Geology and ore enrichment factors at the Radiore mine,Quebec

The Radiore Cu-Zn massive sulfide deposit occurs in Archean metavolcanic rocks of the Abitibi greenstone belt in northwestern Quebec. The ore forms a stratiform lens between a massive rhyolite flow and a unit of mixed basaltic and intermediate flows. Intrusions of thick dykes of gabbro-diorite, quartz-diorite and granodiorite, and of the Bell River igneous complex, closely surround the ore lens. All the volcanic rocks, the quartz-diorite, grandiorite and the igneous complex are tholeiitic, whereas the gabbro-diorite is of calc-alkaline affinity. Sedimentary structures are prevalent in the ore, and heavily chloritized and biotitized rocks form a stratiform alteration zone mainly below the ore, indicating a distal-type deposit.Ore enrichment factors (wt % metal in ore/wt % metal in source rock) are calculated from analyses of ore and source rocks, assuming that seawater-derived brines leached ore materials from underlying rocks and precipitated them at the point of brine discharge onto the seafloor. Cd, Zn, Cu, Au and Ag are most highly enriched, followed by Bi, Pb, Sn, As and Co. Mo, W, V, Cr, Mn and Ni are not enriched at Radiore.