The mineralogical complexity of all Au–Bi–Te–S associations can be modelled in terms of interaction between simpler assemblages and sulphur-bearing fluids. Three stages—all involving gold minerals—are recognised: (1) bismuth + maldonite ± hedleyite; (2) Bi-sulphotellurides + jonassonite, and decomposition of maldonite (gold + bismuth); and (3) bismuthinite + gold from decomposition of maldonite or jonassonite. The last stage is coincident with chloritisation and occurs during or following granite emplacement. Thermodynamic modelling of maldonite replacement by bismuthinite and gold indicates conditions to overlap with the pyrite–hematite buffer at 258 °C if neutral fluids are involved. The general replacement model for the deposit shows that local-scale reworking of maldonite and resultant gold remobilisation contributed to the apparent abundance of native gold. This interpretation is consistent with the protracted geological history at Maldon where granite intrusion post-dates an orogenic event. Initial sulphur-poor assemblages crystallised from melts predating granite emplacement. The latest sulphidation event is attributed to retrograde fluids in the contact aureole, whereas the earlier one could also have been produced during the multi-stage deformation. Although observed assemblages and textures are the product of a complex sequence of overprinting, there is no need to invoke input of gold from more than a single fluid generation.