| Title | Volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits |
| Author | Galley, A G; Hannington, M; Jonasson, I |
| Source | Mineral deposits of Canada: a synthesis of major deposit-types, district metallogeny, the evolution of geological provinces, and exploration methods; by Goodfellow, W D (ed.); Geological Association of
Canada, Mineral Deposits Division, Special Publication no. 5, 2007 p. 141-161 |
| Year | 2007 |
| Alt Series | Earth Sciences Sector, Contribution Series 20070192 |
| Publisher | Geological Association of Canada, Mineral Deposits Division (St. John's, NL, Canada) |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; DVD |
| Related | This publication is contained in Goodfellow, W D; (2007).
Mineral deposits of Canada: a synthesis of major deposit-types, district metallogeny, the evolution of geological provinces, and exploration methods, Geological Association of Canada, Mineral Deposits Division, Special Publication no. 5 |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | British Columbia; Alberta; Saskatchewan; Manitoba; Ontario; Quebec; New Brunswick; Nova Scotia; Prince Edward Island; Newfoundland and Labrador; Northwest Territories; Yukon; Nunavut |
| NTS | 1; 2; 3; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30; 31; 32; 33; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 52; 53; 54; 55; 56; 57; 58; 59; 62; 63; 64; 65;
66; 67; 68; 69; 72; 73; 74; 75; 76; 77; 78; 79; 82; 83; 84; 85; 86; 87; 88; 89; 92; 93; 94; 95; 96; 97; 98; 99; 102; 103; 104; 105; 106; 107; 114O; 114P; 115; 116; 117; 120; 340; 560 |
| Area | Kidd Creek; LaRonde; Bathurst; Abitibi; Selbaie; Myra Falls; Trout Lake; Louvicourt; Bouchard-Hébert; Callinan |
| Lat/Long WENS | -141.0000 -50.0000 90.0000 41.7500 |
| Subjects | economic geology; tectonics; mineral deposits; mineral occurrences; mineralization; volcanogenic deposits; sulphides; sulphide deposits; zinc; copper; lead; silver; gold; base metals; submarine
hydrothermal vents; alteration; hydrothermal alteration; tectonic environments |
| Illustrations | sketch maps; cross-sections; tables; ternary diagrams; graphs; plots; photographs |
| Program | Consolidating Canada's Geoscience Knowledge |
| Program | Targeted Geoscience Initiative (TGI-3), 2005-2010 |
| Abstract | Volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits, also known as volcanic-associated, volcanic-hosted, and volcanosedimentary-hosted massive sulphide deposits, are major sources of Zn, Cu, Pb, Ag, and Au,
and significant sources for Co, Sn, Se, Mn, Cd, In, Bi, Te, Ga, and Ge. They typically occur as lenses of polymetallic massive sulphide that form at or near the seafloor in submarine volcanic environments, and are classified according to base metal
content, gold content, or host-rock lithology. There are close to 350 known VMS deposits in Canada and over 800 known worldwide. Historically, they account for 27% of Canada's Cu production, 49% of its Zn, 20% of its Pb, 40% of its Ag, and 3% of its
Au. They are discovered in submarine volcanic terranes that range in age from 3.4 Ga to actively forming deposits in modern seafloor environments. The most common feature among all types of VMS deposits is that they are formed in extensional tectonic
settings, including both oceanic seafloor spreading and arc environments. Most ancient VMS deposits that are still preserved in the geological record formed mainly in oceanic and continental nascent-arc, riftedarc, and back-arc settings. Primitive
bimodal mafic volcanic-dominated oceanic rifted arc and bimodal felsic-dominated siliciclastic continental back-arc terranes contain some of the world's most economically important VMS districts. Most, but not all, significant VMS mining districts
are defined by deposit clusters formed within rifts or calderas. Their clustering is further attributed to a common heat source that triggers large-scale subseafloor fluid convection systems. These subvolcanic intrusions may also supply metals to the
VMS hydrothermal systems through magmatic devolatilization. As a result of large-scale fluid flow, VMS mining districts are commonly characterized by extensive semi-conformable zones of hydrothermal alteration that intensifies into zones of
discordant alteration in the immediate footwall and hanging wall of individual deposits. VMS camps can be further characterized by the presence of thin, but areally extensive, units of ferruginous chemical sediment formed from exhalation of fluids
and distribution of hydrothermal particulates. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 224177 |
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