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Volcanology, chemo-stratigraphy, geochronology, hydrothermal alteration and VMS potential of the Lemoine Member of the Waconichi Formation, Chibougamau district, Abitibi greenstone belt, Québec

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Abstract

The Archean Lemoine volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit in the Chibougamau mining district (Abitibi greenstone belt) is one of the richest to have been mined in the world (758,070 t of ore at 4.17% Cu, 9.51% Zn, 4.56 g/t Au, and 83.73 g/t Ag). It is hosted by the ~ 2728 Ma Lemoine Member of the Waconichi Formation. Field mapping, core logging, petrography, lithogeochemistry, and U-Pb zircon geochronology helped define the stratigraphy, volcanic architecture, and hydrothermal history of the Lemoine Member east of the former mine, and document the complex relationships between effusive, intrusive, and hydrothermal activity. There, the Lemoine Member is informally divided into a 700 to 900-m-thick lower part (~ 45% extrusive and ~ 55% intrusive) and a 600 to 700-m-thick upper part (~ 85% extrusive and ~ 15% intrusive). Extrusive units in the lower part have a tholeiitic to transitional magmatic affinity and are dominantly felsic, whereas those of the upper part have a transitional to calc-alkaline affinity and are dominantly mafic. The effusive felsic units are mostly interpreted as one or more lobe-hyaloclastite flow(s) per unit. Possible volcanic vent sites for all effusive units were identified. Three types of hydrothermal alteration are present in the lower part of the Lemoine Member in the study area, from stratigraphic base to top: chlorite-sericite, sericite-chlorite, and sericite-chlorite-carbonate±epidote. Within this broad pattern, three paleo-hydrothermal upflow zones are proposed, and some correspond with known base and precious metal anomalies and/or proposed volcanic vent locations.

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Acknowledgements

Funding for this project came from a Collaborative Research and Development Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The industrial partner was Cogitore Resources Inc. (now Yorbeau Resources Inc.). Significant in kind support was offered by the Geological Survey of Canada (Targeted Geoscience Initiative program). Discussions with Tony Brisson, François Leclerc, Francis Lefebvre, Sylvain Lépine, and Gérald Riverin on the geology of the Chibougamau area were very helpful. Michel Houlé and Steve Piercey read the MSc thesis of the second author and made helpful suggestions. Jean-Philippe Pomerleau and Meghan Moher served as field assistants. We thank journal reviewers Steve Hollis and Steve Piercey, associate editor David Huston, and executive editor Georges Beaudoin, for constructive comments on the manuscript.

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  1. Institut national de la recherche scientifique, 490 de la Couronne, Québec, QC, G1K 9A9, Canada

    Pierre-Simon Ross & Alexandre Boulerice

  2. Geological Survey of Canada, 490 de la Couronne, Québec, QC, G1K 9A9, Canada

    Patrick Mercier-Langevin

  3. Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth St., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0E8, Canada

    Vicki McNicoll

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  1. Pierre-Simon Ross
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Ross, PS., Boulerice, A., Mercier-Langevin, P. et al. Volcanology, chemo-stratigraphy, geochronology, hydrothermal alteration and VMS potential of the Lemoine Member of the Waconichi Formation, Chibougamau district, Abitibi greenstone belt, Québec. Miner Deposita 55, 21–46 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-019-00884-6

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