Porphyry Cu(Au/Mo) deposits are diagnostic to compressional thickened continental crust.

VMS deposits are diagnostic to extensional thin arc-related basins.

Orogenic gold deposits are diagnostic to transpressional boundary.

Coeval porphyry-type and VMS-type ore deposits occurred widely throughout the Altaids.

Porphyry deposits outline the distribution of diverse-origin continental fragments, which is much smaller than the whole area of the Altaids.

The ages of the orogenic gold deposits indicate that the orogenic duration is outside the time bracket of the Altaids.