Textural relations between Al2SiO5 phases, and deformation fabrics, provide constraints on the metamorphic history of the Hemlo gold deposit. Kyanite in the deposit is most common within and on the margins of boudinaged quartz ± realgar veins, and less commonly as rotated porphyroblasts within the matrix of schistose rocks. Kyanite predates the main (D2) schistosity. Sillimanite postdates kyanite, occurring irregularly as discrete knots and foliae that run parallel to, but sometimes cut across, the principal (D2) foliation, indicating that sillimanite postdates the D2 foliation. We regard kyanite to be part of the peak metamorphic assemblage, with sillimanite representing a partial later overprint most likely related to fluid infiltration. Rare andalusite occurs in two associations: as late-stage, clean, idioblastic crystals; and as large, fractured grains, locally overprinted by sillimanite, in boudinaged quartz-realgar veins. We suggest two possible origins for this second form of andalusite, one involving generally late growth, the second involving early growth prior to the development of peak metamorphic kyanite. Although not unambiguous, we prefer the second scenario. P-T conditions from petrogenetic grid constraints, and new geothermobarometric estimates, indicate 6-7 GPa, 600-650°C for the peak kyanite grade metamorphism (ca. 2677 Ma?), and 4-5 GPa, 600°C for the later sillimanite overprint (ca. 2672 Ma?). We see these two events as part of an evolving P-T path in a single metamorphic event. In our early andalusite scenario, the andalusite may have formed from pyrophyllite breakdown at 2-4 GPa, 450°C, possibly associated with emplacement of the regional suite of granodiorite plutons (ca. 2686 Ma). Late andalusite formed sporadically on the retrograde path. The occurrence of deformed andalusite and aligned kyanite in and on the margins of boudinaged auriferous realgar-stibnite-quartz veins provides evidence in support of a premetamorphic mineralization event.
Geological setting of the Bigorne gold deposit, Iberian Variscan Belt (Northern Portugal) and Au-Bi-Te mineral assemblages as indicators of the ore-forming conditions