Gravity evidence for a mafic intrusion beneath a mineralized zone in the Bondy gneiss complex, Grenville Province, Quebec — Exploration implications

Abstract

A ground gravity survey over the Bondy gneiss complex and its mineralized iron oxide- and copper-rich hydrothermal system(s) in the Grenville Province of SW Quebec was undertaken to aid mineral exploration in mapping subsurface intrusions. Several kilometric-scale positive Bouguer anomalies were identified that coincide with outcropping mafic and intermediate intrusive rocks of the post peak-metamorphic, 1.17–1.16 Ga mafic to intermediate Chevreuil suite intrusions and a 1.09–1.07 Ga Rolleau ultramafic stock. An additional 4 × 3 kilometre positive gravity anomaly indicates a mafic body underlies part of the metamorphosed hydrothermal system in the area of magnetite , pyrite , pyrrhotite , and chalcopyrite mineralization . Advanced argilic alteration associated with sulphide enrichment here is however indicative of an epithermal system with a felsic intrusion fluid source. As a felsic intrusion cannot explain the positive Bouguer gravity anomaly both felsic and mafic bodies must be present beneath the mineralized zone. Our preferred interpretation based on integrating gravity data and 2D forward gravity modelling with the results of field and geochemical studies is that this anomaly corresponds to a ca. 500 m deep mafic 1.17–1.16 Ga Chevreuil suite pluton that may have provided the source for hydrothermal fluids associated with late ductile shear- and fault-related mineralization or remobilization of early mineralization associated with a felsic pluton into late structures. This interpretation is compatible with gabbro xenoliths in the 1.07 Ga Rivard lamprophyre dyke on the NW margin of the gravity anomaly that bear significant similarities with those of the Chevreuil intrusive suite. The presence of both early felsic and late mafic intrusions beneath a group of three mineral occurrences in the Bondy gneiss complex strengthens their prospectivity in comparison to other mineral occurrences in the area. That early, pre-metamorphic mineralization was upgraded late in the tectonothermal evolution during a subsequent igneous and deformation event agrees with interpretations of other IOCG-style deposits in the Lac Manitou area of the eastern Grenville Province. ► A ground gravity survey provides new data that aids mineral exploration. ► Most gravity anomalies are associated with mafic to intermediate intrusive rocks. ► A Gravity anomaly over mineralized outcrops may be generated by a deep gabbro. ► Mafic intrusion may be the driving source for mineralization or remobilisation.