The Latte Gold Zone, Kaminak's Coffee Gold Project, Yukon, Canada: Geology, Geochemistry, and Metallogeny
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Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 1-10-2014 12:00 AM The Latte Gold Zone, Kaminak's Coffee Gold Project, Yukon, Canada: Geology, Geochemistry, and Metallogeny Eric Buitenhuis The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Norman A. Duke The University of Western Ontario Joint Supervisor Dr. Craig S. Finnigan The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Geology A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Science © Eric Buitenhuis 2014 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Geochemistry Commons, Geology Commons, and the Tectonics and Structure Commons Recommended Citation Buitenhuis, Eric, "The Latte Gold Zone, Kaminak's Coffee Gold Project, Yukon, Canada: Geology, Geochemistry, and Metallogeny" (2014). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 1858. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/1858 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE LATTE GOLD ZONE, KAMINAK’S COFFEE GOLD PROJECT, YUKON, CANADA: GEOLOGY, GEOCHEMISTRY, AND METALLOGENY (Thesis format: Monograph) by Eric Buitenhuis Graduate Program in Geology A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Eric Buitenhuis 2014 Abstract The Latte Gold Zone is hosted within complexly tectonically imbricated metamorphic rocks of the Yukon-Tanana terrane. Snowcap assemblage psammitic schist and amphibolite with exotic Slide Mountain ultramafics overthrusts unidentified arc metavolcanics which in turn overthrust the Late Permian Sulphur Creek orthogneiss. Rapid unroofing of the Dawson Range during the Mid-Cretaceous culminated in dextral movement along the Coffee Creek fault system. A set of stacked, ESE–WNW trending, steeply dipping brittle fault structures served as conduits for gold-bearing fluids. Core- logging, detailed petrography, microprobe analysis, and PIMA investigations indicate that Latte is an epizonal orogenic gold deposit. Gold is hosted within arsenian pyrite in association with dolomite and illite, and was deposited by a CO2-H2O-As-Sb-S-Ag-Au fluid between 220 and 250° C which sulphidized metamorphic mica. Primary gold disseminations are locally remobilized by a CO2-rich fluid and re-deposited within arsenian pyrite in breccias and dolomite-quartz veinlets. Keywords Yukon, Orogenic Gold Deposit, Dawson Range, White Gold District, Yukon-Tanana Terrane, Snowcap Assemblage, Whole-Rock Geochemistry, Petrography, Arsenian Pyrite, Sulphidation. ii Acknowledgments Many thanks go out to my two supervisors, Dr. Norm Duke and Dr. Craig Finnigan. Thanks to Norm for always having an open door and his guidance and willingness to listen to any oddball idea I was bouncing off him at any time. Thanks to Craig for the fantastic geologic guidance and mentoring me through my first few years in the field with Kaminak. This research could not have been completed without the support of the Kaminak Gold Corporation, who generously funded all research costs over the course of this thesis. The research was also generously supported by a Society of Economic Geologists Graduate Fellowship and the Yukon Geological Survey’s Geoffrey Bradshaw Memorial Scholarship, both of which I am extremely thankful for. Huge thanks go out to Bob Barnett for the many hours of probe work and his patience in teaching me the finer points of petrography. Thanks to the Kaminak field team over the last three seasons for their support and many excellent geologic discussions: Tim Smith, Rory Kutluoglu, Craig Finnigan, Adam Fage, Joe Currie, James Scott, and Erik Scheel. Thanks to Rob Carpenter for initially approving the project and sitting Craig and I down to get us to focus our research goals. Thanks is due for all of the excellent work conducted by previous workers in the Dawson Range and Yukon as a whole. Such an excellent story of mineralization that is emerging in the Dawson Range would not have been possible without the efforts of workers at the Geological Survey of Canada and Yukon Geological Survey. Thanks to Murray Allan and Matias Sanchez for stimulating discussion during their visit to the Coffee Property. Thanks to Peter for being an awesome friend and keeping me grounded, and to Patrick and Scott for always being ready for a pint. Thanks to the Western Geo group: Imran, Moe, Jon, Adam, Laurie. Finally, thanks to my girlfriend Nicole, my Mother, Father, and brother Evan for their support through all of the ups and downs. iii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Coffee Property Information and Exploration History ........................................... 2 1.2 Coffee Property Geology ........................................................................................ 4 1.3 Previous and On-going Work in the Project Area .................................................. 5 1.4 Nomenclature .......................................................................................................... 6 1.5 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 7 1.6 Thesis Structure .................................................................................................... 10 2 Regional Geologic Setting ........................................................................................... 11 2.1 The Yukon Cordillera ........................................................................................... 11 2.2 Assembling the Yukon Cordillera ........................................................................ 13 2.3 The Yukon-Tanana Terrane (YTT) ...................................................................... 17 2.4 Deformational Events ........................................................................................... 19 2.5 Local Geology ....................................................................................................... 21 2.6 Regional Mineralization........................................................................................ 25 2.7 The Coffee Gold Project ....................................................................................... 30 3 Host Rocks and Architecture of the Latte Gold Zone .................................................. 36 3.1 Tectonic Stratigraphy of the Latte Zone ............................................................... 37 3.2 Descriptions of Lithological Units in the Latte Zone ........................................... 39 iv Upper Latte – Biotite Schist .................................................................................. 39 Upper Latte – Muscovite Schist ............................................................................ 40 Upper Latte – Ribbon Quartz Mylonite ................................................................ 43 Upper Latte – Biotite Amphibolite ........................................................................ 44 Lower Latte – Amphibolite.................................................................................... 45 Lower Latte – Metagabbro ................................................................................... 45 Ultramafic Rocks .................................................................................................. 46 Late Dikes ............................................................................................................. 50 3.3 35-Element ICP-AES Re-logging of Latte Zone Drill Logs ................................ 52 3.4 Architecture of the Latte Zone .............................................................................. 55 4 Geochemistry of the Latte Host Rocks ........................................................................ 59 4.1 Amphibolite Geochemistry ................................................................................... 60 4.2 Geochemistry of Dikes from Latte and the Coffee Property ................................ 65 4.3 Geochemistry of Ultramafic Rocks in the Latte Zone .......................................... 75 4.4 EPMA Mineral Chemistry of Latte Host Rocks ................................................... 78 5 Mineralization at the Latte Gold Zone ......................................................................... 86 5.1 Structural Control on Mineralization in the Latte Zone ........................................ 86 5.2 Disseminated Mineralization at Latte ..................................................................