U–Pb geochronology of the Hope Bay – Elu Inlet area, Bathurst Block, northeastern Slave Structural Province, Northwest Territories

Abstract

U–Pb ages for six felsic samples from the dominantly mafic Hope Bay and Elu Inlet metavolcanic belts of the Bathurst Block provide the first constraints on the timing of felsic volcanism (2685–2677 Ma) and plutonism (2672–2608 Ma) in the northeastern corner of the Slave Structural Province. Gold veins that cut a pluton in the eastern Hope Bay belt are younger than 2672 Ma. Early Proterozoic magmatic activity is recorded in a pegmatite dyke that crosscuts metavolcanic rocks of the northern Hope Bay belt. Initial Nd and Sr isotopic ratios from the Hope Bay and Elu Inlet belts indicate a juvenile source for the magmas.