| Title | Petrographic observations and evaporate mound analysis of quartz-hosted fluid inclusions: applications to assess metal fertility in granites |
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| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Tweedale, F; Hanley, J J; Kontak, D J; Rogers, N |
| Source | TGI 4 - Intrusion Related Mineralisation Project: new vectors to buried porphyry-style mineralisation; by Rogers, N (ed.); Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 7843, 2015 p. 369-381, https://doi.org/10.4095/296477  Open Access |
| Links | Canadian Database of Geochemical Surveys, downloadable
files
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| Links | Banque de données de levés géochimiques du Canada,
fichiers téléchargeables
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| Image |  |
| Year | 2015 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| Related | This publication is contained in TGI 4 - Intrusion Related
Mineralisation Project: new vectors to buried porphyry-style mineralisation |
| Related | This publication is related to Petrographic observations and
evaporate mound analysis of quartz-hosted fluid inclusions: Applications to assess metal fertility in granites |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Nova Scotia |
| NTS | 21A; 11D; 11E |
| Lat/Long WENS | -66.0000 -63.5000 45.0000 43.0000 |
| Subjects | economic geology; igneous and metamorphic petrology; geochemistry; porphyry deposits; porphyry copper; mineral exploration; mineralization; alteration; tungsten; molybdenum; tin; bismuth; mineral
deposits; intrusive rocks; granitic rocks; fluid inclusions; quartz; metallogeny; petrographic analyses; granodiorites; petrogenesis; copper; gold; South Mountain Batholith; Paleozoic; Devonian |
| Illustrations | location maps; photomicrographs; ternary diagrams |
| Program | Targeted Geoscience Initiative (TGI-4) Intrusion/Porphyry Ore Systems |
| Released | 2015 06 11; 2023 03 17 |
| Abstract | The 380 Ma South Mountain Batholith (SMB), Nova Scotia, is a large (~7300 km2), contiguous, mesozonal granitoid intrusion consisting of 13 coalesced plutons hosting a variety of mineralized zones (e.g.,
Sn-Zn-Cu- Ag, Mn-Fe-P, U, Cu-Ag). Given the hydrothermal nature of this mineralization, it is expected that a geochemical fingerprint of the mineralizing fluids might be preserved both petrographically and as secondary fluid inclusions (FIs) in the
granites on a scale equal to or larger than the mineralized zones. In this unique study, we investigate the possibility of integrating petrographic observations that reflect fluid:rock interaction and the chemistry of secondary, quartz-hosted FIs in
samples from the SMB to assess granite fertility and also the scale of this potential vectoring tool. The protocol involved: (1) detailed petrographic study of >500 archived samples and focused on the extent and degree of alteration (e.g., perthite
textures, chlorite alteration of biotite, plagioclase alteration, percent of secondary muscovite, abundance of FI in quartz); and (2) determining fluid chemistry of quartz- hosted FIs in >100 samples collected from a 10 x 10 km grid superimposed on
the SMB. The petrographic data record highly variable degrees of alteration and the results are being used to design an alteration algorithm that can be used to map the extent of fluid:rock interaction throughout the batholith. The chemistry of FIs,
determined using the evaporate mound method, is being used as a proxy for both the mineralizing and altering fluids. At present, results for >600 mounds determined for 68 samples indicate the fluids are dominated by Na-K-Ca-Cl-F, with traces of Fe,
Mn, and S, and that two distinct types are present, one Na-rich and the other Ca-rich. Two intriguing results to date include: (1) the pervasive occurrence of F in the mound analysis with up to 40 wt% when normalized to 100%, even in samples distal
to known mineralization; and (2) elevated Ca in many samples, including those from chemically evolved, hence Ca-depleted rocks. This latter feature may reflect extensive albitization of plagioclase, hence liberation of Ca, during fluid-mediated
alteration. Thus, our preliminary findings clearly indicate that mappable variation in the degree and extent of alteration is retained in the main mineral phases of the granites and that fluid chemistry, preserved as secondary FIs in quartz, is a
potential proxy for fluid:rock interaction and hence a measure of metal fertility. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
The Targeted Geoscience Initiative (TGI-4) is a collaborative federal geoscience program that provides industry with the next generation of geoscience
knowledge and innovative techniques to better detect buried mineral deposits, thereby reducing some of the risks of exploration. This volume summarises research activities completed under the TGI 4 Intrusion Related Mineralisation Project that
focused on porphyry-style ore systems related to the Cu- and Cu-Mo deposits of South-Central British Columbia and the Sn-W-Mo-In deposits in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 296477 |
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