Publication Date:
2012-09-01
Description:
The Iron Range iron oxide ± Cu ± Au deposits in southeastern British Columbia comprise massive lenses and veins of hematite and martite with lesser magnetite in the Iron Range fault zone, which crosscuts the Proterozoic Aldridge Formation and Moyie sills. The mineralized zones are flanked by albite-quartz-iron oxide breccia within sedimentary rocks and by chlorite-altered iron oxide breccia where they are in contact with Moyie sills. Oxygen isotope analyses indicate 340° to 400°C precipitation temperatures for the albite-quartz-magnetite assemblages in the mineralized zones. Magnetite trace element compositions closely compare with those in iron oxide-(copper-gold) (IOCG) to porphyry-type mineralization worldwide. Paleomagnetic studies show consistent paleopole orientations concordant with Cretaceous poles and support links to a porphyry-type genesis associated with phases of the nearby 80 to 105 Ma magnetite-bearing Bayonne Suite plutonic rocks. The Iron Range iron oxide mineralized zones share many characteristics of major IOCG deposits, with the exception of economic Cu (± Au) concentrations in the exposed rocks; however, recent drilling intersected minor chalcopyrite, pyrite, and gold.
Print ISSN:
0361-0128
Topics:
Geosciences
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