24. PB ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS of SULPHIDE MINERALS from the YELLOWKNIFE GOLD CAMP: METAL SOURCES and TIMING of MINERALIZATION Brian L
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24. PB ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS OF SULPHIDE MINERALS FROM THE YELLOWKNIFE GOLD CAMP: METAL SOURCES AND TIMING OF MINERALIZATION Brian L. Cousens1, Hendrik Falck2, Edmond H. van Hees3, Sean Farrell4, and Luke Ootes2 1. Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Centre, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6 2. C.S. Lord Northern Geoscience Centre, PO Box 1500, Yellowknife, NT X1A 2R3 3. Geology Department, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202 USA 4. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 INTRODUCTION Mineralizing fluids generally pass through a large volume of crust, and as a result the Pb isotopic compositions of the The Yellowknife Volcanic Belt and surrounding metatur- fluids will be averages of the crust traversed by the fluids bidites, commonly referred to as the Yellowknife (including any initial hydrothermal magmatic component). Supergroup, host two producing gold mines, several past- This average allows for reconstruction of the Pb isotopic producing deposits, and many showings and potential pro- evolution of the crust with time, providing that the age of Pb- ducers (Franklin and Thorpe, 1982; Falck, 1992; Thorpe et bearing deposits can be firmly established by independent al., 1992). The host rocks are of late Archean age, but the methods (usually conformable massive sulphide deposits, gold is commonly found in quartz veins and shear zones that summarized in Stacey and Kramers, 1975; Faure, 1986; postdate the deposition of the host rocks (Padgham, 1992). Zartman and Haines, 1988). Pb isotope ratios in a sulphide These veins and shear systems do not include minerals that mineral from a deposit of unknown age can then be plotted provide high-precision geochronological data, such as zircon against the isotopic evolution curve, which gives a “model or monazite (titanite is present but is poor for dating purpos- age” for that mineral. Several models for the isotopic evolu- es). Thus the absolute age of the mineralizing event (or tion of the crust have been proposed, some more complex events) is not well constrained. The goals of this study are to than others, and thus “model ages” differ depending on the utilize isotopes of lead (Pb), a common trace element in model used ( Stacey and Kramers, 1975; Zartman and many sulphide minerals and a major element in galena and Haines, 1988; Kramers and Tolstikhin, 1997). The most sphalerite, to attempt to date gold deposition and to deter- common mineral used to determine model ages is galena, mine what rocks may have been sources of the Pb (and because of its extremely high Pb content, and its common gold?) in these shear zone or quartz-vein systems. occurrence in conformable massive sulphide deposits. Pb Isotope Systematics Some sulphide minerals such as pyrite can include minor amounts of U, and thus U/Pb will be greater than zero and Lead has four isotopes with masses 204, 206, 207, and 208. allow radioactive decay to form new 207Pb and 206Pb, thus 208Pb is produced by the decay of 232Th, whereas 207Pb and increasing 207Pb/204Pb and 206Pb/204Pb as time progresses 206Pb are produced by the decay of 235U and 238U, respec- after crystallization (termed radiogenic ingrowth). Provided tively (Faure, 1986). 204Pb is a stable isotope whose abun- that pyrite occurs with other minerals with different U/Pb dance does not change over time, and for this reason it is (and preferably one mineral with U/Pb = 0), then after any common to refer to the abundance of any other isotope of Pb time, the minerals will lie on a straight line (termed an relative to 204Pb, e.g., 206Pb/204Pb. Lead is a common ele- isochron) in a plot of 207Pb/204Pb vs. 206Pb/204Pb, and the ment in sulphide minerals such as galena, sphalerite, slope of that isochron will be a function of the time that has arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and pyrite. The Pb is passed since the minerals crystallized (Faure, 1986). Critical inherited from the fluids that precipitate the sulphide miner- to this analysis is knowing that all minerals in the system are als, and at the time of deposition the minerals will therefore cogenetic and that they have remained closed to U or Pb dif- record the isotopic composition of the ore-bearing fluid. fusion since crystallization, either of which can be difficult However, most of these minerals exclude U and Th, such to ascertain. This analysis also assumes that the isotopic that U/Pb and Th/Pb are approximately zero. Thus, the Pb composition of the fluid was constant during the deposition isotopic composition of a sulphide mineral will not change of the minerals being analyzed. appreciably over geological time. Surface weathering has no effect on Pb isotope ratios, and post-crystallization meta- Linear arrays of data points in a Pb-Pb plot could also be morphic or intrusive events may modify isotopic ratios if the result of mixing of Pb with distinct isotopic composi- new Pb is introduced into the sulphide mineral during recrys- tions, either as a result of mixing of Pb from different crustal tallization (Thorpe, 1982). sources as mineralizing fluids traverse the crust, or as a result of a post-crystallization “disturbance event”. In some Cousens, B.L., Falck, H., van Hees, E.H., Farrell, S., and Ootes, L. 2005: Pb Isotopic Compositions of Sulphide Minerals from the Yellowknife Gold Camp: Metal Sources and Timing of Mineralization; Chapter 24 in Gold in the Yellowknife Greenstone Belt, Northwest Territories: Results of the EXTECH III Multidisciplinary Research Project, (ed.) C.D. Anglin, H. Falck, D.F. Wright and E.J. Ambrose; Geological Association of Canada, Mineral Deposits Division, Special Paper No. p. B.L. Cousens, H. Falck, E.H. van Hees, S. Farrell, and L. Ootes 114o Pb Isotopic Studies in the Slave Province The Slave Province can be divided into eastern and western halves based on the Pb isotope systematics of galenas from several massive sulphide deposits (Fig. 24-1; Thorpe et al., 1992). Galenas from the eastern part of the province are less Nicholas Lake radiogenic than those from the western section, even though N the general character of eastern and western Slave massive Discovery sulphide deposits is similar (Franklin and Thorpe, 1982; Thorpe et al., 1992). This Pb isotope distinction coincides closely, but not exactly, with provinciality in the Nd isotopic composition of granitoid plutons from the Slave Province Viking (Davis and Hegner, 1992). Combined with recent geological, geochemical, and geochronological work in the southern Kansai sample Slave, it is apparent that much of the western part of the o locality province is underlain by basement gneisses and granitoids 63 Burwash Fmn migmatitic older than 3 Ga, whereas the eastern part of the province is sandstone, not ( Dudás, 1989; Isachsen, 1992; Isachsen and Bowring, Clan Lake siltstone 1994; Davis et al., 1996; Isachsen and Bowring, 1997; Granitoids - Kusky, 1989; Yamashita et al., 1998; Bleeker et al., 1999a,b; Prosperous Cousens, 2000;). In the western Slave Province, mineraliz- Granitoids - ing fluids stripped Pb from older basement rocks that are not Defeat present in the eastern half, and this geological distinction is reflected in the Pb isotopic compositions of sulphide miner- Volcanic Rocks als. The average Pb model age for Slave massive sulphide Granitoids, Meso- deposits is ca. 2670 Ma (Thorpe, 1982). to Late Archean Oro, Homer Pb isotope data are also available for some gold deposits G7 Claims in the Slave Province (Cumming and Tsong, 1975; Thorpe, Crestaurum 1982). Some of these samples have been reanalyzed over the Walsh Lake past fifteen years at the University of Alberta, utilizing Kathleen improved Pb separation techniques and newer mass spec- Cassidy Pt. trometers (R. Thorpe, pers. comm., 1999). Galenas and Supercrest Tom, Ptarmigan sulphosalts from Slave gold deposits plot within the same Giant range as that of massive sulphide deposits, with Pb model ages ranging from 2597 to 2705 Ma (Thorpe, 1982). These data imply a late Archean age for the gold mineralization. However, some anomalous galenas from massive sulphide deposits and some pyrites from gold deposits do not plot McQueen within the range for the majority of the massive sulphide and gold deposits, possibly resulting from remobilization of Pb during a Proterozoic event (Cumming and Tsong, 1975; Thorpe, 1982). Figure 24-1. Map of the Yellowknife area showing sulphide sam- It is important to note that recent studies of metallogeny pling localities (Padgham, 1987). in the Yellowknife area indicate that there are several distinct styles of gold mineralization in the Yellowknife camp (Falck, cases, the slope of the linear array may have no age signifi- 1992; Kerswill and Falck, 1999; Siddorn and Cruden, 2000). cance. In other cases, the slope of the array can be used to Each distinct style of mineralization most likely represents a estimate the time when highly radiogenic Pb was added to an different stage of gold introduction, such that the most eco- older Pb-bearing mineral (Russell et al., 1966; Godwin et al., nomic deposits of gold have the greatest abundance and vari- 1982; Faure, 1986). ety of sulphide minerals (Falck, 1992). None of the mineral- In summary, Pb isotopes in sulphide minerals, particular- izing events are recognized in rocks younger than 2.60 Ga, ly in Pb-rich ores, may record the average isotopic composi- and thus all the events are of Archean age. The complexity tion of the crustal rocks through which the mineralizing flu- of gold mineralization at Yellowknife should be considered ids passed, including any initial magmatic component, and in the interpretation of the Pb isotope data, but to date sam- have the potential to retain some geochronological informa- pling has not systematically covered the various mineral tion (model age or isochron).