Isotopic geochronological evidence for the Paleoproterozoic age of gold mineralization in Archean greenstone belts of Karelia, the Baltic Shield

Abstract

The Rb-Sr age of metasomatic rocks from four gold deposits and occurrences localized in Archean granite-greenstone belts of the western, central, and southern Karelian Craton of the Baltic Shield has been determined. At the Pedrolampi deposit in central Karelia, the dated Au-bearing beresite and quartz-carbonate veins are located in the shear zone and replace Mesoarchean (∼2.9 Ga) mafic and felsic metavolcanic rocks of the Koikar-Kobozero greenstone belt. At the Taloveis ore occurrence in the Kostomuksha greenstone belt of western Karelia, the dated beresite replaces Neoarchean (∼2.7 Ga) granitoids and is conjugated with quartz veins in the shear zone. At the Faddeinkelja occurrence of southern Karelia, Aubearing beresite in the large tectonic zone, which transects Archean granite and Paleoproterozoic mafic dikes, has been studied. At the Hatunoja occurrence in the Jalonvaara greenstone belt of southwestern Karelia, the studied quartz veins and related gold mineralization are localized in Archean granitoids. The Rb-Sr isochrons based on whole-rock samples and minerals from ore-bearing and metasomatic wall rocks and veins yielded ∼1.7 Ga for all studied objects. This age is interpreted as the time of development of ore-bearing tectonic zones and ore-forming hydrothermal metasomatic alteration. New isotopic data in combination with the results obtained by our precursors allow us to recognize the Paleoproterozoic stage of gold mineralization in the Karelian Craton. This stage was unrelated to the Archean crust formation in the Karelian Block and is a repercussion of the Paleoproterozoic (2.0–1.7 Ga) crust-forming tectonic cycle, which gave rise to the formation of the Svecofennian and Lapland-Kola foldbelts in the framework of the Karelain Craton. The oreforming capability of Paleoproterozoic tectonics in the Archean complexes of the Karelian Craton was probably not great, and its main role consisted in reworking of the Archean gold mineralization of various genetic types, including the inferred orogenic mesothermal gold concentrations.