Fluid Inclusion and Stable Isotope Study of the Buffalo Gold Deposit, Red Lake Greenstone Belt, Northwestern Ontario, Canada

Abstract

The Buffalo gold deposit is a small deposit consisting of auriferous quartz-tourmaline veins within a granodiorite stock in the Red Lake greenstone belt. This study aims to characterize the mineralizing fluids through fluid inclusion and stable isotope analyses and to compare them with those of the world-class Campbell-Red Lake deposit. Four types of fluid inclusions were recognized, including carbonic, aqueous-carbonic, aqueous, and halite-bearing aqueous, with the carbonic type being the most abundant. Raman analyses indicate that the carbonic phase mainly consists of CO 2 , with minor amounts of N 2 and CH 4 , and rarely detectable H 2 S. The homogenization temperatures of the carbonic inclusions range from −41.7° to 30.9°C. The homogenization temperatures and salinities of the aqueous, halite-bearing aqueous, and aqueous-carbonic inclusions are 130° to 276°C and 9.7 to 23.6 wt.% NaCl equiv., 155° to 207°C and 32.9 to 42.3 wt.% NaCl equiv., and 215° to 357°C and 8.3 to 19.7 wt.% NaCl equiv., respectively. The δ 18 O VSMOW values of tourmaline range from 8.2‰ to 9.0‰, and those of quartz from 11.4‰ to 11.9‰, with estimated fluid temperatures from 323° to 399°C based on the quartz-tourmaline isotopic geothermometer. It is postulated that separate CO 2 -dominated and aqueous fluids intermittently invaded the fracture/vein system in response to fluid pressure fluctuations, with limited mixing. The CO 2 -dominated fluid, previously recognized in Campbell-Red Lake as the main mineralizing fluid, is inferred to have been derived from deeper parts of the crust. This deep CO 2 -dominated fluid reservoir might have been a common source for gold mineralization in the Red Lake greenstone belt.