Abstract
Five generations of fluorapatite in mineralized skarn and host rocks from the Mactung W (Cu-Au) deposit, Northwest Territories, Canada, are identified based on petrographic, compositional and geochronological (U–Pb) data. These data, coupled with new (in this study) and previously published data on apatite from the nearby Cantung deposit, provide constraints on the timing of skarn mineralization, as well as metal and fluid sources of the Canadian Tungsten Belt. Type-i apatite of the Mactung deposit formed from ~ 106 ± 4 to 103 ± 2 Ma through recrystallization of sedimentary apatite (type-o apatite) during regional metamorphism, pre-skarnification. Type-i apatite is W-rich (up to 47.6 ppm) and occurs with coeval scheelite and titanite, indicating a potential sedimentary source, perhaps from detrital rutile, for W. Apatite crystals in prograde (type-ii) and retrograde (type-iii and type-iv) skarns yield ages from ~ 96 ± 1 to 92 ± 1 Ma, overlapping with Mactung biotite-granite plutons and late-stage felsic dykes and confirming skarn formation during emplacement of the granites over a period of ~ 5 million years. Type-ii apatite contains high rare earth element that increases with increasingly negative Eu anomalies, suggesting prograde fluids were sourced from a felsic melt undergoing fractional crystallization. Retrograde apatite exhibits weak lanthanide tetrad effects with superchondritic Y/Ho ratios (> 38), suggesting retrograde fluids exsolved from a highly evolved magmatic source. Apatite crystals from the Cantung skarn deposit are compositionally and paragenetically similar to those from the Mactung apatite and yield ages similar to the Cantung biotite-monzogranite plutons and late-stage felsic dykes. We conclude prograde fluids were derived from biotite-granites, whereas retrograde fluids exsolved from evolved melts recorded by later felsic dykes.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Northwest Territories Geological Survey for providing funding and logistical support for fieldwork, thin sections and the EPMA+LAICPMS work completed in this project. We also acknowledge the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant program for providing funding to E. Adlakha for geochronology work. Special thanks are extended to Xiang Yang from Saint Mary’s University for his help with the SEM, James Brenan from Dalhousie University for his assistance with the LA-ICP-MS analyses for trace elements and Yanan Liu from the University of Toronto for her help with the EPMA work. We also thank Edith Martel and Kelly Peirce for providing the regional map of the Mactung deposit area. Special thanks to Dr. Michael Gadd and Dr. Anthony Pochon, as well as AE Dr. Alexandre Cabral, for their detailed and constructive reviews, as well as the editorial board for handling of this manuscript.
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This study received NSERC-Discovery Grant to E. Adlakha, NWT Geological Survey contribution agreement to J. Hanley and SMUWorks bursary to A. Roy-Garand.
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A. Roy-Garand, E. Adlakha, J. Hanley and H. Falck contributed to the study conception and design. Field work and sample collection were completed by E. Adlakha, H. Falck and P. Lecumberri-Sanchez. Material preparation, data collection and analysis and methodology were performed by A. Roy-Garand, E. Adlakha and B. Boucher. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the data. The manuscript was written by A. Roy-Garand and E. Adlakha. Authors J. Hanley, P. Lecumberri-Sanchez, V. Elongo and H. Falck commented on the previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Roy-Garand, A., Adlakha, E., Hanley, J. et al. Timing and sources of skarn mineralization in the Canadian Tungsten Belt: revisiting the paragenesis, crystal chemistry and geochronology of apatite. Miner Deposita 57, 1391–1413 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-022-01107-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-022-01107-1