Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Plutonic Rocks Post Cauldron Sequence Cauldron (Mine) Sequence Pre-Cauldron Sequence VHMS Deposits
Plutonic Rocks Post Cauldron Sequence Cauldron (Mine) Sequence Pre-Cauldron Sequence VHMS Deposits
Plutonic rocks
Post cauldron sequence
Cauldron (Mine) sequence
Pre-cauldron sequence VHMS deposits
Introduction
THIS paper presents field and petrographic evidence for the three-stage, subsea-floor formation of the Ansil Cu-Zn-
Au- Ag volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposit. The evidence from this study suggests that the shallow subsea-
floor accumulation of massive sulfide through open-space filling and replacment of the substrate is a viable
mechanism for the development of economic volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits. The Ansil deposit is
located 14 km north of Rouyn- Noranda, Quebec, Canada, within the Abitibi greenstone belt of the Archean
Superior province (Fig. 1). It was discovered in 1981 by Falconbridge Copper Ltd., and mined between February
1989 and April 1993. Preproduction reserves were 1.58 Mt grading 7.2 percent Cu, 0.9 percent Zn, 26.5 g/t Ag,
and 1.6 g/t Au (Riverin et al., 1990). It is one of 22 volcanic- hosted massive sulfide deposits within the Central
Volcanic Complex of the Blake River Group (Gibson and Watkinson, 1990), and one of the 17 deposits located
within a 3,000- m section of bimodal, andesite-rhyolite that comprises the cauldron fill to the Noranda cauldron
(Gibson, 1989; Fig. 2). The Flavrian pluton, which is a subvolcanic intrusive complex beneath, and coeval with, the
Mine sequence, has a U-Pb zircon age of 2700.Si; Ma (Mortenson, 1993). The volcanic strata dip homoclinally
20 to 50 to the east, are essentially undeformed, and except for the strata within the amphibolite contact
metamorphic halo about the Lac Dufault pluton, are weakly affected by lower greenschist regional
metamorphism.
Previous studies of the deposit include those by Riverin et al. (1990), Barrett et al. (1991), Galley et al. (1991),
Westen- dorp et al. (1991), and Westendorp (1992). The interpretations presented here are based on underground
mapping at a scale of 1:150, drill core logging, and detailed petrography, mineralogy, and lithogeochemistry
(Galley, 1994).
Geologic Setting
The Ansil deposit occurs at the contact between a rhyolitic flow of the Northwest formation and the overlying
andesite flows of the Rusty Ridge formation (Fig. 3A and B). These two formations, and the underlying andesitic
flows of the Flavrian formation, comprise the first cycle of subsidence within the Noranda cauldron (Gibson, 1989;
SUBSEA-FLOOR FORMATION, ANSIL DEPOSIT, CANADA 2007
Fig. 2). The stratiform part of the orebody lies within an east-west-trend- ing graben along the upper surface of
the rhyolite. Evidence for the presence of this graben includes well-defined offsets of the rhyolite contact, an
incursion from the east along the graben floor of a thin dacite flow unit (Ansil dacite), and an abrupt thickening
(from 1 to over 20 m) of a finely layered, quartz porphyritic tuff (Cranston tuff) that fills the structure. The orebody
is in part hosted by the Cranston tuff and part by the overlying andesite (Fig. 3A).
The deposit lies along the southwest flank of the 7 km long composite rhyolite flow that is part of the
Northwest formation (Gibson, 1989). Below the deposit the rhyolite is over 250 m thick, with a base of tightly
packed flow lobes and subordinate flow breccia, changing up section through a breccia-rich facies to a
hyaloclastite-rich facies with subordinate flow lobes and breccia. The overlying Ansil dacite consists of highly
amygdaloidal, lobe-hyaloclastite flows up to 45 m thick, interlayered with finely laminated Cranston tuff. The
dacite is overlain by up to 20 m of quartz porphyritic Cranston
FIG. 1. The location of the Ansil deposit. The line A-A' defines the position of a cross section through the Noranda cauldron as shown in Figure
2.
tuff, which has a coarse-grained, thickly bedded basal facies, followed by fine-grained, finely bedded and then
finely laminated facies. The tuff unit is inteipireted to represent subaqueous mass flows that originated at a steep-
sided quartz- feldspar porphyritic rhyolite dome (Cranston QFP) 2,000 m to the north-northeast (Gibson, 1989).
More than 500 m of massive to pillowed flows of andesite overlie the deposit. The contact between the
andesite and the underlying rhyolite ridge is onlapping, with a transitional boundary between the massive and
pillowed facies of the andesite intersecting the rhyolite contact halfway along the length of the sulfide lens (Fig.
3A). This facies boundary played an important role in controlling hydrothermal fluid flow during the formation of
the Ansil deposit.
Mineralization
The deposit consisted of a single massive sulfide lens 320 by 150 m that averages 6 m thick with a maximum
thickness of 35 m (Fig. 3A and B), and an extensive stockwork vein system that extends from 400 m below the
orebody to over 300 m above (Fig. 3B). The sulfide lens plunges 30 to 60 to the east and is enveloped by a
discordant alteration zone characterized by feldspar destruction and Na depletion. This is over 2,000 m long and
up to 500 m wide, crosscutting all three volcanic formations of the first cauldron subsidence cycle (Gibson, 1989;
Riverin et al., 1990; Fig. 4). The alteration zone contains three evenly spaced (approx 500 m apart
SUBSEA-FLOOR FORMATION, ANSIL DEPOSIT, CANADA 2007
FIG. 2. Stratigraphic position of the Ansil deposit within the reconstructed Noranda cauldron. The orientation of the section axis (A-A') is given in
Figure 1. The two irregular black shapes at the south end of the Noranda cauldron represent Quemont (smaller) and Home (larger), the two largest
volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits in the mining district (modified from Kerr and Gibson, 1993).
along the strike length of the zone) zones of sulfide enrichment, of which Ansil is the only economic occurrence to
date. The long-lived hydrothermal system responsible for the alteration appears to have been controlled by west-
northwest- trending, synvolcanic faulting associated with cauldron subsidence, with sulfide deposits localized at
intersections of cross faults (Gibson, 1989; Galley, 1994).
Three mineralizing events recognized at Ansil are an early- stage sphalerite-pyrite-pyrrhotite with associated
sericite- quartz-albite alteration, a middle-stage pyrrhotite-chalcopy- rite with chlorite-quartz and quartz-
minnesotaite-stilpnomel- ane alteration, and a late-stage magnetite, with associated calc-silicate and chlorite-
carbonate alteration. The stockwork mineralization associated with each stage is spatially distinct and controlled
by an evolving fault pattern (Fig. 5). The discordant zones of sphalerite mineralization are controlled by the
graben-bounding east-west faults, whereas the Cu and magnetite phases are controlled by northerly trending
faults.
Although the early-stage mineralization formed on, and just below, the sea floor, successive middle- and late-
stage mineralization formed in increasingly deeper parts of the substrate as the ore-hosting graben was buried
during continued volcanic eruptions. A brief description of the alteration paragenesis follows: a more detailed
petrographic, whole-rock, and mineral chemical description will be given in an article now in preparation.
Early-stage mineralization is characterized by sphalerite- rich vein stockworks and breccias localized at the
base of the deposit-hosting graben walls (Bleached fragment breccia in Fig. 6). These zones extend for up to 50
to 70 m below the graben floor, with their deepest parts as discordant, sphal- erite-pyrite-rich vein stockworks,
changing up section into funnel-shaped, disrupted breccia pipes with halos of sericite- quartz-sphalerite-pyrite
altered wall rock (Fig. 7a). At the paleosurface of the graben floor the breccia pipes are overlain by conformable
breccia piles, identified as bleached fragment
Mf
fj? HcMlanfotmailaD
SUBSEA-FLOOR FORMATION, ANSIL DEPOSIT, CANADA 2007
1 OB 11A
breccia (Figs. 6 and 7B). These discordant and conformable breccias consist of clast- to matrix-supported, strongly
seri- cite-quartz altered rhyolite wall-rock fragments. The lower part of the breccia pipes is filled with finely
laminated quartz
that may be pseudomorphous after chalcedony. The remainder of the pipes and the overlying conformable breccia
are filled in with cryptocrystalline quartz, and subordinate sphalerite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, albite and sericite.
Lower Amulet Rhyolite
FIG. 4. Distribution of a discordant, fault-controlled Na depletion zone that crosscuts the Flavrian, Northwest, Rusty Ridge, and Amulet formations
(courtesy of Metall Mining Corp.).
Upper footwall semi-conformable and discordant sulfide zones
\
Discordant
Zn-rich stockwork
Semi-conformable I I Seml-conformable
Cu-rich stockwork 1------------------------------------- 1 Zn-rich stockwork
Plunge of discordant pipes
FIG. 5. Plan view of the upper and lower parts of the footwall vein stockwork systems. Note the east-west orientation of the Zn-rich stockwork
and north-south orientation of the Cu-rich stockwork (data from Metall Mining Inc. level plans).
The overlying finely bedded Cranston tuff is also Zn rich, with sphalerite contents of up to 25 percent where
the unit directly overlies the hydrothermal breccias (Fig. 6). The finegrained tops of the normally graded tuff beds
are silicified, and the coarse-grained bases are filled with intergrown sphalerite, pyrrhotite, sericite, quartz, and
albite. Thin 2- to 5- mm-wide sphalerite-filled breccia veins transect the silicified bed tops, linking the various
sphalerite-rich zones. Zn mineralization also occurs in the base of the hanging-wall andesite flows, where a basal
flow breccia is filled with cryptocrystalline quartz and disseminated sphalerite and pyrrhotite. This indicates that
andesitic flows were beginning to onlap the rhyolite ridge during early-stage hydrothermal activity. These flows
possibly acted as an impermeable cap, increasing the residence time of the hydrothermal fluid within the Cranston
tuff, resulting in extensive hydrothermal mineral precipitation.
The middle-stage mineralization involved the development of a pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite stockwork vein system
and associated chlorite-quartz alteration (Fig. 3A and B). The Cu-rich system extends 400 m upward from the
contact of the subvol- canic Flavrian intrusion to the orebody. The morphology of the stockwork vein system varies
from discordant to semicon- formable to stratigraphy. The semiconformable parts of the vein system occur at the
contact between flow-lobe and hya- loclastite facies within the footwall rhyolite formation, and at the contact
between the footwall rhyolite and the ore-hosting Cranston tuff.
The contact between the Cu-rich footwall stockwork systems and the pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-rich massive
sulfide lens is transitional, with the base of the orebody composed of semimassive sulfide infilling chlorite-altered
hyaloclastite (Fig. 7e). This is the elongate and blocky fragment ore shown in Figure 6. The fragment-rich ore is
overlain by a massive sulfide lens that varies in morphology and composition along its plunge length and across
its width (Fig. 6). The west end of the orebody (between levels 6A and 7B) formed a steepsided pyrrhotite-
chalcopyrite dome that is surrounded by pillowed flow and flow breccia of the hanging-wall andesite. The top of
the massive sulfide dome contains up to 40 percent angular fragments of chlorite-altered andesite (Fig. 7f), and
tapers upward into a sulfide spine over 20 m high (Fig. 6). The spine forms the root for a more than 300-m-high
zone of hanging-wall alteration and mineralization that has a fir- tree shape (Fig. 3B). The trunk of the structure is
chalcopy- rite-pyrrhotite-chlorite rich. The limbs spread out along hya- loclastite-rich interflow contacts and
change outward from pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-chlorite rich to sphalerite-pyrrhotite- sericite rich. The hanging-wall
alteration zone extends for over 500 m through the Rusty Ridge formation into the over- lying Amulet formation
(Fig. 4). The occurrence of silicified breccias (Gibson, 1989) along the upper contact to the hanging-wall andesite
flows of the Rusty Ridge formation may be evidence for the sea-floor venting of the Ansil hydrothermal system
more than 500 m above the orebody.
Bleached fragment Layered chalcopyrlte- pyrrhotlte-
breccia tuff ore
m m
II Sphalerite-rich
Cranston tuff
Massive and sieve- textured ore
FIG. 6. A series of north-south cross sections through the Ansil deposit showing the variation in ore morphology and composition from west (top to
east (bottom) along the plunge length of the orebody.
FIG. 7. a. Polished slab from a discordant, sericite-quartz-albite-altered, pyrrhotite-quartz-sphalerite infilled breccia zone under the south
flank of the orebody. Sublevel 11A. b. Polished slab of sphalerite-pyrrhotite-quartz-albite infilled breccia (bleached fragment breccia) with
sericite-sphalerite-altered rhyolite fragments from a conformable breccia pile under the north flank of the massive sulfide lens. Sublevel 9B.
c. Polished slab of sphalerite-rich Cranston tuff, with the sphalerite concentrated in the coarse-grained (dark) bases of normally graded
layers, the finely laminated tops of layers are variably silicified. Contact with the massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite lens at top of slab.
Sublevel 9C. d. Photomicrograph showing sphalerite (black) and sericite replacing the coarse-grained base of a Cranston tuff bed. Note
abrupt contact with the fine-grained top to the underlying bed. e. Polished slab of chlorite-altered rhyolite hyaloclastite filled in with
pyrrhotite- chalcopyrite along the base of the Ansil massive sulfide lens. Sublevel 8A. f. Polished slab showing chlorite-altered andesite
hyaloclastite fragments along the top contact of the massive sulfide lens. Level 8. Scale bar = 1 cm.
2011
FIG. 8. Series of photomicrographs illustrating the progressive replacement of sphalerite-mineralized Cranston tuff by massive pyrrhotite-
chalcopyrite. a. Chlorite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite veinlet (dark) cross cutting previously sericite-quartz- albite-sphalerite-pyrrhotite-altered
Cranston tuff. Plane-polarized light, b. Chlorite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite alteration overprinting previously mineralized Cranston tuff. Plane-
polarized light, c. Selective pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite replacement of Cranston tuff. Plane-polarized light, d. Sieve-textured massive
chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite containing remnant, coarse-grained bases to the Cranston tuff layers (between white arrows). Combination of
reflected and plane-polarized transmitted light.
The morphology, mineralogy, and textures of the orebody change west to east along the plunge length
of the deposit (Fig. 6), showing increasing evidence for ore formation through replacement of the Cranston
tuff. Farther east from the steep-sided sulfide dome, remnants of Cranston tuff occur along the footwall and
hanging-wall contacts, and along its north flank (Fig. 6). Within the massive chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite lens
there are up to 2-m-long rafts of sphalerite-mineralized Cranston tuff. The tuff remnants are
characteristically maroon due to the presence of finely disseminated, early- stage sphalerite (Fig. 7c).
At the contact between the Cranston tuff and the massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite lens there is a
decimeter-wide transition zone. With decreasing distance to the massive sulfide lens there is an increase in
alteration, starting with (1) chlorite- pvrrhotite-chalcopyrite veinlets transecting the tuff (Fig. 8a), 2 the
development of chlorite patches through replacement ol finer grained phenoclasts and early-stage alteration
minerals (Fig. 8b), and (3) the selective replacement of the tuff layers with massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite
(Fig. 8c). The primary mineralogy is progressively replaced by massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite (Fig. 9a-d).
This resulted in a sieve- textured ore in which planar concentrations of corroded, coarse-grained quartz
phenoclasts form discontinuous bands throughout the massive sulfide lens (Fig. 8d).
The east end of the massive sulfide lens gradually disappears into the enclosing, sphalerite-rich
Cranston tuff, with some of the tuff beds selectively replaced by pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite (Fig. 9a).
Subeconomic concentrations of sphalerite have been traced for several tens of meters by diamond drilling
downplunge within the Cranston tuff, defining the eastern continuation of the ore-hosting graben structure.
Late-stage hydrothermal activity led to the formation of calc-silicate and Ca-Fe skarn alteration zones
below and in contact with the orebody. This was accompanied by the development of a footwall magnetite
stockwork vein system and the replacement of as much as 300,000 t of massive sulfide by magnetite (Fig.
3A). The footwall Cu-rich stockwork vein system is partly encased by a zone of epidote-albite-pyrite
alteration, which intensifies up section toward the base of the orebody. Epidote alteration is overprinted by
disseminated and veined magnetite, accompanied by calcite and chlorite.
FIG. 9. Series of polished slabs showing the progressive replacement of previously sphalerite-mineralized Cranston tuff by massive
pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite. Scale bar = 1 cm. a. Polished slab of Cranston tuff partially replaced with disseminated pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite.
The base of one bed is completely replaced by pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite. Darker areas consist of abundant disseminated sphalerite.
Sublevel 11A. b. Polished slab from the core of the massive sulfide lens showing remnant Cranston tuff within massive pyrrhotite-
chalcopyrite. Dark areas within tuff are chlorite altered. Note ghost layering in massive sulfide at top of slab. Sublevel 8A. c. Polished slab of
intensely sphalerite-mineralized Cranston tuff (dark areas) selectively replaced by pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite (light areas). Transition zone
along the north Hank of the deposit between Cranston tuff and massive sulfide. Sublevel 9B. d. Polished slab of banded chalcopyrite-
pyrrhotite- pyrite-sphalerite ore representing almost completely replaced Cranston tuff. Some of the banding is tectonic. Located near the
eastern termination of the orebody on sublevel 10B.
Magnetite occurs along the margins of the pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite stockwork system from the base of the
footwall rhyolite (Fig. 3A). The magnetite veins increase in abundance and size toward the orebody.
to a coarse-grained hedenbergite-andradite skarn assemblage (Fig. 10a). The skarn is overprinted by a
retrograde ferroacti- nolite-quartz assemblage, followed by a magnetite-Fe carbon- ate-stilpnomelane-
greenalite assemblage. Magnetite precipitation also involved the replacement of parts of the massive
The massive sulfide-wall rock contact is altered in places
FIG. 10. Polished slabs from the magnetite-rich sections of the deposit.
a. Ca-Fe skarn composed of andradite (Ad) in ferroactinolite and hedenberg- ite (Hd) overprinted by massive magnetite (Mt). Lower
left corner shows aviolitic ferroactinolite clusters partly replaced by magnetite. Sublevel 10A.
b. Contact between massive magnetite (Mt) and massive sulfide. A thin pyrrhotite band (Po) forms a discontinuous margin between
the magnetite and the copyrite-rich ore (Cp). Ore contains chlorite-altered fragments of wall rock. Sublevel 9C. c. Magnetite
selectively replacing Cranston tuff along the upper contact of the massive sulfide lens. Sublevel 9B.
sulfide lens and Cranston tuff (Fig. 10b; Riverin et al., 1990; Westendorp et al., 1991). Layering may be
locally traced from the Cranston tuff into the massive magnetite lenses (Fig. 10c. Disseminated magnetite
occurs in the immediate hanging wall to the orebody, as does at least one small, stratiform massive
magnetite lens. This lens is overlain by a massive pyrrhotite lens, both of which occur in interflow andesite
hyaloclastite.
Discussion
The field and petrographic relationships between the Ansil deposit and its host rocks, and the well-
defined paragenesis of the alteration and sulfide-magnetite facies provide strong evidence that the
hydrothermal activity responsible for deposit generation was initiated before the emplacement of the
footwall rhyolite formation, and continued during its eruption and that of the overlying 500 m of hanging-
wall andesitic flows. Deposit formation was not a sea-floor end product of hydrothermal activity, but rather
took place in the subsea floor during the protracted life of the system. The deposit developed within a major
zone of hydrothermal activity, as defined by a broad discordant zone of Na depletion, which was controlled
by synvolcanic growth faults whose formation spanned the emplacement of the three volcanic formations
that define the first cycle of subsidence in the Noranda cauldron (Figs. 2 and 4). The continuous reactivation
of these faults may have been due to the cyclical inflation of, and evacuation of magma from, the underlying
shallowly emplaced intrusive complex, a process commonly cited for the formation of axial and radial fault
systems in cauldrons (Lip- man, 1975; Wohletz and Heiken, 1992). The importance of faults in controlling
hydrothermal discharge is well documented from ancient and modern submarine hydrothermal systems that
develop along ocean spreading ridges (Varga and Moore; 1985; Lydon and Galley, 1986; Gibson, 1989; Rona
and Clague, 1989; Galley et ah, 1990; Morton et ah, 1990; Fornari and Embley, 1995).
The three distinct phases of deposit development are linked to the progressive maturation of the
hydrothermal system. Deposit formation began on the sea floor and continued through replacement of
volcanic strata and zone refining of earlier formed sulfide accumulations. This took place in a continually
deepening subsurface environment. The early phase of sericite-quartz-albite-pyrite-pyrrhotite-sphalerite al-
teration and mineralization involved the development of breccia pipes that breached the sea floor to form
conformable breccia piles. These breccia pipes formed along the bounding faults to a narrow graben that
formed at the top of the rhyolite flow composing the Northwest formation. The graben is an expression of a
set of growth faults that were active during the emplacement of the three formations of the first cauldron
cycle (Fig. 4). The infilling of the breccia zones with finely laminated, fine-grained quartz, sphalerite, and
pyrite, and the sericite alteration of the wall rocks is indicative of associated fumarolic acitivity (Fig. 11A).
The formation of explosion breccias is due to the rapid volume expansion of a subsurface fluid brought about
by subcritical phase separation (Nelson and Giles, 1985). The funnel shape of the discordant breccia pipes is
a function of the increasing ability of the two-phase system to expand outward and upward with decreasing
static pressure. The almost total lack of pumice fragments and bubble-wall shards within these pipes
restricts the origin of these breccias to either phreatic or hydrothermal processes (Fisher and Schminke,
1984). The control on the distribution of these breccias by the graben-bounding faults, the intense phyllic
E
Sphalerite-pyrlte
j Northwest rhyolite
200 m
I----------1
Sealevel
Sealevel
__Ayvyvy
N S
Sealevel
... .../ V./
Sealevel