James R. Lang

Composition and evolution of ore fluids in a magmatic-hydrothermal skarn deposit

The chemistry of brine, vapor, and low-salinity fluid inclusions measured by proton-induced X-ray emission from the Bismark skarn deposit, Mexico, is consistent with an evolving magmatic-hydrothermal system with no evidence for external fluid inputs. The results support a model that invokes early phase separation of magmatic fluids into brine and vapor (two-phase field) at high temperature and lithostatic pressure, followed by the entrapment of a low-salinity magmatic fluid (one-phase field) at lower temperature and hydrostatic pressure. The early brine and vapor inclusions contain high Pb and Zn concentrations and low Cu; however, the vapor contains significantly more Cu than the brine and was likely transported as a sulfur complex. The fluid phase changes observed and behavior of Cu are comparable to those of porphyry Cu systems. The later, low-salinity fluid at Bismark represents a distinct pulse of magmatic fluid with a high K/Ca ratio in which base metals, including Cu, were transported by chloride complexes. Paragenetic relationships and variations in the relative concentrations of Cu, Pb, and Zn suggest that this fluid was primarily responsible for ore deposition. The relative Cu, Pb, and Zn concentrations in fluid inclusions at Bismark are consistent with those measured from base-metal ores in high-temperature carbonate- replacement deposits throughout Mexico, and suggest that the bulk-metal budget of these deposits is primarily controlled by magmatic-hydrothermal fluids deficient in Cu.

Triassic-Jurassic silica-undersaturated and silica-saturated alkalic intrusions in the Cordillera of British Columbia: Implications for arc magmatism

Alkalic igneous rocks of early Mesozoic age are found in both the Quesnel and Stikine terranes in the Canadian Cordillera and include both silica-undersaturated and silica-saturated types. The saturated complexes are most abundant in Quesnellia and are multiphase complexes dominated by monzonite to diorite intrusions. Undersaturated complexes are distributed through both terranes, are dominated by syenite with lesser monzonite and pyroxenite, and, when present as a single intrusion, are characterized by concentric zoning, igneous layering, and planar mineral fabrics. Both types of complex are associated with Cu-Au mineralization accompanied by potassic and distinctive sodic and calc-potassic alteration assemblages. Although undersaturated and saturated alkalic intrusions are petrographically distinct, a petrogenetic association is suggested by their spatial coincidence in some districts, and similarities in their tectonic environment and associated alteration. The undersaturated complexes represent a distinctive suite of alkalic intrusion with magmatic arc affinities, and their emplacement into both Stikinia and Quesnellia between 210 and 200 Ma suggests that these terranes were either linked at that time or have shared unusual but similar magma-generating tectonic events at identical times.