Geology of Canadian Mineral Deposit Types
This volume defines and summarizes in a comprehensive and systematic manner the essential characteristics of all economically significant types of Canadian mineral deposits. These summaries reflect the current understanding of mineral deposits and correspond closely to the definition of mineral-deposit types in common use. A large color section serves to illustrate details of some of these mineral deposits, and locations of all known deposits are presented on an oversize figure and are indexed in an appendix, as well. Like previous volumes of this type, this volume will be a long-standing premier reference for academia, industry, and government institutions alike.
Abstract
Gold is a commodity that occurs in Canada in a wide variety of both geological settings and ore deposit types. Byproduct gold from volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, nickel-copper deposits, porphyry copper-molybdenum deposits, and the Chibougamau copper deposits accounts for approximately one-third of Canadian resources. The remainder occurs in gold-only deposits which comprise placers (5%) and bedrock sources (60%), termed lode gold deposits (e.g. Cooke, 1946). Lode gold deposits are present in all of the major tectonic subdivisions of the Canadian landmass but occur dominantly in terranes with an abundance of volcanic and clastic sedimentary rocks of low to medium metamorphic grade. Economically viable deposits are concentrated primarily in the Archean greenstone terranes of Superior and Slave provinces, with lesser numbers in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic rocks of the Cordillera, the Proterozoic greenstone sequences of Trans-Hudson Orogen and Grenville Province, and the Paleozoic sequences of the Appalachians (Fig. 15-1).