Labrador Trough) Mm 2005-01
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MM 2005-01 LITHOTECTONIC AND METALLOGENIC SYNTHESIS OF THE NEW QUEBEC OROGEN (LABRADOR TROUGH) MM 2005-01 Lithotectonic and Metallogenic Synthesis of the New Québec Orogen (Labrador Trough) Thomas Clark and Robert Wares Lithotectonic and Metallogenic Synthesis of the New Québec Orogen (Labrador Trough) Thomas Clark Robert Wares MM 2005-01 2 DOCUMENT PUBLISHED BY GÉOLOGIE QUÉBEC Direction générale Alain Simard Bureau de l'Exploration géologique du Québec Robert Marquis Authors Thomas Clark, Géologie Québec, MRNF 880 chemin Sainte-Foy, 3e étage, Québec QC G1S 4X4 email: [email protected] Robert Wares, Osisko Exploration ltd. 5475 Royalmount Avenue, office 133, Montréal QC H4P 1J3 email: [email protected] Critical review Michel Hocq Michel Jébrak Translation Thomas Clark Anne-Marie Cadieux Editing Jean Choinière Drawing Charlotte Grenier, Katy Tremblay André Beaulé, Carole Roy Graphic Design Charlotte Grenier Document accepted for publication on January 07, 2004 First published in French in 2004 as MM 2004-01 Cover photographs Thomas Clark (photographer) Background: The Koksoak River southwest of Kuujjuaq Foreground: - Stromatolites in the Denault (Abner) Formation, near the Caniapiscau River southwest of Kuujjuaq - Sokoman Iron Formation, banded oxide facies (hematite and jasper), near Forbes Lake - Lichen on rock, near Willbob Lake - Glomeroporphyritic gabbro mineralized in Cu-Ni sulfides, southwest of Kuujjuaq Déprit légal — Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec ISBN-13 : 978-2-551-22966-6 ISBN-10 : 2-551-22966-9 (original French edition: ISBN 2-551-22590-6) © Gouvernement du Québec, 2006 3 ABSTRACT The Labrador Trough, which is part of the New Québec Orogen, is an Early Proterozoic fold and thrust belt (2.17-1.87 Ga) located on the northeastern margin of the Archean Superior Province. In Québec, the belt includes two volcaniclastic cycles (2.17-2.14 Ga and 1.88-1.87 Ga, according to U-Pb dating). A third cycle composed of synorogenic molasse-type metasedimentary rocks overlies the sequence. The belt is subdivided into eleven lithotectonic zones, each limited by a major thrust fault or erosional unconformity. Each zone is internally uniform with respect to lithological assemblage and structural style, and the distribution of mineral deposit types is characteristic for each zone. Three zones of autochthonous and parautochthonous sedimentary rocks lie along the margin of the Superior Province (Bérard, Cambrien, and Tamarack zones); three zones are sedimentary and allochthonous (Mélèzes, Schefferville, and Wheeler zones); and five zones consist of volcaniclastic strata from the first cycle (Howse Zone), second cycle (Payne, Gerido, and Retty zones), or both cycles (Hurst Zone) — these five zones are allochthonous. A geological and tectonic framework has been established for the 392 mineral deposits (major deposits and showings) known in the region. Among these, 336 (86%) are located within the Labrador Trough or in its immediate hinterland, and 5 (1%) are within Early Proterozoic outliers located in the Superior Province immediately west of the orogen. The remaining 51 (13%) are located in Archean rocks of the Superior Province. Of these 336 deposits, 65 (19% of these deposits) are classified as Lake Superior—type iron formations, 3 (1%) as Algoma-type iron formations, and 35 (10%) as enriched iron formations (direct-shipping ore). Of the remaining 233 deposits, 111 (48% of these deposits) are inter- preted as having mainly a syn- to diagenetic origin, 111 (48%) as having mainly an epigenetic origin, and 11 (5%) as belonging to a different or undetermined type. Among the syn- to diagenetic deposits, the more common types are magmatic Cu-Ni-PGE (71 deposits or 64% of this class), volcanogenic massive sulfides (20 deposits or 18%), and stratiform sedimentary Cu (11 deposits or 10%). Among the epigenetic deposits, the more common types are vein Cu (49 deposits or 44% of this class), vein or disseminated Cu-Ni-PGE (20 deposits or 18%), vein U (17 deposits or 15%), vein (lode, orogenic) gold (8 deposits or 7%), and vein Ag-Pb-Zn (8 deposits or 7%). Several syn- to diagenetic deposits hosted by rocks from the first cycle can be linked to the initial rifting of the Archean craton, to the rift infilling that followed, and to the establishment of an early marine platform. Stratiform copper sulfide deposits located in the dolomites of the early platform stage are typical of deposits observed in this environment elsewhere on Earth. A few sedimentary uranium deposits were formed in sandstones and siltstones that accumulated during the rifting event, particularly in the Early Proterozoic outliers located west of the orogen in the Superior Province. Lake Superior—type iron formation precipitated during the early platform stage of the second cycle. Algoma- type iron formation and associated VMS deposits originated in deeper water in an adjacent basin that was coeval with this platform. Magmatic Cu-Ni-PGE deposits, hosted mainly in mafic sills and locally in picritic lava flows, formed at the beginning of the mafic volcanic episode ending the second cycle. A large carbonatite intrusion emplaced late in the second cycle contains concentrations of Nb-Ta-REE. Tectonometamorphic fluids generated during the Hudsonian Orogeny (1.82-1.77 Ga) are believed to have remobilized preexisting deposits, resulting in the formation of a variety of epigenetic base- and precious-metal deposits. Locally, these deposits are spatially associated with regional or local faults. This document includes the following parts: (1) a synthesis report on the lithotectonic and metal- logenic evolution of the orogen; (2) a lithotectonic and metallogenic synthesis map at the scale of 1:750,000 (insert); (3) descriptions of the main deposit types (Appendix 1); (4) a catalogue of known deposits (Appendix 2); and (5) a selection of lake sediment geochemical maps (Appendix 3). 4 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREAMBLE 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7 PART 1— LITHOTECTONIC SYNTHESIS 8 INTRODUCTION 8 REGIONAL GEOLOGICAL CONTEXT 8 STRATIGRAPHY 11 OVERVIEW OF STRUCTURAL STYLE 14 OVERVIEW OF METAMORPHISM 16 GEOCHRONOLOGICAL DATA AND THE TECTONOSTRATIGRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF THE OROGEN 16 LITHOTECTONIC ZONES 18 SUMMARY 22 PART 2 — METALLOGENIC SYNTHESIS 25 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 25 CLASSIFICATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF MINERAL DEPOSITS 25 MINERAL DEPOSITS IN THEIR GEOLOGICAL AND TECTONIC CONTEXTS 30 Cycle 1 — Deposits associated with rifting of the Archean continent 30 Paleogeographic and paleotectonic context of the Seward Group 30 Syn- to diagenetic uranium deposits (types 4b, 4c) 33 Syn- to diagenetic copper deposits (types 5a, 5b, 5c, 6) 35 Cycle 1 — Deposits associated with the continental platform and slope 37 Paleogeographic and paleotectonic contexts 37 Syn- to diagenetic uranium and/or copper deposits (types 4b, 5a) 40 Cycle 2 — Deposits associated with the continental platform and marginal ocean basin 40 Paleogeographic and paleotectonic contexts 40 Lake Superior—type and Algoma-type iron formations (types 2a, 2b), enriched iron formation (type 21a), and supergene Mn (type 21b) 44 Uraniferous phosphorite (type 1) 49 Cu-Zn-Co-Ag-Au and Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag-Au SMV-type deposits (types 3a, 3b) 49 Magmatic Nb-Ta-REE deposits (type 9) 55 Magmatic Cu-Ni ±PGE deposits (type 10) 55 Cycle 3 — Mineral deposits in molasse-type sedimentary rocks 63 Paleogeographic and paleotectonic contexts 63 Syn- to diagenetic sediment-hosted uranium deposits (types 4b, 4d) 64 Epigenetic mineral deposits 64 Introduction 64 Mississippi Valley—type Zn-Pb deposits (type 11) 65 U ±Cu and Cu ±U vein deposits (types 12, 12a, 17b) 65 Vein gold deposits (type 13) 70 6 Vein Ag-Pb-Zn deposits (type 15) 72 Replacement-type Zn-Pb-Cu-Au-Ag deposits (type 16) 72 Vein Cu deposits (type 17) 72 Vein and disseminated Cu ±Ni ±PGE ±Au ±Ag deposits (type 19) 74 Potential for other types of deposits 74 Deposits hosted in black shales and slates 74 Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits in cycle 1 75 SEDEX deposits 75 Paleoplacer gold deposits 76 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 76 REFERENCES 77 APPENDIX 1: DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MAIN MINERAL DEPOSIT TYPES IN THE NEW QUÉBEC OROGEN (LABRADOR TROUGH) 91 Introduction 93 Type 2b: Algoma-type iron formation: Pyrite in graphitic mudstone 93 Type 3a: Exhalative Cu-Zn-Co-Ag-Au-bearing massive sulfides in graphitic mudstone 94 Type 3b: Exhalative Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag-Au-bearing massive sulfides in graphitic mudstone 96 Type 4: Sedimentary uranium 99 Type 5: Sediment-hosted stratiform copper 102 Type 8: Zr-Y-Nb-REE in peralkaline intrusions — By S. Salvi 104 Type 9: Nb-Ta-REE-Th in carbonatite 106 Type 10a: Magmatic Cu-Ni-Co ±PGE in picritic basalt 108 Type 10b: Magmatic Cu-Ni ±Co ±PGE in aphyric gabbro (gabbro ±peridotite) 110 Type 10c: Magmatic Cu-Ni ±Co ±PGE in glomeroporphyritic gabbro (gabbro ±pyroxenite) 112 Type 10d: Magmatic PGE-Cu-Ni-Au in layered gabbro with stratiform pegmatite 114 Type 12: Vein uranium 115 Type 12a: Vein U-Au ±Cu associated with albitization 117 Type 13a: Vein Au ±As in Archean iron formation 120 Type 13b: Vein Au in Paleoproterozoic iron formation 122 Type 13c: Vein Au-Cu ±Ag in gabbro 124 Type 16: Remobilized Zn-Pb-Cu-Au-Ag — replacement deposits in sedimentary rocks 125 Type 17: Vein Cu 126 Type 17a: Vein Cu-Au ±Ag associated with mafic rocks 127 Type 17b: Vein Cu ±U ±Au ±Ag associated with albitization 129 Type 19: Vein or disseminated Cu ±Ni ±PGE ±Au ±Ag 130 APPENDIX 2: CATALOGUE OF MINERAL DEPOSITS 135 APPENDIX 3: SYNTHESIS