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Gold contents of sulfide minerals in granitoids from southwestern New Brunswick, Canada

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Abstract

The abundance of gold and selected trace elements in magmatic sulfide and rock-forming minerals from Silurian–Devonian granitoids in southwestern New Brunswick were quantitatively analyzed by laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass-spectrometry. Gold is mainly hosted in sulfide minerals (i.e., chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and pyrite), in some cases perhaps as submicron inclusions (nanonuggets). Gold is below detection (<0.02 ppm) in major rock-forming minerals (i.e., plagioclase, K-feldspar, biotite, hornblende, and muscovite) and oxides (i.e., magnetite, and ilmenite). Gold distribution coefficients between sulfide and granitoid melt are calculated empirically as: \(D^{{{\text{cpy/melt}}}}_{{{\text{Au}}}}= 948 \pm 269,{\text{ }}D^{{{\text{po/melt}}}}_{{{\text{Au}}}} = 150 \pm 83,{\text{ and }}D^{{{\text{py/melt}}}}_{{{\text{Au}}}} = 362 \pm 96\). This result suggests that gold behavior in the granitoid systems is controlled by the conditions of sulfur saturation during magmatic evolution; the threshold of physiochemical conditions for sulfur saturation in the melts is a key factor affecting gold activity. Gold behaves incompatibly prior to the formation of sulfide liquids or minerals, but it becomes compatible at their appearance. Gold would be enriched in sulfur-undersaturated granitoid magmas during fractionation, partitioning into evolved magmatic fluids and favoring the formation of intrusion-related gold deposits. However, gold becomes depleted in residual melts if these melts become sulfur-saturated during differentiation, leading to gold precipitation in the early sulfide phases of a granitoid suite. Late-stage Cl-bearing magmatic–hydrothermal fluids with low pH and relatively high oxidation state derived from either progressively cooling magmas at depth or convective circulation of meteoric water buffered by reduced carbon-bearing sediments, may scavenge gold from early sulfide minerals. If a significant amount of gold produced in this manner is concentrated in a suitable geological environment (e.g., shear zones or fracture systems), intrusion-related gold deposits may also be generated. Exploration for intrusion-related gold systems should focus on the areas around evolved phases of granitoid suites that remained sulfur-undersaturated. For sulfur-saturated granitoid suites, the less differentiated phase and associated structures are the most prospective targets.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mike Tubrett (MUN) for assistance in LA-ICPMS analysis and Dr. Douglas Hall (University of New Brunswick) for assistance in EPMA and SEM analysis. Constructive discussions on regional and local geology with Dr. Steve McCutcheon, Dr. Kay Thorne, Les Fyffe, and Malcolm McLeod are appreciated. Dr. Guoxiang Chi is thanked for his thoughtful discussions on intrusion-related gold systems and sulfide petrology. Dr. Joe B. Whalen is thanked for providing his archived samples. Critical reviews by the journal reviewers Dr. John Mavrogenes and Dr. Thomas Pettke are appreciated, which helped improve this paper significantly. We thank Dr. Lawrence D. Meinert and Dr. Robert Moritz for their comments and suggestions that clarify some important issue of this contribution. The project was funded by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery grant to D.R. Lentz, with partial support from the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources, and the New Brunswick Innovation Fund. The LA-ICPMS facility at Memorial University is supported by an NSERC Major Facilities Access award.

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  1. Xue-Ming Yang

    Present address: INCO Exploration, Highway 17 West, Copper Cliff, Ontario, Canada, P0M 1N0

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  1. Department of Geology, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, E3B 5A3

    Xue-Ming Yang & David R. Lentz

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, A1B 3X5

    Paul J. Sylvester

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Table 1

Analytical precision (relative standard deviation, RSD%) and the limit of detection (LOD*) of LA-ICPMS measurements (XLS 112 kb)

Table 2

Detailed results (ppm) of LA-ICPMS analyses for sulfide minerals in granitoids from southwestern New Brunswick (XLS 138 kb)

Table 3

LA-ICPMS measurements of gold and trace elements (ppm) in rock-forming minerals (XLS 137 kb)

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Yang, XM., Lentz, D.R. & Sylvester, P.J. Gold contents of sulfide minerals in granitoids from southwestern New Brunswick, Canada. Miner Deposita 41, 369–386 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-006-0065-7

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