| Title | Indicator-mineral content of bedrock and till at the Gibraltar porphyry Cu-Mo deposit and the Woodjam porphyry Cu-Au-Mo prospect, south-central British Columbia |
| Download | Downloads |
| |
| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Plouffe, A ;
Ferbey, T |
| Source | Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8580, 2019, 33 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/315647  Open Access |
| Year | 2019 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| File format | readme
|
| File format | pdf (Adobe® Reader®); rtf; xlsx (Microsoft® Excel®); docx (Microsoft® Word®); jpg; dbf (ESRI® ArcExplorer(TM)/ArcReader(TM )); shp (ESRI® ArcExplorer(TM)/ArcReader(TM )) |
| Province | British Columbia |
| NTS | 92O/09; 92O/10; 92O/15; 92O/16; 92P/09; 92P/10; 92P/11; 92P/12; 92P/13; 92P/14; 92P/15; 92P/16; 93A; 93B/01; 93B/02; 93B/07; 93B/08; 93B/09; 93B/10; 93B/15; 93B/16 |
| Area | Cariboo Mountains; Williams Lake; Horsefly; Likely |
| Lat/Long WENS | -122.6667 -120.0000 53.0000 51.5000 |
| Subjects | economic geology; surficial geology/geomorphology; mineralogy; Science and Technology; Nature and Environment; mineral deposits; porphyry deposits; porphyry copper; molybdenum; gold; mineral
exploration; glacial deposits; tills; till samples; drift prospecting; stream sediment samples; mineral occurrences; mineralogical analyses; mineral assemblages; heavy mineral analyses; chalcopyrite; jarosite; malachite; pyrite; rutile; tourmaline;
apatite; bedrock geology; lithology; igneous rocks; volcanic rocks; mafic volcanic rocks; basalts; andesites; volcano-sedimentary strata; intrusive rocks; granodiorites; monzo-granites; monzonites; diorites; syenites; tonalites; trondhjemites;
monzodiorites; sedimentary rocks; limestones; shales; siltstones; sandstones; skarns; metamorphic rocks; schists; structural features; faults; intrusions; batholiths; stocks; glacial history; glaciation; ice flow; sediment transport; sediment
dispersal; mineralization; alteration; Neogene; Paleogene; Canadian Cordillera; Gibraltar Deposit; Woodjam Deposit; Granite Mountain Batholith; Nicola Group; Takomkane Batholith; Chilcotin Group; Mount Polley Intrusive Complex; Endako Group; Ashcroft
Formation; Quesnel Terrane; Burgess Creek stock; Sheridan stock; Kamloops Group; ice-flow directions; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Quaternary; Tertiary; Mesozoic; Cretaceous; Jurassic; Triassic |
| Illustrations | location maps; geoscientific sketch maps; flow diagrams; tables |
| Program | Targeted Geoscience Initiative (TGI-5) Intrusion/Porphyry ore systems |
| Released | 2019 11 14 |
| Abstract | The next generation of porphyry Cu deposits to be discovered in the Canadian Cordillera are likely to be found underlying glacial sediments. The recovery of minerals diagnostic of porphyry Cu
mineralization, termed porphyry Cu indicator minerals (PCIM), in till and stream sediments will contribute to the discovery of buried mineralization. To identify minerals that have the potential to be used as PCIM, thirteen bedrock samples from the
Gibraltar porphyry Cu-Mo deposit and ten from the Woodjam porphyry Cu-Au-Mo prospect were examined after producing mid-density (2.8-3.2 SG) and heavy (>3.2 SG) mineral concentrates. Chalcopyrite, a common Cu ore mineral, is abundant in bedrock and
till in the Gibraltar and Woodjam areas making it a key PCIM. Jarosite, common in leached cap and supergene zones of porphyry Cu deposits, is generally more abundant in till near the known mineralized zones compared to surrounding regions and
therefore, should be considered a PCIM diagnostic of the oxidized portion of porphyry mineralization. Other Cu (azurite, malachite, covellite, chalcocite) and Mo (molybdenite) minerals are present in mineralized bedrock but are rare or absent in
till, limiting their utility as PCIM at these two study sites, but they could be important PCIM if found in detrital sediments at other sites. Other minerals (e.g. tourmaline, apatite and rutile) present in till and bedrock need to be characterized
geochemically in order to be classified and used as PCIM. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
An indicator mineral is a mineral indicative of a specific provenance such as bedrock with high concentrations of copper. Such a zone in enriched in
copper could ultimately become a copper mine. This report provides an overview of the indicator minerals present in rocks of one producing copper mine and one prospect. It compares the minerals in rocks and glacial sediment (till). The ultimate
objective is to trace the source of the copper indicator minerals found in glacial sediments to their bedrock source. Bedrock covered with glacial sediments and with high concentrations of copper could be discovered this way. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 315647 |
|
|