Investigation of Hydrothermal Alteration Processes in the Troodos Ophiolite and the Abitibi

346 Pages·2012·10.59 MB·English

by  Tamara P. Sredojevic

INVESTIGATION OF HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION PROCESSES IN
THE TROODOS OPHIOLITE AND THE ABITIBI GREENSTONE BELT

Spine title: Hydrothermal Alteration Studies of the CY-4 Drill Hole and the Upper Canada
Property

Thesis format: Monograph

by

Tamara Sredojevic

Graduate Program in Earth Science

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science

The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
The University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada

© Tamara Sredojevic 2012
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO
School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION

Supervisor Examiners

______________________________ ______________________________
Dr. Neil Banerjee Dr. Elisabeth Webb

Supervisory Committee ______________________________
Dr. Robert Linnen

______________________________
Dr. Elisabeth Webb ______________________________
Frank Ploeger

The thesis by

Tamara Sredojevic

entitled:

Investigation of Hydrothermal Alteration Processes in the Troodos
Ophiolite and the Abitibi Greenstone belt

is accepted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Master of Science

______________________ _______________________________
Date Chair of the Thesis Examination Board

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Abstract
Hydrothermal alteration is an important and ubiquitous process between rocks in the
Earth’s crust and seawater. To gain a greater understanding of such processes, two
localities are investigated here: the Troodos Ophiolite Complex of Cyprus and the
syenitic rocks associated with gold mineralization at the Upper Canada property, Ontario.
This thesis reports unique effects of hydrothermal activity. The Troodos Ophiolite
samples consist of sheeted diabase dykes, gabbroic and ultramafic rocks in the CY-4 drill
hole. The oxygen isotopic signature of these rocks indicates that alteration temperatures
increased downhole and channeling of low-temperature fluids occurs at the dyke –
gabbro boundary. Observations at the Upper Canada property show surprisingly
consistent hydrothermal alteration of the host rocks with albite, sericite, silica, carbonate
and pyrite. Mineralization is commonly constrained to narrow alteration corridors with
pyrite hosting inclusions of gold. This study points toward the potential for a large
intrusive mineralized system beneath the property.
Keywords:
Hydrothermal Alteration, Troodos Ophiolite Complex of Cyprus, CY-4 Drill Hole, Upper
Canada Property, Syenitic Rocks, Sheeted Diabase Dykes, Gabbroic and Ultramafic
Rocks, Oxygen Isotopic Data

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Acknowledgements
First and foremost I would like to express my sincerest and deepest thanks to my
supervisor Dr. Neil R. Banerjee who suggested the thesis topic and provided me with
great opportunity to enter in the stable isotopes world and for his interest, support,
assistance and guidance all time during my research project.
I would like to thank the stuff at Queenston Mining Inc. for use of the Upper
Canada property. A particular thanks for Charlie Page, Bill Mc Guinty, and Michel
Leblanc. The assistance of Frank Ploeger and Charlie Moore on their suggestions for
particular drill holes and sampling are greatly appreciated.
Special thanks goes to Dr. Michelle Harris and Dr. Damon Teagle at the University
of Southampton, UK for provided me with thin sections, powder samples and trace
element data from the Troodos Ophiolite in CY-4 drill hole collected through the Cyprus
Cristal Study Program.
At the University of Western Ontario, I would like to thank you to the Department
of Earth Science for the financial support during this study. Thank to Lisa Munro for her
great effort in providing me patiently with training on silicate line in the Laboratory for
the Stable Isotope Sciences. Particular thanks go to Dr. Bob Linnen for his help on gold
deposits. The assistance of Dr. Elizabeth Webb, Dr. Roberta Flemming, Matt Izawa and
Syed Ali is much appreciated. Thanks for all of Team Gold: Olivia Greaves, Sarah
Griffin, Eric Pilles for helping me with sample preparation. Also, thank to Stephen
Wood, Louisa Preston, Kim Law, Li Huang, Grace Yau, Ashlee Gradkowski, Claire
Mortera, Nathan Bridge, Duanne Petts, Claire Mortera, and Nevenka Nakevska. A special
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thanks to Mike Laliberty for his help in collecting the samples from the Upper Canada
property and moving all heavy drill core boxes two long rainy days for me. I would like
to thanks to the faculty, students and staff of the Earth Science department for making the
two years that I spent in the department very memorable.
I would like to thank my husband Dragan and my lovely daughters Bogdana, Nina
and Natalie for their love, encouragement, support, and patience during my research
program.
Finally, this thesis is dedicated to my parents Punisa and Mirjana Nikolic, for their
tremendous and unconditional love.

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Table of Contents
Certificate of Examination .................................................................................................. ii
Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii
Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. iv
Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................... ix
List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x
Glossary and Abbreviation of Terms ................................................................................ xii
Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1
1. Thesis Objectives ........................................................................................................... 1
1.1.1 Troodos Ophiolite .......................................................................................................... 1
1.1.2 Upper Canada Property……………………………………..…………………... 2
Chapter 2 Literature Review ............................................................................................... 4
2.1 Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems ............................................................................. 4
2.2 Ophiolites ................................................................................................................ 6
2.2.1 The Troodos Ophiolite Complex……………………………………………9
2.2.2 Regional Geology of Cyprus……...……………………………………….11
2.2.3 The Geological Setting of Cyprus……...………………………………….13
2.2.4 The Cyprus Crustal Study Program ……...………………………………..18
2.2.5 The CY-4 Drill Hole ……...……………………………………………….21
2.3 Greenstone Belts in the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield………………22
2.3.1 Regional Geology of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt ………………………...24
2.3.2 Gold Deposits in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt ……...……………………..26
2.3.3 The Kirkland Lake Gold Camp ……...……………………………………28
2.3.4 Geology of the Upper Canada Property……...…………………………….34
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2.3.5 Exploration History of the Upper Canada Gold Mine Deposit ……...…....36

Chapter 3 Sample Preparation and Analytical Methods ................................................... 44
3.1 Sample Collection and Preparation ........................................................................ 44
3.2 Optical Mineralogy and Petrology ......................................................................... 46
3.3 X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Micro X-ray Diffraction (µXRD) .......................... 47
3.4 Introduction to Oxygen Stable Isotopes …………………………………………51
3.5 Previous Work on Oxygen Stable Isotopes in Hydrothermal Systems……...…..52
3.6 Oxygen Stable Isotope Analyses ............................................................................ 55
3.7 Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) ................................. 58
Chapter 4 ........................................................................................................................... 59
4.1 Hydrothermal Alteration in the CY-4 Drill Hole from the Troodos Ophiolite
Complex of Cyprus …………………………………………………………………..59
4.1.1 Petrography in the CY-4………………………...........................................59
4.1.1.1 Diabase Sheetes Dykes ……...……………………………………....60
4.1.1.2 Gabbroic Rocks ……...………………………………………………63
4.1.1.3 Ultramafic Rocks……...…………………………………………….69
4.1.2 XRD Results in the CY-4 ……...….............................................................73
4.1.3 Oxygen Stable Isotope Results in the CY-4 Drill Hole………..……...…...83
4.1.4 Geochemistry of the Trace and Rare Elements Results in the CY-4…...….87
4.2 Summary and Conclusions on the Troodos Ophiolite Complex in the CY-4….....99
4.3 Further Work on the Troodos Ophiolite Complex in the CY-4………………....104
Chapter 5………………………………………………………………………..……..106
5.1 Hydrothermal Alteration and Associated Gold Mineralization at the Upper Canada
Property ……...….......................................................................................................106
5.1.1 Petrography of Mineralized Albitite and Other Gold Bearing Rocks …....107
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5.1.2 XRD Results …...………………………………………………………...118
5.1.3 Oxygen Stable Isotope Results……………………………………………123
5.2 Summary and Conclusions at the Upper Canada Property ……...…...................126
5.3 Further Work at the Upper Canada Property ………..…………………......…...129
Chapter 6 Conclusions………………………………………………………………….129
References………………………………………………………………………………135
Appendix 1 ……………………………………………………………………………..150
Appendix 2 ……………………………………………………………………………..248
Curriculum Vitae……………………………………………………………………….331

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List of Tables
Table 2.1 Historical Mineral Resources at the Upper Canada Property………............…39
Table 2.2 New Mineral Estimates at the Upper Canada Property..…….....……..............42
Table 4.1 Oxygen Stable Isotopes Results for the Troodos Ophiolite Complex in the
CY-4 Drill Hole……..…………..…….………..…….……….........................84
Table 4.2.A Trace Elements Compositions in the CY-4………..……………...………...89
Table 4.2.B Rare Earth Elements Compositions in the CY-4…………..………………..90
Table 4.3 Representative Samples of db, gb, and wb in the CY-4 with Trace Elements
and REE data…...…............................…….…..………………………..…...91
Table 4.4 Trace and REE Elements Data in All Samples in the CY-4 .............................92
Table 5.1 Alteration Assemblages Determinated from XRD for the Upper Canada
Property........................................................................................................120
Table 5.2 Oxygen Stable Isotope Results at the Upper Canada Property…………...….124

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List of Figures
Figure 2.1 – Tectonic Map of the Tethyan Ophiolites…………………………………...12
Figure 2.2A – Geological Map of the Island of Cyprus………………………………….17
Figure 2.2B – Major Geological Units of Cyprus (from CCSP)…………………………17
Figure 2.2C – The Troodos Ophiolite Stratiraphy in CY-4 Drill Hole…………………..17
Figure 2.3 – Cartoon of the Troodos Ophiolite Complex Spreading Center…………….20
Figure 2.4 – Geological Map of the Superior Province of North America………………23
Figure 2.5 – Geological Map of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt……………………………25
Figure 2.6 – Geologic Map in the Kirkland Lake-Larder Lake Area ……………………26
Figure 2.7 – Geological Map of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt with Twelve Would Class
Gold Deposits……………...………………...……………………………..27
Figure 2.8 – Geological Map of the Kirkland Lake Gold Camp…………………………29
Figure 2.9 – Property Map of the Kirkland Lake Gold Camp…………………………...31
Figure 2.10 – Distribution of Gold Mines in the Kirkland Lake Gold Camp……………32
Figure 2.11 – Property Map of the Upper Canada Property in Gauthier Township……..37
Figure 2.12 – Longitudinal Section of the Upper Canada Property……………………...38
Figure 2.13 – Locations of Upper Canada Shafts with Legend for Geology…………….40
Figure 2.14 – Surface Drill Plan for the Upper Canada Property………………………..43
Figure 3.1 A-C – The Sample Preparation Procedure……………………………………46
Figure 3.2 – Nikon Eclipse LV 100POL Microscope……………………………………47
Figure 3.3 A-B – The X-Ray Diffraction Machines……………………………………..49
Figure 3.4 – The Oxygen Stable Isotope Variations of Important Geological Reservoirs
in Nature …………………………...………………………………………53
Figure 3.5 – Silicate Line in the LSIS……………………………………………………56
Figure 3.6 – The Micromass PRISM II Dual Inlet Mode Stable Isotope Ratio
Spectrometer in the LSIS………………………………………………......57
Figure 4.1 A-B – Diabase from the CY-4 at 332.10m…………………………………...60
Figure 4.2 A-B – Altered Diabase from the CY-4 at Depth 645.50m…………………...61
Figure 4.3 A-D – Diabase from the CY-4 at Depth 613.05m……………………………62
Figure 4.4 A-B – Altered Diabase from the CY-4 at Depth 702.15m…………………...63
Figure 4.5 A-D – Gabbro from the CY-4 at Depth 780.20m…………………………….65
Figure 4.6 A-B – Microgabbro from CY-4 at Depth 861.62m…………………………..66
Figure 4.7 A-B – Gabbro from the CY-4 at depth 906.30m……………………………..66
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