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): |
Iron Hill; Argonaut |
Political location(s): |
Canada; Province or state: British Columbia; Nearest community: Campbell River (20 km SW) |
NTS map data: |
092F13 (Upper Campbell Lake) |
Deposit clan (type): |
Iron Skarn-type |
Deposit (sub) types: |
corse massive magnetite at core; grades into a mixed, crystalline magnetite/garnetite near the margin with a boundary phase of pure crystalline garnetite; sharp contact of skarn with host rock; 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: 3.66 Mt |
Geologic province: |
Cordilleran Orogen |
Geologic subprovince: |
Insular Belt |
Geologic district: |
Wrangell Terrane |
Deposit object located: |
open pit |
Commodities: |
Fe |
Mineralization styles: |
magnetite lenses, stratabound |
Geological ages: |
Early Jurassic - Middle Jurassic (mineralization) Late Triassic - Early Jurassic (host rocks) Early Jurassic - Middle Jurassic (related magmatics) |
Tectonic setting: |
continental marginal arc-fold belt; transpressive; Formal name: Bonanza magmatic arc (mineralization) |
Coincident features: |
limestone-mafic volcanic contact (skarn mineralization occurs along the contact between limestone and pillowed basalts ); Coincident feature name: Quatsino Formation-Karmutsen volcanic boundary folding (axial plane strike NW; dip 45-80° to NE; deposit at keel of the syncline; granodiorite emplacement controlled by the synclinal structure); Coincident feature name: Syncline, overturned host lithology (skarnification and iron deposition preferentially in volcanics at boundary with carbonate unit); Coincident feature name: Karmutsen Volcanics |
Regional tectonic structure: |
synclinal structure (an overturned syncline surrounded by granodiorite intrusion below) Tectonic structure name: Iron Hill syncline |
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: | limestone (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 granodioritic pluton ) | Host rock stratigraphy: | Quatsino Formation of Vancouver Group |
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Related igneous rocks: |
(1) intrusive; granodiorite-tonalite-diorite suite (Early to Middle Jurassic Quinsam intrusions); Initials: Quinsam Intrusion; Magma series: calc-alkaline; Depositional setting: continentalIndividual lithologies: | granodiorite (medium grained, massive; with euhedral plagioclase and hornblende crystals; one of Island Intrusions ) |
(2) intrusive; gabbro-diorite suite (altered diabasic dykes); Initials: Diabase dykes; Magma series: calc-alkaline; Depositional setting: hypabyssalIndividual lithologies: | diabase (highly altered green dyskes composed of laumontite and calcite with scattered diopside; probably related to Karmutsen volcanics) |
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Country rocks: |
(1) mafic volcanics; (basaltic volcanics); Country rock name: Karmutsen Group; Metamorphic grade: greenschistCountry rock protoliths: | basalt-andesite (flows with some tuffs and agglomerate; more than 3 km thick group); Country rock protolith name: Karmutsen Group | Individual lithologies: | basalt-andesite (massive and pillowed flows; commonly porphyritic) |
(2) carbonate; (overlying Karmutsen volcanics); Country rock name: Quatsino Formation; Metamorphic grade: greenschistCountry rock protoliths: | marble (mainly pure limestone; some argillaceous beds; fossils poorly preserved due to recrystallization); Country rock protolith name: Quatsino Formation | Individual lithologies: | marble (medium grained marble; bedding well preserved despite complete recrystallization; 99 % CaCO3) |
(3) granite suite; (granodioritic plutons of Coast Range orogen); Country rock name: Island Intrusions/Coast Range complex; Metamorphic grade: noneCountry rock protoliths: | granodiorite (granodiorite-quartz diorite plutons of early to middle Jurassic age); Country rock protolith name: Island Intrusions/Coast Range complex | Individual lithologies: | granodiorite-quartz diorite (mostly massive, post-tectonic calc-alkaline plutons of the late stage of Coast Range orogeny) |
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Metallogenic signatures: |
Fe |
Alteration signatures: |
skarn: garnet, epidote; What was altered: basaltic volcanics adjacent to limestone |
Mineralogy: |
(alteration): garnet, epidote (gangue): calcite (mineralization): magnetite, pyrite |
Radiometric ages: |
Object dated: Country Rocks(1); Age - Ma: 219.5; +2.5; -2.5; Dating method: U-Pb; Concentrate: zircon; Source rock: mafic flow and sill; Formal name: volcanic activity; Event dated: Karmutsen Formation; Interpretive comment: Mt Hall samples; location 49.33° N, 124.78° W; early Triassic age; older than the geological age; Reference: Isachsen, C.; Armstrong, R. L.; Parrish, R. R., 1985: U-Pb, Rb-Sr, and K-Ar geochronometry of Vancouver Island Igneous Rocks; in A Symposium on Deep Structure of Southern Vancouver Island: Results of Lithoprobe Phase I, Edited by Isachsen, C.; Armstrong, R. L.; Parrish, R. R., Programme and Abstracts, Geological Association of Canada, Geological Association of Canada, Victoria Section, p. 21 - 22 |
Deposit shape: |
zone of lensoid and irregular bodiesDeposit dimensions: | length: 400 metres width: 150 metres depth: 120 metres |
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Qualified comments: |
(Applies to: discovery and development) Magnetite discovery on the hill early in 20th century; drilling and small shipment of ore in 1948; open pit production from 1951 to 1957: 3.657 Mt of ore from which 1.99 Mt of concentrate were shipped. |
Links to other databases: |
BC MINFILE; Key value: 092F 075 |
References: |
British Columbia Mines and Energy, 2001 |
British Columbia MINFILE Database |
Government of British Columbia, MINFILE Mineral Inventory, Internet |
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. |
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