The Malartic Lakeshore showing is a gold-bearing quartz vein system located within the major Rivière-Héva fault zone (RHFZ) of the southern Abitibi greenstone belt. This fault separates the 2702–2700 Ma felsic Héva Formation from the 2708 Ma mafic-ultramafic Dubuisson Formation. A swarm of thin diorite dykes with lamprophyric facies and gold-bearing quartz veins are present only on the Dubuisson side of the fault. The 30–70 cm thick gold quartz veins are boudinaged and folded. Veins are banded and associated with pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, barite, and gold. The study area is characterized by a high degree of ductile deformation associated with the RHFZ and manifested by the southeast-trending “principal schistosity” (Sp). Stretching lineations plunge moderately to shallowly toward the southeast as a result of shortening followed by late directional shearing during a transpressive deformation. A sample from the Héva Formation yielded a zircon U–Pb age of 2698.2 ± 0.8 Ma, and a diorite dyke produced an age of 2694.3 ± 2.5 Ma. Quartz veins are crosscut by dykes, and both are affected by the Sp fabric, indicating an early emplacement with respect to the deformation. This situation contrasts with the orogenic gold veins found in association with major fault zones. A near-synvolcanic magmatic hydrothermal origin is proposed for this gold vein system. Because all subvertical units in the area are south facing, the presence of the older Dubuisson Formation over the younger Héva Formation is attributed to the RHFZ acting as a significant reverse or thrust fault.
Skip Nav Destination
Close
Article navigation
Research Article|
June 27, 2018
Early gold-bearing quartz veins within the Rivière-Héva fault zone, Abitibi subprovince, Quebec, Canada
Francis Guay
;
Francis Guay
a
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Centre d’Études sur les Ressources minérales, 555, Boul. de l’Université, Chicoutimi, QC G7H 2B1, Canada.
Search for other works by this author on:
Pierre Pilote
;
Pierre Pilote
b
Ministère de l’Énergie et des Ressources naturelles du Quebec, Montréal, QC H2X 3Y7, Canada.
Search for other works by this author on:
Réal Daigneault
;
a
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Centre d’Études sur les Ressources minérales, 555, Boul. de l’Université, Chicoutimi, QC G7H 2B1, Canada.Corresponding author: Réal Daigneault (email: rdaignea@uqac.ca).
Search for other works by this author on:
Vicki McNicoll
Vicki McNicoll
c
Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0E8, Canada.
Search for other works by this author on:
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (2018) 55 (10): 1139–1157.
Article history
received:
25 Jan 2018
accepted:
02 Jun 2018
first online:
17 Oct 2018
Citation
Francis Guay, Pierre Pilote, Réal Daigneault, Vicki McNicoll; Early gold-bearing quartz veins within the Rivière-Héva fault zone, Abitibi subprovince, Quebec, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 2018;; 55 (10): 1139–1157. doi: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2018-0029
Download citation file:
Close
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Email alerts
Index Terms/Descriptors
- Abitibi Belt
- absolute age
- alteration
- Archean
- Canada
- Canadian Shield
- deformation
- dikes
- Eastern Canada
- fault zones
- faults
- foliation
- gold ores
- intrusions
- lineation
- metal ores
- mineral deposits, genesis
- North America
- Precambrian
- quartz veins
- Quebec
- slip cleavage
- structural analysis
- Superior Province
- tectonics
- theoretical models
- U/Pb
- veins
- Heva Formation
- Dubuisson Formation
- Riviere-Heva fault zone
Latitude & Longitude
Citing articles via
Related Articles
D – Goldschmidt Abstracts 2013
Mineralogical Magazine
T – Goldschmidt Abstracts 2013
Mineralogical Magazine
Geologic and Structural Setting of Gold Mineralization in the Kirkland Lake-Larder Lake Gold Belt, Ontario
Economic Geology
V – Goldschmidt Abstracts 2013
Mineralogical Magazine
N – Goldschmidt Abstracts 2013
Mineralogical Magazine
Related Book Content
Geologic history of the Blackbird Co-Cu district in the Lemhi subbasin of the Belt-Purcell Basin
Belt Basin: Window to Mesoproterozoic Earth
Tectonic map of the southern and central Appalachians: A tale of three orogens and a complete Wilson cycle
4-D Framework of Continental Crust
Evidence for modern-style subduction to 3.1 Ga: A plateau–adakite–gold (diamond) association
When Did Plate Tectonics Begin on Planet Earth?
Gold deposits of Myanmar
Myanmar: Geology, Resources and Tectonics
Structure of syn-Nevadan dikes and their relationship to deformation of the Galice Formation, western Klamath terrane, northwestern California
Geological Studies in the Klamath Mountains Province, California and Oregon: A volume in honor of William P. Irwin
Multiphase deformation in the Granite Falls–Montevideo area, Minnesota River Valley
Selected Studies of Archean Gneisses and Lower Proterozoic Rocks, Southern Canadian Shield