The gold deposits that are hosted in the Archean metamorphic rock, have yet to be explored beyond Pinglidian gold deposit in the northwestern Jiaodong Peninsula, eastern China. This kind of gold deposit differs from those that are hosted in Mesozoic granitoids, showing good potential for the prospecting of auriferous quartz-vein gold deposits controlled by the structures in greenfield Archean metamorphic rock. Pinglidian gold deposit is located in the hanging wall of the Jiaojia fault and consists of eight separated orebodies that are enveloped by altered rock in Archean biotite plagiogneiss. These orebodies and wall-rock alterations are strongly controlled by local structures that formed during the Mesozoic rotation and kink folding of the foliated and fissile Archean basement host. The major wall-rock alterations comprise sericitization, silicification, pyritization, and carbonation, which is up to 18 m in width and progressively increases in intensity towards the auriferous quartz vein. The visible gold is present as discrete native gold and electrum grains, which have basically filled in all manner of fractures or are adjacent to galena. We recognize two types of gold bearing quartz veins that are associated with mineral paragenetic sequences during hydrothermal alteration in the Pinglidian gold deposit. The petrological features and geochemical compositions in the reaction fronts of the alteration zone suggest variations in the physicochemical conditions during ore formation. These minerals in the wall rock, such as plagioclase, biotite, zircon, titanite, and magnetite, have been broken down to hydrothermal albite, sericite, and quartz in a K–Na–Al–Si–O–H system, and sulfides in a Fe–S–O–H system. The major and trace elements were calculated by the mass-balance method, showing gains during early alteration and losses during late alteration. The contents of K₂O, Na₂O, CaO, and LOI varied within the K–Na–Al–Si–O–H system during alteration, while Fe₂O₃ and MgO were relatively stable. Rare-earth elements (REE) changed from gains to losses alongside the breakdown of accessory minerals, such as large ion lithophile elements (LILE). The Sr and Ba contents exhibited high mobility during sericite-quartz alteration. Most of the low-mobility high-field strength elements (HFSE) were moderately depleted, except for Pb, which was extremely high in anomalous samples. The behavior of trans-transition elements (TRTE) was related to complicated sulfides in the Fe–S–O–H system and was constrained by the parameters of the mineral assemblages and geochemical compositions, temperature, pressure, pH, and fO₂. These factors during ore formation that were associated with the extents and intensity of sulfide alteration and gold precipitation can be utilized to evaluate the potential size and scale of an ore-forming hydrothermal system, and is an effective exploration tool for widespread auriferous quartz veins in Archean metamorphic basements.

The Alxa Block is located in the middle part of the Central Asian orogenic belt, which is the coupling belt of the North China, Tarim, and Kazakhstan Plates. The east–west-trending deep faults control stratigraphic distribution and magmatic activity in the region. To detect the EW-trending ore-controlling deep structures, a 440 km NS section of magnetotelluric sounding was conducted from Minle to Ejinaqi. The phase tensor and electrical principal axis were analyzed based on the measured data to build the exploration model. The electrical structure model along the section was obtained using nonlinear conjugate gradient (NLCG) 2D inversion. Combined with the geological, geophysical, and deposit distribution characteristics in the area, the comprehensive study of magnetotelluric sounding profile shows that the resistivity presents as zoned along the profile. The Engelwusu ophiolite mélange belt is stacked in clumps with high and low resistivity, indicating that the northern margin of the Engelwusu Belt subducts below the high-resistivity zone, representing the passive continental margin. The southern end of the Engelwusu ophiolite belt is primarily the prospecting potential area for copper–gold deposits, whereas the northern end of the Engelwusu ophiolite belt corresponds to copper polymetallic deposits.