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TitleGlacial dispersal of gahnite from the Izok Lake Zn-Cu-Pb-Ag VMS deposit, northern Canada
 
AuthorMcClenaghan, M BORCID logo; Paulen, R CORCID logo; Layton-Matthews, D; Hicken, A K; Averill, S A
SourceGeochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis 2015, 17 pages, https://doi.org/10.1144/geochem2014-317
Image
Year2015
Alt SeriesEarth Sciences Sector, Contribution Series 20150140
PublisherGeological Society of London
Documentserial
Lang.English
Mediapaper; on-line; digital
File formatpdf
ProvinceNunavut
NTS86H
AreaIzok Lake
Lat/Long WENS-115.0000 -108.0000 68.0000 64.0000
Subjectseconomic geology; igneous and metamorphic petrology; industrial minerals; metallic minerals; mineralogy; geochemistry; gahnite; sediment dispersal; indicator elements; lead zinc deposits; silver; copper; sulphide deposits; mineral deposits; drift prospecting; drift geochemistry; till geochemistry; till analyses; bedrock geology; Proterozoic
Illustrationslocation maps; bedrock maps; tables; geochemical tables; photographs
ProgramGEM2: Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals Hudson/Ungava, Northeastern Quebec-Labrador, surficial geology
Released2015 05 29
AbstractThe Izok Lake Zn-Cu-Pb-Ag volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit in the Arctic region of Canada is one of the largest undeveloped Zn-Cu VMS resources in North America. In 2009, the Geological Survey of Canada initiated a detailed glacial dispersal study of the deposit focused on documenting its associated indicator mineral and till geochemical signatures. Glacial dispersal from the deposit is fan-shaped and was formed by an older SW ice flow and younger NW ice flow phases. Till samples contain chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, and pyrite up to 1.3 km down-ice and gahnite at least 40 km down-ice. Gahnite (ZnAl2O4) is an ideal indicator mineral in till because of its visually distinctive bluish green colour combined with its high specific gravity (4-4.6) for recovery using density-based separation methods, moderate hardness (physical durability during glacial transport), chemical stability in oxidizing surficial environments (resistance to post-glacial weathering), and its occurrence in highly metamorphosed VMS deposits such as Izok Lake. Most gahnite grains in till downice are 0.25-0.5 mm in size. Coarser gahnite (0.5-2.0 mm) occurs only in till proximal to the deposit (<3 km down-ice) and thus is an indicator of proximity to a gahnite-bearing bedrock source. Ore (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag) and pathfinder element (As, Cd, Bi, Hg, In, Sb, Sb, Tl) contents in the <0.063 mm fraction of till reflect glacial dispersal up to a maximum of 6 km down-ice. A 15-20 km till indicator mineral sample spacing is sufficient to detect a gahnite glacial dispersal train such as that from the Izok Lake VMS deposit.
Summary(Plain Language Summary, not published)
This journal paper describes the geochemistry of, and indicator minerals in, glacial sediments down ice of the Izok Lake volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit in Nunavut. This deposit contains zinc, copper , lead and silver. The well known but unmined deposit was used as a test site to develop and test new methods for exploring for base metal deposits in Canada's north and was carried out as part of the GSC's GEM-1 Project.
GEOSCAN ID296767

 
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