Geology and Ore Genesis of the Siana Gold-Silver Deposit, Surigao del Norte, Philippines

The Siana gold-silver deposit of Surigao del Norte, Mindanao, Philippines is perhaps one of the most complex in the world, being related to an ancient suture zone known as the Philippine Fault. Early accounts described the deposit as epithermal, consisting of an upper limestone replacement orebody and a lower vein type deposit hosted in andesite. Recent field and laboratory studies, in correlation with the latest findings on the archipelago's tectonic evolution, however, led to the present interpretation of the Siana ore deposit's origin as involving both syngenetic and epigenetic processes, with limestone breccia, similar to the Cow Head Breccia of Newfoundland, as the principal host to mineralization.