An Update on the Geology of the Lupin Gold Mine, Nunavut, Canada

2004 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.A. GEUSEBROEK ◽  
N.A. DUKE
Keyword(s):  
Iron Formation ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Dome A ◽  
Banded Iron Formation ◽  
Lode Gold ◽  
Quartz Veins ◽  
Slave Province ◽  
Lode Gold Deposit ◽  
World Class ◽  
Recrystallization Front

Abstract The Lupin mine, located in the central Slave province just east of the western boundary of Nunavut Territory, is a world-class example of a Neoarchean-aged banded iron formation (BIF)-hosted lode-gold deposit. At the minesite the gold-mineralized Lupin BIF, separating stratigraphically underlying psammitic wacke and overlying argillaceous turbidite sequences, delineates the Lupin dome, a hammerhead-shaped F2/F3 interference fold structure occurring at the greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphic transition within the thermal aureole of the Contwoyto batholith. Detailed paragenetic relationships indicate that peak thermal metamorphism coincided with the switch from regional D2 compression to rapid D3 unroofing of the Neoarchean orogenic infrastructure. Gold initially precipitated with pyrrhotite, replacing amphibolitic BIF at the apex of the Lupin deformation zone, separating the east and west lobes of the Contwoyto batholith. Over the course of associated prograde/retrograde metasomatic overprints, gold was further remobilized during garnet and loellingite/arsenopyrite growth in chlorite-altered selvages of late-forming ladder quartz veins. A metamorphic model of ore genesis, with gold being scavenged and transported by metamorphic fluid that was shed and structurally trapped at the amphibolite recrystallization front, is favored over the previously proposed syngenetic and exogenic models of gold concentration that have tended to polarize genetic interpretations to date.

Microstructures in a banded iron formation (Gua mine, India)

2007 ◽  
Vol 144 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
MANISH A. MAMTANI ◽  
A. MUKHERJI ◽  
A. K. CHAUDHURI
Keyword(s):  
Iron Ore ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Eastern India ◽  
Banded Iron Formation ◽  
Rigid Core ◽  
Quartz Veins ◽  
Planar Structures ◽  
Diffusive Mass Transfer ◽  
Ore Minerals ◽  
Deformation Processes

This paper provides a detailed documentation of microstructures developed in the banded iron formation (BIF) of Gua mine, located in the Bonai Synclinorium (eastern India), where the rocks have been subjected to three deformations (D1 to D3). Folded iron ores, quartz strain fringes around rigid core objects and folded iron ore layers, and refracted quartz veins are described from samples taken from D2 folds in the banded iron formation. Orientations of microstructures are compared with mesoscopic structures to interpret the generations of ore minerals, planar structures and the time relationship between deformation and development of different microstructures. The mechanism of D2 folding is worked out and its bearing on microstructure development is discussed. The D2 folds are inferred to have developed by a combination of tangential longitudinal strain in the competent layer, flexural flow in the incompetent layers and flexural slip at the interface between layers of differing competence. Homogeneous flattening strain superposed the earlier strain, which led to modification of the folds in the competent layer from class 1B to 1C. This strain is quantified and is found to be higher in the limb than the hinge of a fold. Diffusive mass transfer by solution and bulging dynamic recrystallization in quartz are inferred as the dominant deformation processes during folding. Moreover, based on comparison with published deformation microstructure maps, the microstructures of the present study are estimated to have developed between 300 and 350 °C temperatures at a strain rate of 10−14–10−12 s−1, which are geologically realistic conditions for naturally deformed rocks.

The Central Slave Basement Complex, Part I: its structural topology and autochthonous cover

1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 1083-1109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wouter Bleeker ◽  
John WF Ketchum ◽  
Valerie A Jackson ◽  
Michael E Villeneuve
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Hanging Wall ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Structural Topology ◽  
Banded Iron Formation ◽  
Basement Complex ◽  
South Central ◽  
Slave Province ◽  
Lake Formation

New field and geochronological data are used to define the distribution of Mesoarchean basement rocks in the south-central Slave Province. This distribution reflects a single contiguous basement terrane that we propose to call the Central Slave Basement Complex. It shows a structural topology that is internally consistent and compatible with known regional folding and faulting events. A sample of a proposed basement gneiss below the Courageous Lake greenstone belt, central Slave Province, has been dated by U-Pb methods and yields an age of 3325 ± 8 Ma, consistent with the new basement distribution. This sample also contains 2723 ± 3 Ma metamorphic zircon and ca. 2680 Ma titanite. The Central Slave Basement Complex is overlain by a thin, discontinuous, but distinctive cover sequence that includes minor volcanic rocks, clastic sedimentary rocks, and banded iron formation. All previously known and some new occurrences of this distinctive cover sequence occur in the immediate stratigraphic hanging wall of the Central Slave Basement Complex, locally overlying a preserved in situ unconformity. We propose to call this post-2.93 Ga cover sequence the Central Slave Cover Group. It is perhaps best typified by detrital chromite-bearing, fuchsitic quartzites. Formal formation names are proposed for the spatially separate occurrences of the Central Slave Cover Group. Detrital zircon ages are presented for one of the formations of the Central Slave Cover Group, the Patterson Lake Formation, which occurs on the western flank of a local basement culmination known as the Sleepy Dragon Complex. The detrital zircon data provide evidence for two discrete basement sources dated at ca. 2943 Ma and ca. 3147-3160 Ma. These detrital ages reinforce the depositional link between the Central Slave Cover Group and underlying crystalline rocks of the Central Slave Basement Complex.

Persistence of rare species depends on rare events: demography, fire response and phenology of two plant species endemic to a semiarid Banded Iron Formation range

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben P. Miller ◽  
David R. Symons ◽  
Matthew D. Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Rare Events ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Banded Iron Formation ◽  
High Rainfall ◽  
Slow Growing ◽  
Structure Patterns

The association of rare plant species and Banded Iron Formation (BIF) ranges in semiarid Western Australia is a noted phenomenon. These ranges are also a focus of iron ore exploration and mining. Decisions and planning required for development, conservation and management resulting from this interest, often consider translocation of these threatened species. Nonetheless, little is known about the ecology of BIF-endemic species to support any such decisions. We assessed population structure, patterns of growth, mortality, recruitment, reproduction and in situ seedbank persistence for two declared rare flora species. The shrub Darwinia masonii, and sedge Lepidosperma gibsonii are endemic to an area <40 km2 on the south-western boundary of the Australian arid zone. Both species were found to be long lived and slow growing, with evidence for reliance on rare events such as fire, and high rainfall years, including, for some processes, consecutive high rainfall years for growth, reproduction and recruitment. Retrieval and germination of seed batches shows that both species’ seedbanks are long-lived, with seasonal dormancy cycling. This, together with the ability of mature plants to survive through years not supporting growth, and, for L. gibsonii, to resprout after fire, are key mechanism for persistence in this unpredictable and low rainfall environment.

Structure of veins in a gold–pyrite deposit in banded iron formation, Amalia greenstone belt, South Africa

1986 ◽  
Vol 123 (6) ◽  
pp. 601-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Vearncombe
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Quartz Vein ◽  
Gold Mineralization ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Banded Iron Formation ◽  
Vein Wall ◽  
Quartz Veins ◽  
Anticlockwise Rotation ◽  
Fibre Growth ◽  
Mineralizing Fluids

AbstractFibrous quartz veins in deformed banded iron formation of the Amalia greenstone belt, southwestern Transvaal, are spatially related to gold–pyrite mineralization in both wallrock and vein inclusions. Poles to quartz vein orientations show a general parallelism with mineral elongation and fold plunges of the principal deformation in the wallrock. Quartz vein fibres show a consistent anticlockwise rotation, late components being subparallel to the elongation lineation, suggesting veining was probably synchronous with the principal deformation. Antitaxial fibrous veins, which dominate the mineralized banded iron formation, formed by the process of crack–seal which channelled mineralizing fluids along the vein walls, increasing the potential for fluid–wallrock interaction. Gold mineralization in quartz veins occurs in wall-parallel slivers of banded iron formation which have been plucked off the vein wall during antitaxial fibre growth. Mineralization can be explained by a process of fluid–wallrock interaction with sulphidation and gold precipitation.

The Central Slave Basement Complex, Part II: age and tectonic significance of high-strain zones along the basement-cover contact

1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 1111-1130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wouter Bleeker ◽  
John WF Ketchum ◽  
W J Davis
Keyword(s):  
High Strain ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Banded Iron Formation ◽  
Basement Complex ◽  
Maximum Displacement ◽  
Regional Deformation ◽  
Slave Province ◽  
Group A ◽  
Extensional Model

The basement-cover high-strain zone enveloping parts of the Sleepy Dragon Complex, northeast of Yellowknife, Slave Province, Canada, has been reinvestigated. Integrated stratigraphic, structural, and geochronological data show that the high-strain zone is of regional extent and is best interpreted as a décollement between crystalline, ca. 2.9-3.3 Ga rocks of the Central Slave Basement Complex and pre-2687 Ma cover rocks. Three temporally distinct mafic dyke swarms occur within the high-strain zone. The two oldest of these constrain the timing of the high-strain event to between 2734 ± 2 and 2687 ± 1 Ma. At the time of décollement development, the cover stratigraphy consisted of (i) the Central Slave Cover Group, a thin, pre-2734 Ma succession of mafic and ultramafic volcanic rocks, conglomerates, fuchsitic quartzites, minor rhyolites, and banded iron formation; and (ii) an overlying sequence of tholeiitic pillow basalts. The Central Slave Cover Group is considered to be autochthonous, whereas a variety of evidence suggests that the pillow basalts are parautochthonous to possibly allochthonous. The transport direction in the décollement was from northeast to southwest, and maximum displacement was probably on the order of 10 to several tens of kilometres. Presently, the décollement appears discontinuous due to younger intrusive and erosional events. Around most of the southern flanks of the Sleepy Dragon Complex, the crystalline core of the complex consists of post-décollement intrusive rocks and (or) is unconformably overlain by parts of the Yellowknife Supergroup that are younger than 2687 Ma. Lineation patterns in these younger rocks reflect regional deformation events that postdate and are unrelated to the décollement. The new data allow two tectonic models for development of the décollement: (i) a contractional thrusting model, involving collision of an eastern Slave Province arc terrane; or (ii) a syn-greenstone belt extensional model.

Geology of unmineralized and gold-bearing iron formation, Contwoyto Lake – Point Lake region, Northwest Territories, Canada

1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul G. Lhotka ◽  
Bruce E. Nesbitt
Keyword(s):  
Hydrothermal Alteration ◽  
Thermal Conditions ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Iron Sulphide ◽  
Quartz Veins ◽  
Slave Province ◽  
Lake Region ◽  
Iron Sulphides ◽  
Gold Bearing

Numerous gold occurrences, including the Lupin mine, exist in Archean iron formation within the Contwoyto Lake – Point Lake region of the Slave Province. Early studies suggested that gold was a syngenetic component of the iron formation; however, the present study suggests that the gold and sulphides are epigenetic.At both the Lupin mine and small-scale gold occurrences gold is associated with quartz veins and concentrations of pyrrhotite or pyrite and of arsenides (arsenopyrite ± loellingite) in iron formation. The quartz veins contain 0.03–1.00 ppm Au and comprise sulphide-poor quartz. A zoned sequence of hydrothermal alteration is present in iron formation adjacent to quartz veins. Immediately adjacent to the veins a calc-silicate lithology (0.03–1.00 ppm Au) is sometimes developed that comprises hedenbergite + quartz ± epidote ± scheelite ± grossular. Next is an arsenide-rich zone (5–30 ppm Au) comprising hornblende + quartz ± hedenbergite ± epidote ± actinolite. The next zone is an iron-sulphide zone (5–30 ppm Au), lacking abundant arsenides but containing pyrrhotite or pyrite and hornblende + quartz ± hedenbergite ± epidote ± actinolite. Farther from the veins, iron formation is unmineralized (≤0.03 ppm Au), lacks sulphides, and comprises grunerite + quartz ± magnetite. In the transition zone, hornblende replaces grunerite, and iron sulphides replace amphiboles and magnetite. The scale of the sequence of zones varies from millimetres to metres about individual veins. In well-mineralized portions of the Lupin mine, where quartz veins are closely spaced, unmineralized iron formation is absent between the veins.The symmetrical zonal pattern in the mineralogy and gold values about the veins at Lupin and at the small-scale occurrences indicates that mineralization at both scales of gold occurrence formed by an epigenetic process. Mineralization occurred by selective sulphidation of iron formation after most of the Archean deformation and was coincident, or nearly coincident, with peak thermal conditions. Gold was probably transported as an aqueous gold–sulphide complex and deposited as a result of sulphidation reactions.

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