The Bathurst Mining Camp, New Brunswick: data integration, geophysical modelling, and implications for exploration

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 433-451
Author(s):  
Hernan Ugalde ◽  
William A. Morris ◽  
Cees van Staal

The Bathurst Mining Camp (BMC) is one of Canada’s oldest mining districts for volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits. Most of the 46 known deposits were discovered in the 1950s using a combination of geological and geophysical methods. However, renewed exploration efforts over the past 15 years have not been as successful as one would expect given the level of expenditure of the camp. Nevertheless, this has created a large database of high resolution airborne geophysical data (magnetics, electromagnetics, radiometrics, and full tensor gravity gradiometry) which makes Bathurst a unique case. We show data compilation and map view interpretation, followed by two-and-a-half-dimensional (2.5D) gravity and magnetic modelling. From this, we provide constraints on the folded structure of the mafic and felsic volcanic units, and we interpret a large gravity anomaly in the southeast as a possible ophiolite or a dense thick package of basaltic rocks. Finally, we show an example of 3D modelling in the northwestern part of the camp, where we combine map view interpretation with section-based modelling and 3D geophysical inversion.

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph B Whalen ◽  
Neil Rogers ◽  
Cees R van Staal ◽  
Frederick J Longstaffe ◽  
George A Jenner ◽  
...  

Middle Ordovician felsic magmatism contemporaneous with Bathurst Camp Pb-Zn volcanogenic massive sulphide(VMS) deposits consists of strongly altered volcanic to subvolcanic rocks, belonging to the Tetagouche Group, and relativelyunaltered granitoid plutons, which are divided into northern, central, and southern groups within the Miramichi Highlands.Calc-alkalic felsic volcanic rocks and northern plus central plutons have EpsilonNd(T) values ranging from -8.2 to -1.9 and -4.0 to +0.3, respectively. They exhibit within-plate-type volcanic and transitional I- to A-type granite geochemical characteristics.Granitoid rock Delta18O values range from +8.0 to +10.1‰. Published granitoid rock Pb isotopic compositions overlapunpublished galena data from Bathurst VMS deposits. Field, geochemical, and isotopic evidence indicate that these volcanicand granitoids rocks are consanguineous and mainly derived from Proterozoic orolder infracrustal sources. Alkalic felsic volcanic rocks, and associated alkaline basaltic rocks, are more juvenile (EpsilonNd(T) = +3.2 to +4.2) and were possibly derivedfrom slightly enriched mantle sources. Southern plutons exhibit continental arc-type features. The felsic magmatism and VMS deposits likely formed in an Okinawa-type back-arc basin developed from rifting the Early Ordovician Popelogan continentalarc, of which the southern plutons are remnants. Correlations between pluton groups and volcanic formations indicate that felsic magmatism was erupted through and onto the Miramichi Group. As most felsic volcanic formations lack plutonicequivalents, the Tetagouche Group probably does not represent disrupted slices of an originally conformable stratigraphic section. This supports a model in which thrust slices juxtapose remnants of volcanic centres erupted at different locationswithin a back-arc basin.


2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (Spl.1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismael Enrique Moyano Nieto ◽  
Renato Cordani ◽  
Marcela Lara ◽  
Óscar Rojas ◽  
Manuel Puentes ◽  
...  

The Servicio Geológico Colombiano has made available several airborne magnetometry and gamma-ray spectrometry datasets. The information was acquired in 15 blocks that cover approximately 520,000 square  kilometers of Colombian territory, representing more than 850,000 linear kilometers of information. The data  were collected along flight lines separated by 500 meters or 1000 meters, depending on the area, with sampling rates of 10 Hz (8 meters) and 1 Hz (80 meters) for the magnetometry and gamma-ray spectrometry  data, respectively. The information is stored in 30 databases separated for each block and for each of the geophysical methods used. The Servicio Geológico Colombiano has provided a web portal that provides  detailed specifications for each database and allows interested parties to see the terms and conditions to  access the datasets and to check possible restrictions on access to information. To date, there is no  geophysical database in Colombia with the coverage and resolution of these data sets, which will be very  useful for geological research and research on potential mineral resources and to support geohazard monitoring, land-use planning and providing a baseline dataset for environmental monitoring. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 251 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Gregory Shellnutt

The Early Permian (290 Ma) Panjal Traps are the largest contiguous outcropping of volcanic rocks associated with the Himalayan Magmatic Province (HMP). The eruptions of HMP-related lava were contemporaneous with the initial break-up of Pangea. The Panjal Traps are primarily basalt but volumetrically minor intermediate and felsic volcanic rocks also occur. The basaltic rocks range in composition from continental tholeiite to ocean-floor basalt and nearly all have experienced, to varying extent, crustal contamination. Uncontaminated basaltic rocks have Sr–Nd isotopes similar to a chondritic source (ISr = 0.7043 to 0.7073; eNd(t) = 0 ± 1), whereas the remaining basaltic rocks have a wide range of Nd (eNd(t) = –6.1 to +4.3) and Sr (ISr = 0.7051 to 0.7185) isotopic values. The calculated primary melt compositions of basalt are picritic and their mantle potential temperatures (TP ≤ 1450°C) are similar to ambient mantle rather than anomalously hot mantle. The silicic volcanic rocks were likely derived by partial melting of the crust whereas the andesitic rocks were derived by mixing between crustal and mantle melts. The Traps erupted within a continental rift setting that developed into a shallow sea. Sustained rifting created a nascent ocean basin that led to sea-floor spreading and the rifting of microcontinents from Gondwana to form the ribbon-like continent Cimmeria and the Neotethys Ocean.RÉSUMÉLes Panjal Traps du début Permien (290 Ma) constituent le plus grand affleurement contigu de roches volcaniques associées à la province magmatique de himalayienne (HMP). Les éruptions de lave de type HMP étaient contemporaines de la rupture initiale de la Pangée. Les Panjal Traps sont essentiellement des basaltes, mais on y trouve aussi des roches volcaniques intermédiaires et felsiques en quantités mineures. La composition de ces roches basaltiques varie de tholéiite continentale à basalte de plancher océanique, et presque toutes ont subi, à des degrés divers, une contamination de matériaux crustaux. Les roches basaltiques non contaminées ont des contenus isotopiques Sr–Nd similaires à une source chondritique (Isr = 0,7043 à 0,7073; eNd (t) = 0 ± 1), alors que les roches basaltiques autres montrent une large gamme de valeurs isotopiques en Nd (eNd (t) = –6,1 à +4,3) et Sr (Isr = de 0,7051 à 0,7185). Les compositions de fusion primaire calculées des basaltes sont picritiques et leurs températures potentielles mantelliques (TP de ≤ 1450°C) sont similaires à la température ambiante du manteau plutôt que celle d’un manteau anormalement chaud. Les roches volcaniques siliciques dérivent probablement de la fusion partielle de la croûte alors que les roches andésitiques proviennent du mélange entre des matériaux de fusion crustaux et mantelliques. Les Traps ont fait irruption dans un contexte de rift continental qui s’est développé dans une mer peu profonde. Un rifting soutenu a créé un début de bassin océanique lequel conduit à une expansion du fond océanique et au rifting de microcontinents tirés du Gondwana pour former le continent rubané de Cimméria et l'océan Néotéthys.


2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pietari Skyttä ◽  
Pär Weihed ◽  
Karin Högdahl ◽  
Stefan Bergman ◽  
Michael B. Stephens

AbstractThe Bothnia–Skellefteå lithotectonic unit is dominated by turbiditic wacke and argillite (Bothnian basin), deposited at 1.96 (or older)–1.86 Ga, metamorphosed generally under high-grade conditions and intruded by successive plutonic suites at 1.95–1.93, 1.90–1.88, 1.87–1.85 and 1.81–1.76 Ga. In the northern part, low-grade and low-strain, 1.90–1.86 Ga predominantly magmatic rocks (the Skellefte–Arvidsjaur magmatic province) are enclosed by the basinal components. Subduction-related processes in intra-arc basin and magmatic arc settings, respectively, are inferred. Changes in the metamorphic grade and the relative timing of deformation and structural style across the magmatic province are linked to major shear zones trending roughly north–south and, close to the southern margin, WNW–ESE. Zones trending WNW–ESE and ENE–WSW dominate southwards. Slip along the north–south zones in an extensional setting initiated synchronously with magmatic activity at 1.90–1.88 Ga. Tectonic inversion steered by accretion to a craton to the east, involving crustal shortening, ductile strain and crustal melting, occurred at 1.88–1.85 Ga. Deformation along shear zones under lower-grade conditions continued at c. 1.8 Ga. Felsic volcanic rocks (1.90–1.88 Ga) host exhalative and replacement-type volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits (the metallogenic Skellefte district). Other deposits include orogenic Au, particularly along the ‘gold line’ SW of this district, porphyry Cu–Au–Mo, and magmatic Ni–Cu along the ‘nickel line’ SE of the ‘gold line’.


1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan M. Peter ◽  
Wayne D. Goodfellow

Massive sulphides are spatially and temporally associated with iron formation (IF) and other hydrothermal sedimentary rocks in the vicinity of the Brunswick No. 12, Brunswick No. 6, and Austin Brook deposits, Bathurst Mining Camp. Sulphide-, carbonate-, oxide-, and silicate-predominant IF is present. Carbonate-predominant IF is best developed in and around the Brunswick No. 12 deposit, whereas hematite-bearing IF is absent here but prominent in the Austin Brook–Brunswick No. 6 area. The IF is composed dominantly of Si, CO2, Fe, Mn, and Ca. Minor constituents include Mg, P, Ti, Al, and S. Statistically significant interelement correlations between Eu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, Cd, Au, Ca, Sr, Ba, P, CO2, and S indicate that these elements were precipitated from hydrothermal fluids vented onto the seafloor. Positive interelement correlations between Si, Ti, Al, Mg, K, Zr, rare earth elements (REE's) except Eu, Se, V, Y, Yb, Co, Ni, and Cr reflect the presence of detrital clastic mafic and aluminosilicate minerals and hydrogenous sedimentary components. Felsic volcanic and pyroclastic rocks are considered to be the source for the detritus. REE patterns of IF at Brunswick No. 12 display similarities with those of modern high-temperature hydrothermal vent solutions, sea water, and host rhyolitic tuff and sedimentary rocks. These patterns are largely controlled by the relative proportions of hydrothermal and detrital components. The IF formed from reduced hydrothermal fluids vented into a stratified marine basin. The mineral precipitates were widely dispersed from the sites of venting and massive sulphide accumulation.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Itzel Isunza Manrique ◽  
David Caterina ◽  
Cornelia Inauen ◽  
Arnaud Watlet ◽  
Ben Dashwood ◽  
...  

<p>The sustainable vision of the Dynamic Landfill Management (DLM) deals not only with present but also with long-term waste management. In this context, DLM enhances the environmental assessment of landfills after closure as well as the recovery of materials and energy resources, for which, a proper characterization is required. To this end, geophysical methods have demonstrated their suitability for landfill exploration, characterization and monitoring. Due to the complexity of these sites and challenges in data acquisition and/or processing, the use of multiple methods is the best approach for landfill investigations. In this work, we used multiple geophysical methods, co-located with several trial pits and boreholes, to estimate the structure of a waste disposal site located in a quarry, and to better delineate the underlying geology composed of limestone. We applied electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), time-domain induced polarization (IP), H/V spectral ratio from microtremor records and magnetometry. We made a structural joint interpretation using the different datasets and the ground truth data. First, the ERT and IP data were individually inverted, and a first structural model was derived. Afterwards, we followed a parametric analysis of the H/V data to corroborate the thickness of some layers at the position of the seismic stations. Then, this model was used to compute synthetic magnetic data and by comparing them with the observed total field magnetic anomalies, a refined model was produced. We evaluated the improvement of including magnetic modelling by using a probabilistic approach previously reported. This approach is based on the computation of conditional probabilities by comparing the inverted models with the co-located data from trial pits and boreholes. Overall, we delineated the lateral and vertical extension of the waste body, the distribution of ash and lime deposits and estimated the upper limit structure of the bedrock.</p>


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