantcontrolonthe
porphyry system. They are intruded by post
mineral syenodiorite dykes and host large
tourmaline and base metal carbonate veins.
Oxidation along these structures is about 50m
deep, and significantly deeper along tourmaline
veins.
4.2.1.3 Comments
At both Sasak and Masabo porphyry
mineralization is associated with relatively small
dykes of potassic calcalkaline to alkaline
composition,andrelativelylargebasemetalveins
thatcoveramuchbroaderarea.SasakisAurich
like potassic igneous porphyry systems
worldwide, and it is enigmatic why the Masabo
systemdoesnotcontainsignificantgold.Aurich
porphyries are commonly also rich in magnetite,
which at Masabo is present in relatively small
amountsonly.ButneitherareSasakandMamut
inSabah,whichhaveAu(ppm):Cu(%)ratios1.
Mamut is hosted by a potassic calcalkaline
intrusion.AsatMasabo,pyrrhotiteisassociated
with chalcopyrite, and actinolite with secondary
pyrite, and tourmaline is common at the
Tampang porphyry, 10km SE of Mamut
(Kavalieris,2001).Masabodiffersfromtheother
two deposits in lacking porphyrytype quartz
veins, and yet significant chalcopyrite
mineralization is found disseminated in hairline
fractures.Incontrast,atbothSasakandMamut
thereisacloserelationshipbetweenquartzvein
intensityandgrade(Kavalieris,2001).
4.2.2 Porphyrymolybdenum
The only known significant porphyry Mo
mineralizationinIndonesiaisfoundintheMalala
District at the northern tip of the Western
Sulawesi Province. The district was discovered
during a regional porphyry Cu exploration
programme carried out by Rio Tinto in 1973,
covering an area of 1,700 km2. Several base
metalmolybdenum anomalies in stream
sediments from catchments in excess of 15 km2
were obtained, including the Takudan River
catchment,whichyielded80#valuesof245ppm
Cu, 390 ppm Pb, 340 ppm Zn, and 15 ppm Mo.
Followupsamplingin1976ledtoanexposureof
molybdenite in quartz veins, in an area named
Anomaly B. This prospect was investigated in
detail between 1977 and 1981, outlining a
geological resource of 100 Mt @ 0.14% MoS2,
whichwaswellbelowtheminimumtargetof150
Mt @ 0.25% MoS2, a target deemed to be
economically viable at the prevailing
64
molybdenumprice.Threeotheranomaliesareas,
A, C and K were examined during the same
period, involving only surface exploration.
Followingasurgeinthepriceofmolybdenumin
the mid2000s renewed interest in the district
was shown by Victory West Moly, who initiated
an exploration programme in 2007 with the
primefocusonAnomalyB.Workcarriedoutup
to mid2011 included limited drilling (2100 m)
andsurfacesampling.
Thefollowingaccountisbasedonanunpublished
report by Aspinall et al. (1980), a paper by van
Leeuwen et al. (1994), personal communications
from L Whitehouse (2009), and media releases
fromVictoryWestMoly(VWM).
4.2.2.1 Malaladistrict
The geology of the district consists of
metasedimentaryandvolcanicrocksbelongingto
the Middle EoceneEarly Miocene Tinombo
Formation,whichhasbeenintrudedbyasuiteof
porphyritic rocks, named Malala porphyries.
Theseporphyriesoccurintheroofzoneofalarge
intrusion, the Dondo batholith, composed of
predominantly porphyritic biotitehornblende
granite and biotite granite with subordinate
quartz monzonite and granodiorite. It was
emplaced/cooled around 4 Ma ago. Near some
oftheintrusivecontactstheTinomborockshave
beenalteredtobiotitehornfels,formingcontact
aureoles usually of only a few tens of metres
wide. In contrast, quartz veining commonly
extends for at least 1km beyond the intrusive
contact.InplacestheTinomborocksarepresent
asthinroofpendantsandwedgesintheintrusive
rocks.
TheMalalaporphyriesoccurasstocksanddykes.
They represent late stage differentiates of the
Dondo intrusive suite, and locally display
unidirectional solidification textures consisting
of subparallel, crenulated layers of quartz that
area separated by layers of intrusive material.
These textures, which are relatively common in
porphyryMosystems,areprobablytheresultof
quenching during cyclic vapor release. Narrow
rhyodacite dykes are the youngest magmatic
phase. They were emplaced after the main
mineralization event but before the cessation of
hydrothermalactivity.
The dominant structural trends are NW and NE.
The Takudan fault is the most prominent
structureinthedistrict,striking040oto60oover
a distance of about 30 km and passing through
AnomalyB.Anotherprominentfaultisthe310o
trending AB linear, which connects Anomaly A
and B. Northerly and easterly trends are also
common, but less pronounced exposed faults,
fractures and veins suggest that dips in all four
sets are predominantly steep to vertical. The
faults appear to have been active before, during
and after the emplacement and solidification of
the batholith. Sharp truncation of some soil
geochemical anomalies indicates post
mineralizationmovement.
At Anomaly B, alteration and mineralization are
erratically developed over an area of 4 km2,
predominantlyasashell,upto50mthick,atthe
intrusive contact, with minor mineralization
occurring in the Tinombo Formation. Another
important control is a series of NW trending,
steeplydippingfracturezones,collectivelynamed
the East Zone. This zone, which is more than
1850mlong,30300mwideandmorethan200
mdeep,hoststhebettermineralization(Fig28).
Early potassic alteration and silicification is
overprinted by sericite/illite and carbonate
assemblages. Four stages of vein alteration and
mineralization have been recognized: 1) barren
quartzKfeldspar; 2) quartzKfeldsparapatite
molybdenite; 3) sericitechloritecarbonate and
base metal sulphides; and 4) carbonate and
kaoline/dickite.
Stage 1 veining is multiphase. Early veins are
highly irregular, discontinuous and podlike,
commonlyshowingplasticdeformation,whereas
youngerveinstendtohavesubparallelwallsand
may be zoned with respect to quartz and K
feldspar.Locallytheveinsformstockworkbodies
withquartzconstitutingisupto85%ofthehost
rock.These occur close to or straddle the SW
marginoftheEastZoneextendingverticallyover
300mwithamaximumthicknessofabout130m.
Stage II vein silicate assemblages are similar to
65
the intrusive wallrock groundmass in terms of
composition and in the case of quartz also
texture,withveinandgroundmassquartzlocally
merging. The nature of the Stage I and II veins
combined with the presence of disseminated
molybdenite intergrown with primary biotite in
the host intrusive and high salinities and
formation temperatures of stage I and II fluids,
suggests that the ore forming fluids exsolved
directly from the crystallizing magma. The
dominance of Mo over Cu can be readily
explained by the strongly fractionated nature of
theintrusiverocks(Sillitoe,1994).
On a prospectwide scale there is no distinct
alteration and metal zoning, which earlier
workers interpreted to indicate that the
mineralization and alteration formed in a closed
high pressure system with small thermal and
chemical gradients. However, recent drilling
throughtheEastZonehasshownadistinctlateral
zonation, from SW to NE, barren quartz
stockworks potassic alteration overprinted by
sericitecarbonate containing molybdenite and
minor chalcopyrite propylitic alteration with
pyrite, chalcopyrite and minor molybdenite
galena and sphalerite, suggesting more
pronounced thermochemical gradients within
themajorfaultzone.Inthenorthernpartofthe
East Zone bornitemagnetite mineralization is
foundatarelativelyhighlevelgradingupwardsin
a Zn zone, which may possibly indicate vertical
zoningaswell.
The Anomaly A prospect is located about 10 km
NW of Anomaly B. (This would seem to be the
same area referred to as Promitis by VWM,
describedasanewdiscovery).Itappearstohave
beendownfaultedrelativetothelatterarea,asa
result of which much more Tinombo roof
pendant rocks have been observed. Another
difference is that while at Anomaly B the main
intrusiveTinombo contacts are predominantly
vertical, at Anomaly A they tend to be more
gently dipping. Contact features vary in width
fromafewhundredmetrestoseveralkilometers.
They include dyke swarms, and shearing,
hornfelsing and silicification of the Tinombo
rocks.
The prospect is defined by three stream
sedimentsoil anomalies. A weak Mo in soil
anomaly, covering an area of about 1.5 km2, is
locatedinthenorthernpart.ACuMoanomaly,
measuring1200mx600m,isfoundtothesouth.
The most prominent feature is a PbZn anomaly
which is about 15 km2 in size. Cu is locally
anomalous and detectable Au in soil is
widespread.ZonesofhigherPb(+1000ppm)and
Zn(+400ppm)arelinearandtrend310320o,i.e.
parallel to the AB linear, suggesting strong
structural control. An interesting aspect is that
soil values generally increase with decreasing
elevation, suggesting an increase in
mineralizationintensitydownwards.
Pyrite,galenaandsphaleritearewidespread,but
molybdenite is rarely seen. The total sulphide
budgetisupto3volume%inthemostintensely
altered area. The sulphides occur as
disseminationsandveinletsintheintrusiverocks,
coatings on fractures in the metasediments,
veins,andmineralizedshears.Thetotalsulphide
budgetisconsiderable,butnowhereweregalena
and sphalerite found in sufficient concentrations
to be of economic interest. Hypothetically,
porphyrytype mineralization may be present at
depths, although at the surface there is no
evidenceforsufficientgroundpreparation.
AnomalyCislocatedabout4kmNEofTolitoli.It
ischaracterizedbya1000mx600mCuMoPbin
soil anomaly. Quartz monzonitediorite dykes
located about 3 km SW of a dioritic batholith
intrude Tinombo metavolcaniclastics. They
appear to be randomly orientated, are mostly
narrow, and show patchy quartsericite
alteration.Pyriteisthedominantsulphidephase
occurring as fracture surface coatings in the
Tinomborocksorasdisseminationsindykesand
surrounding alteration haloes. Traces of
molybdeniteandgalenawereobservedinnarrow
pyritic shears and minor chalcopyrite in silicified
rock.
4.2.2.2Comments
TwomajorclassesofporphyryModepositshave
been generally recognized: 1) high grade, rift
related deposits accompanied by Frich, highly
66
evolved rhyolitic stocks, and 2) low grade, arc
related deposits accompanied by Fpoor calc
alkalinestocksorplutons(e.g.WestraandKeith,
1981). Malala closely fits the second category. It
differs mainly in its tectonic setting, which for
most other Fpoor deposits is believed to be a
subductionrelated compressional environment
withmantledominatedplutonism(Sillitoe,1980).
As mentioned earlier, during the Neogene
Western Sulawesi was characterized by a post
subduction,extensionalregime.Furthermore,the
CAK suites that host the mineralization were
mostlikelyderivedfrommeltingoflowercrustal
rocks (eg Polve et al., 1997; Elburg and Foden,
1999; Elburg et al., 2003). However, the granitic
rocks associated with the Malala mineralization
haveachemicalcompositionthatissimilartothat
ofotherFpoordeposits,suggestingthatmagma
chemistrymaybeamoreimportantcontrolthan
tectonicsetting.
4.2.3 Volcanogenicmassivesulphides
In the Sangkaropi district Kurokotype VMS
mineralization is present at three localities,
Sangkaropi,RumangaandBilolo,formingalinear
distribution along a SWNE trend. Small scale
mining was carried out by the Japanese during
World War II. In 1974, Antam embarked on a
major exploration programme that lasted for a
number of years and involved detailed shallow
drilling.Aberfoyleinvestigatedtheareaaspartof
a COW exploration programme that took place
between 1987 and 1994. An UTEM survey was
carriedout,butnosignificantmineralizationwas
found.Themineralizationformslenses,upto70
mlongand18mwide,atthecontactofarhyolitic
tufflava unit and an underlying andesite unit.
The rhyolite unit is overlain by marls containing
Middle (?) Oligocene foraminifera assemblages
(Jones and Kristianto, 1994) indicating an
Oligoceneageforthemineralization.Yoshidaet
al. (1982) recognize two styles of mineralization:
i) syngenetic brecciated to stratiform massive
sulphide ore, and ii) epigenetic vein and
stockworktype underlying the brecciated to
stratiform ore. A thin layer of barite covers the
orelenses.
ThreeoretypeshavebeendescribedbyJurkovic
and Zalokar (1990): i) yellow ore consisting of
pyrrhotite and pyrite and later abundant
chalcopyrite with minor amounts of sphalerite,
tetrahedrite and enargite; ii) black ore that is
composed of pyrite, sphalerite and tetrahedrite
and accessory chalcopyrite, chalcocite and
galena, and iii) impregnation ore consisting of
pyrite disseminated in silicified host rocks.
Quartzisthedominantganguemineral.Yoshida
etal.(1982)reportawiderangeoffluidinclusion
filling temperatures, including 250o160o C for
stockwork ore, 184o160o C for sphalerite, and
280oto200oCfordrusequartzinstratiformore;
thelattertemperaturerangeistypicalofKuroko
mineralization in Japan. Assuming that the
maximum temperature of mineralization was
about 280o C and taking into consideration the
lackofboilingphenomena,theauthorsconclude
that ore deposition took place at a sea depth of
notlessthan640m.
4.2.4 Goldinmetamorphicterrains
Relativelycoarsegrainedhighpurityalluvialgold
derived from metamorphic complexes in the
northernpartofWesternSulawesiiswidespread,
but most important in the Moutong and
Molosipat catchment area in the Malino
Metamorphic Complex and in the Upper Lariang
River that has its catchment in the Palu
MetamorphicComplex.Inbothareasauriferous
quartz occurs as lenses and layers, up to several
metres thick along foliation and as narrow
(generally <0.5 m) crosscutting veins. In the
former area the veins are predominantly hosted
bygreenschist,whereasinthelatterhighergrade
metamorphicrocksarethehost(Kavalierisetal.,
1992). In the Malino Metamorphic Complex the
cross cutting veins fill gashes and form irregular
stockworks, consistent with hydrofracturing.
They were formed after ductile formation and
peak metamorphism, probably during uplift and
extension of the metamorphic terrain. Ag/Au
ratios are typically <1 (Kavalieris, 1991).
Kavalieris et al. (1992) point out that the gold
mineralizationiscomparabletomineralizationin
the Otago Schist, New Zealand, described by
Henleyetal.(1976).
67


and mineralization/alteration
Figure 28. Cartoon showing geology

distributionatMalalaporphyryMoprospect

of Awak Mas district showing
Figure 29. Simplified geological map

prospectlocations(modifiedafterQuerubin,2011)




68


Figure30.SimplifiedgeologicalmapofPalopodistrictshowingprospectlocations

Figure 31. Summary geology of Mangkaluku prospect with interpreted vein and
alterationzones(afterMclean,2010)


69

holes MLD006 showing interpreted
Figure 32. NWSE section through drill

sheetedveinsystem;locationofsectionshowninFigure31(afterMcLean,2010)

Figure33.SimplifiedgeologicalmapofPoboya prospect(PTCitraPaluMining)

70
The alluvial and hard rock gold has been known
for many years to local miners. More recent is
the discovery of three primary mineralization
prospects/districts i.e. Poboya in the Palu
Metamorphic Complex, and Palopo and Awak
Mas in the Latimojong Complex and adjacen
rocks.Thesethreedepositshaveseveralfeatures
incommon:1)theyarelocatedclosetoamajor
structure; 2) there is no spatial relationship with
volcanic rocks; 3) Ag/Au ratios and base metal
contents are low; and 4) quartz and carbonate
are the dominant gangue minerals. Paboya
appears to have formed at a higher structural
levelthantheothertwodeposits.
4.2.4.1 AwakMasdistrict(Figure29)
The following account is based on Katchan
(1994), Archibald et al. (1996), Cox et al. (1998),
RGSGlobal(2004),andQuerubinetal.(2011).
The Awak Mas deposit is located together with
four satellite prospects in the foothills of the
Latimojong Mountains, 67 km southwest of
Palopo. The project area is characterized by
moderate to rugged topography with elevations
in the range of 800 to 1,500 m above sea level. partoftheLatimojongComplex.Tothewestitis
Extensive preexisting workings infilled with
mechanically crushed sand have been
encountered in drilling. The age of these
workingshasnotbeenascertained.
The deposit was (re)discovered in 1989 by New
Hope Consolidated Industries Pty Ltd (NHCL)
during a regional exploration programme. In
1991,BattleMountainGoldenteredintoafarm
in agreement with NHCL. Initial drilling of 74
diamond drill holes outlined significant
mineralization. However, Battle Mountain
decided to withdraw from the project and sold
theirinteresttoLoneStarExploration(LSE),who
in turn on sold 45% interest to Gasgoyne Gold
minesNL(GGM).Thetwocompaniesdrilled791
holes (DDH and RC) at Awak Mas with an
aggregate meterage of about 95,800m between
1993 and 1997. In 1996, a feasibility study was
undertaken based on a 3 Mt per annum mining
and milling rate. In 1998 Placer Dome entered
into a joint venture agreement with Masmindo
MiningCorporationLtd(MMC),inwhichLSEand
GGM each held 45% equity. They withdrew a
year later after having drill tested two of the
satellite prospects, viz. Salu Bulo, where a
geologicalresourceof160,000230,000ouncesof
goldwasoutlined,andTarra.Atotalof43holes
with an aggregate meterage of about 3,400 m
weredrilled.
The project was acquired by Vista Gold
Corporation in 2004. This company carried out
variousstudiesandin2006drilltestedtwoother
satellite prospects named Rante and Lematik,
which involved drilling of 13 holes totaling
around 2,570 m. In late 2009, after having
assumed the development for the Awak Mas
project, Pan Asia Resources Ltd (since renamed
One Asia Resources Ltd) embarked on a drilling
programme with the aim of upgrading the
inferred resource category into a measured
and/orindicatedcategory.Bymid201175holes
(5,137m)hadbeencompleted.
In all, 1,012 holes totaling 118,081 m have been
drilledandoverUS$30millionhasbeenspent.
TheAwakMasdistrictissituatedinthesouthern
separated from the Eocene Toraja Formation by
an easterly dipping thrust, whereas the eastern
marginisdefinedbyamajorbasementstructure
(mlange) against which the Lamasi Ophiolite
Complexisjuxtaposed.TheLatimojongComplex
comprises the weakly metamorphosed
Latimojong Formation, an Upper Cretaceous
turbiditic flysch sequence with intercalations of
andesitic volcanics and limestone, and higher
grade metamorphic basement rocks, including
blueschists and other schist types, serpentinite
and metadolerite, showing in places highly
contorted foliation. The metamorphic units are
intruded by plugs and stocks of diorite,
monzoniteandsyenite,probablybelongingtothe
NeogenehighKcalcalkalinetoalkalinesuites.
The basement rocks belong to a midCretaceous
dismemberedaccretionzonethatextendedfrom
Central Sulawesi and through to the Bantimala
Complex in Java (Parkinson et al., 1998). In the
Awak Mas district drilling has indicated that the
basement rocks form an approximately 250 m
71
thick slab, which is tectonically intercalated
withintheflyschsequence.Inthisareatheflysch
rocks are foliated metapelites and
metapsammites with protoliths including
graphitic mudstone, predominantly greenish
mudstone to siltstone, and finegrained lithic
sandstone. The sequence is capped by foliated,
coarsegrained, tuffaceous sandstone, which is
largely confined to ridge crests.
Sheared/mylonitic intervals occur as interbeds
oriented parallel to subparallel to foliation,
frequently between major structures. These are
represented by a series of NNE to NE trending,
parallel to subparallel, subvertical fault zones.
Syn to postmineralization movements have
resultedinthedisplacementofmineralizedzones
in the Awak Mas prospect. Early dextral
displacement appears to have shifted
subsequentlytowardssinistralmovement.
Gold mineralization in the Awak Mas district is
predominantly hosted within the Upper
Cretaceous flysch sequence that generally dips
15o to 50o to the north. It is commonly
associated with abundant quartz veining and
accompanied by albitepyritequartzcarbonate
alteration which overprints ductile fabrics.
Mineralization is preferentially localized in the
darkgraphiticmudstoneswithminoramountsin
the green mudstones, especially where these
rocks are tectonically interleaved with the dark
mudstones. It also is found in the basement
schists and associated with shear zones in the
ophiolite sequence. Oblique normal faults, as
well as extensional shears and fractures, formed
inresponsetoextensionaldeformation,serveas
local control to mineralization as does the
orientation of the host foliation. The depth of
oxidationismaximum20m.
Two main styles of mineralization are present,
both being mesothermal in character; one as
shallowdippingzonesofsheetedquartzveining
andassociatedalterationthatarebroadlyparallel
to the shear fabric, particularly in the dark
mudstones, and the other as steeper zones
associated with high angle faults cutting both
basement schists and the flysch sequence. The
steeply dipping faults and shear zones are
associated with repeated silica flooding and
brecciation. They may represent the main
feeders to mineralization where higher grade
gold intercepts are closely related to elevated
valuesofsilverandothermetals.
The results of limited mineralogical studies
suggest that gold occurs as either inclusions in
pyrite,oralongcontactsbetweenpyritegrains.It
also occurs together with trace amounts of
chalcopyrite and sphalerite as inclusions within
the pyrite. Other sulphide species observed are
covellite,arsenopyrite,bornite,andtetrahedrite.
Although the mineralization is predominantly a
goldpyrite association, the alteration system is
overall sulphurpoor. Mineralized quartz veins
are surrounded by an outer chlorite alteration
halo and inner albitecarbonate halo. The term
chlorite alteration is probably misleading as this
type of alteration marks the oxidation of
carbonaceous matter to carbonate, which is
accompanied by a change in colour from
grey/blacktogreen.Thechlorite/oxidationfront
extends from a few meters to a maximum of 10
m from the mineralized veins. The well
developed oxidation front and rare presence of
hematite attest to the oxidizing nature of the
mineralizing fluids. Carbonate species in wall
rock and veins include calcite, ankerite and
dolomite. They are probably mostly derived
locally by oxidation of the host rocks. Intense
albite alteration forms haloes around
mineralization varying from a few tens of
centimeterstoameterwide.
Archibald et al. (1996) note that the flysch
sequence is unlikely to be a source of the gold
owingtothelowgoldcontentsgenerallyinherent
tothesetypesofsedimentaryrocks.Ifthesource
of the fluids was the Neogene potassic igneous
suites, potassicrich assemblages would be
expected as alteration products. A more likely
sourceforthefluidsarethebasementblueschists
and associated serpentinites and/or adjacent
ophiolites.
Intense sodic metasomatism invariably
accompanies low/medium temperature seafloor
hydrothermal alteration, an environment where
gold being leached from the basalticgabbroic
rockswouldbeexpected.
72

Archibaldetal.(1996)andCoxetal.(1998)infer
that the gold mineralization took place between
86 Ma based on crosscutting relationships,
radiometric dating and superimposition of likely
fluid temperatures on fission track uplift curves.
The radiometric age and fission track data are
fromBergmanetal.(1996).
The current Measured and Indicated Mineral
Resources at Awak Mas amount to 41.7 Mt at
1.23 g/t au and additional Inferred Mineral
Resourcesto20.4Mtat0.82g/tAu,inbothcases
usingacutoffgradeof0.50g/tAu.
4.2.4.2 Palopodistrict(Figure30)
The following description has been summarized
from a report written by Mclean (2010) ,
informationprovidedbyP.Flindell(writtencom.,
2008)and a recent paper by Musri et al (2011a),
whichisbasedonaMScthesiscarriedoutbythe
seniorauthor(Musri,2001).
There are anecdotal reports of prospecting for
gold and base metals in the region during the
Dutch colonial times and of gold panning in the
Latuppa River in the 1960s. In the course of a
stream sampling programme carried out by
Antam in the region in the late 1990s a number
ofAuPbZnCuanomalieswerelocated.Follow
up exploration led to the discovery of the
Mangkaluku and Siguntu prospects, located
about 6 and 10 km southwest of Palopo
respectively, and several other prospects.
Trenching at Mangkaluku outlined extensive
widthsofgoldmineralization,butdrilltesting(11
holes, 1831 m) of these zones returned mostly
narrow mineralized intercepts, and Antam
subsequentlyrelinquishedtheground.
Following a review of the geological and
explorationdatafortheregionAvocetselecteda
150,000 ha area in CW Sulawesi in 2005, which
after a preliminary assessment was reduced to
the Palopo block. Trenching and channel
sampling was carried out at Mangkaluku over
outcropping mineralizationaswellasanomalous
areas identified by soil sampling, which was
followedup by a 12 hole drilling programme. As
with the Antam drilling it did not confirm the
surface extent of the mineralization, possibly
reflecting nearsurface supergene enrichment,
although the rocks are not deeply weathered.
Ownership of the property changed hands in
2010/11 via Reliance Resources Ltd to Golden
PeaksResourcesLtd.
The geological setting of the Palopo district is
similar to that of the Awak Mas district; the
mineralizedareastraddlestheboundarybetween
maficvolcanicsbelongingtotheLamasiOphiolite
Complex and metasediments of the Upper
Cretaceous Latimojong Formation, which have
been intruded by the latest Miocene Palopo
Granite. The granitoids are of monzonite to
monzodiorite composition and show weak
foliatedtextures.
At Mangkaluku, gold mineralization is hosted by
quartzcarbonate veins containing pyrite and
arsenopyrite (<3%), that are controlled by faults
and shears developed predominantly within
coarse, porphyritic monzodiorite. The veins are
concentrated in two NNE to NE trending zones,
each comprising both numerous discrete, in
places close spaced sheeted quartz veins as well
asmultipleveinzones(Figures31and32).Vein
zones are 0.5 m to tens of metres wide, with
individual veins within the zones varying from 5
to 30 cm in width. The western zone measures
about300mby100m,andcontainsmoderately
to steeply WNW dipping quartzsulphide veins.
The eastern zone is more laterally extensive but
lesscontinuous.Itcontainsbothveinzonesand
individual veins of variable orientations. Both
mineralized zones are commonly displaced by
latercrosscuttingfaults.
Three main alteration assemblages have been
recognizedatMangkaluku:i)biotite+/Kfeldspar
actinolitequartzchlorite (potassic); ii) quartz
chloritesericite (phyllic), and iii) quartzchlorite
epidoteactinolitecalcite (propylitic). The
potassic alteration is overprinted by the other
two types. Narrow alteration vein selvages (1.5
cm) are best developed in volcanic host rocks
compared to intrusive host rocks, and where
veinsarecloselyspaced.Alterationassemblages
include albitesericite, carbonatechlorite,
73
sericitesilica and carbonatechloritekaolinite.
Highergoldgradeswouldappeartobeassociated
with silicasericite assemblages. Carbonate
phasesaredominatedbydolomiteandankerite.
Mineralization occurred in multiple episodes as
indicatedbybandedveinsandcrosscuttingvein
relationships. This and the variety in vein
orientations may reflect a changing stress field
during mineralization. The much stronger vein
developmentinthemonzodioriteascomparedto
the volcanics suggests that the more competent
nature of the former facilitated more effectively
thedevelopmentofdilationalfaults.Atleastfour
generationsofveininghavebeenrecognized,the
oldest having porphyrytype affinity. Gold
mineralization is closely associated with
arsenopyrite andpyriteandwithlesseramounts
of chalcopyrite, covellite and chalcocite in two
veingenerations.Goldispresentaselectrumand
is accompanied by argentite. High gold values in
someveinsarerelatedtosupergeneenrichment
in the top 5m, where scorodite is a common
constituent. Arsenopyrite occursasbandswithin
massivequartzveinsandwithinlaminatedquartz
veins which contain only minor sulphide.
Carbonatesappearlateintheveinparagenesis.
Fluidinclusionmeasurementson19veinsamples
yielded three ranges of homogenization
temperatures;i)140oand170oC;ii)200oand270o
C; and iii) 280o and 340o C. Salinities vary from
0.2% to 6.2% wt NaCl equiv. No information is
available regardingfrom what vein material and
which generations of veining the data were
obtained.
At the Siguntu prospect, located about 5 km SW
of Mangkaluku, the mineralization occurs in
massive to crystalline quartz with accessory
pyrite and base metal sulphides hosted in the
contact zone between foliated monzonite and
metasediments. They may be the equivalent of
theporphyrytypeveinsobservedatMangkaluku.
Alteration haloes around the veins are relatively
narrow selvages of silicachlorite and claysilica
sericite.Nodrilltestinghasyetbeenundertaken
because of forestry issues, but artisan miners
havebeenactive.
Other prospects include Bilantungan (hosted by
basaltic andesites and metasedimentary rock),
Mangkaluku North (faulted contact between
monzodioriteandmetasedimentaryrocks),Babak
(monzodiorite), and Battang. These have
undergonelimitedexplorationtodate.
The age of the mineralization in the Palopo
district is constrained by the age of the Palopo
Granite, which has yielded 3 biotite KAr ages of
5.40.2to6.80.3Ma,fourhornblendeKArages
of6.00.3to10.71.1Maandthreezirconfission
track ages of around 6.3 Ma (Bergman et al.,
1996).Thustheageofthemineralizationislatest
Mioceneoryounger.
4.2.4.3 Poboya(Figure33)
Discovered by Rio Tinto in 1994, the Poboya
prospect, also known as Palu prospect, was
drilledtestedin19961998(33holes,7966m),by
which time a Taman Hutan Raya (Great Forest
Park) was established, the western border of
which cut through the prospect area. Mining is
not allowed in this type of park. More recently
the area, which at the time of its discovery was
notknowntocontaingold,haswitnessedahigh
level of local mining activity. Because of these
twofactors,nosignificantexplorationwascarried
outbetween1999and2010,duringwhichperiod
ownership of the project changed hands twice
(Newcrest and Bumi Resources). A resource and
reserve delineation programme started in
September2011andisexpectedtobecompleted
bymid2012(Wajdietal.,2011).
Thefollowingaccountislargelybasedonreports
byMarten(1999)andWalkerandAngeles(1999),
an information memorandum prepared by
NewcrestMining(2004),andapaperbyWajdiet
al.(2011).
The prospect is interpreted to consist of a
number of gently SWdipping sheetlike quartz
carbonatebodiesthatareexposedinthreemain
areasandarereferredtoasReef1,2and3..The
reefsstrikeWNW,havestrikelengthsofupto2.5
km,andareupto200mwide.
74
Themineralizationishostedbyvariablefoliated,
brittle monzonite and biotite gneiss, passing
downwardintoductilechloritebiotiteschistwith
intercalations of feldsparporphyroblast schist,
belonging to the Palu Metamorphic Complex
(PMC). The schists contain a strong tectonic
fabricthatisparalleltothefoliationinthebiotite
gneiss. Young fanconglomerates (Celebes
Molasse) drape the metamorphic basement to
the west and contain fragments of quartz reef
materialandalteredcountryrock.
Veining at the Poboya prospect displays a
progression from metamorphic, synductile
deformation veining, through porphyrystyle
propyliticveins,toauriferouscalcitequartzveins.
Thelattertype,whichisthemostimportantone
from an economic point of view, shows typical
highlevel epithermal vein textures, such as
colloformcrustiformbanding,bladedcarbonated
pseudomorphs, gellike chalcedonic quartz, and
bladedandblockycalcite.Thecommonpresence
of bladed carbonate in outcrop and drill holes
suggests the mineralization investigated todate
representsarelativelyshallowpartofthesystem.
Individual veins are very variable in terms of
thickness (1cm to >10m), orientation and grade
distribution. The main vein in Reef 1 (also
referred to as River Vein Zone) is enveloped by
an up to 20 m wide zone of Aubearing
chalcedonic quartzcarbonate stockwork veining,
with vein thickness in the 15 cm range. The
relationshipbetweenthetwoveinstyleshasnot
yetbeenestablished.
Gold is generally not visible in hand specimen,
even not in outcrop containing bonanza grades,
including150m@15g/tand55m@47g/tAu
(not true widths). It is present as inclusions in
pyriteandasanhedralgrainsupto50micronsin
diameter. Ag/Au ratios are on the order of 1:2.
Pyrite is present in trace amounts only, and no
base metal sulphides have been observed. Thin
lines of greyish finegrained sulphides are
commonly observed along vein edges. A
coincident Au+Sb+As+Ag+Mn soil geochemistry
anomalyclearlydefinesthetraceofthereefs.A
limited amount of oriented core measurements
suggestadominantENEstrikeofindividualgold
bearingveins,dippingto theSWatmoderate to
steep angles. A geological resource of about 18
Mt@3.4g/tAuhasbeenestimated.
Argillicwallrockalterationisprimarilyassociated
with the veining. Spatially, and probably also
genetically,relatedtothemineralizationisazone
of kaolinitedickitesilicaalunite alteration. The
alunite is hypogene in nature. It contains high
atmospheric argon indicating dominance of
meteoric hydrothermal fluids. It probably
represents acid leaching above a boiling water
table. An alunite sample yielded a KAr age of
1.65 Ma and the postmineralization fan
conglomerates contain a Pleistocene planktonic
fauna (van Leeuwen and Muhardjo, 2005). This
evidence combined with the fact that the host
rocksofthemineralizationweremetamorphosed
and exhumed only 73 Ma ago (van Leeuwen et
al.,inprep.)suggestsaLatePlioceneageforthe
mineralization.
The structural setting of the Poboya prospect is
very complex. Drilling has defined a gently to
moderately SW dipping fault zone termed the
Footwall Fault (FF). This fault displays post
mineral movement truncating mineralized zones
and containing fragments of mineralized rock. It
probably also had synmineral movement and is
thought to be the primary conduit for gold
bearing fluids. The FF is marked by a 2030 m
thick zone of gauge and strong fracturing. It
overprintsandgenerallymimicsanearlierductile
fault zone marked by mylonite. Relatively thick
fault zones with moderate to steep dips, some
hostingquartzveins,areinterpretedtobesplays
of the FF having listric geometry with respect to
the latter. The area is also transected by high
anglefaultzonesstrikingENEandNW.
Thestructuralframeworkhasbeeninterpretedto
have been developed in response to extension
above a detachment fault, which was driven by
rapid uplift of the metamorphic complex to the
east of the Palu Fault Zone with resultant
gravitational collapse along early ductile low
anglefaults.Astheelevatedrockcolumncooled,
faulting transitional from ductile to brittle
deformation developed with superimposition of
brittle structure onto ductile mylonitic fault
zones. Initiation of a pullapart basin along the
75
PaluFaultZonewestofPaluprobablymarkedthe
beginning of highangle extensional faulting in
thearea.
4.2.4.4 Comments
Asmentionedearlier,theoriginandclassification
oftheAwakMas,PalopoandPoboyadepositsis
problematic. For convenience sake we refer to
these deposis as the central Western
Sulawesi(CWS)golddeposits.
P. Flindell (written com., 2008) and McLean
(2010)suggestedthatMangkalukuisanorogenic
lode deposit. The former notedsimilarities
between Poboya and highlevel orogenic gold
depositsfoundinPeninsularMalaysia.
Originally, the orogenic model applied strictly to
syntectonic vein type deposits formed at mid
crustallevelsincompressionalortranspressional
setting related to accretionary/subduction or
collisional processes (cf Robert et al., 2007).
However, the term has been progressively
broadened to include deposits that are post
orogenic relative to processes at their crustal
depth of formation. This has led to significant
ambiguity. Sillitoe and Thompson (1998) have
pointed out that orogenic deposits are often
difficult to distinguish from intrusionrelated
deposits which formed directly from fluid
exsolution during granitoid emplacement within
metamorphicrocks.
Usingtheexpandedclassification,McLean(2010)
assigned the gold mineralization in the
Palopodistricttotheorogenicgold categoryon
the basis that; 1) the mineralization is
mesothermal in character, 2) gold is associated
with late stage sulphurpoor sodicrich fluids
producing albitepyritesilicacarbonate
alteration, and 3) gold mineralization is
structurally controlled in sheeted and stockwork
quartz veins located within shear zones and late
stage brittle fractures related to a regional
tectonic event.Musri et al. (2011) on the other
hand favour an intrusionrelated origin for the
mineralization, which they suggest formed
proximaltothesourceintrusionbasedonitslow
Ag/Auratios.
An extensional setting is envisaged by Marten
(1999)forthePoboyadeposit.Heinterpretsthe
structural framework to have developed in
responsetoextensionaboveamajordetachment
fault driven by rapid uplift of the metamorphic
(core) complex. Alteration and mineralization
resultedfromahydrothermalsysteminitiatedby
juxtaposition of hot lower plate rocks with cool
upper plate rocks along a detachment fault.
Proximity to metamorphic core complexes and
associateddetachmentfaultshasbeenobserved
in a number of gold deposits and prospects
elsewhere in the world, including in the SE
California/SWArizonaregion(e.g.Spenceretal.,
1986), the eastern Rhodope Massif in Bulgaria
(Marchevetal.,2002),andtheModernMassifin
Turkey (Yigit, 2009). Sillitoe and Hedenquist
(2003), who note that most of the Au veins are
nothostedbythedetachmentfaultsthemselves,
assign these deposits and prospects to the low
sulphidation epithermal class. A different model
is proposed by Wajdi et al (2011), which
envisagesthatthemineralizationisrelatedtothe
retrorade stage of a contact metamorphic
event.This eventt is characterized by epidote
formationfollowed by chlorite and relatively
strong development of quartzchloritepyrite
veining, and late stage calcite and chlorite
smectite. Assuming that indeed such a genetic
connectionexistsandourinterpretationthatthe
Poboya mineralization is of Pliocene age is
correct, it follows that it is most likely that the
contact metamorphicmineralizing event was
causedbyCAKmagmatism.Inthiscontextitisof
interest to note that mineralization of similar
charactertothePoboyamineralizationhasbeen
foundassociatedwithCAKgranitoidsatAnggasan
tothenorthoftheMalalaporphyrymolybdenum
district(Purnomo,1998;NewcrestMining,2004).
Archibald et al. (1996) and Cox et al. (1998)
propose a model for Awak Mas whereby the
mineralizationwasinducedbytheonsetofrapid
uplift following soon after Miocene continental
collision, which resulted in the obduction of the
LamasiOphioliteComplexoverthebasementand
the Latimojong Complex. The rapid uplift
induced hydraulic fracturing in zones of high D2
76
strain. Circulation of hydrothermal fluids
occurred in response to the regional high
geothermal gradient associated with the rapid
upliftoftheLatimojongMountains.Thesefluids
areinferredtohavebeenofmetamorphicand/or
meteoricorigin.
Insummary,severalmodelshavebeenproposed
for the CWS gold deposits invoking either an
orogenic origin, a direct or indirect connection
with igneous activity, rapid uplift and associated
high geothermal gradient, or gold deposition
caused by detachment fault tectonics. The CWS
deposits have a number of features in common
with orogenic gold deposits. In addition to the
ones listed by McLean (2010), these include a
tendancy of higher gold grades to be associated
with carbonaceous rocks, as seen at Awak Mas,
and salinities of < 12% observed at Mangkaluku,
and a spatial association with greenschist facies
rocks (cf. Goldfarb et al., 2005). The main
objection we have against the orogenic gold
model for the CWS deposits is that they were
formedmorethan50myafterthetectonicevent
that metamorphosed (part) of the host rocks,
whereasorogenicgolddepositsmostconsistently
develop in the latter stages of still ongoing
regional deformation in the host metamorphic
terranes(Goldfarbetal.,2005).
Theothermodelshaveincommonthattheyare
linkedtovariousaspectsofthePliocenetectonic
event that took place in Western Sulawesi,
including voluminous magmatism, rapid uplift
andhighheatflow.Thefactthatinsomeplaces,
like in the Palopo district and at Anggasan, the
gold mineralization is hosted by young CAK
granitoids does not constitute by itself evidence
for a direct connection. If the porphyry type
alteration/mineralization observed at Palopo
forms part of the same magmatic/hydrothermal
event that gave rise to the later stages of gold
mineralization,thiswouldsupportmorestrongly
sucharelationship.
Based on the above observations were have
assigned the CWS deposits to the intrusion
related gold deposit category in the broadest
sense, without implying any specific genetic
model.Regardlessoftheirorigin,theyappearto
be one of the more interesting deposit types in
Western Sulawesi from an exploration point of
view.
4.2.5 Intrusionrelatedbasemetalgoldveins
Examplesofbasemetalgoldveinsthatarenot
locatedaround(known)porphyryCusystemsare
foundatBaturappeandEsang.
At Baturappe, which was already known in the
late 1960s (Supardi, 1970), more than 20 quartz
veins hosted by late MiddleMiocene basalts
intruded by adioritegranodiorite stocks and
numerous dykes occur in three zones: Bincanai,
Baturappe and Bangkowa. These have been
described by Nur et al. (2010). Individual veins
are narrow and consist of quartz, siderite and
sulphides showing multiphase crustiform
banding. Bincanai and Bangkowa contain
intermediate sulphidation assemblages (pyrite,
chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite tennantite,
galena, sphalerite and polybasite, whereas
Baturappe also locally contains enargite and
covellite indicating a high sulphidation
component. Fluid inclusion formation
temperatures for the three veins systems are
2300C,2800Cand2600Crespectively.Theaverage
salinityis2.2wt%NaClequiv.
Esang was found by North Ltd in the late 1990s
by following up BLEG, stream sediment and pan
concentrate anomalies. Since 2004 Antam has
carried out investigations in the prospect area,
including detailed mapping, trenching, IP and
ground magnetic surveys, and limited drilling.
The following brief description is based on an
unpublished North report (PT North Mining
Toradja,1998) and a paper by Aryani and Sinaga
(2010).
The geology of the area consists of
metasediments and metavolcanics belonging to
the Upper Cretaceous Latimojong Formation,
which are intruded by monzonite and diorite.
The rocks have undergone extensive silicaclay
pyrite and chloritepyritecarbonate alteration
andarecutbyaprominentNWtrendingfracture
77
zone. This is also the main trend of the
mineralization, which occurs as veins, up to 2 m
thick, in (meta)volcanics and as millimeter to
microsize foliation replacement
metasedimentsina500mlongzone.
Gangue minerals consist of varying amounts of
quartz, carbonate and sericiteclay. The
mineralization is sulphiderich with pyrite and
pyrrhotite as the dominant phases. Minor
chalcopyriteandarsenianpyritearealsopresent.
Goldgradesrangebetween1.0and98.6g/t,and
coppergradesbetween0.2and18.7%.Theveins
are also locally high in Zn and As. Aryani and
Sinaga (2010) suggest that the mineralization
formedasacupolaoveranintrusivebody.
4.2.6 Iron
Several ironrich skarns have been found in
Western Sulawesi including at Salo Talimbangan
inthecentralpartoftheprovince,whichisrichin
iron(60%)andcontainssomecopper,butisvery
irregular and of limited size (van Bemmelen,
1949). Small magnetite bodies are found near
TandjunginSWSulawesiassociatedwithgarnet,
pyroxene and epidote alteration (Widi et al.,
2007). The magnetite, which locally shows
malachite staining, occurs both in massive form
andasdisseminations.Theskarnisdevelopedin
a small tectonic block of PreTertiary
metamorphics (Jaya and Nishihawa, 2011) which
are intruded by the Biru Intrusive Complex from
whichMiddleEoceneandLateMioceneKArages
have been obtained (van Leeuwen, 1981; Elburg
etal.,2002).Widietal.(2007)reportFegrades
varyingfrom59%to67%.
AdifferenttypeofirondepositispresentatBiru,
located 5km NE of Tandjung. It consists of
secondary manganiferous ironstones formed
afterhydrothermalmagnetiteandsulphides.The
prospect was investigated in the mid1970s
(including limited drilling) by Rio Tinto with base
metal mineralization at depth as the target.
Recently a domestic company initiated
explorationtotesttheprospectsironpotential.
The following account is mainly based on an
unpublished report by van Leeuwen (1976) with
additionalinformationobtainedfromA.Sumantri
(pers. comm., 2011) and a paper by Widi et al.
(2007).
in
Numerousmanganiferousironstonebodiesoccur
scatteredoveranareaofabout5km2andlocally
containsignificantquantitiesofsecondaryPband
Ag minerals. The area is underlain by Eocene
volcanics and Eocene to Middle Miocene
limestone (Tonasa Formation), which have been
intruded by andesitic dykes and are partly
covered by Neogene volcanics. They are mostly
concentrated along three E to NE trending fault
zones.Individualbodiesvaryinlengthfrom10to
200 m, in aggregate totaling about 4 km, and in
widthfrom2to50m.Thewideroutcrops,which
areunconformablycoveredbyLateMioceneand
younger volcanics and volcaniclastics, rapidly
diminishinsizewithdepth.Inthesouthernpart
of the area the ironstones form large sprawling
masses.Theirdepthextentdependsonthehost
rocks: about 36m in volcanics and >80m in
limestone. The manganiferous ironstone was
formed over a series of discontinuous, steeply
dipping veins at the contact of Middle Miocene
andesite dykes and along fracture zones in the
Paleogenevolcanicsandlimestone.Theveinsare
generally less than 5 m thick, and consist of
disseminations, small blebs and veinlets of
argentiferous galena, pyrite, arsenopyrite,
magnetiteandminorchalcopyriteandpyrrhotite.
Galena also occurs as lenses and short veins.
Quartz and carbonate are the dominant gangue
minerals. In addition magnetite and (primary)
hematitesilica bodies up to 10 x 15 m in
diameter are present in the limestone, probably
mostly as cavity fillings. Based on geologic
relationships the age of the mineralization is
MiddleMiocene.
Theironstonesconsistof,inorderofabundance,
goethite, manganese oxides (predominantly
pyrolusite and coronadite), secondary quartz,
hematite, magnetite, cerrusite and various
copper and lead arsenates. Their iron content
variesfrom30%to54%,manganesefrom0.2%to
12%,andsilicafrom2%to24%.
Petrographic examinations show a complex
history of oxidation and reduction with some
78
magnetite being replaced and surrounded by
hematite followed by a phase in which some
hematite was converted back to magnetite
beforetherockwassubjectedtofurthersurface
oxidation.Thisinturnsuggestsacomplexhistory
ofweathering>burial>weathering(Figure34).
The presence of ironstone pebbles in Late
Miocene volcaniclastics unconformably overlying
the volcaniclimestone sequence indicates that
initial weathering and ironstone formation took
placepriortothedepositionofthevolcaniclastics
(stage1).Thelarge,sprawlingmassesmayhave
formeddirectlyatthesurfaceormorelikelyafter
deposition of the Late Miocene volcanics had
started (Stage 2). As pointed out by Blanchard
(1962), unconformities of flat attitude near the
earths surface are especially favourable to the
formation of such mushrooming ironstone
deposits. He attributed this to ready circulation
along the unconformity contact and different
chemical compositions of rock units on either
side of it. During continuing burial oxidation
changed to reducing conditions. Subsequent
uplift and erosion removed most of the volcanic
cover and some of the ironstone, which was
subjectedtorenewedoxidation(Stage3).
4.3 EasternSulawesiProvince
Mineralization types found in Eastern Sulawesi
are mostly associated with the provinces large
ophiolite masses. They include lateritic nickel
and iron deposits, and primary and secondary
chromite deposits. A few small pieces of Cu
bearing siliceous rock found near Lampea, south
of Malili, are probably also derived from
ophiolitic rocks (van Bemmelen, 1949). In
addition alluvial and primary gold are known to
occur in a few localities, mostly notably at
Bombana, the origin of which has not yet been
established. Figure 35 shows where most or the
known mineral deposits and occurrences are
located.
4.3.1 Nickellateritedeposits
ThetotalexposureofophioliterocksinSulawesi
isoneofthelargestintheworld.Thiscombined
withfavourableclimatic,topographic,vegetation
and structural control conditions have given rise
totheformationofalargenumberofdepositsof
varying size, from a few million tonnes to
>200Mt, the largest of which are found in the
Soroako, Pomalaa, Bahodopi and LaSampala
areas (Table 6). Information used for the
followingdiscussionwasobtainedfrompapersby
Golightly (1973, 1981), Harju (1973), Melky
Budiantoro et al. (2010), Rafianto and Tutuko
(2010) and Rafianto (2011), and written
communications from M. Hartley (2011),
Suratman(2010),andG.Tutuko(2011).
Ultramaficrockexposures,theprincipalparental
rockfornickellateritedevelopment,arepresent
inthreeforms:
i) Aslargeirregularmasses,thelargestofwhich
is found in the Lake Area District (Lakes
Mantano, Towuti and Mahalona) covering
several thousand sq km. This body contains
the Soroako, Bahodopi and La Sampala
deposits.
ii) As imbricated tectonic slices following the
general structural grain of the obduction
complexinwhichtheyoccur.
iii) As small irregularshaped and isolated bodies
which commonly appear to be aligned along
regional trends, as for example SuaSua, Pao
PaoandPomalaa.
Laterite development is controlledby six main
factors: i) nature of the ultramafic parent rock;
degreeofserpentinization;iii)climaticconditions
(rainfall, temperature); iv)degree of faulting,
fracturing, shearing, and jointing in the bedrock;
v) geomorphology; and vi) rate of
ersosion.Favourablegeomorphologicallandforms
(which are an important guide in the initial
exploration phase) include plateaus, terraces,
rollinghills,andgentlehillflanksandridgespurs.
Fromnorthtosouththereisadistinctchangein
geomorphological character. The East Arm is an
extremely rugged terrain, up to 3000m high,
consistingofperidotitehorstblocksandmolasse
filled graben structures, which is undergoing
rapid active erosion, resulting in a highly
dissected topography. These conditions do no
favourextensivelateritedevelopmentconditions.
79


Figure34.DiagramshowingthedevelopmentofmanganiferousironstonesatBiru

80


Figure 35. Eastern Sulawesi. Distribution of mineralization types,

and location of deposits and prospects mentioned in the text; for
symbolsseeFigure5

Figure 36. Simplified geological map of Bombana area showing location of artisanal
miningandcolluvial/primaryAuSbmineralization(modifiedafterSuronoandTang,2009)

81

Table6.MainnickelresourcesinEasternSulawesi

Name Material Volume(DWT) Grade(%Ni)

Bahodopi saprolite 200,000,000 1.86
BahubuluIsl saprolite 17,500,000 2.30
limonite 103,000,000 1.53
LaSampalaSouth saprolite 51,000,000 2.10
limonite 111,000,000 1.41
Pomelaa limonite 222,000,000 1.45
saprolite 60,000,000 1.65
Soroako saprolite 26,000,000 1.74
saprolite 55,000,000 1.88
138,000,000 1.30
Source:vanLeeuwenandPieters(2011)

Table7.Mineraldeposittypes:distributionintime

Pliocene Porphyry CuAu; porphyry Mo; high, intermediate and low

latestMiocene sulphidation epithermal AuAg; intrusionrelated Au; intrusionrelated
basemetalAu;NiFelaterite;Au,CrandFeplacerdeposits.

LateMiocene PorphyryCuAu;FeAuCuskarn;intrusionrelatedbasemetalAu;Mn
ironstones.

MiddleMiocene SedimenthostedAu.
oryounger
Oligocene CuZnPbvolcanogenicmassivesulphides.

Eocene ?SedimenthostedCu.

Cretaceous PrimaryCr.

82
The central region, comprising the Soroako
Bahodopi La Sampala ultramafic terrain, has
experiencedrelativelylessuplift.Somelargeup
faultedorarchedareashavelocalreliefinexcess
of 600m and are being actively eroded. Other
areas, in particular the Lake Area District
comprise extensive lateritecovered plateaus
which are partly capped by ferricrete and have
dissected peripheral areas with well developed
nickelbearing saprolites. Movement along the
leftlateral Matano strikeslip fault caused the
blocking off the northward drainage along the
Tamalako valley to form the lakes. This in turn
causedariseinbaselevel,thusretardingerosion
and helping preserve laterite deposits in the
district. In theSoutheastArm the topographyis
older and relatively subdued, a favourable
condition for deep lateritic development.
However, as the ultramafic bodies in this region
are mostly small, individual deposits are also
generallysmallinsize.
The weathering profile commonly varies from 5
to 30m in thickness. At Soroako, the laterite
deposits form remnants of once extensive
erosionalsurfacesatdifferenttopographiclevels,
with the thickest laterite development usually
occurring on the lower levels. These levels host
numerous internally drained, swampy
depressions that may be filled with transported
limonite, in places overlying buried Crrich
cemented pisoliticduricrust. At La Sampala
South, an unusually thick laterite profile has
developed,whichisupto70mthickandoverlain
byanupto9mthickferricretelayer.Thedeposit
occupiesalargedepression.Mostofthenickelis
residual following removal of large amounts of
SiO2andMgOduringtheweatheringofthehost
rocks. This process is most effective in cases
wherethehostrockisserpentinizedandsheared,
causing significant volume collapse.
Hypogeneserpentinization (i.e. preweathering)
already leaches some SiO2 from the protore, in
contrast to supergene serpentinization.
Saprolites after hypogeneserpentinized protores
tend to have relatively high melting points, and
hence such material is probably best suited for
hydrometallurgicaltreatment.
The Sulawesi laterite deposits fall into two
categories: i) those developed over
unserpentinized bedrock, usually harzburgite
(e.g. Soroako West, La Sampala North), and 2)
thoseformedoverbedrockcontainingfrom20%
to 90% serpentinized olivine, usually lherzolite,
(e.g.SoroakoEast,Bahodopi,LaSampalaSouth).
In this paper we refer to them as type I and II
respectively. Ultramafic rocks originally
containingahighproportionofforsteriticolivine,
which host a Ni content of between 0.2 and 0.4
wt %, constituteparticularly good protoliths. The
lateriteprofileinbothtypesconsistsofanupper
limonitezoneandalowersaprolitezone.
The limonite zone is the oldest layer in the
profile. It is similar in either deposit type
including a usually <1m thick discontinuous
ferricrete cap, the main difference being that
stringers of quartz are commonly found only in
type1andthelimoniteinthistypetendstohave
a yelloworange colour as compared to the
darkerbrown or yellowbrown colour of type II
limonite.TheaverageFecontentofthelimonite
zone is typically on the order of 4546.5%. The
values are highest in the top part and decrease
gradually toward the bottom of the zone. A
sharpdropintheFecontentmarkstheboundary
with the saprolite zone. Because of their
solubility SiO2 and MgO occur in relatively small
amounts (<10 and 3% respectively). Average Ni
contents of limonite material are typically in the
0.9 to 1.2% range, with the highest values (1.3
1.5% Ni) occurring in the bottom part, which is
usually <5m thick. Over the unserpentinized
peridotite(typeI)thelimoniteisseparatedfrom
the saprolite zone by a thin limonite band with
around1.6%Ni.
The saprolite zone shows more variability
betweenthetwoprotolithtypes.Saprolitefrom
typeIcontainscoresofunweatheredharzburgite
withyellowtoorangesaproliterimsandfracture
fillofgarnierite,quartzandMnO.Thisorecanbe
substantially and cheaply upgraded by screening
outthefreshrockmaterial.TypeIIsaprolitecan
be divided into immature or hard saprolite,
which can be similar in appearance as bedrock
but shows a different geochemical signature,
including higher Ni, and mature or soft
83
saprolite, which is composed of soft, friable
materialandinsomecasesdifficulttodistinguish
visually from the overlying limonite zone. Soft
saprolite usually overlies hard saprolite, but the
reverse may also be the case. Generally the Ni
content of rocky saprolite is lower than that of
soft saprolite (e.g. Bahodopi: average 1.44%
versus1.87%).ThesaprolitezoneintheSulawesi
deposits is generally 5 to 10m thick and has
averageNigradesof1.7to2.3%.
4.3.2 Felateritedeposits
AnumberoflateritedepositsinEasternSulawesi
havelowNicontents(<1%)andcanbeclassified
as iron laterites. Exploration programmes
conducted by the Netherlands Indies
Governmentbetween1916and1921resultedin
thediscoveryofabout10deposits,thelargestof
which is located on the right bank of the Larona
River, near Lake Towuti. This deposit was
investigated in some detail outlining measured
reservesof370millionwithanair driedcontent
of49%Fe.Extensivemetallurgicalstudieswere
undertaken from 1918 to 1926, but the lack of
cokingcoalintheIndonesianregion,suitablefor
the blastfurnace process, proved to be a major
stumbling block. New processes subsequently
developed in Germany and Holland, which did
not require the use of coking coal, were never
put to the test in Sulawesi because of the
outbreakofWorldWarII.
The iron laterite deposit at Larona has been
described by Dieckmann and Julius (1925). It
occurs in a tectonic depression within a
peridotite terrain, which in earlier times was
covered by water. During that time the laterite
deposit developed, covering an area of about
25km2andvaryinginthicknessfromafewmeters
to20m.
4.3.3 Chromite
Chromiteoccursinanumberoflocationsassmall
lensshaped bodies hosted byperidotite. The
largestreporteddepositisfoundnearLataoeon
the coast, containing 3000t @ 50% Cr2O3 (PSDG,
2010).
Of greater economic significance are placer
depositsfoundalonga+30kmstretchoftheeast
coast,intheBungkuarea,about200kmnorthof
Kendari.Thefollowingbriefdescriptionisbased
on Asia Pacific Mining (1990), Utoyo (2010) and
Toreno(2010).
The chromite deposits occur as old beach and
strand line deposits located 50 to 400m inland
from the present day beaches. They lie on a
basementofbarrenmarinegravelandextendto
surface or rarely are covered by <1m of recent
swamp material and soil. The chromite is
accompanied by magnetite, hematite, ilmenite,
quartz, and peridotite fragments. The heavy
mineral suite is contained in sands, sandy gravel
and their clay rich soil equivalents with a
thickness of 1.5 to 3.5m. The chromitebearing
layers increase in thickness towards the coast.
Chromite contents vary from 1 kg/m3 to 29.2
kg/m3,averaging13kg/m3.
4.3.4 Gold
Up to recently, the only reported gold
mineralizationwasalluvialgoldinAerLagegoand
Leboniarea(DieckmannandJulius,1925).InAer
Lagego, located north of malili, float consists
mostly of metamorphic rocks, milky to clear
quartz,andminorgranite.Alluvialgoldgradesof
up to 400 mg/ cu m were obtained. The Leboni
area is located close to the boundary with
WesternSulawesi,fromwhichthegoldmayhave
beenderived.Alluvialgoldwasobservedinthe2
km wide valley of S. Tedeboe with local reports
suggestingittobepresentoveradistanceof10
km.
In 2008, a sudden gold rush took place in the
Langkowala area (Bombana Regency) following
the discovery of placer gold (Figure 36). It
involvedinitiallyabout20,000traditionalminers,
a number that swelled the next year to more
than 63,000 (Surono and Tang, 2009). Gold is
recovered from both active stream sediments
and paleoalluvial material contained in the
Lower Miocene Langkowala Formation (Celebes
Molasse). Gold grains have subrounded to
angular shapes (Makkawaro and
Kamrullah,2009). Reported grades range from
84
0.16to22.12g/m3(www.esdm.go.id;1622010).
The gold is accompanied by cinnabar with both
mineralsgenerallyshowingapositiverelationship
Gold is also found in colluvial material on the
northern slopes of the nearby Rumbia mountain
range (Idrus et al., 2010). This area is underlain
by various metamorphic rocks, including mica
schists, amphibole schists, metasediments,
metavolcanics and serpentinizedperiodite, which
have undergone greenschistfacies
metamorphism,andinplacescontainAubearing
quartz veins (Idrus et al., 2010;Setiawan et al.,
2011).Theprimarygoldmineralizationhasbeen
described by Idrus et al. (2010), Setiawan et al.
(2010), , Musri et al. (2011b), and Idrus and
Prihatmoko(2011).
There are at least three generations of quartz
veins.Thefirstgroupconsistsof2cmto2mthick
veins that are roughly parallel to the foliation of
mica schists, phyllites and metasediments in up
to10mwidezones.Theyarecommonlymassive
tocrystalline,andsheared,brecciated,andlocally
boudinaged. The second group is composed of
narrow (<20cm), more massive quartz veins that
cross cut the first generation of veins and
foliation. They show a fair degree of brecciation
and contain rare bladed carbonate
pseudomorphs. The third group consists of
laminated quartzcalcite veins, which are
interpretatedtobelatestage.
The host rocks are generally weakly altered.
Alteration types include silicification, clay
sericitesilica, which is largely restricted to
narrow(<1m)veinselvages,carbonatealteration,
and carbonization. Carbonate alteration is
characterized by calcite veinlets/stringers, and
carbonization by the rare presence of graphite
withinoradjacenttoquartzveins.
The quartz veins and silicified wall rocks contain
very finegrained pyrite, chalcopyrite, cinnabar,
stibnite, tripuhyite (a FeSb oxide mineral), and
rarearsenopyrite.Onlysmallamountsarehosted
by the quartz veins. Cinnabar commonly occurs
asthinlayersalongthefoliationofmetamorphic
rocks.Stibniteandtripuhyitefillfracturesparallel
to the the foliation and are disseminated within
silicified wallrock. Gold is mostly very fine
grained,butisoccasionallyvisibleasfreegoldin
quartz veins. It appears to be erratically
distributed with grades varying from below
detection limit (0,005g/t) to 134 g/t. Available
evidence suggests that the bulk of the gold is
associatedwiththe2ndand3rdgenerationveins.
Base metal values are consistently low, while
arsenicisdistinctlyanomalous.
Preliminary fluid inclusion data presented by
Idrus and Prihatmoko (2011) show the following
homogenization and salinity values: 1st
generation veins, 184 to 245 C, 5.3 to 9.1 wt%
NaCl eq; 2nd generation, 132 to 283 C, 3.6 to
5.9wt%NaCl eq;and3rd generation,114to176
C,0.35wt%NaCleq.Thegeneraldecreaseinfluid
temperature and salinity is attributed to mixing
ofmagmaticandmetamorphicfluidswithcooler,
less saline fluids. CO2rich fluid inclusions are
rare.
As pointed out by Idrus et al. (2010) the gold in
the alluvials and paleoalluvials is likely to be
derived from the quartz veined metamorphics
because of i) the juvenile nature of the alluvial
gold grains, indicating limited transport; and ii)
increasing abundance of gold grains in the
colluvial material inan upslope direction, anda
decreasein gold content in present stream
sediments away from the metamorphic rock
outcrops.
A>100mlongand10mthicklensofcoarse(upto
10cm)stibnitecrystalsoccursinthevicinityofthe
alluvialworkingsinalteredNeogenecalcarenites
near the faulted contact of the metamorphic
terraneandclosetoahotspring.Thestibniteis
accompanied by galena and minor chalcopyrite.
Goldwasobservedasnuggetsinthecalcarenites
at a depth of 20m in a hole drilled beneath the
stibnite lens (Musri, pers. com., 2011; Musri et
al.,2011).
4.3.4.1 Comments
The origin of the primary gold mineralization at
Bombano is not certain as it has been subjected
to only preliminary studies. Idrus et al. (2010)
and Idrus and Prihatmoko (2011) suggest that it
85
may belong to the orogenic gold type based on
its (spatial) association with greenschist facies
metamorphics and the sheared/deformed,
segmented, and locally sigmoidal nature of the
1st generation quartz veins. They interpret the
presenceofstibniteandcinnabartoindicatethat
the mineralization is transitional between
mesozonal and epizonal mineralization, and
suggestthatpressureconditionsatthisrelatively
shallowlevelwerenotsufficienttopreserveC02
in the hydrothermal fluids. ( The common
presence of CO2 in fluids is often used to
distinguishorogenicgoldfromothermajortypes
of gold deposits).Stibnite is a common sulphide
phaseinorogenicgolddepositshostedbymeta
sedimentaryrocks,whichmayalsobeenrichedin
mercury, reflecting the association of Hg, aswell
as Sb, As, and Au, with sulphur ligands in low
salinity hydrothermal fluids (Goldfarb et al.,
2005).
Setiawan et al. (2010) interpret the
mineralization to postdate the regional
metamorphic event as indicated by the
crosscutting relationship of the (2nd generation)
veins with the foliation of host rocks and by the
replacementofmuscovitebyepidoteandquartz
by calcite adjacent to the veins. They link it to
postorogenicmagmatic/hydrothermalactivity.
Based on the limited information at hand we
proposethefollowingspeculativescenerio.There
have been at least two mineralizing events; pre
Neogene,asevidencedbytheoccurrenceofgold
in the Neogene paleoalluvials, and Neogene or
younger, as indicated by the presence of the
stibnitegoldveinthatishostedbyNeogenecalc
arenites. The earlier event produced the 1st
generation veins hosted by the metamorphic
complex, which may be of orogenic origin. The
younger event generated stibnitegold veins
hosted by both metamorphicc basement rocks
and overlying Neogene sedimentary rocks. The
veins are epithermal in nature and associated
with volcanism. Surono (written comm., 2011)
observed large (>2.5m) boulders of unaltered
andesite in the Bombana area (north of
Kasiputih) and notes that this rock type has not
beenfoundasfragmentsinconglomeratesofthe
Neogene formations that surround the
metamorphic complex, suggesting that a young
volcanic event took place in the area. The hot
waterspring may represent the waning stage of
thisevent.
Clearly, much more work is required to gain a
betterunderstandingofthenatureandoriginof
the mineralization in this newly discovered gold
district.
5.0 Discussion
In this section we discuss some aspects of the
metallogeny of Sulawesi and topics related to
mineralexplorationandminingintheregion.
5.1 Distribution of Sulawesi mineral deposits
inspaceandtime
While establishing the distribution of Sulawesis
mineral deposits and prospects in space is
relatively straightforward, their time distribution
ismoreproblematic,asonlyafewdepositshave
been accurately dated. If the age of the host
rocks is known this will give a maximum age for
the mineralization, or if the two are genetically
related, the actual age, whereas the age of
spatially associated postmineralization rocks
provides a minimum age. Using these criteria
and data presented in the previous chapter we
haveassignedthevariousmineralizationtypesto
broadagebrackets(Table7).
Northern Sulawesi is characterized by the
presence of mineralization types that are
commonlyassociatedwithcalcalkalinemagmatic
arcs. These include porphyry CuAuMo, high
intermediate and lowsulphidation epithermal
AuAgveinandbreccia,intrusionrelatedAubase
metal vein, FeAu skarn, and VMS deposits.
Erosion of goldbearing rocks and volcanics has
resulted in the formation of alluvial Au and Fe
beach sands deposits respectively. The only
mineralizationstylethatisunusualforSulawesis
islandarcsettingisCarlinlikesedimenthosted
Au.
As can be seen on Figure 6, known mineral
deposits and occurrences are not evenly
86
distributed within Northern Sulawesi. This is
related to both geological and nongeological
factors.AreasofPleistoceneRecentalluvialand
volcanic cover rocks appear to lack
mineralization, as do large batholiths. The
Paleogene Papayato Volcanics host only
insignificant younger gold mineralization, and a
few small contemporaneous VMS deposits. The
majorityofthedepositsandprospectsappearto
occur in areas of Middle Miocene Pliocene
rocks. The absence of porphyry Cu deposits in
most of the Minahassa section is probably
becausethisregionislessdeeplyerodedthanthe
Gorontalo section. There appears to be a
noticeable concentration of gold deposits in the
areawheretheNorthArmbendsintoanortheast
direction. Both northeast and nortwest graben
structures are well developed in this area,
suggesting that these extensional structures
have influenced the distribution of gold
mineralization.
Anexampleofanongeologicalfactorinfluencing
thespatialdistributionisthelocationofthelarge
NaniWartaboneNationalPark,eastofGorontalo.
Very few deposits/occurrences have been
recorded from this area, with the exception of
the Tombulilato and Tapadaa districts, which
werediscoveredpriortotheestablishmentofthe
park in 1991. Furthermore the high
concentrationofdepositsandoccurrencesfound
in the central part of the Gorontalo section
reflects,atleastinpart,thefactthatthisareahas
beencoveredbymorethanoneregionalsurvey,
including the systematic exploration programme
carried out by Newcrest in the 1990s. Pearson
andCaira(1999)noteatotalof184prospectsand
mineral occurrences in this region, comprising
the following mineralization types; porphyry Cu
Au(39occurrences),porphyryrelatedveins(44),
skarn (9), intermediatesulphidation epithermal
Au (31), highsulphidation epithermal CuAuAs
(3), gold and base metalbearing hydrothermal
breccias (37), and sedimenthosted gold (12). Of
these, 31 prospects have been drill tested, the
othersaremostlysmalloccurrencesforwhichno
information is available. Figure 7 in Pearson and
Caira(1999)showstheirdistribution.
A conceptual model for the mineralization types
observedinNorthernSulawesiisshowninFigure
37. The Pliocene was in terms of both quantity
and quality the most important mineralizing
epochinNorthernSulawesi(Table7).Allknown
economic and subeconomic deposits were
formed during this time (with the possible
exception of Mesel), e.g. Toka Tindung, Riska,
Bolangitang, Gunung Pani and the Tombulilato
porphyry systems, which represent the main
mineralization styles in the province. Many of
the hydrothermal breccia deposits were also
generated during the Pliocene (Pearson and
Caira, 1999) together with some intrusion
(porphyry)relatedAubasemetalveinsystems.
AnumberofmetaldeficientporphyryCuAuMo
systems developed during the Late Miocene.
Locally extensive skarn mineralization, also with
lowmetalgrades(e.g.Matinan6),areassociated
withthesesystems.Incontrast,peripheralbase
metalAuveinscommonlyhavehighgoldgrades.
A number of these have been mined in the past
by the Dutch or are still being exploited by local
miners, such as Paleleh, Sumalata and Kasia.
SomeoftheMiocenesystemsarecutbyyounger
(Pliocene?) intermediatesulphidation veins and
also by superimposed peripheral porphyry
relatedveins,whichatteststocontemporaneous
rapid rates of uplift, leading to telescoping of
mineralizationtypes(PearsonandCaira,1999).
The only example of mineralization older than
midMioceneisVMSmineralizationhostedinthe
upper (latest Oligocene earliest Miocene) part
ofthePapayatoVolcanics.
Theageofthesedimenthostedmineralizationat
Mesel is poorly constrained. A Middle Miocene
age of the host limestones and andesites which
cut them and are altered near the contact with
the ore bodies gives a maximum age for the
mineralization. Turner (2002) reports the
presence of Early Pliocene andesite intrusions in
the Ratatotok district, but their relationship to
themineralizationhasnotbeenestablished.
Pliocene gold and copper deposits are also
dominant relative to other periods elsewhere in
SE Asia. It has been suggested that this reflects
87
increased likelihood of erosion with increasing
age(e.g.Sillitoe,1989;CarlileandMitchell,1994;
Garwin et al., 2005). Barley et al. (2002) point
out that although erosion will certainly remove
older nearsurface ore deposits, prePliocene
volcanic and highlevel intrusive rocks are
commoninSEAsianarcswithlittleevidencethat
they were richly mineralized.They suggest
anotherfactorthatplayedanimportantroleisa
major tectonic reorganization that has occurred
intheSEAsianregionsinceabout5Ma,andthat
in Northern Sulawesi this led to subduction
reversal with subduction being initiated at the
North Sulawesi trench. In such a setting, local
extensionmayresultfromslowingsubductionon
one side of the volcanic arc and incipient
subduction on the other. This would induce
melting of subarc mantle that had been both
metasomatized and previously melted by earlier
episodes subduction, with such magmas being
intrinsicallygoldrich(Solomon,1990).
SuchascenarioisfavouredbyPerello(1994)for
the Tombulilato district. He suggests that the
reversal of arc polarity was caused by the
collision of the Sula microcontinent with
Sulawesi. Pearson and Caira (1999) believe that
strongdextraltension causedbythe collision,at
the close of the Miocene, led to arc parallel
rifting. Sinistral reactivation of major early
structures in the Pliocene caused further rifting
and ENEdilation with Pliocene intrusions and
related mineralization exploiting these dilational
settings.
WesternSulawesidiffersfromNorthernSulawesi
in both the types and number of known mineral
depositsandoccurrences(Figures25and38).A
notablefeatureofitsmetallogenyistheapparent
lack of significant highto lowsulphidation
epithermal AuAg mineralization. Another
differencewithNorthernSulawesiisthepresence
of a mediumsized porphyry Mo deposit and
several gold deposits of uncertain origin,
tentativelyreferredtointhispaperas intrusion
related Au deposits. More obviously intrusion
related deposits occur around several small
porphyryCuAusystemsandotherintrusions.In
contrast to the intrusionrelated Au type, they
contain significant amounts of base metals and
aregenerallysulphiderich.
The(apparent)poordevelopmentofvolcanicarc
related mineralization in Western Sulawesi is
rather puzzling. During the Neogene the region
witnessed widespread and intensive shoshonitic
toultrapotassic(HK)magmatism.Thismagmatic
type has elsewhere produced major porphyry
copperandgolddeposits(e.g.MullerandGroves,
1993; Sillitoe, 1997). Potassic alkaline igneous
suites are generally thought to be formed by
melting of subarc mantle that has been
extensively metasomatized by fluids from earlier
subduction events, which may generate fluid
rich, highly oxidized magmas and destabilize
mantle sulphides to release Cu and Au (McInnes
andCameron,1994).
Muller and Groves (1993) discuss four different
tectonic settings in which potassic igneous rocks
occur together with their associated
mineralization. These are: 1)late oceanic arcs
(examples; Ladolam gold deposit in Papua New
Guinea and Emperor gold mine in Fiji); 2)
continentalarcs(CrippleCreekgolddistrictinthe
USA and the Chilean Andes porphyry Cu
province); 3) postcollisional/postsubduction
arcs(Porgeragolddeposit,GrasbergandOKTedi
porphyry CuAu deposits in New Guinea);and 4)
within plate tectonic setting (no direct genetic
association with economic gold or base metal
mineralizationknown).
Asdiscussedearlier,theNeogenetectonicsetting
ofWesternSulawesiisamatterofdisagreement,
some workers favour a synto postcollisional
setting related to the docking of the Sula
microcontinent or another continental fragment
with Sulawesi (e.g. Kavalieris et al., 1992;
Bergmanetal.,1996;Polvetal.,1997),whereas
others believe it was mostly extensional in
characterandmoreakintoawithinplatesetting
(e.g. Yuwono et al., 1988; Hall, 2009; van
Leeuwen et al., 2010). However, the setting is
distinctly different from the withinplate setting
inMullerandGroves(1993)classification(which
includes the African Rift) in which potassic
volcanicrocks,unliketheirWesternSulawesi
88


Figure 37. Conceptual model for mineralization types in the Northern
SulawesiProvince

Figure 38. Conceptual model for mineralization types in The Western
SulawesiProvince

89
brethern, do not display a geochemical
subductionsignature.
Whatever the nature of the Neogene tectonic
setting of Western Sulawesi it appears to have
been conducive to generating the intrusion
related Au mineralization. Rapiduplift ,
voluminous CAK magmatism, and high heat flow
mayhaveplayedaroleintheirformation.While
a direct genetic connection between this
magmatism and the gold mineralization has not
been established, a broad spatial relationship
existsinthatthemoresignificantgoldprospects
occur in the CAK granitoid belt, as do the
porphyry molybdenum prospects.There is also a
temporal relationship; both the granitoids and
theCWSgoldandMalalamolybdenumprospects
formed duringthe latestMiocenePliocene.Itis
worthnotingthepresenceofanumberofalluvial
gold occurrences in the granitoid belt between
PalopoandPalu.Itistemptingtospeculate that
the gold is, in part,derived from mineralization
that is similar to that found at Awak Mas,
MangkalukuandPoboya.
Regarding the formation ages of the other
mineralization types in Western Sulawesi,
porphyry Cu and associated skarn and base
metalgold vein mineralization appears to be
related to potassic alkaline magmatism, which
took place between about 14 and 5 my. Hence
this is the maximum age bracket of the
mineralization.Themanganiferousironstonesat
Biru developed over a relatively long period, ie
MiddleMiocenetoRecent.,andtheKurokotype
mineralization at Sangkaropi formed some time
duringtheOligocene.
Differences in the nature of the basement (cf
Garwin, 2000) may be one of the reasons that
Northern and Western Sulawesi have developed
asdistinctmetallogenicprovinces.TheNorthern
Sulawesi and Sangihe arcs are built on oceanic
crust. Most Cu and Au deposits formed within
and adjacent to highlevel intrusions, which are
emplaced in Neogene volcanic to volcaniclastic
sequences. The thin nature of the oceanic crust
facilitatedtheascentofcausativeintrusionstoa
relativelyhighcrustedlevel.Incontrast,Western
Sulawesi is largely underlain by thick continental
crustwiththemajorityofdepositsandassociated
intrusions being hosted in Eocene and older
formations. This suggests that the heat sources
responsibleforthepalaeohydrothermalsystems
were largely confined to deeper crustal levels.
Garwin (2000) suggests that magmatic arcs that
overlie transitional zones between continental
and oceanic crusts are sets of weakness and a
potential focus of mineralization. This type of
settingappearstofavourlargetonnageandlow
grade disseminated and vein stockwork,
intermediatesulphidation gold deposits like
GunungPani.
The distribution of most of Eastern Sulawesis
known mineral deposits and occurrences is
obviously closely linked to the location of
peridotiteexposures.Othercontrollingfactorsin
the case of NiFe laterite deposits include
topography and rates of uplift and erosion.
Because of economic reasons areas located
relatively close to the coast have been more
thoroughly explored than the hinterland, which
probably explains why most of the known (or at
least reported) Ni deposits are found within a
radiusoflessthan10kmfromthecoast.Theages
of the Ni and Fe laterite deposits have not been
accurately established. Golightly (1979)
estimated that about 15 Mawere needed to
form the laterite profilesat Soroako. He
suggested that the laterization process started
earlier in the southeastern part of Eastern
Sulawesi than further north. As mentioned
above, limited evidence suggests that gold
mineralizationatBombanatookplacebothprior
andduringoraftertheNeogene.
5.2 Discoveryhistoryofmineralizationstyles
Here we discuss when in Sulawesi the more
important mineralization types were first found
(and recognized as such). A summary is
presentedinTable8.
Likeinmanyotherpartsoftheworld,theoldest
known mineralization type is represented by
low/intermediate sulphidation epithermal gold
veins. This style was first documented from
Sumalata in Northern Sulawesi (van Schelle,
90
1983), but is likely to have been known to the
localpopulationforamuchlongerperiod.
From an economic point of view, the next
discovery has been the most important in
Sulawesis exploration history, namely the
discovery of Nilaterite in Eastern Sulawesi in
1916. It resulted from the recognition that the
extensive ophiolite exposures found some years
earlierhadthepotentialtogiverisetoNiandFe
laterite deposits. Around the same time base
metalAuveinswerefoundintheSasakarea.
After more than 30 years of hardly any
exploration activities porphyry Cu mineralization
was discovered at Sasak in 1969 and soon
afterwards in the North Arm. It was at a time
when this typeof mineralization had become a
majorexplorationtargetinvariousotherpartsof
the world. An unexpected outcome of the
porphyry Cu search during the 1970s was the
discovery of the Malala porphyry Mo deposit, a
type of mineralization that had previously not
beenreportedfromtheSEAsianregion.
The 1980s witnessed the discovery ofthree new
gold mineralization styles, i.e. highsulphidation
epithermal Au at Motomboto, sedimenthosted
(Carlinlike) mineralization at Mesel, and
intrusionrelatedAuatAwakMas.
Like the discovery of Malala, Mesels was
unexpected as sedimenthosted style gold
mineralization had previously not been reported
from Indonesia (although it was known to occur
in the Bau district in Sabah), and furthermore it
wasthefirstexampleofsuchstyleoccurringina
volcanic island arc setting. It was probably no
coincidence that the discovery was made by
Newmont,acompanywithvastexperienceinthe
exploration and mining of Carlin deposits in
Nevada. Less of a surprise was the discovery of
highsulphidation style mineralization at
Motomboto as Northern Sulawesi has the right
setting.Itisinfactmoresurprisingthatthistype
hadnotbeenfoundearlierasitcommonlyforms
distincttopographicfeatures(silicaledges)and
long float trains of silica material. It is possible
that earlier prospectors found highsulphidation
mineralization but did not pursue it because of
the generally low gold grades associated with it.
The intrusionrelated Au style is, as discussed
earlier, of uncertain origin. Some characteristics
which distinguish it from the low base metal
variety of intermediatesulphidation epithermal
mineralization are Au/Ag >1 and no apparent
associationwithcontemporaneousvolcanics.
The most recent discovery is either low
sulphidation Au style, which was foundat Toka
Tindung in 1994 (at the time low and
intermediatesulphidation styles were still
grouped together).,or possibly, pending further
studies,orogenicAuatBombana.
What next? Will it be nickel sulphides, which
since 2008 have become a prime exploration
target of PT Inco (Rafianto et al., 2011), or
perhapssedimenthostedcopperintheCopper
Slates of CW Sulawesi? Or will indications of
anomalous Sn, W, Zr and Ta values in many
streamsedimentsamplescollectedfromBanggai
and Labulo islands in the BanggaiSula Province
(Sukmana, 2006) lead to the discovery of
mineralization types which have as yet not been
recognizedintheSulawesiregion?Onlytimewill
tell.
5.3 Discoverymethods
In this section we discuss what the first
indications were that led to the discovery of the
moresignificantporphyryCu/Mo,goldandnickel
deposits in Sulawesi since 1967. These include
Old Dutch reports, local mining activity, local
knowledge, stream sediment and/or pan
concentrate anomalies, mineralized float, and
remotesensing.Inseveralcasesmorethanone
factorcanbeattributedtoadiscovery(Table9).
Initial area selection for gold and nickel
exploration was based in a number of cases on
the reported presence of mineralization, often
sites of past mining activity (Dutch, artisan
mining).ExamplesincludeG.Pani,Mesel,Doup,
Lanut, Soroako and Pomalaa. In other cases,
virginareaswereselectedonthebasisoftheir
perceived favourable geological setting, which
resulted in the discovery of several new
mineralizeddistricts,e.g.Tombulilato,Malala,
91

Table8.Mineraldeposittypes:yearofdiscovery

Mineralizationstyle Yearofdiscovery
(prospectname)
IntermediatesulphidationepithermalAuAg Pre1831
LateriticNiandFe 1916(Soroako,Pomelaa)
IntrusionrelatedbasemetalAu 1916(Sasak)
PorphyryCuAu 1969(Sasak)
PorphyryMo 1976(Malala)
HighsulphidationepithermalAu 1984(Motomboto)
SedimenthostedAu 1988(Mesel)
IntrusionrelatedAu 1989(AwakMas)
LowsulphidationepithermalAu 1994(TokaTindung)
OrogenicAu(?) 2009(Bombana)

Table9.Discoveryfactors

DepositStyle 1 2 3 4 5
Tombulilato PorphyryCuAu V (V)
Tapadaadistrict PorphyryCuAu V
Bulagidun PorphyryCuAu V
Sasak PorphyryCuAu V
Masabo PorphyryCu V
Malala PorphyryMo V
Binabase HSepithermalAu V
Motomboto HSepithermalAu V
Riska HSepithermalAu V
GunungPani ISepithermalAuAg V
Lanut ISepithermalAuAg V
Doup ISepithermalAuAg V
Tototopo ISepithermalAuAu V
TokaTindung LSepithermalAuAg V V
Mesel SedimenthostedAu V V V
AwakMas IntrusionrelatedAu V V
Poboya IntrusionrelatedAu V
Palopo IntrusionrelatedAu V

1=Dutchminearea;2=localknowledge;3=geochemicalstreamsedimentsampling;
4=floatobservations;5=geophysicalmethods

92
Toka Tindung, south Sangihe, Bahodopi and La
Sampala.
Almost all porphyry districts/deposits were
initiallyidentifiedastheresultofreconnaissance
stream sediment geochemical sampling of major
drainages, primarily as base metal anomalies (in
the 1970s stream sediment samples were not
routinely assayed for gold). As the mineralized
areaswerecoveredbydensetropicalrainforest
withverypoorrockexposure,detailedfollowup
sampling of 2nd order streams was required to
locate the source of the anomalies. After that
the normal sequence of methods applied was:
soil sampling (contour or grid), pitting, trenching
and ground geophysical survey, and drilling.
Gunung Lintang and West Kayabulan Ridgeare
the only examples of a porphyry target being
initially identified from an airborne magnetic
survey. There are no documented cases of
geophysicshavingplayedasignificantroleduring
the prospect evaluation stage of porphyry
systems.
As seen at Tombulilato, in a single porphyry Cu
district styles of host rocks and
mineralization/alteration can differ significantly.
Similarly, surface expressions of adjacent
porphyry bodies can vary widely within a very
short distance with patterns of leaching and
enrichment being controlled by features of the
geology which cannot be seen or assessed at an
early stage of exploration. As an example, at
Cabang Kiri and Cabang Kiri Northwest three
porphyry systems are present which have low
sulphide contents. As a result formation of
copperoxidesandenrichmenthastakenplacein
theweatheringzone.Becauseofthepronounced
Cu anomalism these systems were quickly
identifiedduringtheinitialexplorationstage,but
subsequently proved to be of little interest. In
sharp contrast, nearby Cabang Kiri East, which
has a higher pyrite content and relatively inert
alteration assemblages, has been strongly
leachedandsignificantsecondaryenrichmenthas
occurredbelowthezoneofoxidation.Asubdued
geochemical base metal surface expression and
lack of outcrop made this orebody invisible
during the early followup stage. Gold in soil Turneretal.(1994)attributedthelackofgoldin
subsequently proved to be an excellent
pathfinder (Lowder and Dow, 1978). Another
exampleisKayubulanRidge,whichyieldedstrong
geochemical anomalies, but no geological
indications despite occurring in steep terrain. A
number of experienced geologists knowing the
copper anomalies were there walked past this
area in 1973 looking hard for the source but
failingtofindit(TvL,unpublisheddata).
Stream sediment sampling has been a less
dominant factor in the gold discoveries made in
Sulawesiduringthepast30years(Table9).
One of the more interesting gold discovery
histories is that of Mesel in which local
knowledge played a key role. Outcropping
mineralization at Mesel was sampled by the
Dutch with shallow trenches and pits, but the
prospect was not pursued, probably because of
therefractorynatureofthegold.Morethan60
years later, Newmont applied for a COW area
over the Ratatotok district. Following initial
disappointing results from the Lobongan and
Alason areas, Steve Turner, who was the project
manager at the time, showed a collection of
typical goldbearing rocks to several local field
assistants. Two of them remembered having
seen similar rocks while working for a logging
company a decade earlier, in an area located
2.5km to the west of Hais. The area was
prospected for a few days. Channel samples
taken over 25m from very ordinarylooking
silicified limestone returned an average grade of
8.9g/tAu.(HendriandFarmer,1997).Afterthat
Newmontneverlookedback.
As mentioned above, Newmonts exploration
activity was initially directed at old Dutch
workingslocatedabout2.5kmfromMesel,which
produced highly anomalous Au results in both
BLEGandstreamsedimentsamples.Incontrast,
Mesel was barely detected by BLEG sampling,
andnogoldwasdetectedinpannedconcentrates
or80meshsilt.Furthermorehardlyanyaltered
float was observed (Turner et al., 1994). Thus
had it not been for local knowledge Mesel may
nothavebeen(re)discovered.
streamsedimentandpanconcentratesamplesto
93
twofactors:themicronsizednatureofthegold
and the host rocks being limestone. In the
weatheringzonethemobilityofgoldwasgreatly
reduced as oxidizing fluids were chemically
buffered to a nearneutral pH by the limestone
soils.Shallowaugersamplingresultsshowedno
apparent downslope hydromorphic dispersion of
the gold in soil anomalies. Furthermore, any
coarser free is likely to have been trapped in
cavitiesinthekarstedlimestone.
Another example ofthe discovery of a gold
deposit with subdued geochemical expression in
whichlocalknowledgeplayedasignificantroleis
Toka Tindung (Moyle et al., 1997a). During the
initial broadspaced reconnaissance drainage
samplingofthegeneraldistrictnopannablegold
was observed and stream sediment samples
produced only very weakly anomalous to below
detectiongoldresults.A4.9g/tAufloatsample
wasfollowedupinanattempttofinditssource,
but only sparse outcrops of silicified, pyritic
volcaniclastics were observed and quartz vein
floatabundancewaslessthan1%.Subsequently,
alocalfieldassistant(Ako)guidedtheteamtoa
placewherelocalpeoplehadonceattemptedto
dig a shallow shaft. A 2 by 2m wide banded
quartzadularia vein outcrop was discovered and
namedtheAkovein,atwhatisnowknownas
the Toka Tindung deposit, returning 2m @39.2
g/tAuand21g/tAginsemicontinuousrockchip
sampling. The first drill hole drilled after
additional surface work returned 49m @ 2.7 g/t
Au.
BLEGandfinefractionstreamsedimentsampling
failed to detect secondary gold shedding from
Toka Tindung due to the presence of a younger,
widely spread, mantlebedded tephra which had
largely covered the gold deposit and diluted the
surroundingdrainageswithbarrenvolcanicsands
and silts. Thus the keys to discovering Toka
Tindungweregoodprospectingskillsinfindinga
very small amount of mineralized vein float and
local knowledge which resulted in the discovery
ofthesource.
Poboyaisthethirdexampleofawellmineralized
outcropping body (including 55m @ 47 g/t Au)
that yielded only a weak geochemical response.
In 1992, Rio Tinto selected the Neck of Sulawesi
for a rapid BLEG sampling (maximum 1 sample
per25sqkm)combinedwith80+200meshand
200 mesh stream sediment sampling. This
region, which had previously been sampled
during the companys porphyry copper search in
NW Sulawesi when samples were not routinely
assayed for gold, was deemed to be suitable for
this type of survey because of its favourable
logistic, geomorphological and geological
conditions: coastal roads on either side of a
relatively narrow mountain range lacking
widespreadpalaeoalluvials,likeinKalimantan.
The sample collected from the Poboya river,
which cuts the deposit, yielded only subdued
anomalism: 27 ppb Au and 51 ppb Ag in BLEG,
and5ppmMoin200#streamsedimentanalyzed
by NAA. Stream sediment samples were not
anomalousinAuandAgineitherfraction.There
was no obvious sign of quartz vein float. The
reason for this very subtle
geochemical/geological fingerprint is that the
Poboya area is covered by thick deposits of
poorly consolidated sediment (Celebes Molasse)
immediately downstream of the outcropping
mineralization, resulting in significant dilution of
mineralizedmaterial.
InthecaseofAwakMasitwasacombinationof
stream sampling and evidence of past artisan
miningthatresultedinitsdiscovery.Inthemid
1980s, New Hope Consolidated Industries
selected an area for reconnaissance stream
sedimentsamplingintheLuwukDistrict.During
the course of this programme evidence was
found of extensive past artisan mining activities,
resulting in the identification of a number of
drainagebasinsrequiringfurtherinvestigation.A
major drainage survey undertaken in 198889
outlined seven anomalous areas, one of which
was Awak Mas, which was subsequently
identifiedbyrockchipsampling.
Two high sulphidation gold discoveries were the
direct result of tracing mineralized float back to
its outcrop source, i.e. Binabase and Riska. The
first indication of mineralization in the Binabase
area, which did not have a previous history of
exploration or local mining activity, was the
94
presence of boulders of massive gossanous
materialandbariteobservedonthenearbycoast
in 1987. The source was subsequently found a
few km inland. Soil sampling gave encouraging
results, leading to trenching that returned up to
34m@5.2g/tAu,39g/tAg,and52m@2.2g/t
Au and 55 ppm Ag (Swift and Alwin, 1990). In
the case of Riska, one ofNewmonts field teams
traced float back to a ridge formed by silica
alunite altered tuffs. The prospect was
subsequently named Riska, after one of the
discoverersgirlfriend(Nugrohoetal.,2005).
Nickellateritedepositsthathadnotalreadybeen
identified by the Dutch were subsequently
discovered by remote sensing methods, mostly
aerial photography and Landsat interpretation
(Taranik et al., 1978), followed by ground
checking. Aerial photography and Landsat
interpretation assisted in outlining areas
underlainbyultramaficrocksandwithfavourable
geomorphological features. Interestingly, while
LaSampalaNorthwasidentifiedbythismethod,
it failed to recognize La Sampala South. As
mentionedearlier,thisdepositdoesnothavethe
typical morphological expression of most
Sulawesi deposits, but instead occurs in a
swampy depression. However, it was readily
identifiedduringsubsequentfalsecolourLandsat
image interpretation, showing up as a distinct
redcolouranomaly,whichreflectedtheabundant
development of ferricrete in this area (TvL,
unpublisheddata).
5.4 Explorationtrends
Mineral exploration is carried out in several
stages,fromregionalreconnaissancesurveysand
initialfollowup,throughdistrictsizeexploration,
to prospect and detailed deposit investigations.
A company can initiate exploration at any of
thesestages,dependingonanumber offactors,
including the amount of information available,
available opportunities, market conditions,
companystrategy,etc.
Regional reconnaissance and initial follow up
surveys, mainly for porphyry Cu deposits,
dominatedmineralexplorationinSulawesiduring
the1970sandfirsthalfofthe1980s.Atthetime
verylitllewasknownaboutthemineralpotential
of the region, and hence regional surveys were
theonlywaytogeneratetargets.Theearlywork
outlinedseveralporphyryCuAuandModistricts.
Thesecondhalfofthe1980sand1990ssawamix
of regional surveys and more detailed
investigations, this time with gold as the main
target. A number of significant gold discoveries
were made during this period. Since early 2005
the focus has been on advanced exploration of
knowngoldprospects,someofwhichhavehada
longhistoryofexploration.Themainreasonfor
this is that following the drastic downturn in
explorationactivitiesinthelate1990s anumber
ofprospectsbecameavailableatrelativelylowor
no costs. This combined with rising commodity
pricescreatedsomeattractiveopportunities.
ThehistoryofNilateriteexplorationissomewhat
different. Initiallyin the 1970s, it involved both
investigations of known districts and regional
exploration and was carried out by two
companies, viz. INCO and Antam. Significant
resources were outlined at the known Soroako
and Pomalaa districts, a large new deposit was
discovered at Bahodopi, and a few smaller ones
were found at several other localities. Activities
were at a low level during the 1980s and 1990s
withtheexceptionofRioTintosreviewoftheNi
laterite potential of Eastern Sulawesi, which
resulted in the discovery of the important La
Sampala district. When nickel prices started to
risein2004,activitiespickedupagain.Thistime
smaller domestic companies were leading the
way, exploiting relatively small laterite deposits
and shipping the unprocessed ore to China.
Some of the areas mined overlapped with
concessionscontainingknowndepositsthatwere
held or under application by the larger
companies.Nopublishedinformationisavailable
onwhatbasisotherareaswereselected.
Lookingahead,itislikelythatintheforeseeable
future only brownfields exploration will be
undertaken. This is partly because over the past
40yearsalargeamountofgeologicalandmineral
resource data have been collected. This
combined with everimproving remote sensing
methods enables a more focused approach to
target selection. However, it would be wrong to
95
assume that there is no need anymore to carry
outgreenfieldsexplorationbecausethewholeof
Sulawesihasalreadybeenadequatelycoveredby
grassroots surveys. On the contrary: i) some
areashavebeensurveyedonlyonce,whichisnot
sufficient to make a comprehensive mineral
potentialassessment;ii)surveysoftenfocusedon
a single deposit type or commodity; iii) in some
casestheareawasnotsampledsystematically,or
sampling and/or assaying methods were used
thatdidnotleadtooptimumresults;iv)thereare
several examples of significant outcropping
mineralization having been almost missed
becauseofcertaingeologicalconditions(see5.3);
other deposits may have gone unnoticed for
similar reasons; v) large areas have not been
surveyed at all, in particular in Eastern Sulawesi,
becauseoftheirperceivedlowmineralpotential,
butastherecentgolddiscoveryatBombanohas
shown, this may not always be the case; and vi)
new concepts and information may require
revisiting certain areas to collect additional data
ona(semi)regionalscale.
Underthepresentmininglawthemaximumsize
of an exploration permit area is 500 sq km, as
opposed to 2500 sq km and larger in the
past.Furthermoreitisnotpossibleanymore,asin
the old days, to select an area on the basis of
literature research and carry out field checking
on a socalled SKIP (walkin permit) before
deciding whether or not to go ahead. This
enabled a company to assess whether minimum
expenditure commitments required by the COW
agreementwerewithinacceptablerisklimits.At
present, an exploration company has basically
twochoices,eitherenterintoanagreementwith
an existing title holder or participate in a tender
for areas selected by the government. In either
casefrontendpaymentsarelikelytobeinvolved,
which is a disincentive in the case of areas for
whichlittleinformationisavailable.Theoretically
it is possible for a company to select an area on
thebasisofitsownprojectgenerationwork,but
it still would have to go through the tender
process with the risk of losing the area to the
competition. Forestry permit issues are another
importantfactorintheareaselectionprocess.
Itisbecauseoftheaboveconsiderationsthatwe
believe that in the short to medium term the
main exploration focus in Sulawesi (and for that
matter elsewhere in Indonesia) will be on
relatively small areas with known mineralization
under existing title or for which title can be
obtained at an acceptable cost, and which are
free of major forestry issues. This in itself is not
necessarilyabadthing,asexperience elsewhere
has shown that the chances of success are
greater when exploration is carried out in well
mineralized districts with a mature exploration
history than in less known areas (e.g. Sillitoe,
2010). However, by world standards Sulawesi is
underexploredandopportunitiesforbrownfields
exploration are rather limited. Therefore, if
current conditions, which are not conducive to
carrying out (semi) grass roots exploration of
larger areas, persist, this may have a negative
impact on further development of the mining
industryinSulawesiinthelongerterm.
5.5 Sulawesisminingindustry
Historically, gold and nickel have been the two
pillarsofSulawesisminingindustry.
Recorded gold production comprises about 15t
for the period 1896 to 1941, and about 76t for
the period 1996 to 2011 (Table 10). The total
amount of about 91t does not include gold
producedbylocalminersduringaperiodofmore
than 180 years for which no records exist, but
which is likely to be significant. With two gold
mines currently in production, i.e. North Lanut
mine(withaminimumminelifeof2yearsandan
annual production of about 50,000 oz) and Toka
Tindung(6years,160,000ozAueq.),oneproject
in the feasibility stage (Bakan, 4.5 years, 50,000
oz) , plus several other gold projects in an
advanced stage of exploration, gold is likely to
continuetoplayasignificantroleintheshortto
mediumterm,especiallyifthecurrenthighprice
of gold is maintained. Based on published data
(van Leeuwen and Pieters, 2011) it is estimated
that Sulawesis total gold resources amount to
roughly 285t, with an additional 135t Au
associated with porphyry Cu deposits.We should
stressthattheseestimatesaregeological
96
 Table10.HistoricalgoldproductioninSulawesi

A. PreWarperiod
Paleleh 6.25tAu 6.2tAg
BolaangMongondowDistrict 5.0tAu 4.0tAg
Totok 3.7tAu 1.8tAg
14.9tAu 12.0tAg
B. PostWarperiod
Mesel 62.0tAu
Riska 10.5tAu
TokaTindung 3.2tAu 1.5tAg
75.7tAu 1.5tAg

Source:vanLeeuwenandPieters(2011)

Table11.HistoricalnickelproductionatPomalaa

Period Production ContainedNi

(metrictonnes)
19381941 155,000t@ca3%Ni 4,650
19421944 184,000t@ca3%Ni 5,520
19591966 406,000t@ca3%Ni 12,180
19671975 1,215,000t@ca3%Ni 36,450
19762010 1,109,000tferronickel 255,070
313,870

Source:Darmonoetal.(2009).Assumptions:1)averagegradeoforeminedbetween1938
and1975was3%;2)annualproduction19671975(notgivenbyDarmonoetal.)was135,000t
based on 1966 and 1976 production figures; 3) production 2009 and 2010 was 60,000t
annually.

97
resources only without any economic
connotation.
Nickel mining has overshadowed gold mining in
terms of both size and revenue. Most of the
nickelproducedtodatehascomefromtwoareas,
SoroakoandPomalaa.DataprovidedbyPTInco
showthatbetween1976and2010atotalof234
Mt of laterite ore was mined at Soroako,
containing a total of 4.5 Mt Ni (Gde Tutoko,
written comm., 2011). The total nickel
production at Pomalaa, starting in 1938, is
estimated to be around 310,000t, mostly as
ferronickel. However, this figure is based on
several assumptions (see Table 11), and
furthermoreincludesalsosomeoreprocessedat
Pomalaa that came from outside Sulawesi. As
mentioned earlier, there has been an increasing
involvement of domestic companies in nickel
laterite mining in Sulawesi in recent years, but
production figures are not readily available. An
announcement made by the government of
Southeast Sulawesi in 2011, indicates that
companies operating in the province are
producing 50,000t to 70,000t of ore per year.
Assuminganaveragegradeof1.6%thismeansan
annualproductionintheorderof800to1,000t
Ni.
Sulawesi has vast undeveloped nickel resources,
estimatedtobeintheorderof1,500milliondry
weighttonnes(MDWT)averaging1.57%Nibased
on data collected by van Leeuwen and Pieters(
2011).About15%fallsintheProven+Probable
Reserves category. Individual deposits vary
greatlyinsize(3>200MDWT)andgrade(1.2%
to 2.3%). Having a large resource base in itself
does not guarantee a long term future for the
regionsnickelindustry.AsdiscussedbyRafianto
(2011), development of Sulawesis Ni laterite
resourcesinvolvesanumberoffactorsthathave
tobeaddressed,including:i)adequatetonnage
and grade to support economic projects with a
minimum mine life of 20 years; ii) mineralogy,
type and chemistry of the ore, which will
determine optimum mining and processing
methods, and in turn the economic viability of a
project; iii) the high costs of producing nickel
matte or ferronickel (PAL/HPAL); iv) lack of
infrastructure, such as power plants, roads and
ports; and v) forestry issues. The author offers
several suggestions that may reduce risks and
enhance project economics: i) apply heap leach
or tank leach technologies, which are currently
under development by several companies; ii)
produce nickel pig iron, which has a lower Ni
content than ferronickel (<15%) and higher
impurities such as P and S, but has a growing
market;iii)developlowgradeNilateritedeposits
with a high cobalt grade (0.2% Co) occurring as
coarse minerals , which can be easily separated
and concentrated using low costs techniques,
withcobaltconcentrateasthemainproduct,and
nickel and manganese as byproducts, and iv) as
an alternative to Ni laterites explore for nickel
sulphide deposits, which potentially can be
developed at much lower capital costs and in a
moreenvironmentalfriendlymanner.
Commodities other than gold and nickel have
hardlyfeaturedinthemininghistoryofSulawesi.
Only small quantities of base metals and
chromitehavebeenminedinthepast.Thismay
changeinthefuture,inparticularasfarascopper
is concerned. The porphyry copper deposits in
the Tombulilato district may be economically
viable at copper and gold prices seen in recent
years. The longer term outlook for copper
appears to be favourable. Average head grades
at copper mines throughout the world are on a
decadelong downward trend, and there is a
shortageofnewminesduetocomeonstreamto
offset declining production from existing
operations. Only one large deposit is under
development, i.e. OyuTolgoi in Mongolia (81
billion lbs Cu and 46 Moz Au), and this creates
opportunitiesforsmallerdepositslikeCabangKiri
andSungaiMak.However,attheendoftheday
the fate of these projects may be decided by
sociopoliticalandenvironmentalissues.
6.0 Conclusions
Sulawesiconsistsofthreedistinctgeological
metallogenic provinces, viz Northern,
Western and Eastern Sulawesi. Of these,
Northern Sulawesi shows the widest variety
98
 in mineral deposit styles and contains the
largest number of (known) deposits,
prospectsandoccurrences,whereasEastern
Sulawesi ranks first in terms of economic
mineral(viz.nickel)resources..
Magmatic mineralization style associations
include:
ophiolite:NiandFelaterite;primaryand
secondaryCr.
calcalkaline: porphyry CuAuMo,
FeAuskarn,intrusionrelatedbasemetal
Au, sedimenthosted Au, high and
intermediatesulphidationAuAg.
Potassic alkaline: porphyry CuAu;
intrusiverelatedbasemetalAu;skarn.
Bimodal: lowsulphidation epithermal
AuAg;VMS.
Potassic felsic: porphyry Mo; intrusion
relatedAu.
A rather puzzling aspect of the metallogeny
of Western Sulawesi is the apparent poor
development of typical epithermal volcanic
arc related precious metal deposits despite
the widespread occurrence of potassic
volcanicrocks,whichelsewhereintheworld
have generated a number of large gold
deposits.
Several mineralized districts contain more
than one deposit type, e.g. the Tombulilato
district (porphyry CuAu, highsulphidation
epithermal AuAg, intrusionrelated Au), and
the close to each other located Doup and
Ratatotok districts ( porphyry Cu, high and
intermediatesulphidation epithermal AuAg,
replacementAu,andsedimenthostedgold).
Recognition of a single type, even if only
weaklydeveloped,maythereforehelpdirect
exploration for potentially more significant
mineralization of other types in the same
district.
The Pliocene was the most productive
mineralizing period, especially in Northern
Sulawesi.Inthisprovince,identifyingcentres
ofPliocenemagmaticactivitymaybeauseful
toolintheprojectgenerationstage.Another
potential guide is the regional unconformity
between the Mid and Late Cenozoic
sequences.
Some well or partly exposed gold deposits
may have very subtle surface geochemical
signatures, especially in areas with semito
unconsolidated sedimentary or volcanic
coverdeposits.
Uptonownickelandgoldhavebeentheonly
two commodities of economic interest; they
may be joined by copper and possibly
molybdenum in the foreseeable future.
Known nickel resources are large (of the
order of 1.5billion DWT) and gold resources
moremodest(about420tcontainedAu).
By world standards Sulawesi is
underexplored.Itislikelytoremainsointhe
foreseeablefutureastheexplorationfocusis
expected to be on relatively small areas of
knownmineralization,ratherthanondistrict
scale, (semi)grassrootsoriented
programmes. This is because of existing
opportunities (short term) and prevailing
nongeologicalconditions(longerterm).
7.0 Acknowledgements
Many colleagues have provided data for this
review or helped in other ways, including John
Carlile, Peter Flindell, Han van Gorsel,Jeff
Hedenquist, Arifudin Idrus, George Katchan,
Muhardjo, Thomas Mulya, Musri, Joseph
Ogermans, Sukmandaru Prihatmoko, Hendro
Purnomo, Dick Sillitoe, Gde Tutuko, Dave Trail,
Stephen Walters, and Wily WilliamsonJones, all
ofwhomwegratefulacknowledge.Wespecially
thankTuti Marianiforpreparingthemanuscript,
Supriyadifordraftingthefigures,andBradWake
forreviewingandeditingthefinaldraft.
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 PROCEEDINGSOFTHESULAWESIMINERALRESOURCES2011SEMINARMGEIIAGI
2829November2011,Manado,NorthSulawesi,Indonesia

SulawesiMagmaticArcs

BambangPriadi

StudyProgramofGeology,InstitutTeknologiBandung
bpriadi@gc.itb.ac.id


ABSTRACT

Magmatic products in Sulawesi mostly are distributed in WestNorth Arm that elongate from MakassarToraja
(South) to PaluTolitoli (Central) to Manado (North) areas. The oldest magmatism exposes in southern parts,
indicatingJurassicinage.IthaschemicalcharactersofBackArcBasinorMarginalBasinmagmatismthatmight
have similar origin with Ophiolite Complex in EastArm, that had been tectonically emplaced in its present
position.

PaleogenetoEarlyNeogenetimeismostlycharacterizedbysubductionrelatedmagmatism.Distributionofits
products may indicate that West and North arms have not been connected until in Paleocene, and has been
connected in Eocene. The local Paleocene non subductionrelated magmatism in North Arm could represent
southwardobductedpartsofSulawesiSea.TheMiddleMiocenetoRecentmagmatismhasdifferentmagmatic
affinitythataredistributedindifferentareas.ThisdistributioniscorrelatedwithcollisionofBanggaisulamicro
continent to Sulawesi island in EarlyMiddle Miocene. The collision would affect to the melting of lower
continentalcrust,producingmagmawithpotassiccalcalkalineaffinitythataredispersedinPaluTolitoliareas.

The collision had also halted the subduction in the southern parts, resulting magma with alkaline/shoshonitic
affinity of postsubduction magmatism, in MakassarToraja area. Meanwhile Manado area is not affected by
collision,itcontinuesproducingmagmawithcalcalkalineaffinityofsubductionmagmatism.Theoccurrenceof
adakiticvolcanitesmaybeinterpretedasproductsofsouthwardsubductionofSulawesiSea,orindicationofpost
collisionmagmatism.

Keywords:Sulawesi,magmatism,subduction,collision

DISTRIBUTIONOFVOLCANICPRODUCTS (Sukamto, 1975 ; Sukamto & Simandjuntak,

The island of Sulawesi with its specific K
shape is situated in the complex tectonic
system representing the junction of several
different tectonicplates of Eurasian, Indo
Australia and Pacific (Hamilton, 1979; Silver et
al., 1983). The island itself is geologically
subdivided into (1) East Arm that consists of
mostly obducted ophiolitic nappes, (2) Central
parts of metamorphic areas, and (3) West
North Arm consisting volcanomagmatic
products of PreTertiary to Recent ages.
Another part that is considered as part of
Sulawesi geological system is (4) BanggaiSula
terrain in the eastern part of Sulawesi that
represents a microcontinent consisting of
sedimentaryvolcanic rocks of Mesozoic ages
1981;Halletal.,2002)(Figure1).
In the WestNorth Arm of Sulawesi, volcano
magmatic products are dated of Paleogene
Pliocene ages, distributed from the southern
parts (in Makassar and TanaToraja areas), to
the central parts (PaluTolitoli area), until to
Manado area in the northern parts. They
present various magmatic affinities indicating
that magmas were produced in different
tectonicsetting(Priadietal.,1993,1994;Maury
etal.,1995;Polveetal.,1996).
Middle Miocene to Recent Volcanic products
showinterestinggeographicdistribution(Priadi
et al., 1994): alkaline/shoshonitic volcanic is
concentrated in the southern part (Makassar
Toraja area), potassic calcalkalin plutono

111
volcanics are found in the central parts (Palu
Tolitoli areas), whereas calcalkalin products
dominate the northern part (Manado area)
(Figure1).
40
K40ArdatinghasbeendoneinLaboratoirede
Geochimie de lUBO, Brest, France using Mass
spectrometry Thomson Cameca 205 SE.
Chemicalanalyseshavebeendoneinthesame
laboratory, mostly using NA (Neutronic
Activation) and AAS (Atomic Absorption
Spectrometry), for certain elements and for
comparison using ICPAES (Induced Coupled
PlasmaAtomicEmissionSpectrometry).
PRETERTIARYMAGMATISM
The oldest dated volcanic products indicating
Jurassic in age (40K40Ar of 158.60137.17 Ma;
Polve at al., 1996; Priadi et al., 1997), and its
petrogeochemicaldatashowtheLowPotassium
Volcanism of BackArc or Marginal Basin setting.
These volcanic products widespread in the
eastern sides of SouthArm of Sulawesi, known
previously as volcanic units namely Lamasi and
Kalamiseng Volcanics (Yuwono, et al., 1988 ;
Priadi et al., 1993). The facts that the western
sidesofthesetwovolcanicunitsareborderedby
tectonic contacts to the other rock units, are
indicating the emplacement of these rockunits
toitsrecentpositionissupposedtobetectonics.
Thepresenceoflayeredgabbro,(normal)gabbro,
dyke swarms of basalt dolerite/diabas and the
pillowlavas,issuggestingthattheknownLamasi
volcanics may represent a Dismembered
Ophiolite (Priadi et al., 1997) as mostly found in
the EastArm of Sulawesi. Monnier et al (1995)
has also mentioned that parts of Ophiolite
Complex in the EastArm of Sulawesi are
originatedfromBackArcTectonicsetting.
These data may indicate that these rock units
have been formed somewhere in the
east/southeast areas associated with certain
subduction system(s), and then have been
emplaced in Sulawesi at around in Middle
Miocene (~1815 Ma ; Yuwono, et al., 1988 ;
Ranginetal,1990).
PALEOGENEMAGMATISM
VolcanicproductshavingagesofPaleocene(40K
40
Ar of 61.4159.17 Ma. ; Obradovich, 1974 in
Sukamto,1978;Yuwonoetal.,1988;Polveetal.,
1996) can only be found in southern part of
SouthArm (in Makassar area). The lithology is
mostly basaltic lavas that is classified as part of
BuaFormation(Yuwonoetal.,1988).Chemically,
these lithologies indicate the characters of
subductionrelated volcanism (calcalkaline
affinity).Sofar,thesevolcanicproductsrepresent
the oldest products of subductionrelated
magmatismoccurredinSulawesi(Figure2).
IneasternpartofSouthArmofSulawesi,basaltic
lavas crop out in Ningo river, that belong to
Salokalupang Formation. Lava sample of this
formation is dated by 40K40Ar giving the Eocene
age of 52.20 Ma (personal communication with
Alit Ascaria, 2011). Lack of the chemical data
makes the magmatic affinity as well as its
tectonic setting for the latter are still unknown,
but it is supposed to be identical to that of Bua
Formation.Datingonagabbrosampleinsouthof
Palopo gives also the Eocene age (40.16 Ma;
Priadi, 1993) eventhough chemically these
samplesarenotindicatingthesubductionrelated
magmaticproducts.
The other subduction related magmatism of
Eocene ages can be found mostly in the Central
toNorthernpartsofWestNorthArmofSulawesi,
especially around Donggala and Tolitoli area
(Priadi,1993;Polveetal.,1996).Tholeiiticdykes
were dated for the rocks of Tinombo Formation
around Donggala (46,8244.13 Ma; Priadi, 1993)
andtholeiiticintrusion(stillclassifiedasTinombo
Formation)nearPalelehTantayuo(eastofTolitoli
area) have already been dated for Late Eocene
age (37.1537.02 Ma; Priadi, 1993; Polve et al.,
1996).
InthenortherncoastofWestNorthArmaround
Bintauna,cropoutpillowlavasthatareclassified
as Volcanic Units of Tinombo Formation (Apandi
& Bachri, 1977). Basalts of this unit were dated,
and gave lessreliable ages of 41.8240.27 Ma
(Eocene; Priadi, 1993). Geochemically these
basaltsshowcharactersofmagmatismcorrelated
112


Figure 1. Tectonics and Geological Provinces ofSulawesi (Permana et al., 2006, simplified from

Silveratal.,1983,Sukamto&Simanjuntak,1993,andParkinson,1996,1997,1998)

113


Figure 2. Distribution of magmatic data in WestNorth Arm of Sulawesi. SH/AK/UK =

Shoshonitic/Alkaline/UltraPotassic;CAK=PotassicCalcAlkaline;CA=CalcAlkaline;IAT=Island
ArcTholeite;BAB=BackArcBasin.(ModifiedfromPolveetal.,1994)

114
to BackArc or Marginal Basin setting (Priadi,
1993; Polve et al., 1996), that are identical to
basalt of the seafloor of Sulawesi Sea taken by
OceanDrillingProject(ODP;Ranginetal,1990).
InMakassarTorajaareas,volcanicrocksdatedof
Oligocene ages were obtained from tholeiitic
doleritedykescrosscuttingKalamisengVolcanics
(33.33Ma;Yuwonoetal,1988)aswellasrhyolite
dykes in Lamasi Volcanics (32.8928.60 Ma;
Priadi, 1993; Polve et al., 1996). Big intrusion of
calcakaline granitic composition (Kambuno
Granite) that close to Sangkaropi gives age of
29.87Ma(Priadi,1993;Polveetal.,1996).
AtholeiiticbasaltdykearoundDonggalathatcut
the rocks of Tinombo Formation, has an age of
34.46Ma(Oligocene)in 40K40Ardating,whereas
tholeiticbasalticlavasofDolokapaFormation(in
Manado area) are also indicating Oligocene ages
(30.5028.30Ma).
NEOGENEQUATERNARYMAGMATISM
Neogene igneous rocks products are mostly
charcterized by subductionrelated magmatism,
theycanbegroupedintotwodifferentintervalof
ages(Figure2):
a).Ataboutintervalof2221Ma(EarlyMiocene)
isrepresentedbytholeiticrocksthatbelongto
Kalamiseng Volcanics in Makassar Area
(rhyolite of 21.72 Ma), Tinombo Formation
around Tolitoli Area (gabbro of Tantayuo of
22.09 Ma; andesite of 21.93 Ma), and calc
alkaline of Bone Diorite (22.4522.19 Ma;
aroundGorontalo)
b).Rocksagedofaround1815Ma(EarlyMiddle
Miocene) can be found in Makassar area
(18.7415.35 Ma; (Kalamiseng and Lamasi
Volcanics), around PaluTolitoli area (17.95
17.70Ma;TinomboandBilungalaFormation),
until close to Manado area (18.8513.13 Ma;
Tinombo Formation and Wobudu Breccia).
Bunbulan Granite that is calcalkaline in
magmatic affinity has also ages within this
interval : 18.14 Ma (Priadi, 1993; Yuwono et
al.,1995;Polveetal.,1996).
Middle Miocene to Recent magmatism in
Sulawesiiscoincidentlyseparatedgeographically:
ultrapotassic/shoshoniticmagmaticproductsare
only in southern parts of WestNorth Arm of
Sulawesi(Makassararea),calcalkalinepotassicin
central parts (PaluTolitoli areas), and calc
alkalineaffinityineasterntipsofWestNorthArm
(Manadoarea)(Figure3):
a).Ultrapotassic/Shoshonitik(SH)Magmatism
Volcanic rocks having these magmatic affinities
can be found in southern parts of Sulawesi, in
formoflavaorintrusivebodieshavinglithologies
of basaltsandesites (Yuwono et al., 1998;
Letterieratal.,1990;Bergmanetal.,1996;Polve
et al., 1996). Geochemical and petrological data
show the presence of significantly felspatoids
that may refers to silica undersaturated magma.
The chemistry indicates the high contents of
alkaline (Yuwono et al, 1988), and incompatible
elementsindicatingtheintensive contributionof
granitic continental composition. This kind of
volcanicproductsaredatedmostlyof12.814.30
Ma (Yuwono et al., 1988, 1989; Polve et al.,
1996), and can be found as lithologies of many
volcanic units in the MakassarToraja areas
(Baturape, Sesean, Sekala, Talaya, Camba,
Sopeng,Parepare,CindakoVolcaniscs;Sukamto,
1975;Yuwonoetal.,1989;Priadi,1993).
b).AcidCalcAlkalinPotassicMagmatism
In the central parts of WestNorth Arm, in Palu
Tolitoliareas,especiallyalongthePaluKoroFault
Area (PKFZ), the occurrence of potassic calc
alkalinemagmatismisshownbythepresenceof
granitoid intrusions and pyroclastic deposits of
dacitictorhyoliticincomposition. 40K40Ardating
totheserocksindicatingtheageintervalsof8.10
0.55 Ma to Recent (Sukamto, 1975; Priadi et al.,
1993,1994;Mauryetal.,1995;Polveetal.,1996;
van Leeuwen et al., 1996; Widiasmoro et al.,
1997)
High silica contents (SiO2 = 61.776.5%) and
normativequartzaround20%forthismagmatism
indicate the involvement (anatexis) of the
components of granitic continental crust in its
genesis.Comparingthechemicalcompositionsof
thismagmaticproductsandthoseoflowercrust
components (garnet peridotites, acid granulites
and basic granulites; Helmers et al., 1990) that
presentasxenolithsingranitoidrocks,indicating
cogeneticity in Extended Spiderdiagram (Priadi
115
etal.,1993,1994;Mauryetal.,1995;Polveetal.,
1996). Observation on chemical compositions
indicates that the lithologies of the lower crust
mayactasprincipalcontributorstotheformation
ofthispotassiccalcalkalinemagma(Priadietal.,
1993, 1994, 2009; Maury et al., 1995).
Meanwhile, the characters ofsubductionrelated
magmatism is also still observed (negative
anomalies on High Field Strength elements :
Ta,Nb,Ti,Zr,Hf)accompaniedwithhighpresence
ofPbandThofcontinentalcharacters(Priadiet
al., 1993, 1994; Widiasmoro et al., 1997). The
productsofthiskindofmagmatismcanbefound
asacidrocks(granite,dacite,rhyolite)alongPalu
Koro, around Tolitoli (Tolitoli Granitois; van
Leeuwen, written communication, 1990), in
Torajaarea(PalopoGraniteandBaruputuff),and
aroundTogianislandsinTominiGulf.
AdakiticMagmatism
Adakite is a kind of igneous rock having
composition of high contents in SiO2 (>56%),
Al2O3 (>15%), Sr (>300ppm) accompanied with
lowcontentofMgO(<3%)andY(<15ppm),giving
theSr/Yratioof>20.Adakiticvolcanismindicates
the contribution of melting the young oceanic
plates (<25 Ma) to the formation of magma in
subduction areas (Castillo, 2006). This kind of
rock is supposedly present in Togian islands (in
Tomini Gulf) as products of recent volcanism
(Sendjaja&Sucipta(2008).
c.) Calcalkaline magmatic affinity of subduction
related magmatism, mostly are exposed in the
eastern proximity of the WestNorth Arm of
Sulawesi, (around Manado Area) and prolong
northward to SangiheTalaud Islands. They are
datedof7.010,89Mauntilrecenttime(Jezeket
al., 1981; Tatsumi et al., 1981; Yuwono et al.,
1995;Priadietal.,2006).
TECTONICIMPLICATION
The oldest magmatism (PreTertiary, 158.60
137.17 Ma) having characters of Back Arc Basin
or Marginal Basin magmatism is supposed to be
formed far outside of Sulawesi area. It might be
correlated with the origin of East Sulawesi
Ophiolite Complex (Monnier et al., 1995). The
presence of this magmatic products in south of
Sulawesi is supposedly by westward tectonic
emplacement due to collision of BanggaiSula
microcontinenttoSulawesi.
The oldest subductionrelated magmatism in
Sulawesi is in Oligocene age in Makassar area.
Thedirectionofsubductionitselfisstillindebate,
butmostofresearcherssupposedthesubduction
is westward plunging as continuation of
SumateraJavasubductionsystematthattime.
Products of Eocene subductionrelated
magmatism are found in eastern sides of West
Arm and in the eastern side of PaluKoro Fault
Area (in Donggala), this may indicate that
subduction areas occurred in the eastern side of
West Arm of Sulawesi, and the North Arm of
Sulawesi might not be in the present position.
Eocene magmatic products in the North Arm of
Sulawesi is supposed to be part of Sulawesi Sea
seafloorthatwasbeenobductedsouthwardonto
the North arm of Sulawesi during the
northwestwarddriftofthisarm.
During Early to middle Miocene products of
subductionrelated magmatism can be found in
allpartsofWestNorthArmofSulawesi(Polveet
al, 1996; Priadi et al., 2009), indicating the West
and the North arms have already been
connected,asalsomentionedbyHall(2002).
The following magmatic products of Middle
MiocenetoRecentarecharacterizedbydifferent
magmaticaffinitiesandgeographicallyseparated
inthreemajorareas.Northwestwardcollisionof
BanggaiSula microcontinent to Sulawesi island
that probably occurred in EarlyMiddle Miocene
(Hamilton, 1979; Silver et al., 1983; Priadi et al.,
1993; Polve at al., 1996) had triggered the
melting of the lower parts of obducted
continental crust, giving potassic calcalkaline
magmatism (high silica and high alkaline
contents) that has been distributed in central
parts of Sulawesi. The collision has also halted
the subduction system in its southern parts,
slowed down the upraising magma to be
extruded later as alkaline/shoshonitic affinity of
postsubduction magmatism (Priadi et al., 1993,
1994; Maury et al., 1995; Waspersdorf et al.,
1997,1998).Thisalkaline/shoshoniticrocksare
116


Figure 3. Distribution of Neogene magmatic products in Sulawesi having
differentmagmaticaffinityobtainedfromK2OSiO2discriminantdiagramof
PeccerilloandTaylor,1978)

117
distributed mostly in the southern parts of
WestNorth arm of Sulawesi. As collision was
concentrated in the central part of Sulawesi,
and the North Arm is positioned out of the
north border of BanggaiSula microcontinent,
the eastern parts of North Arm (Manado area)
is practically less affected by collision, and the
magmatism was being continued and still
producingthesubductionrelatedigneousrocks
(Priadietal.,1993,1994;Priadietal.,2009).
The occurrence of adakitic volcanites in Togian
islands (Sendjaja and Sucipta, 2006) may give
interpretation that southward subduction of
Sulawesi Sea (that could be young) produced
magmatism. Rangin et al. (1990) and
Waspersdorf et al. (1997, 1998) supposed
previously that subduction of Sulawesi Sea
couldnotproducemagmaasitwasnotbeable
toreachthecertaindepthtoformthemelting.
They considered that the previous
northwestward plunged of Molucca plate
blocked the down penetration of plunging
Sulawesi sea plate. Otherwise, recent
observations indicate that adakite magmatism
is not only correlated with melting of young
subducted plates, but it can also be formed in
CollisionalTectonicSetting(Topuzetal.,2011).
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120
 PROCEEDINGSOFTHESULAWESIMINERALRESOURCES2011SEMINARMGEIIAGI
2829November2011,Manado,NorthSulawesi,Indonesia

BasementRocksofSulawesiandTheirContributiontotheMetallogenicFormation

AdeKadarusman

MiningandExplorationDepartment,PTINCOTbk,
Sorowako,SouthSulawesi

ABSTRACT

TheSulawesisbasementrockdistributedwithinfourlithotectonicunits.Fivetypebasementsarerecognizedwith
different origins. It consists of (i) accretionarycollision complex (Bantimala and Barru Complex in SW arm), (ii)
metamorphic rocks with continental margin parentage (metamorphic complexes in West, NW, Central and SE
Sulawesi), (iii) ophiolitic rock and oceanic crust (East and North arm, respectively), (iv) melange or broken
formation(Centralpart),and(v)continentalgraniticbasement(BanggaiSulaandTukangBesi).Allthebasements
are Mesozoic in age, and some of the metamorphic rocks have Paleozoic in protoliths age. Metallogenesis
occurrenceinSulawesicorrelatedwiththebasementtypewiththreeways.Firstly,theyoccurredgeneticallyasthe
source such as ultramafic massif of East Sulawesi Ophiolite for Ni laterite deposit andits correlatedbase metal.
Second,thebasementasthecountryrockofmetalogenyrelatedtosubductionmagmatism,e.ghostofNeogene
volcanism in North and NW Sulawesi were occurred in two different basements. Lastly, the basement itself is
carrying mineralization before incorporate with rest of Sulawesi terranes, for example discovery orogenic gold
depositinmetamorphicterraneinMekonggablock.ThereforeunderstandingtheSulawesibasementwilllead a
goodexplorationtargeting.

INTRODUCTION at least since 1930 where Brouwer led the

Thetermsofbasementandcrystallinebasement
areusedtodefinetherocksbelowasedimentary
platform or cover, or more generally any rock
below sedimentary rocks or sedimentary basins
thataremetamorphicorigneousinorigin.Inthe
same way the sediments and/or sedimentary
rocks on top of the basement can be called a
"cover" or "sedimentary cover" (Wikipedia). The
same definition about from Glossary Geology,
that the basement rock, the oldest rocks in a
given area; a complex of metamorphic and
igneous rocks that underlies the sedimentary
deposits; usually Precambrian or Paleozoic in
ages. With a specific definition, the basement
rocksarereadilydistinguishablefromtheircovers
rocks based on their petrological, structural and
stratigraphic appearances. This definition has
been applied in this paper to differentiate the
basement rocks and their contribution to the
tectonicandmetallogenyprovince.TheCenozoic
magmatism will not be included in this paper
becauseitisnotincludedinthedefinitionabove.
Itwillbediscussedseparatelyinthisvolume.
StudiesonbasementrockinSulawesidatedback
expedition to Sulawesi. Several publications,
geological maps and PhD theses were produced
during this period up to post War era (a series
publication by Koolhoven 19301932; Egeler
19471949; de Roever, 19471953). In the Plate
Tectonic Era, several groups made contributions
to the basement studies, e.g. (i) the Royal
Halloway University of London Group (Audley
Charles, 1974; Parkinson 1991, 1996, 1998;
Coffieldetal,1993;Bergmanetal,1996),(ii)LIPI
GSJ Japan (Miyazaki et al, 1996; Wakita et al.,
1996),(ii)GeologicalSurveyofIndonesia(nowas
BadanGeologi/PusatSurveyGeologi;Sukamto,
1975, 1986; Simandjuntak, 1980, 1986,
1992;Mubrotoetal,1994;Surono,1994,1996),
(iii)RioTintoIndonesia(vanLeeuwen,1981;van
Leeuwen et al, 2007, 2010; van Leeuwen &
Muhardjo, 2005), (iv) French ITB Group
(Monnier et al., 1994, 1995; Villeneuve et al,
2001), (v) LIPITokyo Institute of Tech. Japan
(Parkinson et al., 1998; Parkinson, 1998;
Kadarusman & Parkinson, 2000). Contributions
are also made by geologists from Australians
Group (Berry & Grady, 1987), Incos geologists
(Ahmad, 1975), and Indonesian (LIPI)Dutch
Snellius II expedition and LIPI (Helmers et al,
121
1989, 1991; Sopaheluwakan, 1979;
Sopaheluwakan et al., 1993, 1995; Soesilo &
Sopaheluwakan,1998).
The Sulawesi has been subdivided into four
lithotectonic units or terranes, which are
bounded by largescale tectonic dislocations and
thrust faults (AudleyCharles, 1974; Katili, 1978;
Sukamto, 1975; Hamilton, 1979; Sukamto &
Simandjuntak,1983inParkinson1991).Theseare
fromwesttoeast(seetheFigure1):(i)theWest at Jurassic to Late Cretaceous in age (Sukamto,
North Sulawesi volcanoplutonic Arc, (ii) the
Central Sulawesi metamorphic belt, (iii) the East
Sulawesi Ophiolite belt, and (iv) the Continental
Fragments of BanggaiSula, Tukang Besi and
Buton. The basement rock in each lithotectonic
units showed different characteristics and ages,
this paper will summarize the basement rock
basedonstudiesconductedbyabovegroupsand
their contribution for the formation of
metallogeneticprovinceinSulawesi.
THEWESTNORTHSULAWESIVOLCANO
PLUTONICARC
The West Sulawesi PlutonoVolcanic Arc can be
divided into a continental margin segment
(SouthwestWest Sulawesi) and a Tertiary island
arcsegmentunderlainbyoceaniccrust(Northern
Sulawesi). Thebasement ofthisSouthwestWest
Sulawesi unit consists of (i) PreTertiary
Bantimala and Barru complex in the Southwest
Arm, (ii) three metamorphic complexes in the
Central and NW Sulawesi and (iii) Latimojong
Formation in the Central Sulawesi. Those
basements form the rifted continental margin of
SE Sundaland and are characterized by the
widespread occurrence of highK volcanic and
granitoid rocks intruded into (van Leuween &
Muhardjo, 2005). The Northern Sulawesi
basement, which is oceanic crust presumably
from Celebes Sea basin did not expose in the
surface and covered completely by a Cenozoic
islandarcsystem.
BantimalaComplexisapartofCentralIndonesia
AccretionaryCollisional complexes that appear
sporadically in an arc extending from Java to
Kalimantan and Sulawesi (Sundaland margin) in
the Cretaceous. The Central Indonesia
AccretionaryCollisional complexes are result of
collisional processes between the Asian,
Australian,andPacificplatesfromtheCretaceous
tothepresent(e.g.,Wakita,2000).TheBantimala
complex is a tectonic assemblage of slabs and
blocks consisting of sandstone, shale,
conglomerate, chert, siliceous shale, basalt,
ultramafic rocks, schist, schist breccia, eclogite,
amphibolite, blueschist and felsic intrusive rocks
1975; Wakita et al., 1994, 1996; Miyazaki et al.,
1996; Parkinson et al., 1998; Maulana, 2008).
TheBantimalaComplexissurroundedbyTertiary
and Quaternary sedimentary and volcanic rocks,
and unconformably covered by Late Cretaceous
toPalaeocenesedimentaryrocksandisintruded
by Palaeogene diorite. Barru Block is considered
to be similar occurrences with Bantimala
Complex; however the block is characterized by
low to medium grade metamorphic rocks
assemblages without trace of HP metamorphic
rocks(Maulanaetal.,2008).
The Metamorphic Complex is regional
metamorphism consists of Malino, Palu and
Karrosametamorphiccomplexes(vanLeeuwen&
Muhadjo,2005).Theoldzirconagesandisotopic
characteristics of the host rocks indicate that
those complexes represent a continental
fragmentofAustralianorigin.
The Malino Metamorphic Complex (MMC) is
located at the western end of the north arm of
Sulawesi(mostlyexposedinthesouthernpartof
theTolitoliregion).TheMMChasbeenstudiedin
detailbyvanLeeuwenetal.,(2006).Itconsistsof
micaschistsandgneisses(derivedfromproximal
turbidite and granitoid protoliths), with
intercalations of greenschist, amphibolite,
marble,andquartzite,forminganEWelongated
domelike structure bounded on all sides by
faults. This Paleozoic age, the presence of
Archean and Proterozoic inherited zircons, and
the isotopic signature of the mica schists and
gneisses indicate that the terrane was derived
from the New GuineaAustralian margin of
Gondwana. The rocks of the MMC show a
Barroviantype progression from greenschist
through epidoteamphibolite to amphibolite
122


Figure 1. Lithotectonic division of Sulawesi (Kadarusman et al., 2004) modified from

Parkinson(1998)andWilsonandHall(2000)

123
facies.PTestimationssuggestadepthofburial
ofupto2730km.K/Arand40Ar/39Arcooling
ages of 2311Ma, and a 7Ma age for
unconformably overlying volcanic rocks,
indicatethat the complex wasexhumedduring
theMiocene(vanLeeuwenetal.,2006).
The second complex, the Palu Metamorphic
Complex (PMC), forms the backbone of the
neck and extends further to the south into the
Palu Zone. It is made up of biotite schists and
gneisses,amphibolites,andamphiboliticschists
and gneisses. Highergrade rocks, including
granulite, eclogite and peridotite are locally
presentastectonicslices,mostlyalongthePalu
Koro Fault zone. The Palu Metamorphic
Complex contains metasediments and
metagranitoids (dated as PermoTriassic) of
AustralianNew Guinea derivation, but also
contains metabasites of MORB affinity, and
possibly rocks of Sundaland parentage (van
Leeuwenetal.,inpreparation).Thehighgrade
rockshavebeendetaileddescribedinaseriesof
abstracts and papers in several groups (e.g.
Sopaheluwaken et al., 1995; Helmers et al.,
1990; Priadi et al., 1993; Kadarusman and
Parkinson,2000;Polvetal.,2001;Kadarusman
et al., 2005; Syafri et al., 2005; Watkinson
(2010) that limited to high to ultra high
pressure rock samples from the PaluKoro
valley, mostly involving geothermobarometry
withverylimitedgeochemical,isotopeandage
dating work; however, there is a general
consensusthatatonestagesomeofthe(U)HP
rocks resided at considerable depths (60km),
thereislessagreementonhowandwhenthey
were formed and transported to the surface.
The recent paper by van Leeuwen et al (in
preparation) has been written to attempt
postulatedoriginandthetectonichistoryofthe
PMC with detailed isotopic and geochemistry
data.
Finally, the third complex, the Karossa
MetamorphicComplex,whichisexposedinthe
SW part of the Lariang region, consists of a
metabasite unit, also of MORB affinity, and a
dominantlymetapeliteunit(vanLeeuwenetal.,
in preparation). The Palu and Karossa
Metamorphic Complexes may represent young
metamorphic core complexes (van Leeuwen et
al.,inpreparation).
Themetamorphiccomplexesareoverlainbythe
Late Cretaceous Latimojong Formation and
Paleogene Budungbudung Formation, Tinombo
Formation and Papayato Volcanics (van
Leeuwen & Muhardjo). The latter consists of a
volcanic sequence with rare sedimentary
intercalations, whereas the other three
formationsarecomposeddominantlyofmarine
sedimentary rocks. The units, which are
moderatelytostronglyfolded,haveundergone
lowgrade greenschist metamorphism and are
intruded by midEocene to midOligocene
stocks and dykes, varying, in composition from
gabbro and diorite to granodiorite and granite
(van Leeuwen & Muhadjo, 2005). Latimojong
Formation is lowmedium grade regional
metamorphosed pelitic and finegrained
psammiticrocks,alternatingmonotonouslywith
subsidiary intercalations of conglomerate,
coarsesandstone,basaltictoandesiticlavaand
volcaniclastics, quartzite, chert and limestone,
andbelievedtobeLateCretaceoustoEocenein
age . Several authors like Sukamto (1973)
includedthisunitintheTinomboFormationor
vice versa. I believe only Latimojong and
Tinombo Formations are categorized as
metamorphic basements. The Latimojong
Formation overlies/flanks the Karossa
Metamorphic Complex (in the few localities
wherethecontactwasobserveditappearedto
be tectonic) and is unconformably overlain by
the Paleogene Budungbudung Formation and
younger formations (van Leeuwen & Muhadjo,
2005).
THECENTRALSULAWESIMETAMORPHICBELT
The Central Sulawesi Metamorphic Belt
comprises of (i) ophiolite melange or broken
formation and (ii) metamorphic rocks
(Pompangeo Schist Complex, including
Mekongga Block at SE arm). The KAr dating
yielded ages of ca 111 Ma (Parkinson, 1998).
The metamorphic rocks consist of materials of
both continental and oceanic derivation,
probably including Australian crust (Parkinson,
124
1991). The Pompangeo Schist Belt has been
describedindetailedbyParkinson(1991,1998),
which crops out over ~5000 km2 in Central
Sulawesi, and is predominantly composed of
interbandedphyliticmarble,calcareousphyllite,
graphitic schist, quartzite
metaconglomerate; rocks predominantly of
shallow marine with continental origin. Typical
low T and high P minerals such jadeite,
lawsonite, aragonite, ferrocarpholite and blue
amphiboles have been described by de Roever
(1947), and famous as Glaucophane
metamorphism in early formation concept in
high P metamorphism. Along the eastern
margin of the complex, Pompangeo complex
areinterthrustwithunmetamorphosedJurassic
sandstoneandlimestone(MesozoicSediments),
which may represent parental material of the
complex, and both underthrust beneath an
extensive nappe of metamorphosed ophiolitic
mlange which constitute the base of the East
Sulawesi Ophiolite. There is no detailed study
on metamorphic rock SE Sulawesi, except
detailed discovery of blueschists rock and
metabasiteinatMekonggablockbyHelmerset
al.(1989).
The eastern part of the Central Sulawesi
MetamorphicBeltiscomposedofamelangeof
tectonised and metamorphosed ophiolite
fragments and variably disrupted broken
formations(Parkinson,1991;Parkinson,1998b).
Metamorphosed ophiolite melanges (Peluru
Melange Complex and Wasuponda Melange)
are of Oligocene age, including metamorphic
sole beneath, thrusted in between Pompangeo
schist and East Sulawesi Ophiolite (Parkinson,
1998). Within the melange area the western
lower part is composed of ophiolitic clasts in a
sheared matrix of red phyllite, whereas the
eastern upper part has a serpentinite matrix
and components have suffered OligoMiocene
blueschist recrystallization (Hall & Wilson,
2000). The broken formations, tectonically
intercalated within the melange, include upper
Cretaceous bathyal limestones and chert, and
siltstones, sandstones and conglomerates of
Jurassic or Cretaceous age (Rutten, 1927;
Koolhoven, 1932; Sukamto and Simandjuntak,
1983inHall&Wilson,2000).Blockswithinthe
melange, derived from the ophiolite, range
frompebblesizetoseveralhundredsofmetres
across, whilst those of the broken formations
may be up to hundreds of metres across.
and Melanges are also known from contacts of
microcontinental blocks of BanggaiSula and
Buton(Hall&Wilson,2000).
THEEASTSULAWESIOPHIOLITEBELT
The East Sulawesi Ophiolite (hereafter as ESO),
a dismembered ophiolite that is tectonically
intercalatedwithMesozoicdeepseasediments,
and probably includes Indian Ocean MORB,
marginal basin crust, parts of the Sundaland
forearcoroceanicplateauofPacificplate.The
total length of the ESO is some 700 km from
Gorontalo Bay, through the East Arm and
centralSulawesitowardtheSoutheastArmand
theislandsofButonandKabaena(Kadarusman
et al., 2004); it also extends to the Lamasi
complex of the South Arm passing through the
BoneGulf.Thetotaloutcropareaismorethan
15,000 km2. East Sulawesi Ophiolite is one of
the three largest ophiolites in the world along
with the Oman Ophiolite and the Papua New
GuineaOphiolite.TheESOarenowintercalated
and juxtaposed in a complex manner with
Mesozoic and Tertiary sedimentary rocks, as a
result of Late Oligocene/ Early Miocene
collision, subsequent obduction, and later
strikeslip faulting (Bergman et al., 1996;
Parkinson,1998;Hall,2002;Kadarusmanetal.,
2004).
Theoriginandage(s)oftheESOarestillmatters
of debate due to incomplete geochemical and
geochronological data sets. Three major
tectonic settings have been proposed for the
origin of the ESO: typical midoceanic ridge
(SoeriaAtmadja et al., 1974; Simandjuntak,
1987), a suprasubduction zone (SSZ) setting
(Monnier et al., 1995; Bergman et al., 1996;
Parkinson, 1998) and oceanic plateau
(Kadarusmanetal,2004).
125
Monnier et al. (1995) argued that the ESO has
similaritieswiththeoceaniccrustoftheCelebes
Sea, whereas Bergman et al. (1996) speculated
that the Lamasi ophiolite could represent a
fragment of Indian Ocean crust, similar to the
trapped crust of the Banda Sea. The idea that
the ESO is an onland analog of the Banda Sea
wasfirstproposedbyKatili(1978)andHamilton
(1979). Based on the geological and marine
geophysical data, Silver et al. (1983) have
proposed that the ESO is laterally continuous
withthebasementofGorontalobaybasin.The
paleomagnetic data of Mubroto et al. (1994),
however, suggest that the ophiolite was some
2000kmsouthofitspresentposition.Parkinson
(1998) considered that the origin of (at least)
the westernmost segment of the ESO was
probably a small ridgetransform basin formed
behind an oblique subduction zone at the
Sundaland margin in the Eocene. Later
Kadarusman et al (2004) suggested two
alternatives of nature of ESO; they may have
formedinonetectonicsetting(MORorigin)and
were later overprinted by magmatism in a
different environment (oceanic plateau and
subductionmagmatismoverprinting)ortheESO
is not a single coherent ophiolitic body, but
consists of a composite of imbricated slices of
ophiolitefragmentswithdifferentorigins.
In addition to the discrepancies regarding the
origin of the ESO, the age(s) of the ophiolite is
stillunresolved(e.g.,Parkinson,1998).Thereis
evidence for both a Cenozoic and/or Mesozoic
formation from conventional KAr and Ar/Ar
geochronology (Simandjuntak, 1987, 1992;
Mubroto et al., 1994; Monnier et al.,1995;
Bergman et al., 1996; Parkinson, 1998). They
include Cretaceous (79137 Ma), Paleogene
(6428 Ma) and Neogene (1623 Ma) ages for
basalt and gabbro of the ESO. One possible
interpretationfortheNeogeneophioliteagesis
thattheymayindicateeithertimingofophiolite
metamorphism or ophiolite emplacement, or
the rock samples may have been mistakenly
derived from Neogene volcaniclastic basalt
(NVC) covering the ESO as subduction
magmatism overpinting. The majority of the
oldestages(Cretaceous)mayindicatetheinitial
generation of oceanic lithosphere or time of
first eruption (Kadarusman et al., 2004).
Simandjuntak (1992) obtained Valanginian to
Lower Cenomanian fossil ages from chert and
limestone of the Boba beds in the East Arm.
Although a clear depositional contact between
ophiolite lavas and overlying Boba beds has
never been reported, because the relation is
commonly faulted, a rare stratigraphic contact
betweenlavaandundatedchertoftheMatano
Formation(whichhasbeencorrelatedwiththe
Bobabeds)intheKolonodaleareasuggeststhat
the unit was deposited on top of the ophiolite
(Simandjuntak,1992).Ifso,aCretaceousageof
at least part of the ESO is supported by the
stratigraphicrelationship.
Inmostcases,unitsunderlyingtheESOinclude
the Pompangeo schist complex and correlative
units (Mekongga Complex and Mesozoic
Metasediments)andthePeleru(orWasuponda)
melange complexes (Parkinson, 1996, 1998).
The age of the Pompangeo complex is Early
Cretaceous(Parkinson,1998),whereasboththe
mlange complex and metamorphic sole have
similar age ranges of 2833 Ma (Parkinson,
1998).Basedontheeastdippingthrustcontact
between these underlying units and the ESO,
Parkinson (1998) interpreted that the ESO is
overthrustontothePompangeoschistcomplex
anditscorrelativeunits,andtheLateOligocene
ageindicatesthetimingoffinalemplacementof
theESOontotheSundalandmargin.InthePoh
Head region, underlying units include Banggai
Sula microcontinental materials. The Batui
Thrust separates the ESO from sedimentary
rock deformed along the leading edge of
BanggaiSula platform. The timing of collision
between the ESO and BanggaiSula
microcontinentisprobablyLateMiocene(Silver
etal.,1983).
Thefullsuiteofophiolitelithologies(ultramafic
and mafic sequences) is present along the
northern coast of the East Arm. In the large
parts of the ESO, ultramafic sequences
dominate in the Southeast Arm, Southern part
of the East Arm and Kabaena Island, whereas
onlythebasalticvolcanicunitisexposedinthe
126
Lamasi and Poh Head area. The ultramafic
outcrops in the East and Southeast Arm of
Sulawesi occur in three forms (PT Inco MRMR
Report2007):
As large irregular masses of up to
severalhundredsquarekilometres.The
largest of these is that of the Malili
Lakes Area Massif that covers several
thousand square kilometres of
continuousultramaficterrain
As imbricated strips following the
general structural grain of the
subduction melange. According to this
grain, imbricated strips have their
convexsidesgenerallytothewest.
As small irregularshaped and isolated
bodies of ultramafics (Latao, SuaSua,
PaoPao, Pomalaa, Torobulu, KiaKia,
Kabaena etc.). These smaller bodies lie
in specific regional trends. Thus, Latao,
SuaSua, PaoPao and Pomalaa form a
distinctnortheasterlytrend.
THECONTINENTALFRAGMENTSOFBANGGAI
SULA,TUKANGBESIANDBUTON
Continental fragments of Australian derivation
consist of ButonTukang Besi and BanggaiSula
fragments,whichcollidedwitheasternSulawesi
during the early Miocene and Pliocene,
respectively (Hall, 2002). The BanggaiSula
microcontinent is interpreted as to be a
fragment of the North AustraliaNew Guinea
continent (Garrard et al., 1988). The basement
of this microcontinent apparently is not only
composed of granitoid rocks (namely Banggai
granite), but also composed of regional
metamorphic rocks which consist metapelites
and intercalation with metabasites and
metapsammitic and acidic volcanics rock
(Mangole Volcanics). The Carboniferous
metamorphic basement was intruded by
PermoTriassic Banggai granite and overlain by
contemporaneous Mangole volcanics. This
basement complex is unconformably covered
by Jurassic continental to shallow marines
sediments. Early investigation by Kadarusman
et al (1994) and Natawidjaya & Kadarusman
(1994) suggest low pressure and high
temperaturecontinentalmetamorphitesforma
substantial part of the Australian basements
rockinthismicroplate.
ButonandtheadjacentislandsTukangBesiare
frequently viewed as two small Australian
derived microcontinental fragments, began
docking with Sundaland in the Eoecne
Oligocene and Pliocene respectively. However,
there is no clear tectonic suture between two
microcontinents. Both areas have granitic
basementsbelowsealevel,andonlyButonhas
remnants of obducted ophiolite (Kapantoreh
Ophiolite). The basements were overlain by
LateTriassicPaleogeneplatformsediments.
CONCLUDINGREMARKSANDECONOMIC
GEOLOGYIMPLICATION
Basement rock can be classified as (i)
Continental Basements (e.g. cratons,
continental shelf, continental fragments, etc),
(ii) Convergent Plate Boundary Products
Basements (e.g. island arc, active continental
margin,accretionarycollisionalcomplexes,etc),
and (iii) Oceanic crust Basement (e.g. marginal
basin, ophiolite complex, etc). Based on this
classification and detailed of basements
descriptionabove,theSulawesihasconvergent
plate boundary products Basements which
consist of (i) accretionarycollision complex
(Bantimala and Barru Complex in SW arm), (ii)
metamorphic rocks with continental margin
parentage (metamorphic complexes in West,
NW, Central and SE Sulawesi), (iii) melange or
broken formation in the Central part. The
continental basement present (iv) in Banggai
Sula and Tukang Besi microcontinents. Finally,
(v) the ophiolitic rock and oceanic crust
occupied in East and North arm basement,
respectively.
Correlationbetweenmetallogenesisoccurrence
and the basement type in Sulawesi existed in
threeways.Firstly,theyoccurredgeneticallyas
the metal source such as ultramafic massif of
East Sulawesi Ophiolite. The ultramafic rocks
127
are favorable for source of nickel laterite and
nickelsulfidedeposits.Inadditiontonickel,we
can expect the ultramafic rock host for
chromite, cobalt, base metal, platinum group
metals(PGM),diamond,gemstoneandlateritic
iron ores. Sulfides of CuFeNi are common
accessory phases in upper mantle peridotites
both ultramafic xenoliths and massif
occurrences. A large of sulfides compositions
have been reported the ultramafic rock
association with magmatism. If the exposed
ultramafic rocks were overprinted by later
magmatism that involving underneath
volcanic/graniticbasement,thenwecanexpect
that base metal and nickel sulphides deposit
(+PGM)ispresentinthatsetting.
Second, the basement as the country rock of
metalogenesisrelated to subduction
magmatism, for example host of theoleticcalc
alkaline Neogene volcanism in North Sulawesi
were deposited on the top of the oceanic
basement, and potassic calc alkaline Neogene
Volcanism in NW Sulawesi where the
metamorphic rocks as the basement (Priadi et
al., 1993; SoeriaAtmadja et al., 1999). There is
existsofdifferencesmineralizationtypeinboth
locations;UniquePorphyryCuAuandLowhigh
Sulphidation epithermal AuAgCu in North
Sulawesi, and Porphyry Mo and metamorphic
golddepositinNWSulawesi.Although,mostof
authors believed that differences because of
two different type in subduction magmatism,
butbasementrockcontributionasthehostrock
alsocannotbeavoided.
Lastly, the basement itself is carrying
mineralization before incorporate with rest of
Sulawesi terranes, for example discovery
orogenic gold in metamorphic terrane in
Bombana (as a part of Mekongga block).
Preliminary investigation showed that this area
isapotentialhostofmetamorphogenicrelated
hydrothermal ore deposits which not have any
relationshipwithNeogenevolcanism.
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