Skip to main content
Log in

Geology, alteration, and lithogeochemistry of the Hood volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits, Nunavut, Canada

  • Article
  • Published:
Mineralium Deposita Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Hood volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits are hosted by the ~2.68 Ga Amooga Booga volcanic belt (ABVB) in the northwestern Archaen Slave Craton and consist of three deposits (Hood 10, 41, and 41A) and three occurrences (46, 461, and 462). The mineralized zones consist of massive to semi-massive pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and galena hosted predominantly by felsic volcanic flows within the predominantly mafic ABVB. The mineralized lenses occur at different stratigraphic levels and have textural, alteration, and stratigraphic features consistent with formation via subseafloor replacement. The felsic volcanic rocks in the Hood deposits can be subdivided into groups based on immobile trace element geochemistry. The main felsic types (A and B) are petrographically indistinguishable. Type A has higher high field strength element (HSFE) and rare earth element (REE) contents than type B, suggesting a higher temperature of formation. Type A rocks also have higher Nb/Ta values indicative of a greater mantle input in their genesis compared to type B rocks. Mineralization is more closely associated with type A than type B rocks. The two mafic volcanic rock types previously identified in the ABVB, type I and type II, both occur within the Hood deposits. The type II mafic group is interpreted to be the result of variable crustal contamination of type I magma. The volcanic rocks of the ABVB are interpreted to have formed in a continental margin arc/back-arc setting. The genesis of these magmatic suites involved magmatic underplating and emplacement through pre-existing sialic basement that resulted in crustal melting, mantle-crust mixing, and contamination leading to the aforementioned geochemical features in both mafic and felsic suites. This type of extensional tectonic environment was likely associated with high heat flow and is similar to global VMS environments proximal to extending continental margins (e.g., Sturgeon Lake, Bathurst, and Finlayson Lake). The similarities of the ABVB to other Slave Craton greenstone belts further highlights the overall potential for greenstone-hosted VMS mineralization in the Slave Craton. Chlorite-sericite (+/− quartz) is the dominant hydrothermal alteration assemblage in the Hood deposits and is typical of VMS-style mineralization. Mass change calculations illustrate that elemental changes are typical of VMS environments with gains in Fe2O3, MgO, and base metals associated with chlorite alteration near mineralized zones; K2O gains associated with sericite alteration; and losses of Na2O in both alteration types.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barrett TJ, MacLean WH (1994) Mass changes in hydrothermal alteration zones associated with VMS deposits of the Noranda area. Explor Min Geol 3:131–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrett TJ, MacLean WH (1999) Volcanic sequences, lithogeochemistry, and hydrothermal alteration in some bimodal volcanic-associated massive sulfide systems In: Barrie CT, Hannington MD (eds) Volcanic-Associated Massive Sulfide Deposits: Processes and Examples in Modern and Ancient Environments. Society of Economic Geologists, pp 101–131

  • Barrie CT, Ludden JN, Green TH (1993) Geochemistry of volcanic rocks associated with Cu-Zn and Ni-Cu deposits in the Abitibi Subprovince. Econ Geol 88:1341–1358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bindeman I, Gurenko A, Carley T, Miller C, Martin E, Sigmarsson O (2012) Silicic magma petrogenesis in Iceland by remelting of hydrothermally altered crust based on oxygen isotope diversity and disequilibria between zircon and magma with implications for MORB. Terra Nov. 24:227–232

  • Bleeker W (2002) Archaean tectonics: a review, with illustrations from the Slave craton. In: Fowler CMR, Ebinger CJ, Hawkesworth CJ (eds) The early earth: physical, chemical and biological development. Geological Society, London, pp 151–181

    Google Scholar 

  • Bleeker W, Hall B (2007) The Slave craton: geological and metallogenic evolution In: Goodfellow WD (ed) Mineral Deposits of Canada: A Synthesis of Major Deposit-types, District Metallogeny, the Evolution of Geological Provinces, and Exploration Methods. Special Publication 5, Mineral Deposits Division, Geological Association of Canada, pp 849–879

  • Bleeker W, Ketchum J, Jackson V, Villeneuve M (1999) The central slave basement complex, part I: its structural topology and autochthonous cover. Can J Earth Sci 36:1083–1109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruce CS (1991) Hood River Project # 708 - Report on the 1990 Field Program. Falconbridge Limited Company Report:1–59

  • Claiborne LL, Miller CF, Walker BA, Wooden JL, Mazdab FK, Bea F (2006) Tracking magmatic processes through Zr/Hf ratios in rocks and Hf and Ti zoning in zircons: an example from the spirit mountain batholith, Nevada. Mineral Mag 70:517–543

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corcoran PL, Dostal J (2001) Development of an ancient back‐Arc basin overlying continental crust: the archean peltier formation, northwest territories, Canada. J Geol 109:329–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cousens BL (2000) Geochemistry of the archean Kam group, Yellowknife greenstone belt, slave province, Canada. J Geol 108:181–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cousens B, Facey K, Falck H (2002) Geochemistry of the late archean banting group, Yellowknife greenstone belt, slave province, Canada; simultaneous melting of the upper mantle and juvenile mafic crust. Can J Earth Sci 39:1635–1656

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Date J, Watanabe Y, Saeki Y (1983) Zonal alteration around the Fukazawa Kuroko deposits, Akita Prefecture, northern Japan. In: Ohmoto H, Skinner BJ (eds) Kuroko and Related Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposits. pp 365–386

  • Davis W, Bleeker W (1999) Timing of plutonism, deformation, and metamorphism in the Yellowknife Domain, Slave Province, Canada. Can J Earth Sci 36:1169–1187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis WJ, Hegner E (1992) Neodymium isotopic evidence for the tectonic assembly of Late Archean crust in the Slave Province, Northwest Canada. Contrib Mineral Petrol 111:493–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis WJ, Fryer BJ, King JE (1994) Geochemistry and evolution of Late Archean plutonism and its significance to the tectonic development of the Slave craton. Precambrian Res 67:207–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doyle MG, Allen RL (2003) Subsea-floor replacement in volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits. Ore Geol Rev 23:183–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franklin JM, Lydon JW, Sangster DF (1981) Volcanic-associated massive sulfide deposits In: Skinner BJ (ed) Economic Geology 75th Anniversary Volume. pp 485–627

  • Franklin JM, Gibson HL, Galley AG, Jonasson IR (2005) Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits. In: Hedenquist JW, Thompson JFH, Goldfarb RJ, Richards JP (eds) Economic geology 100th anniversary volume. Society of Economic Geologists, Littleton, pp 523–560

    Google Scholar 

  • Fyson WK, Helmstaedt H (1988) Structural patterns and tectonic evolution of supracrustal domains in the Archean Slave Province, Canada. Can J Earth Sci 25:301–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galley AG (1993) Characteristics of semi-conformable alteration zones associated with volcanogenic massive sulphide districts. J Geochem Explor 48:175–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galley AG (2003) Composite synvolcanic intrusions associated with PreCambrian VMS-related hydrothermal systems. Mineral Deposita 38:443–473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galley AG, Hannington M, Jonasson I (2007) Volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits In: Goodfellow WD (ed) Mineral Deposits of Canada: A Synthesis of Major Deposit-types, District Metallogeny, the Evolution of Geological Provinces, and Exploration Methods. Special Publication 5, Mineral Deposits Division, Geological Association of Canada, pp 141–161

  • Gebert JS (1995) Archean geology of the Hanikahimajuk lake area, Northern Point Lake Volcanic Belt, West-Central Slave Structural Province, District of Mackenzie, N.W.T. NWT EGS Open File 27.

  • Gemmell JB, Fulton R (2001) Geology, genesis, and exploration implications of the footwall and hanging-wall alteration associated with the Hellyer volcanic-hosted massive sulphide deposit, Tasmania, Australia. Econ Geol 96:1003–1036

    Google Scholar 

  • Gemmell JB, Large RR (1992) Stringer system and alteration zones underlying the Hellyer volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposit, Tasmania, Australia. Econ Geol 87:620–649

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill JW (1977) The Takiyuak metavolcanic belt: geology, geochemistry, and mineralization. Carleton University, Ottawa, p 210

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin AM, Lambert MB, Ujike O (2006) Geochemical and metallogenic relations in volcanic rocks of the southern Slave Province: implications for late Neoarchean tectonics. Can J Earth Sci 43:1835–1857

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green TH (1995) Significance of Nb/Ta as an indicator of geochemical processes in the crust-mantle system. Chem Geol 120:347–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hajash A, Chandler GW (1981) An experimental investigation of high-temperature interactions between seawater and rhyolite, andesite, basalt and peridotite. Contrib Mineral Petrol 78:240–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton WB (1998) Archean magmatism and deformation were not products of plate tectonics. Precambrian Res 91:143–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton MA, Ootes L, Jackon VA (2014) The slave VMS project: a progress report on new U-Pb ages constraining the temporal evolution of Neoarchean volcanic belts and VMS mineralization in the Slave craton. Abstracts of Talks and Posters. Yellowknife Geoscience Forum

  • Hanchar JM, van Westrenen W (2007) Rare earth element behavior in zircon-melt systems. Elements 3:37–42. doi:10.2113/gselements.3.1.37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart TR, Gibson HL, Lesher CM (2004) Trace element geochemistry and petrogenesis of felsic volcanic rocks associated with volcanogenic massive Cu-Zn-Pb sulfide deposits. Econ Geol 99:1003–1013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassard FR (1983) Hood river- No. 10 deposit, diamond drilling, Geological and Geophysical Exploration and Compilation. Kidd Creek Mines Ltd - Company Report:42

  • Helmstaedt H, Padgham WA (1986) A new look at the stratigraphy of the Yellowknife Supergroup at Yellowknife, N.W.T.—implications for the age of gold-bearing shear zones and Archean basin evolution. Can J Earth Sci 23:454–475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helmstaedt HH, Pehrsson SJ (2012) Geology and Tectonic Evolution of the Slave Province - A Post-Lithoprobe Perspective In: Percival JA, Cook FA, Clowes RM (eds) Tectonic Styles in Canada: The Lithoprobe Perspective. Geological Association of Canada, pp 379–466

  • Hoffman PF (1988) United plates of America, the birth of a craton: early Proterozoic assembly and growth of Laurentia. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 16:543–603

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isachsen CE, Bowring SA (1994) Evolution of the slave craton. Geology 22:917–920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isachsen CE, Bowring SA (1997) The Bell Lake group and Anton Complex: a basement–cover sequence beneath the Archean Yellowknife greenstone belt revealed and implicated in greenstone belt formation. Can J Earth Sci 34:169–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isachsen CE, Bowring SA, Padgham WA (1991) U-Pb zircon geochronology of the Yellowknife volcanic belt, NWT, Canada: New constraints on the timing and duration of greenstone belt magmatism. J Geol 99:55–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen JE (1995) Geology, geochemistry and Nd isotopic study of the Hanikahimajuk Lake area, Slave Province, NWT MSc Thesis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta

  • Kamber BS, Collerson KD (2000) Role of ‘hidden’ deeply subducted slabs in mantle depletion. Chem Geol 166:241–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerrich R, Wyman DA (1997) Review of developments in trace-element fingerprinting of geodynamic settings and their implications for mineral exploration. Aust J Earth Sci 44:465–487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kusky TM (1991) Structural development of an archean orgoen, western Point Lake, Northwest Territories. Tectonics 10:820–841

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Large RR, Allen RL, Blake MD, Herrmann W (2001a) Hydrothermal alteration and volatile element haloes for the Rosebery K Lens volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposit, western Tasmania. Econ Geol 96:1055–1072

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Large RR, Gemmell JB, Paulick H, Huston DL (2001b) The alteration box plot: a simple approach to understanding the relationships between alteration mineralogy and lithogeochemistry associated with VHMS deposits. Econ Geol 96:957–971

    Google Scholar 

  • Lentz DR (1998) Petrogenetic evolution of felsic volcanic sequences associated with Phanerozoic volcanic-hosted massive sulfide systems: the role of extensional geodynamics. Ore Geol Rev 12:289–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lentz DR (1999) Petrology, geochemistry and oxygen isotopic interpretation of felsic volcanic and related rocks hosting the Brunswick 6 and 12 massive sulfide deposits (Brunswick Belt), Bathurst Mining Camp, New Brunswick, Canada. Econ Geol 94:57–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesher CM, Goodwin AM, Campbell IH, Gorton MP (1986) Trace element geochemistry of ore-associated and barren felsic metavolcanic rocks in the Superior province, Canada. Can J Earth Sci 23:222–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacLachlan K, Helmstaedt H (1995) Geology and geochemisty of an Archean mafic dyke complex in the Chan formation-basis for a revised plate-tectonic model of the Yellowknife greenstone-belt. Can J Earth Sci 32:614–630

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacLean WH (1990) Mass change calculations in altered rock series. Mineral Deposita 25:44–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mittlefehldt DW, Miller CF (1983) Geochemistry of the Sweetwater Wash Pluton, California: Implications for “anomalous” trace element behavior during differentiation of felsic magmas. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 47:109–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortensen JK, Thorpe RI, Padgham WA, King JE, Davis WJ (1988) U-Pb zircon ages for felsic volcanism in the Slave Province, N.W.T. Radiogenic Age and Isotope Studies: Report 2. Geological Survey of Canada, pp 85–95

  • Nicholson H, Condomines M, Fitton JG, Fallick AE, Gronvold K, Rogers G (1991) Geochemical and isotopic evidence for crustal assimilation beneath krafla, Iceland. J Petrol 32:1005–1020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Northrup CJ, Isachsen C, Bowring SA (1999) Field relations, U-Pb geochronology, and Sm-Nd isotope geochemistry of the Point Lake greenstone belt and adjacent gneisses, central Slave craton, N.W.T., Canada. Can J Earth Sci 36:1043–1059

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ootes L, Davis WJ, Bleeker W, Jackson VA (2009) Two distinct ages of neoarchean turbidites in the western slave craton: further evidence and implications for a possible back-Arc model. J Geol 117:15–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Padgham WA (1992) Mineral deposits in the archean slave structural province; lithological and tectonic setting. Precambrian Res 58:1–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Padgham WA, Fyson WK (1992) The slave province—a distinct archean craton. Can J Earth Sci 29:2072–2086

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce JA (1996) A user’s guide to basalt discrimination diagrams In: Wyman DA (ed) Trace element geochemistry of volcanic rocks: Applications for massive sulphide exploration. Geological Association of Canada, pp 79–113

  • Pearce JA, Peate DW (1995) Tectonic implications of the composition of volcanic arc magmas. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 23:251–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce JA, Harris NBW, Tindle AG (1984) Trace element discrimination diagrams for the tectonic interpretation of granitic rocks. J Petrol 25:956–983

  • Piercey S (2011) The setting, style, and role of magmatism in the formation of volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits. Mineral Deposita 46:449–471

  • Piercey SJ, Paradis S, Murphy DC, Mortensen JK (2001) Geochemistry and paleotectonic setting of felsic volcanic rocks in the Finlayson Lake volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) district, Yukon, Canada. Econ Geol 96:1877–1905

    Google Scholar 

  • Piercey SJ, Murphy DC, Mortensen JK, Creaser RA (2004) Mid-Paleozoic initiation of the northern Cordilleran marginal back-arc basin: Geological, geochemical and neodymium isotopic evidence from the oldest mafic magmatic rocks in Yukon-Tanana terrane, Finlayson Lake district, southeast Yukon, Canada. Geol Soc Am Bull 116:1087–1106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piercey SJ, Peter JM, Mortensen JK, Paradis S, Murphy DC, Tucker TL (2008) Petrology and U-Pb geochronology of footwall porphyritic rhyolites from the wolverine volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit, Yukon, Canada: implications for the genesis of massive sulfide deposits in continental margin environments. Econ Geol 103:5–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Relf C (1992) 2 distinct shortening events during Late Archean orogeny in the west-central Slave Province, Northwest Territories, Canada. Can J Earth Sci 29:2104–2117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riverin G, Hodgson CJ (1980) Wall-rock alteration at the Millenbach Cu-Zn mine, Noranda, Quebec. Econ Geol 75:424–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rockingham CJ (1979) Metamorphism and metal zoning of the Hood River-41 massive sulfide deposits, Slave Structural Province, N.W.T. Department of Geology. University of Western Ontario, London, p 125

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross P-S, Bedard JH (2009) Magmatic affinity of modern and ancient subalkaline volcanic rocks determined from trace-element discriminant diagrams. Can J Earth Sci 46:823–839

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudnick RL, Barth MG, Horn I, McDonough WF (2000) Rutile-bearing refractory ecologites: missing link between continents and depleted mantle. Science 287:278–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shervais JW (1982) Ti-V plots and the petrogenesis of modern and ophiolitic lavas. Earth Planet Sci Lett 59:101–118

  • Shukuno H, Tamura Y, Tani K, Chang Q, Suzuki T, Fiske RS (2006) Origin of silicic magmas and the compositional gap at Sumisu submarine caldera, Izu-Bonin arc, Japan. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 156:187–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spitz G, Darling R (1978) Major and minor element lithogeochemical anomalies surrounding the Louvem copper deposit, Val d’Or, Quebec. Can J Earth Sci 15:1161–1169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stubley MP (2005) Slave Craton: Interpretive bedrock compilation NWT-NU Open File 2005–01

  • Sun S-s, McDonough WF (1989) Chemical and isotopic systematics of oceanic basalts: implications for mantle composition and processes In: Saunders AD, Norry MJ (eds) Magmatism in the Ocean Basins. pp 313–345

  • Swinden HS (1991) Paleotectonic settings of volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits in the Dunnage Zone, Newfoundland Appalachians. Can Inst Min Metall Bull 84:59–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor SR, McLennan SM (1995) The geochemical evolution of the continental crust. Rev Geophys 33:241–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas DA, Glenn DG (1994) 1993 Summary report: diamond drilling and pulse EM, Hood Project - PN 420 Minnova Inc Company Report. pp 110

  • Villeneuve ME, Henderson JR, Hrabi RB, Jackson VA, Relf C (1997) 2.70–2.58 Ga plutonism and volcanism in the Slave Province, District of Mackenzie, Northwest Territories. Radiogenic Age and Isotopic Studies, Geological Survey of Canada. Curr Res 1997-F:10

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson EB, Harrison TM (1983) Zircon saturation revisited: temperature and composition effects in a variety of crustal magma types. Earth Planet Sci Lett 64:295–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whalen JB, McNicoll VJ, Galley AG, Longstaffe FJ (2004) Tectonic and metallogenic importance of an Archean composite high- and low-Al tonalite suite, western Superior Province, Canada. Precambrian Res 132:275–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood DA (1980) The application of a Th-Hf-Ta diagram to problems of tectonomagmatic classification and to establishing the nature of crustal contamination of basaltic lavas of the British Tertiary volcanic province. Earth Planet Sci Lett 50:11–30

  • Yamashita K, Creaser RA, Jensen JE, Heaman LM (2000) Origin and evolution of mid- to late-Archean crust in the Hanikahimajuk Lake area, Slave Province, Canada; evidence from U-Pb geochronological, geochemical and Nd-Pb isotopic data. Precambrian Res 99:197–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This article is based on the senior author’s M.Sc. thesis at Memorial University of Newfoundland. HM would like to thank MMG Resources Inc. for funding and providing logistical support for this project. Support for this project was also provided by an NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship, a Society of Economic Geologist Student Fellowship, Memorial University of Newfoundland, an NSERC Discovery Grant (Piercey), and the NSERC-Altius Industrial Research Chair in Mineral Deposits supported by NSERC, Altius Resources Inc., and the Research and Development Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador. Constructive comments from an anonymous reviewer, Luke Ootes and Associate Editor Karen Kelley improved the quality of the manuscript and we thank them for their contributions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hannah K. Mills.

Additional information

Editorial handling: K. Kelley and G. Beaudoin

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Fig. 1

Hood deposits drill logs recording lithology and alteration. (PDF 5613 kb)

Table 1

Lithogeochemistry of Hood rock samples. (PDF 670 kb)

Table 2

Mass change of major and selected minor elements for the Hood deposits samples calculated using the MacLean (1990) multiple precursor method. (PDF 279 kb)

Table 3

Best fit mass change equations calculated for “least altered” samples. (PDF 48 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mills, H.K., Piercey, S.J. & Toole, T. Geology, alteration, and lithogeochemistry of the Hood volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits, Nunavut, Canada. Miner Deposita 51, 533–556 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-015-0612-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-015-0612-1

Keywords

Navigation