Geochemical Characterization and Fluid History of the Tiger Zone; a Tertiary Distal Carbonate-Replacement Intrusion-Related Gold Deposit, Central Yukon

• Author / Creator

  Thiessen, Eric J

• A paragenetic and geochemical study has resulted in the classification of the Tiger zone as a Tertiary-aged intrusion-related gold deposit. Gold-bearing mineralization occurs in two geochemically and temporally distinct assemblages. The first assemblage contains carbonate-replacement, arsenopyrite-hosted, lattice bound gold deposited from hot (~400 °C), CO2-rich immiscible magmatic fluids derived from a local intrusive body at depths of ~5 km. The second gold-bearing event contains native gold in fractures associated with bismuth, antimony, silver and tungsten, and may have precipitated from depressurization and/or mixing with cooler, meteoric waters. Mixing of components from the host-rock limestone with Precambrian sediments are demonstrated by carbon, oxygen and strontium isotopes, whereas sulfur and metals originate from a local intrusion. Post-gold monazite aged 58.1 ± 0.9 Ma constrains the minimum age for Tiger zone mineralization. The waning of the magmatic system resulted in the influx of meteoric waters forming post-mineralization calcite veins.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Gold
  • Intrusion
  • Deposit
  • Fluid-inclusion
  • Tertiary
  • Ore
  • Yukon
  • Isotopes

• Graduation date

  Spring 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3V12Q

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.