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Lithologically controlled invisible gold, Yukon, Canada

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Abstract

The newly discovered Cretaceous Coffee orogenic gold deposit (>4 Moz resource) consists of an extensive oxidised zone developed on primary sulphidic rock. The primary mineralised rock is characterised by invisible gold in arsenian pyrite that has replaced biotite in selected host rocks. The deposit has a cryptic surface expression and is an example of an extremely subtle exploration target. Hydrothermal emplacement was controlled by extensional fractures, with breccias, but most mineralisation was focused on biotite-bearing granitic gneiss, metasedimentary gneisses, and younger biotite granite. Fine-grained (<0.1 mm) arsenian pyrite replaced biotite along mineral cleavage planes and followed biotite-rich metamorphic and post-metamorphic structural fabrics. Arsenian pyrite also formed overgrowths on earlier coarse-grained (up to 2 mm) barren hydrothermal pyrite. Arsenian pyrite is concentrically zoned on the 1–10-μm scale with respect to As, Sb, and Au contents and typically contains ∼5 wt% As, ∼500 mg/kg Sb, and ∼500 mg/kg Au, in solid solution. Biotite replacement was accompanied by sericitisation, silicification, and ankerite impregnation. Hydrothermal alteration involved dilution and localised depletion of K, Na, and Al in silicified host rocks, but most Ca, Mg, and Fe concentrations remained broadly constant. Magnesium-rich ultramafic host rocks were only weakly mineralised with auriferous arsenian pyrite and have fuchsite and magnesite alteration. Near-surface oxidation has liberated nanoparticulate and microparticulate supergene gold, which remains essentially invisible. Varying degrees of oxidation extend as deep as 250 m below the present subdued topographic surface, well beyond the present vadose zone, and this deep oxidation may have occurred during post-mineralisation uplift and erosion in the Cretaceous. Oxidation has leached some As from the surficial mineralised rocks, decreasing the geochemical signal, which is also obscured by the localised presence of high background As (up to 100 mg/kg) in metasedimentary quartzites in the region. Antimony provides more reliable soil anomalies than As, but most Sb anomalies are <100 mg/kg. The persistence of invisible gold into the extensive supergene zone, with little gold particle size enhancement, has ensured that no placer deposits have formed in nearby streams, further restricting the surface footprint and Au dispersal halo of this subtle exploration target.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by Kaminak Gold Corporation, University of Otago, NZ Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment, and the Marsden Fund administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand. Logistical assistance and numerous fruitful discussions by Kaminak staff, especially Eira Thomas, Tim Smith, Adam Fage, and Geoff Newton, are much appreciated and contributed substantially to the research outcomes. Constructive reviews by two anonymous referees, combined with careful editing by Georges Beaudoin, helped to clarify and improve the presentation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Department, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Doug MacKenzie & Dave Craw

  2. Department of Earth Science, Western University, London, Ontario, N6A 3K7, Canada

    Craig Finnigan

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  1. Doug MacKenzie
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  2. Dave Craw
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  3. Craig Finnigan
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Correspondence to Dave Craw.

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Editorial handling: T. Bissig and G. Beaudoin

Craig Finnigan passed away during the preparation of this study (2014).

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MacKenzie, D., Craw, D. & Finnigan, C. Lithologically controlled invisible gold, Yukon, Canada. Miner Deposita 50, 141–157 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-014-0532-5

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