A Palaeoproterozoic multi-stage hydrothermal alteration system at Nalunaq gold deposit, South Greenland

Abstract

Nalunaq is an orogenic, high gold grade deposit situated on the Nanortalik Peninsula, South Greenland. Mineralisation is hosted in shear zone-controlled quartz veins, located in fine- and medium-grained amphibolite. The deposit was the site of Greenland’s only operating metalliferous mine until its closure in 2014, having produced 10.67 t of gold. This study uses a combination of field investigation, petrography and U/Pb zircon and titanite geochronology to define a multi-stage hydrothermal alteration system at Nalunaq. A clinopyroxene-plagioclase-garnet(-sulphide) alteration zone (CPGZ) developed in the Nanortalik Peninsula, close to regional peak metamorphism and prior to gold-quartz vein formation. The ca. 1783–1762-Ma gold-quartz veins are hosted in reactivated shear zones with a hydrothermal alteration halo of biotite-arsenopyrite-sericite-actinolite-pyrrhotite(-chlorite-plagioclase-lollingite-tourmaline-titanite), which is best developed in areas of exceptionally high gold grades. Aplite dykes dated to ca. 1762 Ma cross-cut the gold-quartz veins, providing a minimum age for mineralisation. A hydrothermal calcite-titanite alteration assemblage is dated to ca. 1766 Ma; however, this alteration is highly isolated, and as a result, its field relationships are poorly constrained. The hydrothermal alteration and mineralisation is cut by several generations of ca. 1745-Ma biotite granodiorite accompanied by brittle deformation. A ca. 1745-Ma lower greenschist facies hydrothermal epidote-calcite-zoisite alteration assemblage with numerous accessory minerals forms halos surrounding the late-stage fractures. The contrasting hydrothermal alteration styles at Nalunaq indicate a complex history of exhumation from amphibolite facies conditions to lower greenschist facies conditions in an orogenic belt which resembles modern Phanerozoic orogens.