The Yangshan gold deposit is located in Wenxian County, Longnan City, Gansu Province, and its tectonic position is on the south side of Maqu- Lueyang deep fault in the western Qinling tectonic belt. It is one of the several large gold deposits in the western Qinling area. However, the ore- controlling structure is complicated, and there is still great controversy about those after over 2 decades of research. Based on the investigation of ore- bearing structures in the mining area and the regional tectonic environment, this paper redefines the characteristics of ore- bearing structures, and discusses the related problems of ore- controlling structures in this deposit. The results show that the ore- controlling structure of the Yangshan gold deposit is a brittle thrust nappe structure system with NEE strike and NNW tendency, which was formed after ductile deformation in the subduction to early collision stage. The ore- bearing structure is not directly related to phyllite, but can be nearly parallel to phyllite, oblique to a small angle or oblique to a large angle. The ore- bearing structures are mainly fault structures inclined to the north, with a little secondary thrust faults inclined to the south on the upper wall of the main thrust fault, and local interlayer fractures along phyllite. Then, ore- bearing structures have no selectivity to lithology, but different mechanical properties of different lithology affect the development of ore- bearing structures. The problems worthy of consideration and attention in the future work in the Yangshan gold mining area are: firstly, the Getiaowan- Caopingliang anticlinorium on the structural framework of the mining area may not exist, and it has not played a role in ore- controlling; secondly, post- metallogenic fault structures are well developed and have great influence on the spatial distribution of ore bodies; thirdly, detailed description of various structural fracture zones is needed in the exploration catalogue. Only in this way can we clearly distinguish the ore- bearing structure from the post- mineralization structure, prepare materials for the construction of ore- controlling structural system, and provide technical support for further prospecting prediction and exploration project deployment.