IR Acod, Sc. Pars. Sciences dela Tere et des plonétes / Earth ong Planetary Sciences 399 (2000) 117-123 c, 5 2000 Acadbrrle des sconces / tations scloninques ot médicaies Ssovar SAL Tous eats raserves §1251808000001 13O/FLA Géomatériaux / Geomaterials (ietallogente /Mataliogeny) Tectonique / Tectonics Un exemple de minéralisation aurifére syncinématique (Wrightbar), liée 4 un chevauchement, dans I’Archéen de I’Abitibi (Canada) Kamel Ferkous*, Alain Tremblay INRS-Géoressources, 2535, bd Laurier, CP 7500, Sainte-Foy, GIV 4C7, Québec, Canada Regu le 3 a0at 1999 ; accepté le 6 décembre 1999 Présenté par Zdenek Johan Abstract — An example of synkinematic gold mineralization (Wrighthar), associated with a thrust fault, in the Abitibi Archaen area (Canada). The Val d’Or gold district (Abi- Uibi) is known for its veinype deposits occurring along steeply south-dipping reverse faults. Gold is present within quartz-tourmaline veins accompanied by a hydrothermal alteration with coeval carbonate-tourmaline precipitation, The Wrightbar gold mine is atypical. (Its present within a south-verging subhorizontal thrust fault zone, (il gold is found within syn- to late-kinematic quartz-tourmaline veins, which are associated with a complex hydrothermal alteration characterized by an early deposition of syn-kinematic tourmaline, followed by late- to post-kinematic crystallization of carbonate-chlorite-talc— magnetite. © 2000 Académie des sciences / Editions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS Abitibi /Bourlamaque batholth /theust faut / hydrothermalism / Canada Résumé — Le district aurifére de Val dr (Abitibi) est conn par ses gisements flo niens,localisés dans des files inverses esi-ouest 2 pendage abrupt sud. Lor est présent dans des veines de_quart-tourmaline, auxquelles est associée une alteration hydrother- male & carbonate-tourmaline. La mine Wrightbar est atypique : () elle ext localisée dans tn chevatichement subhorizontal, pené vers le nord, a vergence Sud, (i) Tor est présent dans des veines de quarz‘ourmaline, syn- a tardi-cinématique, accompagnées dune alteration hydrothermale complexe, caractrisée par une précipitation précoce de tourms line syncinématique, puis d'un assemblage & carbonate-chlonte-tale-magnétte tard & post-cinématique. © 2000 Académie des sciences / Editions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS AbIUbI/atholite de Bourlamaque / chevauchement / hydrothermalisme / Canada Abridged version 1.ntroduction The Val d'Or mining district is known for its numer: fous mesothermal vein-type gold deposits. It is located in the southern part of the Archean Abitibi Greenstone Belt (ie., the Abitibi Subprovince) of the Superior Prov- ince of the Canadian shield, and bounded to the south by a tectonic contact, the Cadillac Tectonic Zone (CTZ), * Correspondance et trés & part : kietkous@yahoo.com with metasedimentary rocks of the Pontiac Subprovince (igure D. The CIZ extends along-strike for more than 200km and is cens to several hundreds metres in ‘width [4, 121. The CTZ corresponds to a major tectonic plane that steeply dips toward the north, which has heen characterized by reverse faulting followed by dex. tal strike-slip shearing (13) The fault zone has been the site of intense hydrothermal circulation that is believed to be responsible for the formation of gold deposits in the area {121, The majority of these deposits are found 7.Forkous, A. Tombiay / C. Acad. Sci Part, Scioncos dela Tare ot des planets / Forth and Planetary Sciences 330 (2000) 117-128 in the hanging wall of the CTZ, and hosted by subvert- cal reverse shear zones that are interpreted as second and third order structures of the CTZ (13). The area of most deposits belongs to the Malartic Composite Block (3, 4]. Several synvolcanic plutons are found within the Malartic Composite Block and, among them, the Bourlamaque batholith is host to about 10 vein-type gold deposits occurring along steeply south-dipping reverse faults. An exception 10 such a structural setting Js the Wrightbar deposit which is hosted by slight 10 moderately north-dipping shear zones, ie, the Wright bar fault. 2. Geological setting ‘The Wrightbar mine is located along the southern boundary of the Bourlamaque batholith (figure 7). Host rocks of the deposit consist of deformed to weakly deformed granodiorite of the Bourlamaque batholith and felsic volcanic rocks of the Val d'Or Formation (igure 2). These lithologies are in tectonic contact along the Wrightbar fault. Metre-thick dolerite dikes and bodies of unfoliated granite locally crosscut the grano- diorite. Except for the granite, all these rocks under ‘went greenschist-grade metamorphism. ‘The Wrightbar fault crosscut all lithologies of the Wrightbar mine, It consists of several sub-parallel and anastamosing shear zones that trend east-west and dip = 35° toward the north. The shear zones are kilometric in length and have measured downdip extension in the order of several hundreds of metres. The width of these shear zones increases progressively towards the granodiorite/volcanies contact (10-15m), ie, the Wrightbar fault. Sheared rocks are greenschist-grade mylonites, and available brittle/ductile shear fabrics consistently indicate south-directed thrusting. The shear zones are host to quarzourmaline veins associated 10 hydrothermal alteration halos. 3. Auriferous quarts-tourmaline veins and associated hydrothermal alteration Pervasive hydrothermal alteration “and auriferous quartz-tourmaline are always present along shear zone planes. Quartz-tourmaline veins are decametric in Jength and, as the hosting shear zones, show a progres- sive thickening to more than 3m towards the granodiorite-volcanics contact. Veins are made up of alternating, decimetric- to centimetric-thick ribbons of quartz and tourmaline that represent repeated and mul- Listage episodes of opening and filling of fractures. Bar- liest quarz-tourmaline fillings are folded and laminated ‘owing to progressive and incremental deformation (/ig- ure 3). Two types of hydrothermal alteration are recog- nized (figure), (an early tourmaline-rich alteration, and Gi) 2 late (calcite-chlorite-talc-magnetite)rich alteration, ‘The early alteration locally overprints mylonitic gra nodiorite. This alteration is outlined by a dark facies corresponding 0 an intense precipitation of tourmaline, and accessory of quartz-muscovite-calcte-rutle~ plagioclase-pyrite L-pyrthotite. In quartz-tourmaline veins, hydrothermal tourmaline coodes both quartz and pyrite of the earliest injections which are crosscut by sbbons of tourmaline. Along altered wall socks of quartz-tourmaline veins, tourmaline is very abundant Cup w 9590. Ics often distorted, stretched and bout raged. Its chemical composition is homogeneous Gabsence of zonation) corresponding to shorl-dravite sold solution (table. MgO/FeO ratios are weakly var- alle (0.78-0.98), ane CrsO, (< 0.04%), MnO (< 0.02%, F (0.28%) and Ci (< 0.02%) concentrations are low. Ca-Fe-Mg teary diagram (7] plots this tourmaline in the Field of Ca-poor quart-tourmaline socks (figure 5. ‘The late hydrothermal alteration is present in most aunferous shear zones crosscutting the granodiorite of the Bourlamaque batholth. itis outlined by a bleaching Cf mylonites corresponding to an intense deposition of calcite (= 49%)-chlorie (S 30%)-tale (S_ 259%)- magnetite (&_3%)-pyrite II-chalcopyrite-sphalerte, and in places white mica and quartz, Hydrothermal iminerals replace quartz, pyrite and tourmaline of the quarz-iourmaline veins and their altered walls. They are not deformed (gure, although some tension veinlets of carbonate clearly show sigmoidal shape compatible with the global south-verging displacement. Calcite is (Fe-Mg)-poor mineral lable). Chiorite is ripi- olte in composition (lable) showing subregular Fe/Pe + Mg ratios (036-047) and F ¢< 0.02%) and Cl (< 003%) low contents. Tale has an uncommon iron Fich composition MgO (24.91-27.03, 99) FeO. (7.40 10.690). Magnetite (up to 3%) mostly shows euhedral shape crystals having TiO,-poor contents (05%) ‘The microstructural characteristics of hydrothermal minerals indicate that the tourmaline-ich alteration is syrrkinematic, whereas the carbonate-chlorite-tale~ magnetite assemblage is late 10 postkinematic. The mineral assemblages of both early and late hydrother smal alterations at the Wrightbar gold mine, as well as fluid inelusions in auriferous quartz veins at the nearby Sigma gold mine (15), allow to bracket the temperature condition during the hydrothermal activity herwecn 300 and 400°C, Native gold is present in fractures crosscutting both early and late types of hydrothermal alterations. 4, Discussion and conclusions ‘The Wrightbar mine is located along a major thrust fault between the Bourlamaque batholith and the Val Or Formation. The east-west trend of this thrust fault is consistent with other regional structures attributed to the Kenorean orogeny in the Abitibi Subprovince (10) ‘The geometry of the Bourlamaque batholith (8) has favoured, during the south-directed thrusting, the for- mation of north-verging reverse faults (see (9)) as those preserved, for example, in the Ferderber and BeauforK Fotkous, A. Tremblay /C.R Acad. Sc. Pai, Sciences de la Tene ot des plonétes / Earth and Panotary Sctences 380 (2000) 117-123 gold deposits. The presence of deformed and unde- formed fillings of quartz-tourmaline within a single vein is clear evidence for the polyphased nature of their formation, and for their syn- to late-kinematic origin Hydrothermal halos associated to these veins are char- acterized by peculiar features as compared to other mesothermal gold deposits of the Val d'Or area, espe- cially the Sigma (14) and Ferdesber (1, 18] deposits. In the later (wo, the hydrothermal alteration commonly consists of an early stage of carbonate-chlorite-white mica assemblage and a late carbonatetourmaline assemblage. In the Wrightbar deposit, the chronology Of alteration stages is the reverse sequence of mineral precipitation, and tourmaline is unusually abundant (up to 95%). Moreover, the presence of hydrothermal talc is a peculiar characteristic of the Wrightbar deposit and it has been never found as a hydrothermal mineral in other deposits of the Val d'Or district, Deformation structures observed in tourmaline attest for syn-kinematic hydrothermalism. The absence of chemical zonation in tourmaline suggests a precipita- tion in equilibrium with bore-rich hydrothermal fluids for the earliest alteration, Weak deformation fabrics of minerals related to the carbonatesrich alteration suggest that it occurred during late stages of the incremental deformation. The abundance of Fe-Mg-CO, (= 20%) in hydrothermal minerals suggests that they precipited from deeper fluids that have leached ultramafic rocks (171 or from weakly evolved hydrothermal fluids of marine origin, 1, Introduction Le district minier de Val d'Or, connu pour ses nom: breux gisements d'or filonien (Lamaque, Perron, Sigma, Siscoe, Sullivan, Wrightbar, etc.), est situé dans la partie sud-est de la ceinture de roches vertes archéennes de Abitibi, province du Supérieur du Bouclier canadien. tI est délimité au sud par les roches métasédimentaires de la sous-province de Pontiac (figure 1). Le contact entre ces deux grandes unités est tectonique, I est souligné par la zone tectonique de Cadillac (ZTC), de direction est-ouest, de plus de 200 km de longueur et de plu- sieurs dizaines, voire quelques centaines de métres de largeur (3, 12]. La ZTC présente un fort pendage vers le nord ; elle a joué en faille inverse, puis en décroche- ment dexte [13]. Elle a aussi été le site d'une intense circulation de fluides hydrothermaux responsables de la formation des gisements d'or du district de Val d'Or [12]. Ces gisements sont restreints au comparti- ment nord de la ZTC. Ils sont associés a des zones de Cisaillement subverticales inverses de deuxitme et troi- siéme ordre [13]. Les roches qui encaissent la minérali- Figure 1. Géologie de fa région de Val Gr, carte de Sauve et a. [16] mode Figure 1. Geology of the Val dOr region, map of Sauvé et al [16] mod: fied. sation aurifére appartiennent au bloc composite de Malatic [3, 4], formé, de la base vers le sommet, de laves ultrabasiques (partie nord de la région), de laves basaltiques a thyolitiques et de roches | volcano- sédimeniaires (partie suc). L'age de mise en place des laves varie entre 2 747 et 2 698 Ma [11]. Ces unités vol- caniques sont recoupées par une suite de plutons syn- volcaniques, dont le batholite de Bourlamaque (tonalite-trondhjémite-granodiorite [2)) daté a 2 700+ 1 Ma {19}. Ce batholite encaisse une dizaine de gisements dor filoniens (Beaufos, Courvan, Ferderber, Perron, Sul- livan, Wrightbar, etc) dont la plupart sont localisés dans des fallesest-ouestinverses, 3 fort pendage orienté vers le sud. Lor est associé a des veines de quartz-tour maline, souvent accompagnées par une altération hydrothermale, caractérisée surtout par une précipita- tion de carbonate précoce et contemporain du dépat de tourmaline (1, 14, 18 et autres Seule la mine Wright- bar est contenue dans une faille & pendage faible nord (figure 2, et les veines de quartz auriferes sont régulé- rement enveloppées par une altération hydothermale atypique