The Barsele Au deposit is hosted in Paleoproterozoic rocks that were subject to multiple deformation events during the Svecofennian orogeny 1.9-1.8 Ga ago. Rocks have been subjected to an approx. N-S-directed extensional event (1.89 Ga) potentially responsible for the formation of VMS deposits. The crustal extension was followed by a compressional event under ductile conditions and related basin inversion (D-2; 1.87 Ga) and overprinted by a brittle event at 1.8 Ga (D-3). The distribution of alteration minerals and veins suggests multiple phases of fluid flow and remobilisation. The latest phase of enrichment appears to be coupled to low-angle thrusting from ESE and brittle reactivation of earlier structures with emplacement of quartz veins along fault planes and tensile structures in an oblique Riedel system.