| Title | Geology, structural evolution, and hydrothermal alteration of the Island gold deposit, Michipicoten greenstone belt, Ontario |
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| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Ciufo, T J; Jellicoe, K; Yakymchuk, C; Lin, S; Mercier-Langevin, P; Wodicka, N |
| Source | Targeted Geoscience Initiative 5: contributions to the understanding of Canadian gold systems; by Mercier-Langevin, P (ed.); Lawley, C J M (ed.); Castonguay, S (ed.); Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8712, 2020 p. 143-156, https://doi.org/10.4095/323671  Open Access |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2020 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| Related | This publication is contained in Targeted Geoscience
Initiative 5: contributions to the understanding of Canadian gold systems |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Ontario |
| NTS | 42C/08 |
| Area | Goudreau-Lochalsh Gold District; Dubreuilville; Wawa |
| Lat/Long WENS | -84.4833 -84.3167 48.3500 48.2667 |
| Subjects | economic geology; tectonics; structural geology; igneous and metamorphic petrology; mineralogy; geochronology; Science and Technology; Nature and Environment; mineral deposits; gold; mineral
exploration; exploration guidelines; ore mineral genesis; ore controls; greenstone belts; fluid dynamics; tectonic history; mineralization; hydrothermal alteration; metamorphism; deformation; greenschist facies; foliation; cleavage; fluid flow;
intrusions; dykes; plutons; quartz veins; veinlets; tourmaline; shearing; strain; host rocks; bedrock geology; structural features; folds; antiforms; anticlines; synforms; faults; faults, reverse; lithology; igneous rocks; volcanic rocks;
volcaniclastics; dacites; intrusive rocks; gabbros; tonalites; trondhjemites; diorites; monzodiorites; felsic intrusive rocks; mafic intrusive rocks; diabases; sedimentary rocks; iron formations; structural analyses; structural trends; geometric
analyses; field relations; fabric analyses; metallogeny; petrographic analyses; radiometric dating; uranium lead dating; zircon dates; Archean; Superior Province; Abitibi-Wawa Subprovince; Michipicoten Greenstone Belt; Island Gold Deposit; Webb Lake
Stock; Goudreau Lake Deformation Zone; Island Gold Mine; Wawa Gold Camp; Doré Sedimentary Rocks; Catfish Assemblage; Wawa Assemblage; Hawk Assemblage; Cradle Lake Deformation Zone; Magino Mine; Goudreau Anticline; Maskinonge Lake Stock; Herman Lake
Stock; Michipicoten Iron Formation; Precambrian |
| Illustrations | location maps; geoscientific sketch maps; schematic cross-sections; equal-area stereonet projections; photographs; photomicrographs; plots; diagrams; bar graphs; block diagrams |
| Program | Targeted Geoscience Initiative (TGI-5) Gold ore systems |
| Released | 2020 06 11; 2023 03 17 |
| Abstract | The Archean Island Gold deposit is situated in the Michipicoten greenstone belt within the Abitibi-Wawa subprovince. Gold mineralization is hosted in dacitic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, gabbro,
and a tonalite-trondhjemite body (Webb Lake stock) within the southern domain of the east-west-trending Goudreau Lake deformation zone. The area is highly prospective, however, the controls on high-grade mineralization and the timing of events in the
Michipicoten belt remain to be firmly established and compared with major gold systems of the southern Abitibi belt.
Several phases of deformation have affected the host rocks. The first deformation (D1) event produced regional-scale folds. The
second deformation (D2) event resulted in camp-scale folds (F2), a steep axial planar foliation (S2), regional greenschist-grade metamorphism, and the formation of the Goudreau Lake deformation zone. The third deformation (D3) event is expressed by
brittle reverse faults, camp- to outcrop-scale folds (F3), and a weakly developed axial planar (S3) cleavage.
Gold mineralization in the main Island Gold ore zones was emplaced along the Goudreau Lake deformation zone during the D2 deformation
event. The Goudreau Lake deformation zone is inferred to be the major conduit that focused the gold-bearing fluids. The main ore zones dip steeply towards the south and consist of shear-hosted laminated quartz veins (V1) and associated extensional
veinlets (V2). This V1-V2 veining is sub-parallel to the S2 foliation and concentrated in the strain shadow of the pre-mineralization Webb Lake stock during D2 north-side-up, sinistral transpression. Shallowly dipping, extensional quartz veins (VGD)
also host economic gold mineralization in the Goudreau Zone, which is located north of the main zones. The VGD and V1-V2 veins are cut by extensional quartz veins (V3) that formed during the third deformation (D3) event in areas of high competency
contrast. Post-mineralization tourmaline-quartz veins (V4) locally overprint the V3 veins and pre-existing structures.
Alteration envelopes associated with auriferous veining at the Island Gold deposit range from the centimetre to metre scale and
are enriched in Au, K2O, Rb, S, and Te, and depleted in Na2O. Alteration minerals associated with ore zones generally include biotite, Ca-Mg-Fe carbonates, chlorite, plagioclase, quartz, sulphides (pyrite±pyrrhotite±chalcopyrite), and white mica
(muscovite±phengite). Weak alteration associated with the late V3 non-auriferous veins is variable and local.
The upper and lower absolute limits on the timing of gold mineralization are constrained by the U-Pb zircon ages of the mineralized Webb
Lake stock (2724.1 ± 4.3 Ma) and the post-mineralization silica-poor diorite-monzodiorite (I2M) dykes (2672.2 ± 3.5 Ma). The youngest detrital zircon ages from overlying Doré sedimentary rocks, which were affected by syn-D2 greenschist-facies
metamorphism, further constrain the maximum age limit for the timing of gold mineralization to 2680 ± 3 Ma. This timing (2680 ± 3 Ma to 2672.2 ± 3.5 Ma) falls within the typical age range for gold deposits in greenstone belts of the Superior
Province. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
The main objective of phase 5 (2015-2020) of Natural Resources Canada and Geological Survey of Canada's Targeted Geoscientific Initiative (TGI) program
was to generate new knowledge, methodologies and models to enhance the exploration industry's ability to detect buried ore deposits. This synthesis volume contains 20 individual papers that discuss craton to deposit-scale characteristics of
auriferous deposits, plus some support material pertaining to the TGI-5 Gold project. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 323671 |
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