## 2 Geological Background and Sampling  
The Jiaodong Peninsula comprises two distinct crystalline basements of the Jiaobei and Sulu terranes, which are dominated by the Precambrian high-grade metamorphic rocks of NCC [29] and the Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic basement rocks of YC [30], respectively (Figure 1B). The former is mainly made up of the Jiaodong Group TTG (tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite) greisses (Mesoarchean to Neoarchean) [31], the Fenzishan and Jingshan Groups metasedimentary rocks (Paleoproterozoic) [32] and the Penglai Group metasedimentary sequences (Neoproterozoic) [33], whereas the latter suffered from a ca. 244-220 Ma UHP (ultra-high-pressure) metamorphic event [34], which formed the UHP metamorphic rocks, mainly including the marble, quartzite, coseite-bearing eclogite and granitic gneiss (Figure 1B) [35]. Mesozoic magmatism occurred widely in the Jiaodong Peninsula as a result of the Paleo-Pacific subduction under East China (Figure 1B) [36; 37; 38], which developed during two main episodes [8; 39]: one is represented by the Late Jurassic (166-149 Ma) biotite granite and monzogranite [7; 37], and the other is characterized by the porphyritic-like granodiorite, monzonite, monzogranite and synogranite formed during the Early Cretaceous (130-110 Ma) [40; 41]. Regional-scale structures in the Jiaodong Peninsula are characterized by NE- and NNE-trending fault systems (Figure 1B), which developed either in the cratonic interior or along previous suture zones like the crustal-scale Tan-Lu Fault (TLF), Zhaoyuan-Pingdu Fault (ZPF) and WQYF, respectively, from west to east (Figure 1B) [42]. In addition, on both sides of the ZPF and WQYF, the low-order NNE- to NE-striking faults dipping towards either NW or SE are distributed at intervals of about 15-35 km across the Jiaobei uplift and Sulu terranes (Figure 1B). It has been widely suggested that these low-order faults and the crustal-scale WQYF and ZPF have undergone multistage deformation [43; 44] and control these gold deposits developed in the Jiaodong Peninsula (Figure 1B) [45; 46]. For example, the NNE- to NE-striking Muping-Rushan fault zone dipping steeply to SE in the Sulu terrane (Figure 1B), made up of an array of sub-parallel NNE- to NE-trending faults (Figure 2a) [20], controls the distribution of the \"Linglong-type\" gold deposits in the Muping-Rushan gold metallogenic belt (Figures 1B and 2a), which is dominated by two stages of Mesozoic magmatism (Figure 2a). The Late Jurassic Kunyushan granitoid batholith, emplaced during 161-141 Ma [47; 48], mainly consists of monzogranite and garnet-bearing leucogranite [40], which was intruded by the late-Early Cretaceous Sanfoshan monzonite (Figure 2a). The former generally shows a strong NNE-SSW-aligned ductile foliation fabric [20] and hosts the \"Linglong-type\" gold deposits (Figure 2a), whereas the latter is undeformed, where almost no gold deposits develop [20]. In addition, a large number of mafic and intermediate dikes developed in both the Kunyushan and Sanfoshan granitoids, mainly striking NNE to NE (Figure 2a). Distinct from the other \"Linglong-type\" gold deposits located within the Muping-Rushan gold metallogenic belt, which are situated within the middle-west part of the Kunyushan granitoid batholith and are controlled by the NNE- to NE-trending faults (Figure 2a), the Xiawolong gold deposit, located at the northeast part of the Kunyushan granitoid batholith, is adjacent to the contact on the west side between the Sanfoshan monzonite and the Kunyushan granitoid (Figure 2a), where no faults and alteration zone develop [19]. Similar to the fractionated granitoid-associated deposits, such as the Mt Bischoff and Renison tin-tungsten deposits and the Wolfram tungsten-molybdenum deposits in Australia [49], the gold orebodies in the Xiawolong are all hosted within the fine-grained granitic dikes (Figure 2b-d) [20].