9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
1 day course
ORGANIZER: Laurentian University
LEVEL OF COMPREHENSION: Intermediate
The timing and distribution of mineralization in Archean terranes was influenced by a variety of differing geodynamic environments. Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS) deposits were syn-volcanic occurring in extensional oceanic settings associated with high crustal heat flow. Orogenic gold deposits were formed by later collisional tectonics processes associated with the development of folding, late crustal-scale faults and syn-orogenic sedimentary units. The faults provided critical pathways for hydrothermal mineralizing fluids during repeated reactivations.
Morning presentations will highlight Laurentian University’s Metal Earth program where over 1,000 km of reflection seismic, magnetotelluric and gravity surveys have provided crustal-scale imaging from 13 areas with differing mineral endowment, including world class base metal and gold camps in the southern Superior Craton. Presentation will highlight the crustal architecture of endowed and less endowed transects in the Abitibi and Wabigoon terranes through geophysical studies integrated with geological, geochemical and geochronological data, followed by researcher presentations on the radiogenic isotopic characteristics of endowed and less endowed areas; architectural features of transects with variable metal endowment in the Beardmore-Geraldton area; and a model for hydrothermal fluid evolution and gold mineralization in orogenic deposits.
Afternoon presentations will be by Metal Earth’s partner research groups at Laval and Ottawa universities. The Gold Fluid Window research group at Laval University will provide highlights from projects to define the P-T-t-X conditions of orogenic gold fluids from sedimentary source rocks, and the geodynamic settings where favorable conditions are met to form orogenic gold deposits by modeling the composition, volume and timing of fluid generation from the Pontiac terrane and the controls and timing of orogenic gold in the Val d’Or and Malartic camps. Presentations by the Metal Oceans group at the University of Ottawa will focus on crustal growth and mineral endowment in the modern Indo-Australian Arc-Back-Arc microplate environment, currently the fastest growing crust on earth hosting 3 of the top 10 Cu-Au deposits in the world. The focus will be on the timing and scale of pulses of crustal growth and associated magmatic and hydrothermal activity, currently being studied with the same geophysical, geochemical and geochronological tools used on Metal Earth’s transects in the Superior craton. The presentations will compare features of rifting and auriferous faults in the Abitibi greenstone belt with those in a modern arc-back-arc environment most likely associated with VMS and gold mineralization.
COURSE FEES: SOLD OUT
Includes course material, continental breakfast and lunch