Fault-induced damage controlling the formation of

Carlin-type ore deposits

Steven Micklethwaite*
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia

ABSTRACT

It is shown that the first-order control on the distribution of gold mineralization in

the northern Carlin Trend was fluid migration through fault-related damage net-
works, triggered by slip events on the Post-Genesis fault system. This fault system con-
sists of two segments ~57 km in length, linked at a stepover across a large
granodiorite intrusion. In the footwall of the system a wall-damage zone consists of
steep, small-displacement faults spatially associated with mineralization. Many
wall-damage zone structures formed on pre-existing planes of weakness (e.g. dike
margins, folded bedding planes and pre-existing faults). In active fault systems, the
static stress changes that occur around an earthquake can be calculated using Stress
Transfer Modelling (STM) and used to understand the distribution of aftershock frac-
turing on damage zone structuresthe critical parameter being positive changes in
Coulomb failure stress. In this study, STM was applied to model hypothetical slip
events on the Post and Genesis fault segments. The distribution of stress change
matches the distribution of gold mineralization, with broad, shallow scallops of min-
eralization occurring in the footwalls of the Post and Genesis fault segments, whereas
mineralization at the tips of the fault system, the stepover and the hangingwall is
deeper (~0.70.9 km, 0.30.9 km and >1 km respectively). Static stress change calcula-
tions indicate the fault system had the ability to induce damage, enhance permeability
and tap fluids as deep as 15 km.

Key Words: faulting, stress change, fluid flow, permeability, Carlin, gold

INTRODUCTION
Gold mineralization from the northern Carlin trend formed
at shallow crustal levels (Cline et al., 2005) during a potentially
short period of time (Hickey et al., 2009), adjacent to an en eche-
lon, normal-offset, segmented fault system (Figure 1). Many is-
sues remain controversial, such as the source of the gold, the
source of the fluids, and the nature of the physical processes that
controlled the migration of fluids. A particular question is
whether fluid migration was primarily controlled by reaction
(e.g. reaction-enhanced porosity), lithology (e.g. variation in
primary porosity), pre-existing fracture networks, or short-lived
fracturing due to active faulting. With regards to this question,
the timing of mineralization has been linked to the onset of ex-
tension in the Great Basin, during the mid to late Eocene, by a
number of independent geochronological studies (Hofstra et al.,
1998; Ressel et al., 2000; Tretbar et al., 2000; Arehart et al.,
*E-mail: steven.micklethwaite@utas.edu.au
2003; Chakurian et al., 2003). This suggests faulting and frac-
turing may have been a critical component influencing shallow,
hydrothermal fluid migration and the formation of these giant
Carlin-type gold deposits.
An important concept with regards to faulting is that slip
events and fault growth result in the development a fault core
and a damage zone (Chester and Logan, 1986). Fault cores are
those zones of gouge, localized slip surfaces and comminuted
rock material across which the majority of slip is accommo-
dated. Deformed wall rocks, containing networks of smaller
faults and fractures adjacent to the master fault, represent the
damage zones. Damage zones exist over wide areas (12 km)
around large faults (Cochran et al., 2009) but the intensity of
damage around master faults is a maximum at fault tips and in
the linking zones between fault segments (McGrath and
Davison, 1995; Kim et al., 2004). Damage zones are crucial
components of a fault system, profoundly influencing the bulk
sealing properties of faults (Odling et al., 2004), the elastic
properties of wall rocks (Cochran et al., 2009), the orientations

221
222 Steven Micklethwaite
and magnitudes of near-fault stresses (Faulkner et al., 2006;
Healy, 2008), and the localization of fluid flow (Chester and Lo-
gan, 1986; Chen et al., 2007).
This paper reports results from an examination of the fault
system associated with Carlin-type mineralization in the north-
ern Carlin trend, north-east Nevada (Figure 1). A combination
of field mapping and static stress change modeling (King et al.,
1994; Micklethwaite and Cox, 2006) were used to better under-
stand the nature of damage zone structures and their relation-
ship with fault-slip enhanced permeability and the distribution
of mineralization. It is shown that damage zone structures likely
had a critical first-order control on fluid migration, and that
fluid migration was dependent on active fault processes.
GEOLOGICAL SETTING
The geology of northeast Nevada has a protracted history
(nicely summarized in Cline et al., 2005). Two of the most im-
portant aspects of the geology of Carlin-type deposits in Ne-
vada, originated early in the geological history of the region.
The first aspect was rifting and passive margin development
(late Proterozoic through to Devonian times) that produced the
host rocks for Carlin-type mineralization in the northern Carlin
trend. The second aspect was development of the Antler orog-
eny (initiating in the late Devonian), which resulted in thrusting
of siliciclastic rocks over Devonian carbonates and shales by the
Roberts Mountain Thrust. The majority of mineralization in the
northern Carlin trend is hosted in the Devonian carbonates and
shales beneath the Roberts Mountain Thrust. The thrust forms
such a significant feature that its hangingwall and footwall
rocks are referred to as upper plate and lower plate respec- ture branches into multiple splays and becomes difficult to map
tively (although confusingly, upper plate rocks originate from
lower in the sedimentary sequence). Throughout the northern
Carlin trend, isoclinal, chevron and open folds can be found in
both upper plate and lower plate rocks, probably originating
from emplacement of the Roberts Mountain allocthon.
Subsequent to the Antler orogeny, multiple orogenic events
and periods of sedimentation affected central to northeast Ne-
vada. During the Jurassic, back-arc plutonism and lesser lam-
prophyre diking occurred, forming many of the intrusive rocks
now exposed in the Carlin trend (Figure1). Apatite
thermochronology shows the Carlin trend underwent signifi-
cant exhumation in the late Cretaceous, cooling rocks to
<60-70C (Hickey et al., 2003) suggesting they were at shallow
depths of <12 km by the time of mineralization. Carlin-type
mineralization in the Eocene was coeval with renewed normal
faulting, high K calc-alkaline magmatism, and paleovalley for-
mation involving minor northwest to west-northwest directed
extension (Cline et al., 2005; Henry, 2008). In the northern
Carlin trend, faults with apparently small and large normal off-
sets (meters to thousands of meters) crosscut upper plate and
lower plate rocks, and the Roberts Mountain Thrust. From this
point on, the scope of the structural analysis in this paper is
mainly limited to the fault architecture that has a spatial and
temporal relationship with Carlin-type gold mineralization in
the northern Carlin trend, presumably active during the mid to
late Eocene.
GOLDFIELD-SCALE FAULT GEOMETRY,
KINEMATICS AND MINERALIZATION
The distribution of mineralization in Carlin deposits is
known to have two controls; namely stratigraphy and structure
(e.g. Bettles, 2002). Gold mineralization is broadly stratiform
on the scale of tens to hundreds of metres (Figure 2), but also
systematically associated with steep-dipping, normal offset
faults on the goldfield scale. In particular, the majority of miner-
alization in the northern Carlin trend is spatially associated with
the Post-Genesis fault and with small-displacement damage
zone faults in its footwall (Figure 2). To a lesser extent minerali-
sation is associated with fold hinges or enhanced fracturing in
contact metamorphic zones around the Jurassic intrusion at the
centre of the trend (Figure 1), which likely provided a
rheological contrast (Bettles, 2002).
The Post-Genesis, Tara and Dee faults describe a NNW- to
NNE-striking set of en echelon, left-stepping, faults (Figure 1).
The Post-Genesis fault is a segmented structure, where the
northern Post fault segment links across a granodiorite sill to the
southern Genesis fault segment (Figure 1). The linkage zone is a
stepover containing a network of small-displacement faults
(Heitt et al., 2003). The fault geometries are typical for linkage
of fault segments, which interacted across the stepover and were
kinematically coherent (Walsh et al., 2003; Kim et al., 2004).
Tracing the Post fault segment to the north, finds that the struc-
north of Ren pit (Figure 1), suggesting the segment is ~7 km
long. The Genesis fault segment is ~5 km long, with reliable evi-
dence of the fault trace disappearing in the vicinity of the Uni-
versal Gas pit (Figure 1). Both faults dip steeply at 7080. For
normal fault lengths that do not exceed the dimensions of the
brittle crust (1015 km), the aspect ratio of down-dip fault width
to length is typically assumed to vary from one to three (faults
varying from penny-shaped to elliptical; e.g. Scholz, 2002;
Walsh et al., 2003). Thus the maximum present day depth of the
Post and Genesis fault segments will be 4.76.9 km. Given that
the present day erosion level of the Post-Genesis fault system
was ~1 km and that the fault likely did not breach the surface
(Hickey et al., 2003, Cline et al., 2005), then at the time of min-
eralization the Post-Genesis fault reached depths of 78 km.
This interpretation is more complicated if the Post and Genesis
fault segments link to form a single surface in three dimensions
at depth (Walsh et al., 2003).
At the scale of the fault core, the Post fault segment is really
a zone consisting of several strands of closely spaced faults
(Figure 2). Critically, Paleozoic rocks have apparent normal off-
sets of up to 1000 m (Figure 2), but where the Post fault cuts the
Jurassic intrusion, offsets are ~60 m, indicating unusually high
displacement gradients along the fault. In contrast, considering
 Faulting and Carlin-type gold 223

Figure 1. Map of the northern Carlin trend, modified from Moore (2002), highlighting the major faults associated with mineralisation, plus the Roberts Mountain
Thrust (RMT), fold hinges and intrusions in the area. Bold fault lines represent the first-order faults interpreted to be active during mineralization. The Post-Gene-
sis fault is ~14 km long and segmented, terminating just north of Ren pit and in the vicinity of Universal pit to the south. Note, southeast from the tip of the Genesis
fault is the Castle Reef fault. Mapping in Universal and Lantern open pits suggested the Genesis fault and Castle Reef fault did not link and that the Castle Reef fault
may not be as extensive as previously interpreted. Inset map shows the location of the trend relative to Nevada, USA.
224 Steven Micklethwaite

Figure 2. (A.) West to east cross-section from northern end of Goldstrike pit, modified from plate 3 of Thompson et al. (2002). Mineralization is broadly stratiform
and associated with the Post fault segment and footwall faults. (B.) West to east cross-section through Meikle deposit. The Popovich and Rodeo Creek formations
thin beneath the Roberts Mountain Thrust at a fold in the thrust. The Post-Genesis fault core comprises multiple strands located along the east limb of the fold. Min-
eralization (black dotted line) is concentrated in and adjacent to the Post-Genesis fault core, as a tongue high in the footwall of the Post-Genesis fault, and in Upper
Plate rocks of the Post-Genesis fault core and hangingwall (800 m to >1000 m below surface). (C.) Orientation and lineation data of the Post-Genesis fault.

the Miocene sediments in isolation, the western strands have
small normal dip-slip offsets in Miocene sediments and the east-
ern strand localized up to 200 m normal dip-slip offset (Figure
2). These observations could be interpreted to argue that the ma-
jority of displacement was accumulated on the Post fault seg-
ment prior to intrusion of the Jurassic granodiorite sill and that
the Eocene and Miocene involved reactivation of a pre-existing
normal fault. However, the measured Paleozoic offset indicates
an unrealistically large fault length-displacement ratio of 0.14,
relative to typical ratios of 0.03 (Schlische et al., 1996). Addi-
tionally, the Post fault segment is parallel with antiformal fold
hinges close to the footwall of the fault core (Figure 1).
The Post fault has been previously interpreted as an in-
verted normal fault (e.g. Cline et al., 2005; Muntean et al., 2007)
but inverted normal faults result in hangingwall antiforms, not
footwall antiforms. Furthermore, such an interpretation would
imply a plausible but very complicated geological history of
normal fault formation, inversion during orogenesis, reactiva-
tion as a normal fault pre-Jurassic intrusion and development of
highly unusual displacement-length characteristics, followed
 Faulting and Carlin-type gold
by further extensional reactivation in the Eocene and Miocene.
Inspection of Figure 2b shows a relationship between the loca-
tion of the fault plane, plus folding and pinching out of the
Popovich and Rodeo Creek Formations, beneath the Roberts
Mountain thrust. Thus an alternative model is proposed,
whereby during the Eocene portions of the Post fault nucleated
and propagated from the limbs of a pre-existing fold. In this par-
ticular case, the fold may have formed at a ramp on a back thrust
of the Roberts Mountain allocthon (Figure 3). The geometric
consequence of a fault forming on a pre-existing fold,or folded
thrust ramp, would be very large apparent displacement, even
though actual displacements may be only a few hundred metres.
The geological history of the Post fault may be much simpler
than that previously assumed.
Kinematics
The slip direction on any fault parallels the maximum shear
stress resolved on the fault plane, which can relate to the
far-field stress state (Ramsay and Lisle, 2000). The Post-Gene-
sis fault preserves dip-slip lineations with small to moderate
oblique components (Figure 2c), consistent with west-north-
west directed extension, but caution is required interpreting
these lineations because they may represent overprinting move-
ment from extension during the Miocene. However, the orienta-
tion of the far-field stress state can be estimated from the orien-
tations of syn-Eocene extensional faults, veins and dykes at ~40
Figure 3. Conceptual model of Post fault formation, on the fold limb of a previous thrust ramp. The important point of
this model is not whether there is a thrust ramp present, but that pre-existing folding of some type explains why the
Post fault has such apparently large normal offset.
225
Ma, mapped elsewhere in northeast Nevada. Mapping of
Eocene sediments and volcanics has revealed north to northwest
striking syn-Eocene faults, with small-displacement normal
dip-slip faults crosscutting and tilting Eocene sediments and
tuffs from paleovalleys (Cline et al., 2005; Henry, 2008). In ad-
dition, there are steep dipping, epithermal quartz veins from the
Tuscarora mining district, dated at ~39.2 Ma, with an average
northerly strike (Henry et al., 1998). Therefore the regional ex-
tension direction was east-west to west-northwest directed at
~40 Ma. Because the strike of the Post-Genesis fault system is
north-northwest, this fault system was slightly misoriented rela-
tive to the extension direction in the Eocene. Stress and strain
are tensors, which mean that west-northwest extension could
generate normal dip-slip with oblique-slip movement on the
Post-Genesis fault when the maximum principal stress is
subvertical and controlled by the lithostatic overburden. The
amount of oblique-slip realised during independent slip events
is dependent on the ratios of the magnitudes of maximum
principle stresses to one another, at the instant of failure
(Ramsay and Lisle, 2000).
More specifically, within the northern Carlin trend the
strike of a subvertical Eocene dike (K-dike, Figure 1) indicates
west-northwest directed extension during intrusion. In contrast,
the strikes of Eocene dikes close to the Genesis fault segment
appear to be rotated relative to the K-dike (Figure 1). The appar-
ent rotation of Eocene dikes could be due to a oblique-slip com-
ponent of movement on the Post-Genesis fault, or the dikes may
226 Steven Micklethwaite

Figure 4. (A.) Southwest to northeast cross-section through Betze-Post pit, showing opposing dips of small normal
dip-slip faults relative to the Post fault segment. Section was modified from one supplied by Barrick Gold Ltd. Data
resolution is not good enough to determine trace of offset of faults through Upper Plate rocks. (B.) Schematic section
and photo from a traverse on bench 5120, west wall of Betze-Post pit, showing general attitude of bedding horizons
and faults, in the Rodeo Creek formation of Lower Plate rocks. Note, stratigraphy on the formation scale is only
mildly folded but internally tight folding, bedding plane lineations and low angle detachments occur, possibly con-
trolled by rheological contrasts between individual beds. The majority of folds may have formed during emplacement
of the Roberts Mountain Thrust, though a thorough study is required. (C.) Fault orientation and lineation data from
damage zone structures exposed in both Betze-Post and Genesis pits.

have intruded in that orientation due to the stress rotations that
typically occur towards the tips of fault segments.
Distribution of Mineralization
There are several important features of the distribution of
mineralization around the Post-Genesis fault system worth not-
ing. (1) The majority of ore comes from the Popovich formation
in lower plate rocks (Figure 2) but mineralization crosses for-
mation boundaries, and is found in many other rock types, in-
cluding upper plate rocks above the Roberts Mountains Thrust
(e.g. Ren pit in the north of the trend, see also Figure 2). (2) Min-
eralization in the footwall of the Post-Genesis fault system de-
scribes broad but relatively shallow scallops, extending over 2
km away from the segments. (3) Mineralization exists at depth
(1.51.8 km) in the hangingwall of the fault, hosted in upper
plate rocks (Figure 2). (4) Within and adjacent to the core of the
Post-Genesis fault system, mineralisation deepens and becomes
parallel with the fault (0.30.6 km). (5) Mineralization deepens
in the stepover between the Post and Genesis fault segments
(0.30.9 km), and has also been found at depths 0.70.9 km at
the tip of the Post fault (not shown in Figure 1).
 Faulting and Carlin-type gold 227

So overall, a pattern emerges of shallow footwall mineral-
ization, deepening along and parallel with the master fault cores
and stepover, and existing at depth in the hangingwall of the sys-
tem. These observations also indicate that the distribution of
mineralization is not due to upper plate rocks acting as an
aquitard (e.g. Cline et al., 2005) but rather that faulting and frac-
turing (present in both upper and lower plate rocks) were impor-
tant pathways for ore-forming fluids to access suitable reactive
lithologies.
DAMAGE ZONE FAULTS
Damage zones are classified into different geometric types
depending on their location around the master fault (Kim et al.,
2004). Tip-damage zones are developed at the tips of faults, link-
ing-damage zones form where adjacent fault segments interact
and link (e.g. at stepovers), and wall-damage zones represent
faulting and fracturing in the near-field, wall rock region of a
fault. The near-field region of a fault is defined here as that re-
gion within one fault segment length of a fault (i.e. within ~5 km
of the Post-Genesis fault). The majority of mineralization re-
lated to the Post-Genesis fault system is associated with wall-
and linking-damage zone structures (Figure 1, see also Bettles
2002; Heitt et al., 2003). Many of the wall-damage zone struc-
tures in the Betze-Post and Genesis pits are off-fault (i.e. not
necessarily connected to the master fault), in the near-field to
the master fault and only exposed in the footwall because the
hanging wall is covered by a Miocene sedimentary basin.
Typical characteristics of the damage zone faults are their
steep dips (>60), with multiple strike orientations and dip di-
rections opposing those of the Post-Genesis fault (Figure 4).
The average strike is semiparallel with the Post-Genesis fault
(Figure 4c). A number are localised on the margins of dikes and
some are associated with folds. Old reverse faults are also pres-
ent, which appear to have been reactivated during mineraliza-
tion (e.g. West Bazza fault in Betze-Post pit). Damage zone
faults generally have small, normal dip-slip offsets, and a range
of lineation orientations. The Peculiar fault and East-East
Longlac fault are two examples from Betze-Post pit (Figure 5).
Both faults are located on the margins of dikes, with smooth, un-
dulating, semi-continuous main slip surfaces. East-East
Longlac fault is steeply dipping (155/68W) with normal
dip-slip offset of meters to possibly a few tens of meters. Good
gold grades were present in and adjacent to the fault at the
East-East Longlac fault exposure shown in Figure 5b. Damage
can occur on all scales, and may have included the formation of
distributed microcracking in mineralized sediments (Figure
5c). Fault rocks originating from brecciated dike material (Fig-
ure 5d), are commonly poorly consolidated, clay-rich with
gritty textures and contain some narrow (>1 cm), anastamosing,
dark shears (possibly ultracataclasites). Weak fabrics are vari-
ably present. On the basis of global fault displacement-length
data (Schlische et al., 1996), many of the damage zone faults are
under-displaced (c.f. Vetel et al., 2005)that is to say the dam-
age zone faults are interpreted to be continuous for several kilo-
meters (e.g. Moore, 2002) but they accommodate offsets of only
meters to tens of meters.
In summary the damage zone faults tend to display a range
of unusual characteristicslow displacement-length ratios,
steep dips, dip directions opposing the master fault, strikes
oblique to the extension direction in the Eocene, multiple
lineation directions and spatial location on the margins of dikes,
fold limbs or pre-existing reverse faults. Taken together these
observations indicate damage zone faulting was strongly con-
trolled by the mechanics of pre-existing structure or weak sur-
faces, which determined their orientations. Indeed, in some
cases there may even be multiple small-displacement faults
aligned along strike on the flanks of the same pre-existing dyke.
Thus, the wall-damage zone to the Post-Genesis fault system
represents an unusual type of damage zone, where near-field

Figure 5. Field photographs of wall-damage faults. (A.) The Peculiar fault localised along the margin of a subvertical pre-existing dike, people for scale. (B.) The
East-East Langlac fault localized on the hangingwall margin of a dike, with intense local visible alteration in the wall rock marked by silicification and bleaching.
Good gold grades are associated with this exposure (C.Weakly pers comm). (C.) Hand specimen hangingwall sample, taken 3 m away from the fault showing pri-
mary sedimentary features such as fining up, and cut by a distributed network of microcracks (m). (D.) Hand specimen from the hangingwall of the East-East
Langlac fault. Brecciated and altered dike material is associated with sooty pyrite (py) at its contact with silicified wall rock. A late barite vein (ba) transects this
contact and entrains small fragments of pyrite. Sooty pyrite alteration is parallel with the fault and also infills microcracks.
228 Steven Micklethwaite
faulting was controlled by the reactivation of pre-existing
misoriented structures, such as dikes, fold limbs and old faults.
STATIC STRESS CHANGE MODELING
Changes in Coulomb failure stress (DsF) are used as a
proxy for the triggering of earthquakes and the distribution of
aftershocks (e.g. King et al., 1994; Stein et al., 1997; Parsons et
al., 2008). Whenever a fault slip event occurs, highly connected
porosity is generated in the fault core and damage is reactivated
or created in wall rocks, enhancing permeability (Sheldon and
Micklethwaite, 2007). On this basis, static stress change calcu-
lations (otherwise referred to as Stress Transfer Modeling or
STM) may also be applied to predict domains where permeabil-
ity was enhanced around fault systems.
STM has been successfully applied to explain the distribu-
tion of fault-vein hosted mineralization around regional-scale
shear zones in mesothermal lode-gold deposits from greenstone
belts (Cox & Ruming, 2004; Micklethwaite & Cox, 2004, 2006;
Micklethwaite et al., 2009). Three dimensional (3D) elastic
half-space dislocation models are used to calculate the stress
changes around faults. Critical parameters are (1) master fault
geometry, (2) kinematics (generally controlled by the orienta-
tion of the far-field stresses), (3) depth of the master fault rela-
tive to the Earths surface, and (4) the coseismic slip distribution
on the master fault plane, especially where slip events had a ten-
dency to arrest at fault stepovers or fault tips.
Based on the field observations, the Post-Genesis fault sys-
tem was reconstructed in 3D, with the top of the fault system set
at 500 m below the model surface, and the fault surfaces subdi-
vided into multiple rectangular panels (Figure 6). The panels al-
lowed bends in the fault surface to be approximated and slip ta-
pered across the Post and Genesis fault segments (Figure 6a).
The average magnitude of slip applied to each fault segment was
determined according to fault size, using the empirical relation-
ships presented by Wells and Coppersmith (1994). For faults in
shales and calcareous sediments with low values of elastic
moduli (e.g. shear modulus of 1.4 105 bars), average fault slip
per event on the Post Fault and Genesis Fault segments would be
expected to be ~0.65 m. A series of control model experi-
ments were also run, where the general stress change patterns
were investigated around a single, planar, steeply dipping nor-
mal dip-slip fault, with similar dimension, orientation and kine-
matics to the Post fault segment. Comparisons of stress changes
between the simpler and more complicated model configura-
tions found that the first-order pattern of results was not greatly
affected. Youngs modulus for shales is typically a low value of
3 105 bars. Poissons ratio is often taken to be 0.25 but for fluid
saturated rocks Poissons ratio may be as high as 0.4. Values for
the principal stresses s1>s2>s3 were fixed at 27.0 MPa/km,
16.5 MPa/km and 10.0 MPa/km respectively, consistent with
crust undergoing extension that is in frictional equilibrium
(Brudy et al., 1997). Either way, model results are generally in-
sensitive to variations in elastic parameters and differential
stress (King et al., 1994), and experiments that varied these pa-
rameters had no significant impact on results. The change in
Coulomb failure stress was calculated using;
DsF = Dt + m(Dsn).
This simple equation states that Coulomb failure stress
change, adjacent to a fault slip event, is related to changes in
shear stress (Dt), changes in normal stress (Dsn) and apparent
friction (m). Apparent friction is related to the coefficient of
static friction (Byerlee, 1978) and Skemptons coefficient
(Micklethwaite and Cox, 2006), and for shales or calcareous
muddy sediments the value used was m = 0.14.
Results
Changes in Coulomb failure stress were calculated for
faults of specific orientations. Figure 6 shows the distribution of
positive stress changes for (1) normal dip-slip surfaces which
are optimally oriented for failure relative to the far-field stress
regime, and, (2) faults with an orientation parallel with the aver-
age orientation of wall-damage zone structures (i.e. 160/75,
rake -85, according to the right-hand rule). Those domains
where positive stresses are resolved for optimally oriented
faults, represent volumes expected to contain the most intense
damage (i.e. in step-overs and at fault tips). Those domains
where positive stresses are resolved for faults with typical
wall-damage zone orientations represent the volumes where
wall-damage zone type faults are most likely to have been acti-
vated.
Figure 6 demonstrates that, for optimally oriented normal
dip-slip faults, domains of positive stress change are concen-
trated at the tips and in the stepover of the Post-Genesis fault
system, forming dip-parallel, pipe-like volumes that are contin-
uous to the base of the fault system. Thus, the presence of deep
mineralization at the tip of the Post fault and in the Post-Genesis
stepover could be explained by the triggering of optimally ori-
ented normal faults, in domains of tip-zone damage. Positive
stress changes at the Earths surface, deepen close to and along
the Post fault segment. Figure 6b shows that, for faults with the
same orientation as wall-damage zone faults, shallow scallops
of positive stress change are generated in the footwall of the
Post-Genesis fault system (matching the distribution of miner-
alization in the Genesis and Betze-Post pits). Positive stress
changes also form semi-continuous domains that deepen close
to the fault surfaces (where mineralization is known to deepen),
and in well-developed domains in the hangingwall of the system
(where mineralization has been found at depths of >1 km).
These distributions of positive stress change bear marked simi-
larities with the distribution of gold mineralization noted earlier,
thus the mineralisation associated with the Post-Genesis fault
system occurs in locations that are expected to have accumu-
lated damage during slip events on that fault system. For exam-
ple, the Genesis and Betze-Post pits both fit within the footwall
 Faulting and Carlin-type gold 229

Figure 6. (A.) Post-Genesis fault model in 3D, composed of multiple panels with displacement distributed across the surfaces of the fault segments. (B.) Map view
of the fault model, shown with the gradient of Coulomb failure stress change used in C-D. (C.) 2D results at increasing depth slices, showing stress changes resolved
on optimally oriented normal dip-slip faults (010/60, rake -90, relative to the right-hand rule). Black polygons represent the surface projection of mineralization as-
sociated with the Post-Genesis fault system, grey polygons are mineralization associated with other faults in the northern Carlin trend. Mineralization deepens
close to the fault planes and in the stepover of the system. Deep mineralization has also been detected in the hanginwall and north tip of the Post fault segment (not
shown). Stress changes indicate damage is generated continuously to depth at the tips and stepover of the system, and damage also accumulates close to and parallel
with the fault plane, to model depths of >1 km. (D.) 2D results at increasing depth slices, showing stress changes resolved on optimally oriented normal dip-slip
faults (160/75, rake -85, relative to the right-hand rule). Stress changes indicate wall-damage faults are triggered in shallow footwall scallops, and close to and par-
allel with the fault plane. Wall-damage type faults are not triggered in the stepover domain or fault tip zones, but are likely to have been triggered in the hangingwall
of the system. (E.) 3D representation of the results shown in C-D. The distribution of stress change is asymmetric between the Post and Genesis fault segments and
reaches 15 km depths.
230 Steven Micklethwaite
stress domains, the deeper Deep Star and Deep Post deposits are
located at the Post-Genesis stepover, where stress changes are
continuous with depth.
The pattern of stress change is asymmetric around the
Post-Genesis fault system (Figure 6e), due to the larger size of
the Post fault segment, and the obliquity that existed between
the orientation of the fault and the Eocene extension direction.
3D isosurfaces of positive stress change show that positive
stress changes could have been generated down to ~15 km (Fig-
ure 6e). Due to the asymmetry of the system, the Post fault seg-
ment was capable of generating positive stress changes over
larger volumes of rock relative to the Genesis fault segment.
DISCUSSION
Damage zones are critical components of a fault system
(Chester and Logan, 1986; Odling et al., 2004; Cochran et al.,
2009). In the Carlin-type ore deposits of the northern Carlin
trend a combination of field observations and numerical model-
ling indicate that wall-damage and linking-damage zone struc-
tures controlled the migration of fluids and influenced the gold-
field-scale location of mineralization. The damage is both
off-fault and located in the near-field of the Post-Genesis fault
system, and is unusual because it formed along pre-existing
planes of weakness, such as dike margins, fold limbs and old
reverse faults.
Damage zone faults associated with mineralization in the
northern Carlin Trend, extend up to 2 km laterally from the mas-
ter fault, across strike. This width narrows significantly with
depth and mineralization becomes localized adjacent to the fault
plane, and in stepover domains (e.g. Heitt et al., 2003). Further-
more, deep mineralization has been discovered at the northern
tip of the Post fault segment and in the hanging wall of the Post
fault segment.
Stress Transfer Modelling can be used to explain the distri-
bution of mineralisation in the Carlin trend. Positive changes in
static stress, from slip events on the Post-Genesis fault system,
correlate with the distribution of mineralization. This suggests a
model whereby static stress changes triggered slip on pre-exist-
ing weak surfaces or faults, induced damage, and exerted a
first-order control on the enhancement of permeability. Some
important implications of the modeling are that the depth extent
of damage is potentially much greater than the dimensions of
the fault system and could have reached to 15 km (i.e. a full fault
segment length below the base of successive ruptures). Fault
tips and stepovers in a system are critical domains but there are
also important non-intuitive domains influenced by physical
and geometric factors such as fault shape and far-field stress re-
gime. STM is a useful tool for understanding the non-intuitive
distribution of fault-related damage that controlled permeabil-
ity enhancement and mineralization in any system
(Micklethwaite and Cox, 2004, 2006). For example, in the
Post-Genesis fault system, static stress changes provide a ratio-
nale for understanding the footwall scallop of mineralization
represented by the world-class Betze-Post and Genesis pits.
The approach outlined here provides a physically sound ba-
sis to understand fluid migration and the distribution of mineral-
ization. On the meter scale physico-chemical processes such as
reaction-enhanced porosity may well be important, which pos-
sibly explains the presence of approximately stratiform miner-
alization in places. However, the first-order control, on the gold-
field scale, was faulting and fracturing related to slip events on
the Post-Genesis fault system. Fluid flow during Carlin-type
mineralization has previously been interpreted as passive
(Cline et al., 2005), meaning that mineralizing fluids exploited
pre-existing, quasi-permanent porosity networks, such as frac-
tures and bedding horizons. However, the results of this study
suggest that porosity was generated by the faulting process, per-
haps repeatedly. Mineralization was dependent on slip events on
the Post-Genesis fault system, which possibly resulted in cycles
of coseismic fracturing and interseismic healing
(Micklethwaite et al., 2010). During and following a slip event,
fluids migrated through the fault core and damage zone of the
Post-Genesis fault system, before reacting with and
mineralizing suitable lithological hosts.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Connie Nutt is thanked for a thoughtful review of the manu-
script. Barrick Gold and Newmont, are thanked for excellent lo-
gistical and financial support during the course of this study.
Trevor Beardsmore, Francois Robert, Paul Doback, and Lee
Sampson of Barrick Gold, and Alan Goode of AMIRA Interna-
tional were invaluable in helping the project start. Special
thanks go to Charles Weakly and Jim Essman for all their help in
the field. Most of this work was completed while S.M. was at the
Australian National University working under ARC Linkage
grant LP0562164, with Prof. Stephen Cox.
REFERENCES
Arehart, G.B., Chakurian, A.M., Trebar, D.R., Christensen, J.N., McInnes,
B.A. and Donelick, R.A., 2003, Evaluation of radioisotope dating of
Carlin-type deposits in the Great Basin, western North America, and
implications for deposit genesis: Economic Geology, v. 98, p.
235248.
Bettles, K., 2002, Exploration and Geology, 1962 to 2002, at the Goldstrike
Property, Carlin Trend, Nevada. Economic Geology, Special Publica-
tion, v. 9, p. 275298.
Brudy, M., Zoback, M.D., Fuchs, K., Rummel, F. and Baumgartner, J., 1997,
Estimation of the complete stress tensor to 8 km depth in the KTB scien-
tific drill holes: Implications for crustal strength: Journal of Geophysi-
cal Research, v. 102, p. 18,453-18,475.
Byerlee, J.D., 1978, Friction of rock: Pure and Applied Geophysics, v. 116, p.
615-626.
Chakurian, A.M., Arehart, G.B., Donelick, R.A., Zhang, X. and Reiners, P.W.,
2003, Timing constraints of gold mineralization along the Carlin trend
utilizing apatite fission-track, 40Ar/39Ar, and apatite (U-Th)/He: Eco-
nomic Geology, v. 98, p. 11591171.
Chen, W.D., Tanaka, H., Huang, H., Lu, C., Lee, C. and Wang, C., 2007, Fluid
 Faulting and Carlin-type gold
infiltration associated with seismic faulting: Examining chemical and
mineralogical compositions of fault rocks from the Chelungpu fault:
Tectonophysics, v. 443, p. 243254.
Chester, F.M. and Logan, J.M., 1986, Implications for mechanical properties of
brittle faults from observations of the Punchbowl Fault Zone, Califor-
nia: Pure and Applied Geophysics, v. 124, p. 79106.
Cline, J.S., Hofstra, A.H., Muntean, J.L., Tosdal, R.M. and Hickey, K.A., 2005,
Carlin-type gold deposits in Nevada: Critical geological characteristics
and viable models: Economic Geology 100th Anniversary Volume, p.
451484.
Cochran, E.S., Li, Y-.G., Shearer, P.M., Barbot, S., Fialko, Y. and Vidale, J.E.,
2009, Seismic and geodetic evidence for extensive, long-lived fault
damage zones: Geology, v. 37, p. 315318, doi:10.1130/G25306A.
Cox, S.F. and Ruming, K., 2004, The St Ives mesothermal gold system, Western
Australiaa case of golden aftershocks? Journal of Structural Geology,
v. 26, p. 11091125.
Faulkner, D.R., Mitchell, T.M., Healy, D. and Heap, M.J., 2006, Slip on weak
faults by the rotation of regional stress in the fracture damage zone: Na-
ture, v. 444, p. 922925, doi:10.1038/nature05353.
Healy, D., 2008, Damage patterns, stress rotations and pore fluid pressures in
strike-slip fault zones: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 113,
B12407, doi:10.1029/2008JB005655.
Heitt, D.G., Dunbar, W.W., Thompson, T.B. and Jackson, R.G., 2003, Geology
and geochemistry of the Deep Star gold deposit, Carlin Trend, Nevada:
Economic Geology, v. 95, p. 11071135.
Henry, C.D., Boden, D.R., and Castor, S.B., 1998, Geology and mineralization
of the Eocene Tuscarora volcanic field, Elko County, Nevada: U.S. Geo-
logical Survey Open-File Report 98-338, p. 279290.
Henry, C.D., 2008, Ash-flow tuffs and paleovalleys in northeastern Nevada:
Implications for Eocene paleogeography and extension in the Sevier
hinterland, northern Great Basin: Geosphere, v. 4, p. 1-35,
doi:10.1130/GES00122.1.
Hickey, K.A., Haynes, S., Tosdal, R.M. and Mortensen, J.K., 2003, Cretaceous-
Paleogene denudation, volcanism and faulting in the Carlin-Jerritt Can-
yon mining district, northeastern Nevada: Implications for the
paleogeographic and tectonic environment of Carlin-type gold deposits,
in Eliopoulos, D.G. et al., eds., Mineral exploration and sustainable de-
velopment: Rotterdam, Millpress, p. 685688.
Hickey, K., Dipple, G., Barker, S. and Donelick, R., 2009, In the blink of an eye:
thermal contraints on the duration of hydrothermal fluid flow during
formation of the Carlin Au-deposits, USA, in Proceedings of the 10th
biennial SGA meeting of the society for geology applied to mineral de-
posits, Townsville, Australia, p.282284.
Hofstra, A.H., Rye, R.O., 1998, dD and d18O data from Carlin-type gold depos-
its-Implications for genetic models: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File
Report 98-338, p. 202210.
Kim, Y-.S. Peacock, D.C.P. and Sanderson, D.J., 2004, Fault damage zones:
Journal of Structural Geology, v. 26, p. 503517.
King, G.C.P., Stein, R.S. and Lin, J., 1994, Static stress changes and the trigger-
ing of earthquakes. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v.
84, p. 935-953.
McGrath, A.G., and Davison, I., 1995, Damage zone geometry around fault
tips: Journal of Structural Geology, v. 17, p. 10111024.
231
Micklethwaite, S. and Cox, S.F., 2004, Fault-segment rupture, aftershock-zone
fluid flow, and mineralization: Geology, v. 32, 813816.
Micklethwaite, S. and Cox, S.F., 2006, Progressive fault triggering and fluid
flow in aftershock domains: Examples from mineralized Archaean fault
systems: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 250, p. 318330.
Micklethwaite, S., Sheldon, H.A. and Baker, T., 2010, Active fault and shear
processes and their implications for mineral deposit formation and dis-
covery: Journal of Structural Geology, v. 32, p. 151165.
Moore, S., editor, 2002, Geology of the north Carlin trend: Nevada Bureau of
Mines and Geology, Bulletin 111, scale 1:24 000, 1 sheet.
Muntean, J.L., Coward, M.P. and Tarnocai, C.A., 2007, Reactivated Palaeozoic
normal faults: Controls on the formation of Carlin-type gold deposits in
north-central Nevada, in Ries, A.C. et al., eds., Deformation of the con-
tinental crust: The legacy of Mike Coward, Geological Society of Lon-
don Special Publication, v. 272, p. 573589.
Odling, N.E., Harris, S.D. and Knipe, R.J., 2004, Permeability scaling proper-
ties of fault damage zones in siliciclastic rocks: Journal of Structural
Geology, v. 26, p. 17271747.
Parsons, T., Ji, C., and Kirby, E., 2008, Stress changes from the 2008 Wenchuan
earthquake and increased hazard in the Sichuan basin: Nature, v. 454,
p.509510.
Ramsay, J.G. and Lisle, R.J., 2000, The techniques of modern structural geol-
ogy, Volume 3: Applications of continuum mechanics in structural geol-
ogy: Academic Press, 1061 p.
Ressel, M.W., Noble, D.C., Henry, C.D. and Trudel, W.S., 2000, Dike-hosted
ores of the Beast deposit and the importance of Eocene magmatism in
gold mineralization of the Carlin Trend, Nevada: Economic Geology, v.
95, p. 14171444.
Schlische, R.W., Young, S.S., Ackermann, R.V., and Gupta, A., 1996, Geome-
try and scaling relations of a population of very small rift-related normal
faults: Geology, v. 24, p. 683686.
Sheldon, H.A. and Micklethwaite, S., 2007, Damage and permeability around
faults: Implications for mineralization. Geology, v. 34, p. 903-906, doi:
10.1130/G23860A.1.
Stein, R.S., Barka, A.A. and Dieterich, J.H., 1997, Progressive failure on the
North Anatolian fault since 1939 by earthquake stress triggering, Geo-
physical Journal International, v. 128, p. 594604.
Thompson, T.B., Teal, L. and Meeuwig, R.O., editors, 2002, Gold deposits of
the Carlin trend: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, Bulletin 111,
204 p.
Tretbar, D.R., Arehart, G.B. and Christensen, J.N., 2000, Dating gold deposi-
tion in a Carlin-type gold deposit using Rb/Sr methods on the mineral
galkhaite: Geology, v. 28, p. 947950.
Vetel, W., Le Gall, B. and Walsh, J.J., 2005, Geometry and growth of an inner
rift fault pattern: the Kino Sogo Fault Belt, Turckana Rift (North
Kenya): Journal of Structural Geology, v. 27, p. 22042222.
Walsh, J.J., Bailey, W.R., Nicol, A. and Bonson, C.G., 2003, Formation of seg-
mented normal faults: a 3-D perspective: Journal of Structural Geology,
v. 25, p. 12511262.
Wells, D.L. and Coppersmith, K.J., 1994, New empirical relationships among
magnitude, rupture length, rupture width, rupture area, and surface dis-
placement: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 84, p.
9741002.