Database name: |
World Fe-oxide+/-Cu-Au-U (IOCG) deposits |
Compilers: |
Sunil S. Gandhi |
Release date: |
2015-03-04 |
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Deposit name(s): |
Paxton; Texada Mines-Paxton |
Political location(s): |
Canada; Province or state: British Columbia; Nearest community: Vancouver (115 km NW) |
NTS map data: |
092F10 (Comox) |
Deposit clan (type): |
Iron Skarn-type |
Deposit (sub) types: |
massive lensoid magnetite body along nearly vertical intrusive contact with volcanic; extends as a lower grade subhorizontal body along limestone-volcanic contact dipping southwest into the intrusion; Reference: Sangster, D. F., 1969: The Contact Metasomatic Magnetite deposits of Southwestern British Columbia; Bulletin, Geological Survey of Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Ottawa, Canada, Publication code 172, 85 p., 9 maps. mineralization postdates all phases of Gillies intrusion including aplite dykes; coarse magnetite with calcite-chalcoyrite pods grades outward into a zone of magnetite veins and replacement in skarn; Reference: Sangster, D. F., 1969: The Contact Metasomatic Magnetite deposits of Southwestern British Columbia; Bulletin, Geological Survey of Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Ottawa, Canada, Publication code 172, 85 p., 9 maps. magnetite-to-skarn ratio 2 : 1; contact of skarn with volcanic rocks gradational over several metres and rarely sharp; skarn terminates abruptly against limestone; sulphides increase toward outer zone; Reference: Sangster, D. F., 1969: The Contact Metasomatic Magnetite deposits of Southwestern British Columbia; Bulletin, Geological Survey of Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Ottawa, Canada, Publication code 172, 85 p., 9 maps. |
Deposit status: |
past producer; Size category: small |
Geologic province: |
Cordilleran Orogen |
Geologic subprovince: |
Insular Belt |
Geologic district: |
Wrangell Terrane |
Deposit object located: |
open pit |
Commodities: |
Fe |
Mineralization styles: |
massive magnetite pods in skarn |
Geological ages: |
Late Triassic - Early Jurassic (host rocks) Early Jurassic - Middle Jurassic (mineralization) |
Tectonic setting: |
continental marginal arc-fold belt; transpressive; Formal name: Bonanza magmatic arc (mineralization) |
Coincident features: |
intrusive contact (hosted mainly by the Gillies stock at steep contact with volcanics and limestone dipping southwest toward the intrusion); Coincident feature name: Gillies Intrusion/Stock |
Regional tectonic structure: |
northwest-trending open folds (early Jurassic to late Cretaceous; limestone and underlying volcanics folded into north plunging folds) Tectonic structure name: Coast Range orogeny northwest-trending major faults (the faults controlled the emplacement of some Jurassic intrusions and the associated skarn mineralization) Tectonic structure name: Ideal and Holly faults |
Host rocks: |
(1) volcanic; mafic-intermediate volcanic rocks (basaltic to andesitic flows); Magma series/sedimentary package/metamorphic group: calc-alkaline; Depositional setting: shallow marine; Metamorphic grade: greenschistExternal host rock forms: | flows, tuffs and agglomerate | Host rock protoliths: | basalt-andesite (flows, some pillowed; folded and altered near the desposit); Host rock protolith name: Karmutsen Group | Internal host rock structures: | massive to porphyritic | Individual lithologies: | basalt-andesitic basalt (faint bedding in tuffaceous beds; clouding of plagioclase and growth of actinolite in hornblende) | Host rock stratigraphy: | Karmutsen Group |
(2) sedimentary; carbonate (limestone completely recrystallized to medium grained marble); Magma series/sedimentary package/metamorphic group: carbonate; Depositional setting: shallow marine; Metamorphic grade: greenschistExternal host rock forms: | well bedded | Host rock protoliths: | carbonate (conformably overlies mafic flows of the Karmutsen Group that forms lower part of the Vancouver Group); Host rock protolith name: Quatsino Formation of Vancouver Group | Internal host rock structures: | white and grey beds; some thin dark grey beds | Individual lithologies: | marble (medium grained; folded, recrystallized and intruded by quartz monzonitic Gillies stock) | Host rock stratigraphy: | Quatsino/Marble Bay Formation |
(3) intrusive; quartz monzonite-monzogabbro suite (iron skarns located at intrusive contact); Magma series/sedimentary package/metamorphic group: calc-alkaline; Depositional setting: hypabyssal; Metamorphic grade: unmetamorphosedExternal host rock forms: | crystalline, coarse | Host rock protoliths: | intermediate intrusive rocks (older phase massive grey, younger phase massive to porphyritic, and the youngest aplitic dykes); Host rock protolith name: Gillies Intrusion/Stock | Internal host rock structures: | massive to porphyritic | Individual lithologies: | quartz monzonite (modal composition: plagioclase (An47) 29 %, K-feldspar 14 %, quartz 16 %, augite 8 %, biotite 19 %, opacite 5 %, and accesories 10 %) | Host rock stratigraphy: | Gillies Intrusion/Stock |
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Related igneous rocks: |
(1) intrusive; gabbro-diorite suite (dyke cuts ore; NNW trend, 10 m wide; chilled margins); Initials: Feldspar Porphyry dyke; Magma series: calc-alkaline; Depositional setting: continentalIndividual lithologies: | porphyritic diorite (phenocrysts of plagioclase, 15 -20 %, and pyroxene, 2 %, in groundmass of plagioclase, hornblende, apatite, sericite and epidote) |
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Metallogenic signatures: |
Fe Cu |
Alteration signatures: |
skarn: andraditic garnet and diopsidic clinopyroxene; What was altered: volcnics, limestone and intrusion |
Radiometric ages: |
Object dated: Related igneous rocks(1); Age - Ma: 176; +2; -2; Dating method: U-Pb; Concentrate: zircon; Source rock: quartz monzodiorite; Formal name: Gillies Intrusion; Event dated: intrusive event; Interpretive comment: age marks time of formation of Fe skarns at contact of the intrusion with limestone and volcanics; Reference: Ettlinger, A. D.; Ray, G. E., 1990: Precious Metal Enriched Skarns in British Columbia: An Overview and Geological Study; Paper, Geological Survey Branch, Mineral Resources Division, British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Province of British Columbia, Canada, Publication code 1989-3, 128 p., 1 maps. |
Deposit shape: |
lensoidDeposit dimensions: | length: 150 metres width: 40 metres depth: 75 metres |
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Qualified comments: |
(Applies to: discovery and development) Combined production during 1952-1956 from Prescott, Paxton, Lake and Lake Extension open pit and underground mines: 1 997 313 t ore mined, 1 989 996 t ore milled, with recovery of 1 300 466 116 kg Fe. A bulk sample from the Paxton pit was tested in late 1990s to produce magnetite for heavy medium to be used in the coal industry and also as an abrasive in sand blasting. |
Links to other databases: |
BC MINFILE; Key value: 092F 107 |
References: |
British Columbia Mines and Energy, 2001 |
British Columbia MINFILE Database |
Government of British Columbia, MINFILE Mineral Inventory, Internet |
Carson, D. J. T.; Muller, J. E.; Wanless, R. K.; Stevens, R. D., 1971 |
Age of the Contact Metasomatic Copper and Iron Deposits, Vancouver and Texada Islands, British Columbia |
Paper, Geological Survey of Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Ottawa, Canada, Publication code 71-36, 9 p. |
Ettlinger, A. D.; Ray, G. E., 1990 |
Precious Metal Enriched Skarns in British Columbia: An Overview and Geological Study |
Paper, Geological Survey Branch, Mineral Resources Division, British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Province of British Columbia, Canada, Publication code 1989-3, 128 p., 1 maps. |
Ray, G. E.; Ettlinger, A. D.; Meinert, L. D., 1990 |
Gold Skarns: Their Distribution, Characteristics and Problems in Classification |
Section Mineral Deposit Studies, in Geological Fieldwork 1989: A Summary of Field Activities and Current Research, Edited by Anonymous, Paper, Geological Survey Branch, Mineral Resources Division, British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Province of British Columbia, Canada, 1990-1, 535 p, p. 237 - 246 |
Sangster, D. F., 1969 |
The Contact Metasomatic Magnetite deposits of Southwestern British Columbia |
Bulletin, Geological Survey of Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Ottawa, Canada, Publication code 172, 85 p., 9 maps. |
Webster, I. C. L..; Ray, G. E., 1990 |
Geology and Mineral Deposits of Northern Texada Island (92F/9, 10 and 15) |
Section Mineral Deposit Studies, in Geological Fieldwork 1989: A Summary of Field Activities and Current Research, Edited by Anonymous, Paper, Geological Survey Branch, Mineral Resources Division, British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Province of British Columbia, Canada, 1990-1, 535 p, p. 257 - 265 |
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Associated group(s): |
Texada Mines (24) |