Rubidium–strontium age and origin of uraniferous granite, Molson Lake – Red Sucker Lake area, northwestern Superior Province, Manitoba

Late Archean, post-kinematic, uraniferous granite and alaskite occur as several discrete large and small bodies in the 250 km long Molson Lake – Red Sucker Lake batholithic belt, in the western Gods Lake subprovince. Sampled over this length, this unit gave a Rb–Sr whole-rock age of 2495 ± 30 Ma with an initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.7053 ± 0.0023. The excellent fit of the data points suggest a common, isotopically homogeneous source of magma for the analyzed granite bodies. The initial ratio is consistent with an origin from partial melting of older calc-alkaline rocks, and evidence suggests this event accompanied granulite-facies metamorphism. Based on recent U–Pb zircon ages, this event could have occurred as much as 200 Ma prior to closure of the Rb–Sr isotopic system.An older, monzonite–quartz diorite unit gives a less well-defined age of 2690 Ma, consistent with a U–Pb zircon age from the same unit. This pluton is intrusive into older, tonalitic gneisses and is part of a widespread suite of granitoid plutonic rocks in this subprovince. This pluton gives a low, mantle-like initial ratio, indicating juvenile additions to the crust during this period of batholithic development, consistent with findings for calc-alkaline granitoids in Archean shield areas elsewhere in the world.