Abstract:

The Youjiang Basin, which is also named as the Nanpanjiang Basin, is an important enrichment area of Au-As-Hg-Sb
deposits in South China, and is also one of the largest enrichment area of Carlin-type gold deposits in China. The geological
characteristics of ore deposits indicate that the formation of these deposits has a relationship with the structures. Therefore, detailed
discussions on the structural characteristics and tectonic evolution of the Youjiang Basin are important for understanding the
development history of gold deposits. Combined with the previous studies, we think that two main sets of structures were developed in
the Youjiang Basin including the NW-and NE-trending ones; The NW-and NE-trending boundary faults played an important role in the
evolution of the basin and the distribution of volcanic rocks; All gold deposits are distributed in the basin， and the lithology and

structures are the two main factors that control the formation of gold deposits; Evolution of the Youjiang Basin can be divided into six
stages, i.e., the shore-shallow sea shelf development stage in the middle of Early Devonian (D12); the rifted ocean basin development
stage during the Middle Devonian to the Middle Permian (D2-P2); the ocean basin disappearance and foreland basin development stage
during the end of Middle Permian to the Middle Triassic (P23-T2); the stage of foreland basin disappearence and post-collision extension
during the Late Triassic to the Early Jurassic (T3-J1); the NE-trending compression structure development stage during the Middle
Jurassic to the middle of Early Cretaceous (J2-K12); and the partly extension stage during the late Early Cretaceous to the Paleogene.
The Carlin-type gold deposits were possibly developed after the foreland basin disappeared, and the ore-forming stage was related to the
extensional tectonic environment.

Key words: Youjiang Basin, Nanpanjiang Basin, Carlin-type gold deposit, structural evolution