| Titre | Fine-scale compositional variations in the roof zone of the Muskox Intrusion, Nunavut |
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| Auteur | Williamson, M -C ;
McNeil, R J; Bethell, E M; Jowitt, S M; Wilton, D H C; Thomson, G; Beauchamp, M; Polivchuk, M |
| Source | Joint Annual Meeting of the Geological Association of Canada, Mineralogical Association of Canada, and Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits, abstracts; 2023 p. 1 |
| Liens | Online - En ligne
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| Image |  |
| Année | 2023 |
| Séries alt. | Ressources naturelles Canada, Contribution externe 20220671 |
| Éditeur | Association géologique du Canada |
| Réunion | Joint Annual Meeting of the Geological Association of Canada, Mineralogical Association of Canada, and Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits; Sudbury; CA; mai 24-27, 2023 |
| Document | livre |
| Lang. | anglais |
| Media | papier; numérique; en ligne |
| Formats | pdf |
| Province | Nunavut |
| SNRC | 86J/07; 86J/10; 86J/11; 86J/14; 86N/03 |
| Lat/Long OENS | -115.5000 -114.5000 67.2500 66.2500 |
| Sujets | intrusions; Intrusion de Muskox ; géochimie; minéralogie |
| Programme | GEM-GéoNord : La géocartographie de l'énergie et des minéraux Coordination du programme GEM |
| Diffusé | 2023 05 01 |
| Résumé | (disponible en anglais seulement)
The Muskox Intrusion is a layered mafic-ultramafic intrusion located south of Coronation Gulf that is associated with the Mackenzie Large Igneous Province. The
intrusion was originally mapped by C.H. Smith, at the Geological Survey of Canada, and further investigated in the 1960's by way of three diamond drill holes (DDH): Muskox South, Muskox North and Muskox East. The total thickness of continuous core
exceeds ~ 3 km and the boxes are archived at the GSC Earth Materials Collection Facility in Ottawa. Here, we report the results of a detailed mineralogical and geochemical study of the Roof Zone based on high-resolution sampling of the cores from the
Muskox East DDH. The main objective of the project is to document fine-scale compositional variations at the transition from granophyric rocks to the chilled margin at the contact with country rocks. A corollary project compared mineralogical and
geochemical profiles of the Muskox East DDH roof rocks with Hyperspectral signatures acquired over the Visible Near Infrared to the Longwave Infrared regions by the College of the North Atlantic (CAN) Hyperspectral Scanning Unit (HSU). The marginal
rocks in the uppermost portion of megacycle #1 (0-270 m) in the Muskox layered intrusion have elevated concentrations of chalcophile critical minerals (e.g., Cu and the platinum group elements (PGE)) but the lithologies are complex. Revisiting the
mineralogy and geochemistry of roof rocks sampled in the Muskox East DDH contributes to ongoing exploration efforts that will determine the potential the intrusion as a world-class Ni-Cu-PGE target. A total of ninety samples were selected in the
interval 0 to 30 m to obtain high-resolution compositional profiles across the Roof Zone. Preliminary electron microprobe analysis of mineral phases suggests that quartz, orthoclase and chlorite predominate in many of the core samples. The presence
of abundant minor and accessory minerals is characteristic of the Muskox Intrusion Roof Zone: rutile, apatite, zircon, thorite and monazite. Sulphides consist of pyrite with inclusions of galena, sphalerite, pentlandite, and millerite. Sixty-five
samples were submitted for whole rock geochemical analysis with half of these also analysed for Au and the PGE. These data were integrated with mineral maps acquired by Mineral Liberation Analysis (MLA) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and
combined with the HSU results, to characterize the role of critical processes such as magma evolution and crustal contamination in the generation of magmatic sulphide mineralisation. |
| Sommaire | (Résumé en langage clair et simple, non publié)
L'intrusion mafique-ultramafique de Muskox fait partie de la grande province ignée (GPI) du Mackenzie, laquelle présente un potentiel important
pour le minerai de nickel-cuivre. Cependant, aucun gisement économique n'a été découvert. Dans cette présentation, nous rapportons les résultats des études minéralogiques et géochimiques des 30 premiers mètres de la carotte du forage au diamant de
Muskox East préservée à l'installation de collection de matériaux terrestres de la CGC à Ottawa. Cette étude détaillée de la minéralogie et de la géochimie d'une partie de la zone marginale de l'intrusion de Muskox contribue aux efforts d'exploration
en cours pour trouver des minéralisations en Ni-Cu-ÉGP dans cette cible économique de classe mondiale. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 331754 |
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