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Multi-stage hydrothermal processes involved in “low-sulfide” Cu(–Ni)–PGE mineralization in the footwall of the Sudbury Igneous Complex (Canada): Amy Lake PGE zone, East Range

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Abstract

The Amy Lake PGE zone is a “low-sulfide-type” Cu-(Ni-)PGE mineralization in the East Range footwall of the 1.85 Ga Sudbury Igneous Complex occurring in a 100-m-wide Sudbury Breccia belt that coincides with an impact-related major fracture zone (Bay Fault zone). Detailed hydrothermal alteration mapping, fluid inclusion, trace element, and stable isotope studies revealed a complex alteration and mineralization history in a multi-source, multi-stage Sudbury-related hydrothermal system. The two major stages of syn-Sudbury hydrothermal activity are characterized by similarly high-salinity, high-temperature fluids that are (1) locally derived from footwall granophyre bodies, and typified with high Ni/Cu and PGE/S ratios and high REE contents (magmatic–hydrothermal stage), and (2) a more voluminous Cu–Ni–PGE-rich fluid flux probably originated from the Sudbury Igneous Complex/footwall contact (hydrothermal stage). The second hydrothermal flux was introduced by brittle fractures in the area and resulted in a complex zonation of alteration assemblages and mineralization governed by local footwall composition. The Sudbury-related hydrothermal event was overprinted by shear-related epidote veining and calcite–chlorite replacement, both regionally present in the Sudbury structure. Based on analogies, the most important factors involved in the formation of hydrothermal low-sulfide mineralization are proposed to be (1) accumulation of PGE-enriched fluids, (2) large-scale brittle structures as conduits to these fluids, and (3) adequate host rock composition as a chemical trap resulting in sulfide and PGM precipitation. In environments meeting these criteria, hydrothermal PGE mineralization is known to have formed not only in the Sudbury footwall but also from mafic–ultramafic intrusions associated with primary magmatic PGE from several locations around the world.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Wallbridge Mining Company Ltd. for allowing access to their properties and supporting bulk sample analyses. Prof. Dan Marshall is thanked for kindly providing raw stable isotope data of various silicates from his previous research. The manuscript was greatly improved thanks to the suggestions of two Mineralium Deposita reviewers. The project was financially supported by the Canada-Hungary Science and Technology Agreement to F.M. and D.H.W., a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada grant to Carleton University and D.H.W., as well as the Geological Survey of Canada’s Targeted Geoscience Initiative-4 Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mineralogy, Eötvös Loránd University, 1/c Pázmány Péter sétány, 1117, Budapest, Hungary

    Györgyi Tuba

  2. Geological Survey of Finland, 4 Betonimiehenkuja, 02151, Espoo, Finland

    Ferenc Molnár

  3. Geological Survey of Canada, 750-601 Booth Street, K1A 0E8, Ottawa, Canada

    Doreen E. Ames

  4. Wallbridge Mining Company Ltd, 129 Fielding Road, P3Y 1L7, Lively, Canada

    Attila Péntek

  5. Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, K1S 5B6, Ottawa, Canada

    David H. Watkinson & Peter C. Jones

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  1. Györgyi Tuba
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  4. Attila Péntek
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Correspondence to Györgyi Tuba.

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Editorial handling: C. Li

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Online Resource 1

Summary of trace element concentrations in epidote and allanite from the studied alteration groups (PDF 244 kb)

Online Resource 2

Summary of fluid inclusion microthermometric data (PDF 220 kb)

Appendix

Appendix

Fig. 20

Fig. 20
figure 20

Orientation of vein assemblages in the Amy Lake PGE zone

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Fig. 21

Fig. 21
figure 21

Histograms of Fe3+ content of epidote in different alteration groups of the Amy Lake PGE zone expressed as \( {X_{\mathrm{Ep}}} = {{{\mathrm{F}{{\mathrm{e}}^{3+ }}}} \left/ {{\left( {\mathrm{F}{{\mathrm{e}}^{3+ }}+\mathrm{Al} + \mathrm{Cr}-2} \right)}} \right.} \)

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Table 4

Table 4 Summary of abundance, texture and composition of trace minerals in the Amy Lake PGE zone as a function of host minerals
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Table 5

Table 5 Chemical composition of selected hydrous silicates
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Table 6

Table 6 Whole-rock analyses of Sudbury footwall units used for the normalization of trace element data of epidote
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Tuba, G., Molnár, F., Ames, D.E. et al. Multi-stage hydrothermal processes involved in “low-sulfide” Cu(–Ni)–PGE mineralization in the footwall of the Sudbury Igneous Complex (Canada): Amy Lake PGE zone, East Range. Miner Deposita 49, 7–47 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-013-0468-1

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