Chapter 4: Hemlo Gold System, Superior Province, Canada

2020 ◽  
pp. 81-100
Author(s):  
K. Howard Poulsen ◽  
Rodney Barber ◽  
François Robert
Keyword(s):  
Gold Deposits ◽  
Hydrothermal Fluids ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Exact Nature ◽  
Silicate Mineral ◽  
Clastic Rocks ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Alteration Minerals ◽  
Felsic Volcanic ◽  
Host Rocks

Abstract Hemlo combines several rare to unique features in the spectrum of Archean greenstone gold deposits. It is an isolated, approximately 800-metric ton (t) gold system in a region of otherwise limited known gold endowment. The geology of Hemlo is dominated by deformed and metamorphosed sedimentary, felsic volcanic, and volcaniclastic units, a premineral coherent felsic porphyry, and a swarm of mainly postmineral, intermediate, feldspar-phyric dikes. Ore is dominantly in the form of gold-bearing lenses of pyritic, feldspathic schist derived from deformation of both the clastic rocks and the felsic porphyry. The deposit and its host rocks were metamorphosed at moderate pressures to assemblages diagnostic of the mid-amphibolite facies, followed by progressive retrogression to those of the greenschist facies. The result is a wide range of silicate mineral species in ambiguous textural relationships. The gold system itself is known for ore and related alteration minerals with significant concentrations of Mo-As-Sb-Hg-Tl-V-Ba-K-Na. The inferences derived from lithologic mapping, structural chronology, U-Pb geochronology, and mineral paragenesis favors an interpretation of Hemlo as a deformed and metamorphosed gold system formed from oxidized hydrothermal fluids in an upper crustal setting. Uncertainty remains as to the exact nature and geometry of that ore-forming hydrothermal system, however, and the role subsequent metamorphism and deformation have played in the local remobilization of ore constituents into their present paragenetically late structural sites.

Electron microprobe analyses of native silver and associated arsenides from the Great Bear Lake silver deposits, Northwest Territories, Canada

1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 1470-1479 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Changkakoti ◽  
R. D. Morton
Keyword(s):  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Electron Microprobe ◽  
Hydrothermal Fluids ◽  
Bear Lake ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Silver Deposits ◽  
Native Silver ◽  
Host Rocks

The Great Bear Lake silver deposits in the Northwest Territories of Canada occur within two separate domains, namely the Echo Bay sector and the Camsell River sector. In these deposits, native silver occurs in veins, associated with a wide range of Ni-, Co-, and Fe-arsenides, sulphides, and pitchblende in gangues of quartz, calcite, dolomite, rhodochrosite, and fluorite. The host rocks of the veins are for the most part Aphebian volcano-sedimentary roof pendants within the Great Bear batholithic complex. Native silver, nickeline (niccolite), maucherite, safflorite, rammelsbergite, pararammelsbergite, loellingite, skutterudite, cobaltite, gersdorffite, and arsenopyrite were analyzed on the electron microprobe to determine any local or regional chemical variations. Mercury and antimony were found to occur in significant quantities in the majority of the native-silver samples. The silver samples from the Camsell River sector were found to be generally more enriched in mercury than those of the Echo Bay sector. Nickeline, cobaltite, and gersdorffite were found to be enriched in arsenic in the ores of the Camsell River sector, versus those of the Echo Bay sector. Such variations are probably related to differing magmatic sources for the hydrothermal fluids or even to precursor metallo-organic associations and are not due to different rocks hosting the silver-bearing veins.

scholarly journals Major and trace-element geochemistry of Late Cretaceous clastic rocks in the Jitai Basin, southeast China

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Yan ◽  
Chun-lian Wang ◽  
Steffen Mischke ◽  
Jiu-yi Wang ◽  
Li-jian Shen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Brackish Water ◽  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Trace Element Geochemistry ◽  
Element Geochemistry ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Southeast China ◽  
Clastic Rocks ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractMajor, trace and rare earth element (REE) geochemistry of the late Cretaceous lower Zhoutian Formation from the Jitai Basin of Southeast China were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis to infer the provenance of the sediments and to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate. The wide range of Sr/Cu ratios point to a fluctuating palaeoclimate, and the negative correlation between the FeO/MnO and Al2O3/MgO ratios and the Sr/Cu ratio indicates that the late Cretaceous climate during the lower Zhoutian Formation in the Jitai Basin can be divided into two parts. The lower part experienced two cooling periods, whilst the upper part was dominated by warm-humid climate. Mostly corresponding trends of the B/Ga, Sr/Ba and Sr/Cu ratios show that the salinity changed consistently with the late Cretaceous climate during the lower Zhoutian Formation in the Jitai Basin. During the lower part, the salinity changed from salt water to fresh/brackish water. In the upper part, water was mainly fresh/brackish, and there were many changes from fresh/brackish water to salt water. The relatively stable Ni/Co, V/Cr, V/(V + Ni) and Ce/Ce* data indicate a long period of oxic conditions. The La-Th-Sc, Th-Sc-Zr/10 and La/Th-Hf data of the silt- and sandstones of the lower Zhoutian Formation show that its provenance was mainly a mixture of felsic upper crust sediments and older sedimentary rocks.

scholarly journals Geology of the orogenic Cheminis gold deposit along the Larder Lake – Cadillac deformation zone, Ontario

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (12) ◽  
pp. 1093-1108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Lafrance
Keyword(s):  
Deformation Zone ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Tholeiitic Basalt ◽  
Hydrothermal Fluids ◽  
South Side ◽  
Shear Sense ◽  
Abitibi Subprovince ◽  
Deformation Features ◽  
Shear Sense Indicators ◽  
Host Rocks

The Larder Lake – Cadillac deformation zone (LLCDZ) is one of two major, auriferous, deformation zones in the southern Abitibi subprovince of the Archean Superior Province. It hosts the Cheminis and the giant Kerr Addison – Chesterville deposits within a strongly deformed band of Fe-rich tholeiitic basalt and komatiite of the Larder Lake Group (ca. 2705 Ma). The latter is bounded on both sides by younger, less deformed, Timiskaming turbidites (2674–2670 Ma). The earliest deformation features are F1 folds affecting the Timiskaming rocks, which formed either during D1 extensional faulting or during early D2 north–south shortening related to the opening and closure, respectively, of the Timiskaming basin. Continued shortening during D2 imbricated the older volcanic rocks and turbidites and produced regional F2 folds with an axial planar S2 cleavage. D2 deformation was partitioned into the weaker band of volcanic rocks, producing the strong S2 foliation, L2 stretching lineation, and south-side-up shear sense indicators, which characterize the LLCDZ. Gold is present in quartz–carbonate veins in deformed fuchsitic komatiites (carbonate ore) and turbiditic sandstone (sandstone-hosted ore), and in association with disseminated pyrite in altered Fe-rich tholeiitic basalts (flow ore). All host rocks underwent strong mass gains in CO2, S, K2O, Ba, As, and W, during sericitization, carbonatization, and sulphidation of the host rocks, suggesting that they interacted with the same hydrothermal fluids. Textural relationships between alteration minerals and S2 cleavage indicate that mineralization is syn-cleavage. Thus, gold was deposited as hydrothermal fluids migrated upward along the LLCDZ during contractional, D2 south-side-up shearing. The gold zones were subsequently modified during D3 reactivation of the LLCDZ as a dextral transcurrent fault zone.

Geochemistry and Isotope Composition of Paleoproterozoic Granites and Felsic Volcanics of the Elash Graben: Evidence of the Heterogeneity of the Early Precambrian Crust

2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (10) ◽  
pp. 1175-1187
Author(s):  
A.D. Nozhkin ◽  
O.M. Turkina ◽  
K.A. Savko
Keyword(s):  
Isotope Composition ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Rare Metal ◽  
Temporal Association ◽  
Metal Deposit ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Rare Metal Deposit ◽  
Geochronological Study ◽  
Felsic Volcanic ◽  
Felsic Volcanic Rocks

Abstract —The paper presents results of a petrogeochemical and isotope–geochronological study of the granite–leucogranite association of the Pavlov massif and felsic volcanics from the Elash graben (Biryusa block, southwest of the Siberian craton). A characteristic feature of the granite–leucogranites is their spatial and temporal association with vein aplites and pegmatites of the East Sayan rare-metal province. The U–Pb age of zircon from granites of the Pavlov massif (1852 ± 5 Ma) is close to the age of the pegmatites of the Vishnyakovskoe rare-metal deposit (1838 ± 3 Ma). The predominant biotite porphyritic granites and leucogranites of the Pavlov massif show variable alkali ratios (K2O/Na2O = 1.1–2.3) and ferroan (Fe*) index and a peraluminous composition; they are comparable with S-granites. The studied rhyolites of the Tagul River (SiO2 = 71–76%) show a low ferroan index, a high K2O/Na2O ratio (1.6–4.0), low (La/Yb)n values (4.3–10.5), and a clear Eu minimum (Eu/Eu* = 0.3–0.5); they are similar to highly fractionated I-granites. All coeval late Paleoproterozoic (1.88–1.85 Ga) granites and felsic volcanics of the Elash graben have distinct differences in composition, especially in the ferroan index and HREE contents, owing to variations in the source composition and melting conditions during their formation at postcollisions extension. The wide range of the isotope parameters of granites and felsic volcanic rocks (εNd from +2.0 to –3.7) and zircons (εHf from +3.0 to +0.8, granites of the Toporok massif) indicates the heterogeneity of the crustal basement of the Elash graben, which formed both in the Archean and in the Paleoproterozoic.

Compositional variation in the chevkinite group: new data from igneous and metamorphic rocks

2009 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 777-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Macdonald ◽  
H. E. Belkin ◽  
F. Wall ◽  
B. Baginski
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microprobe ◽  
Host Rock ◽  
Metamorphic Rocks ◽  
Compositional Variation ◽  
Temperature Range ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Host Rocks ◽  
Cation Sites ◽  
Dominant Cation

AbstractElectron microprobe analyses are presented of chevkinite-group minerals from Canada, USA, Guatemala, Norway, Scotland, Italy and India. The host rocks are metacarbonates, alkaline and subalkaline granitoids, quartz-bearing pegmatites, carbonatite and an inferred K-rich tuff. The analyses extend slightly the range of compositions in the chevkinite group, e.g. the most MgO-rich phases yet recorded, and we report two further examples where La is the dominant cation in the A site. Patchily- zoned crystals from Virginia and Guatemala contain both perrierite and chevkinite compositions. The new and published analyses are used to review compositional variation in minerals of the perrierite subgroup, which can form in a wide range of host rock compositions and over a substantial pressure- temperature range. The dominant substitutions in the various cation sites and a generalized substitution scheme are described.

scholarly journals Coupled partitioning of Au and As into pyrite controls formation of giant Au deposits

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. eaav5891 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Kusebauch ◽  
S. A. Gleeson ◽  
M. Oelze
Keyword(s):  
Partition Coefficients ◽  
Hydrothermal Fluid ◽  
Iron Sulfide ◽  
Gold Deposits ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Hydrothermal Fluids ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Mass Balance Model ◽  
Depositional Process ◽  
Partitioning Behavior

The giant Carlin-type Au deposits (Nevada, USA) contain gold hosted in arsenic-rich iron sulfide (pyrite), but the processes controlling the sequestration of Au in these hydrothermal systems are poorly understood. Here, we present an experimental study investigating the distribution of Au and As between hydrothermal fluid and pyrite under conditions similar to those found in Carlin-type Au deposits. We find that Au from the fluid strongly partitions into a newly formed pyrite depending on the As concentration and that the coupled partitioning behavior of these two trace elements is key for Au precipitation. On the basis of our experimentally derived partition coefficients, we developed a mass balance model that shows that simple partitioning (and the underlying process of adsorption) is the major depositional process in these systems. Our findings help to explain why pyrite in Carlin-type gold deposits can scavenge Au from hydrothermal fluids so efficiently to form giant deposits.

Carbon-isotope systematics of Archean Au–Ag vein deposits in the Superior Province

1990 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Kerrich
Keyword(s):  
Hydrothermal Fluids ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Rayleigh Fractionation ◽  
Clastic Sediments ◽  
Isotopic Equilibration ◽  
Vein Deposits ◽  
Carbonaceous Rocks ◽  
Isotope Systematics ◽  
Main Population

Abundant carbonate is a characteristic feature of most Archean mesothermal Au–Ag vein deposits, but the source of the C is controversial. For Superior Province deposits collectively, the maximum variation of average δ13C values is from −9.0 ± 0.7‰ (1σ, n = 19; Darius) to −0.6 ± 1.6‰ (1σ, n = 7; Cochenour–Willians), and limiting δ13C values are−13.6 and + 1.3‰. At the deposit scale, Fe dolomites in nongraphitic lithologies are for the most part isotopically uniform, where δ13C = −3.4 ± 0.4 (1σ) (Hollinger), −3.2 ± 0.3 (McIntyre), −4.7 ± 1.7 (Dome), −2.8 ± 0.6 (Buffalo Ankerite), −3.6 ± 0.5 (Macassa), −3.2 ± 0.3 (Bousquet), −5.4 ± 0.9 (Lamaque), and −5.3 ± 0.5‰ (Hasaga): the restricted individual ranges of δ13C values imply a corresponding uniformity to the ambient temperature and δ13CΣC of the ore-forming fluids.Within individual deposits, small systematic variations of δ13C carbonate arise from (i) interaction of hydrothermal fluids with carbonaceous rocks, (ii) immiscible separation of CO2 + CH4, or (iii) Rayleigh fractionation effects. Positive shifts in δ13C result from buffering of the fluid to lower Eh by reaction with reduced C, whereas negative shifts reflect partial isotopic equilibration between 13C-depleted C (δ13C ≈ −26‰) and aqueous hydrothermal C species. Transient immiscibility of CO2 + CH4 acts to precipitate carbonates enriched relative to the main population of Fe dolomites. The δ13C values of carbonates in unmineralized alteration halos (−2.2 ± 1.1‰, n = 42) at the McIntyre deposit are enriched in 13C relative to the main gold-bearing vein systems (δ13C = −3.2 ± 0.3‰): the enrichment is attributed to a Rayleigh fractionation accompanying progressive consumption of CO2 as hydrothermal fluids infiltrate laterally from veins into wall rocks. Fe dolomite and calcite are variably enriched in 18O with respect to equilibrium quartz-carbonate fractionations for ambient temperatures of 270–340 °C. Carbonate δ18O values diminish in an irregular manner with depth, converging on values of ~11‰ (Fe dolomite, 6800 ft (2073 m), McIntyre). Variable degrees of oxygen-isotope disequilibrium represent overprinting of carbonates by post-Archean brines in the Canadian Shield.Synvolcanic vesicle calcite in three groups of metabasalts (δ13C = −4.3 ± 2.1; −2.8 ± 1.5; −2.7 ± 1.3‰) and calcite in two groups of clastic sediments (−6.4 ± 1.8; −4.6 ± 2.5‰) remote from deposits are systematically depleted of 13C relative to average Precambrian limestones (~0 ± 1‰), owing to the involvement of CO2 derived from 13C-depleted organic matter. Consequently, calcite in greenstone belt supracrustal rocks is not restricted to approximately 0‰. The total spread of average δ13CFe dol values (−9.0 ± 0.7 to −0.6 ± 0.6‰) in the Au deposits, which goes in hand with a geographical provinciality in O-, Sr-, and Pb-isotope compositions of the ore-forming fluids, is too large to be accounted for by mantle CO2 (−6 ± 2‰) or magmatic CO2 (−6 ± 2‰) alone but rather is interpreted as reflecting generation of hydrothermal fluids in crustal or subcreted rocks heterogeneous in terms of the distribution of 13C-enriched (carbonate) and 13C-depleted (reduced C) lithologies.

The Duck Pond and Boundary Cu–Zn deposits, Newfoundland: new insights into the ages of host rocks and the timing of VHMS mineralization

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 1481-1506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki McNicoll ◽  
Gerry Squires ◽  
Andrew Kerr ◽  
Paul Moore
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Sulphide Ores ◽  
Intrusive Rocks ◽  
Felsic Volcanic ◽  
Host Rocks ◽  
Felsic Volcanic Rocks

The Duck Pond Cu–Zn–Pb–Ag–Au deposit in Newfoundland is hosted by volcanic rocks of the Cambrian Tally Pond group in the Victoria Lake supergroup. In conjunction with the nearby Boundary deposit, it contains 4.1 million tonnes of ore at 3.3% Cu, 5.7% Zn, 0.9% Pb, 59 g/t Ag, and 0.9 g/t Au. The deposits are hosted by altered felsic flows, tuffs, and volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks, and the sulphide ores formed in part by pervasive replacement of unconsolidated host rocks. U–Pb geochronological studies confirm a long-suspected correlation between the Duck Pond and Boundary deposits, which appear to be structurally displaced portions of a much larger mineralizing system developed at 509 ± 3 Ma. Altered aphyric flows in the immediate footwall of the Duck Pond deposit contained no zircon for dating, but footwall stringer-style and disseminated mineralization affects rocks as old as 514 ± 3 Ma at greater depths below the ore sequence. Unaltered mafic to felsic volcanic rocks that occur structurally above the orebodies were dated at 514 ± 2 Ma, and hypabyssal intrusive rocks that cut these were dated at 512 ± 2 Ma. Some felsic samples contain inherited (xenocrystic) zircons with ages of ca. 563 Ma. In conjunction with Sm–Nd isotopic data, these results suggest that the Tally Pond group was developed upon older continental or thickened arc crust, rather than in the ensimatic (oceanic) setting suggested by previous studies.

Mineralogical and Isotopic Characteristics of Sodic-Calcic Alteration in the Highland Valley Copper District, British Columbia, Canada: Implications for Fluid Sources in Porphyry Cu Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 841-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Byrne ◽  
Robert B. Trumbull ◽  
Guillaume Lesage ◽  
Sarah A. Gleeson ◽  
John Ryan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Source ◽  
White Mica ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Porphyry Cu ◽  
Mineral Assemblages ◽  
Alteration Minerals ◽  
External Water ◽  
Host Rocks

Abstract The Highland Valley Copper porphyry Cu (±Mo) district is hosted in the Late Triassic Guichon Creek batholith in the Canadian Cordillera. Fracture-controlled sodic-calcic alteration is important because it forms a large footprint (34 km2) outside of the porphyry Cu centers. This alteration consists of epidote ± actinolite ± tourmaline veins with halos of K-feldspar–destructive albite (1–20 XAn) ± fine-grained white mica ± epidote. The distribution of sodic-calcic alteration is strongly influenced by near-orthogonal NE- and SE-trending fracture sets and by proximity to granodiorite stocks and porphyry dikes. Multiple stages of sodic-calcic alteration occurred in the district, which both pre- and postdate Cu mineralization at the porphyry centers. The mineral assemblages and chemical composition of alteration minerals suggest that the fluid that caused sodic-calcic alteration in the Guichon Creek batholith was Cl bearing, at near-neutral pH, and oxidized, and had high activities of Na, Ca, and Mg relative to propylitic and fresh-rock assemblages. The metasomatic exchange of K for Na, localized removal of Fe and Cu, and a paucity of secondary quartz suggest that the fluid was thermally prograding in response to magmatic heating. Calculated δ18Ofluid and δDfluid values of mineral pairs in isotopic equilibrium from the sodic-calcic veins and alteration range from 4 to 8‰ and −20 to −9‰, respectively, which contrasts with the whole-rock values for least altered magmatic host rocks (δ18O = 6.4–9.4‰ and δD = −99 to −75‰). The whole-rock values are suggested to reflect residual magma values after D loss by magma degassing, while the range of hydrothermal minerals requires a mixed-fluid origin with a contribution of magmatic water and an external water source. The O-H isotope results favor seawater as the source but could also reflect the ingress of Late Triassic meteoric water. The 87Sr/86Srinital values of strongly Na-Ca–altered rocks range from 0.703416 to 0.703508, which is only slightly higher than the values of fresh and potassic-altered rocks. Modeling of those data suggests the Sr is derived predominantly from a magmatic source, but the system may contain up to 3% seawater Sr. Supporting evidence for a seawater-derived fluid entrained in the porphyry Cu systems comes from boron isotope data. The calculated tourmaline δ11Bfluid values from the sodic-calcic domains reach 18.3‰, which is consistent with a seawater-derived fluid source. Lower tourmaline δ11Bfluid values from the other alteration facies (4–10‰) suggest mixing between magmatic and seawater-derived fluids in and around the porphyry centers. These results imply that seawater-derived fluids can infiltrate batholiths and porphyry systems at deep levels (4–5 km) in the crust. Sodic ± calcic alteration may be more common in rocks peripheral to porphyry Cu systems hosted in island-arc terranes and submarine rocks than currently recognized.

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