Geology of the Merry Widow and Kingfisher contact metasomatic skarn-magnetite deposits, northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia

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dc.contributor.advisorFarquharson, R. Bruce
dc.contributor.authorHaug, Jerry L.
dc.coverage.spatial200000298en
dc.coverage.spatial2000002936en
dc.date.accessioned2005-07-19T21:15:03Z
dc.date.available2005-07-19T21:15:03Z
dc.date.issued1977
dc.descriptionBibliography: p. 112-115.en
dc.description.abstractThe Empire Mine is located 30 km south of Port McNeill on northern Vancouver Island. It comprises the Merry Widow and Kingfisher orebodies, which are contact metasomatic skarn-magnetite deposits within Triassic Quatsino limestone and Jurassic Bonanza Volcanics, adjacent to the Coast Copper Stock (a dioritic member of the Island Intrusions). The host rocks near the pluton have been contact metamorphosed to the hornblende hornfels facies. The skarn is composed mainly of garnet (grossularite-andradite), clinopyroxene (diopside-hedenbergite), and epidote, and is zoned such that epidote skarn occurs farthest out from centers of skarnification (fractures) while clinopyroxene is intermediate and garnet is at the centers. Magnetite occurs as large masses within garnet skarn in the Merry Widow pit, and as replacements of limestone within the Kingfisher pits. Sulfides occur as open space and fracture fillings within the magnetite orebodies. The metallic mineral paragenesis has three stages: (1) magnetite, (2) pyrite - cobaltite - arsenopyrite - chalcopyrite - pyrrhotite - gold, and (3) pyrite - magnetite - hematite - marcasite. Ilvaite, chlorite, quartz, and, in part, calcite are late stage non-metallic minerals. Lithostatic pressure probably ranged between 0.5 and 1.0 kbars, as estimated from stratigraphic considerations. Fluid pressure is assumed to have equaled load pressure. The temperature of intrusion 0 of the Coast Copper Stock is estimated to be 1000 C. This temperature would correspond to a maximum temperature of 640°c attained in the adjacent host rocks. The arsenopyrite geothermometer indicates a temperature of about 440°c for stage (2) metallic mineralization, while fluid inclusion studies of inclusions in quartz yield temperatures of about 300 C for stage (3). Sulfur from sulfides ranges in a34s values from -1.8 to -7. 3%0 and averages -4.4%~ These values may indicate a magmatic origin in which the source of S may be the Coast Copper Stock or the adjacent volcanics, and that the variation in o34s values is due to fluctuations in parameters such as pH, T, and f0 2 . Alternatively, these values may be the result of mixing of magmatic Sand biogenic light S (from the host rocks). The transformation from host rock (andesite) to skarn involves the addition of Fe and the removal of all other cations and co2. The source of the Fe for the magnetite orebodies is considered to be the Bonanza meta-volcanics from the innermost portion of the Coast Copper Stock contact aureole. Fe was probably dissolved during metamorphic differentiation, carried in circulating hydrothermal fluids, and precipitated where conditions were appropriate for deposition. Controls of ore deposition are both physical and chemical. The major hydrothermal fluid channelways were most likely the Kingfisher Fault and the Quatsino-Bonanza contact. Intense fracturing in the mine area also helped localize mineralizing solutions. Magnetite may have been precipitated from these acidic solutions, which were probably in equilibrium with the pluton, by an increase in pH brought about by reaction with limestone.
dc.format.extentxi, 117 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm.en
dc.identifier82480990en
dc.identifier.citationHaug, J. L. (1977). Geology of the Merry Widow and Kingfisher contact metasomatic skarn-magnetite deposits, northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/19747en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/19747
dc.identifier.lccQE 376 B7 H39 1976 Microficheen
dc.identifier.other82480990en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/14836
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.relationAdditional Copy: QE 376 B7 H39 1976G GEOLOGYen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject.lccQE 376 B7 H39 1976 Microficheen
dc.subject.lcshMineralogy - British Columbia - Vancouver Island
dc.subject.lcshPetrology - British Columbia - Vancouver Island
dc.subject.lcshMetasomatism (Mineralogy)
dc.subject.lcshMagnetite
dc.titleGeology of the Merry Widow and Kingfisher contact metasomatic skarn-magnetite deposits, northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineGeology
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.item.requestcopyTRUE
ucalgary.thesis.accessionTheses Collection 58.002:Box 290 82480990
ucalgary.thesis.additionalcopyQE 376 B7 H39 1976G GEOLOGYen
ucalgary.thesis.notesPLen
ucalgary.thesis.uarcreleasenoen
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