STRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROLS TO EPIGENETIC, MESOTHERMAL GOLD MINERALIZATION IN THE SABIE-PILGRIMS-REST GOLDFIELD, EASTERN TRANSVAAL,SOUTH-AFRICA

Bedding-parallel thrust-hosted gold veins are developed in the Sabie-P ilgrim's Rest goldfield, eastern Transvaal, South Africa. The reefs di splay a complex history characterized by temporally and spatially over lapping events of similar mineralization and deformation. Recognition of the episodic reactivation of these low angle (5-degrees to 10-degre es) thrust faults implicates high fluid pressures (equaling or exceedi ng lithostatic pressures). Geochenucal constrains limit the amount of fluid rock interaction and the occurrence of transgressive mineralizat ion within the Archaean granitoid basement suggests that the high pres sure fluids originated at depth beneath the Transvaal Basin. Similarit ies exist between gold deposits of Sabie-Pilgrim's Rest and Telfer, We stern Australia as well as Passagem de Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil. All deposits are sub-parallel to the enclosing bedding which is shallo wly inclined. Furthermore, they are also hosted by contractional defor mational structures and are clearly epigenetic in origin.