Abstract: The West Qinling Orogen is well endowed with numerous orogenic and Carlin-like type gold deposits. Most of previous studies suggested that the ore-forming fluids of these gold deposits were derived from metamorphic devolatilization of the Paleozoic marine sedimentary sequences during the Triassic continental collision forming the Qinling Orogen. The XiaheHezuo district in the western portion of the West Qinling Orogen has been becoming a major exploration interest in the last decade due to discovery of numerous gold deposits. Most gold deposits of various mineralization styles in the district are spatially associated with intermediate to felsic intrusions, but their geneses remain poorly understood. Based on previous studies as well as our present works, we summarized here the geological and geochemical features of various types of gold deposits, including skarn Au-Cu deposit, tourmaline-quartz vein-type gold deposit, quartz-calcite vein-type gold-polymetallic deposit and country rock-hosted disseminated type gold deposit. We then reviewed the petrogenesis and tectonic implication of associated granitoid intrusions. We suggest that multiple magmatic hydrothermal gold mineralizing events took place in the XiaheHezuo district, and these events are genetically associated with ilmenite-series intermediate to felsic magmatism during the early to middle Triassic (ca. 250230 Ma). These deposits combined form the first reduced intrusion-related gold system in the West Qinling Orogen. This work indicates an early to middle Triassic magmatic hydrothermal gold mineralization event in the West Qinling Orogen, and in its west portion it may discover another reduced intrusion-related gold deposit.

Key words:  West Qinling, XiaheHezuo district, reduced intrusion-related gold deposit, early to middle Triassic, gold mineralization system