Date of Award

6-24-2019

Publication Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

M.Sc.

Department

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Keywords

Economic Geology, Indium

Supervisor

Samson, Iain

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

The East Kemptville deposit is a Sn-polymetallic greisen deposit that is a known host of indium mineralization, an important element in high-technology applications. Indium mineralization occurs primarily as a minor or trace element in sulfide minerals, with sphalerite and chalcopyrite being the most abundant of these. These indium-bearing sulfides are associated with greisen and quartz-sulfide vein mineralization in the Main and Baby zones. It has been previously proposed that these two different mineralization styles are related to different paragenetic events, with the quartz-sulfide vein mineralization being further subdivided into two broad temporal events. Mineral textures and mineral chemistry of indium-bearing sulfides indicate that the concentrations of indium are similar between the two main mineralization styles and the two ore zones. The compositional similarity among indium-bearing sulfides and lack of any temporal or spatial differences in the composition of the sulfide minerals, indicates that the fluids responsible for indium enrichment formed from a common fluid source and under relatively constant physicochemical conditions. Mineral geothermometry indicates a temperature range of 230 to 275 °C for sphalerite-stannite mineralization. Sulfur isotope data from secondary ion mass spectroscopy (δ34 S = 2.1-7.9 ‰; spatial resolution of 5-15 μm) represent a larger range of values compared to mineral separates (δ34S = 4.9-7.0 ‰) and suggest that a magmatic fluid interacted with the surrounding metasedimentary country rocks. Differences in gangue mineralogy reflect the nature of the local wallrocks, which indicates that the mineralizing fluids equilibrated with the wallrocks and that the system was partially rock buffered. In addition to the indium-bearing mineralization, East Kemptville also contains a late indium-poor breccia. The characteristics of indium mineralization at the nearby Duck Pond deposit are similar to those of East Kemptville, suggesting a similar genesis.

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