Journal article

Isotope geochemistry of the northeast zone, mount polley alkalic Cu-Au-Ag porphyry deposit, British Columbia: A case for carbonate assimilation

HE Pass, DR Cooke, G Davidson, R Maas, G Dipple, C Rees, L Ferreira, C Taylor, CL Deyell

Economic Geology | Published : 2014

Abstract

Mount Polley is a Late Triassic (∼205 Ma) alkalic porphyry Cu-Au-Ag deposit (226.3 thousand tonnes (t) Cu, 21.5 t Au, and 65.1 t Ag), hosted by silica-undersaturated to silica-saturated monzonitic intrusions of the Mount Polley Complex, located in British Columbia, Canada. The Northeast ore zone at Mount Polley is hosted by magmatic-hydrothermal breccia. Copper and precious metals occur in sulfide minerals primarily as coarse- to fine-grained breccia cement. Local wall rocks include equigranular to porphyritic diorite, monzodiorite, and monzonite. Alteration, breccia cement, and veins of the Northeast ore zone formed in five paragenetic stages: prebreccia (stage 1), brecciation and main-stag..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the ongoing intellectual, geological, logistical, and financial support of Imperial Metals Corporation. Thank you to everyone who helped out on site and during fieldwork, in particular Linda Bingham, Leif Bjornson, Jacqueline Blackwell, Michelle Brereton, Brenda Emerson, Natasha Gainer, Patrick McAndless, Steve Roberston, Tim Stubbley, and Gary Roste. Additional funding was provided by Amarc Resources Ltd., AngloGold-Ashanti, Barri& Gold Corp., Lysander Minerals Corp., Newcrest Mining Ltd., Newmont Mining Corp., Nova Gold Resources Inc., Teck Ltd., NSERC Collaborative Research and Development program, Geoscience British Columbia, and CODES. The senior author was the recipient of Geoscience British Columbia and SEC student grants, which are gratefully acknowledged.