Orogenic gold in the new Lycksele–Storuman ore province, northern Sweden; the Palaeoproterozoic Fäboliden deposit

Abstract

Southwest of the well-known Skellefte District, northern Sweden, a new gold ore province, the so called Gold Line, is presently being explored. During the past decade a number of gold occurrences have been discovered in this area. The largest known gold occurrence is the Fäboliden deposit. Late-to post-orogenic, ca. 1.81 to 1.77 Ga, Revsund granite constitutes the main rock type in the Fäboliden area and surrounds a narrow belt of mineralized metagreywackes and metavolcanic rocks. The supracrustal rocks are strongly deformed within a roughly N–S trending subvertical shear zone. The mineralization constitutes a 30 to 50 m wide, N–S striking, steeply dipping zone. The mineralization is commonly hosted by arsenopyrite-bearing quartz-veins within the supracrustal rocks. The quartz veins parallel the main foliation in the shear zone. Gold is closely associated with arsenopyrite-löllingite and stibnite and found in fractures and as intergrowths in the arsenopyrite-löllingite. Gold is also seen as free grains in the silicate matrix of the host rock. The proximal alteration zone displays positive correlation with Ca, S, As, Ag, Sb, Sn, W, Pb, Bi, Cd, Se, and Hg, whereas K and Na show a slightly negative correlation. The hydrothermal mineral assemblage in the proximal alteration zone is diopside, calcic amphibole, biotite, and minor andalusite and tourmaline. This type of assemblage is commonly recognized in hypozonal orogenic gold deposits worldwide. Garnet-biotite geothermometry indicates amphibolite facies in the Fäboliden area. The ductile fabric that hosts the mineralization is also found in the margin of the surrounding Revsund granitoid. It is therefore suggested that at least the final stages of the gold mineralization are syn- to late-kinematic, and the minimum age for the mineralization is thus constrained at ca. 1.80 Ga (Revsund age).