Baker Andrews 1991 Eg Kidston

Economic Geology
Vol. 86, 1991, pp. 810-830

Geologic, Fluid Inclusion, and Stable Isotope Studies of the Gold-Bearing
Breccia Pipe at Kidston, Queensland, Australia
E. MAX BAKER*
Department of Geology, James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
AND ANITA S. ANDREW
CSIRO Division of Exploration Geoscience, P.O. Box 136, North Ryde, New South Wales 2113, Australia
Abstract
The Kidston mine, which is situated approximately 280 km west-northwest of Townsville,
North Queensland, is currently Australia's second largest gold producer. The mineralization
is hosted within a trapezoid-shaped breccia pipe with surface dimensions of 1,100 X 900 m.
Brecciation and gold mineralization are spatially and temporally related to a swarm of Permo-
Carboniferous rhyolite dikes which intrude middle Proterozoic metamorphic and Siluro-De-
vonian granitoid host rocks. The rhyolite dikes are interpreted as being underlain by a Permo-
Carboniferous batholith.
Three phases of brecciation have been distinguished within the breccia pipe, all being
associated with magmatic and or magmatic hydrothermal processes. Fluid inclusion data indicate
that the present level of exposure was approximately 3,500 m below the contemporary land
surface at the time of mineralization. The lack of any significant input of meteoric fluid into
the hydrothermal system suggests that the breccia pipe, the bulk of which formed by collapse,
failed to breach the contemporary land surface. Volatile-rich fluids, envisaged as being an
integral part of breccia pipe formation, escaped fractures now occupied by breccia dikes.
Prebreccia mineralization is uneconomic, consisting of stockwork vein mineralization in
the carapaces of small prebreccia rhyolite stocks. Stockwork veining and localized brecciation
resulted from the multiple buildup and escape of a high-temperature (>500C), highly saline
(>40 wt % NaC1 equiv) magmatic fluid associated with a number of crystallizing rhyolite
stocks. This exsolved magmatic fluid comprised a liquid with a b180 value of between 9.4 and
9.8 per mil. The pressure drop associated with fracture propagation and brecciation produced
a vapor phase with a salinity of 3 to 19. wt percent NaC1 equiv, which condensed at temperatures
between 380 and 460C due to adiabatic expansion to produce a liquid of similar salinity.
Postbreccia mineralization was dominated by magmatic fluids (calculated b180 value of 3-
8%0 and bD value of -50 to -20%0), which in turn were dominated by a liquid with a salinity
of 9. to 10 wt percent NaC1 equiv. This liquid resulted from condensation of a vapor produced
by the boiling of a highly saline magmatic fluid at a deeper level within the breccia pipe.
Fluid inclusion studies indicate trapping temperatures in the ranges of 400 to 540C for
early-stage cavity infilling to as low as 170 to 300C during the deposition of the sulfides
and carbonate in the late-stage quartz veins and cavities. The economic-grade gold mineral-
ization was deposited during late-stage mineralization. The lateral and vertical decrease in
the grade of gold mineralization within the late-stage sheeted veins and cavities is associated
with an increase in ratio of pyrrhotite to pyrite, which is interpreted as reflecting increasing
temperature.
The structural control on the distribution of postbreccia mineralization was an inverted
funnel-shaped zone of enhanced permeability produced by the forceful emplacement of the
postbreccia rhyolite into the lower portion of the breccia pipe. The persistence of this zone
throughout the postbreccia mineralizing event is further evidence of the close genetic rela-
tionship between rhyolite magmatism and gold
Introduction
THE Kidston open-pit gold mine, situated about 280
km west-northwest of Townsville, north Queensland,
is currently Australia's second largest gold producer
and one of the world's largest producers of gold from
* Present address: E. M. Baker and Associates, 115 Ross River
Road, Townsville, Queensland 4812, Australia.
mineralization at Kidston.
a breccia pipe, with production to 31 December 1990
of 23.7 million metric tons at 2.08 g/metric ton gold.
Estimated mineral resources are 42.6 million metric
tons averaging 1.43 g/metric ton gold and 1.85 g/
metric ton silver. A further 11.7 million metric tons
are inferred.
The Kidston breccia pipe is of particular interest
as a gold-rich subvolcanic breccia-hosted deposit be-
810
Au BRECCIA PIPE, KIDSTON, QUEENSLAND 811
cause of the close spatial and temporal relationship
between brecciation, mineralization, and rhyolite in-
trusions. There are significant differences in the style
of brecciation and mineralization compared with the
diatreme breccia-hosted deposits as exemplified by
the Mount Leyshon deposit approximately 200 km to
the southeast (Morrison et al., 1988).
Geology
The Kidston breccia pipe is located on the northern
edge of the northwest-trending Permo-Carboniferous
rhyolite dike swarm which extends between the
Lochaber ring complex to the south and the Newcastle
Range Volcanic Complex to the northwest (Fig. 1). A
regional gravity low which is coincident with this dike
swarm suggests that the two volcanic centers and the
dike swarm are underlain at depth by a large Permo-
Carboniferous batholith. Several generations of rhy-
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FIG. 1. Regional geology of the Kidston area showing the re-
lationship of Kidston to centers of Permo-Carboniferous volcanism,
the northwest-trending rhyolite dike swarm, and coincident grav-
ity low. The coincidence of the gravity low and the dike swarm
suggests that the area may be underlain by a Permo-Carboniferous
batholith.
olite dikes have been recognized, the earliest being
truncated by the breccia pipe, one synchronous with
the main phase of brecciation, and one later than the
breccia pipe. Based on the timing relationships rela-
tive to breccia pipe formation, intrusive and miner-
alization events have been divided into pre-, syn-, or
postbreccia (Table 1).
Host rocks to the breccia pipe consist of early to
middle Proterozoic Einasleigh metamorphics and Sil-
uro-Devonian Oak River granodiorite. The middle
Proterozoic Einasleigh metamorphics consist of mul-
tiply deformed upper amphibolite-grade biotite
gneiss, calc-silicate gneiss, migmatite, and amphibolite
with subordinate biotite schist and quartzite (Withnail
et al., 1980). The Oak River granodiorite, which
consists of the host rocks to the southwestern portion
of the breccia pipe, has been assigned a Siluro-De-
vonian age by Warnick and Withnail (1985). This
granodiorite, in the mine area, has been subdivided
into two rock types; a nonfoliated porphyritic unit in
the southwest of the pipe and a foliated nonporphy-
ritic unit to the northwest (Fig. 2). In the mine area,
the contacts between the host lithologies and the re-
gional metamorphic foliation, which is parallel to the
granodiorite-metamorphic contacts, are steeply dip-
ping and strike northwest-southeast (Fig. 2).
Prebreccia rhyolite
The north-northwest-trending swarm of rhyolite
dikes and several small stocks of rhyolite in the Wise's
Hill area are referred to collectively as prebreccia
rhyolite because they have been disrupted during
breccia pipe formation. The rhyolite is generally fine
grained, a light brown color, and phenocryst poor.
Quartz and feldspar phenocrysts make up less than
10 percent of the rock.
The rhyolite stocks which have diameters of ap-
proximately 100 m are shaped like inverted tear
drops. They were emplaced into the area now occu-
pied by the breccia pipe; although they have been
brecciated, the movement of clasts was insufficient to
disrupt their internal relationships. The fine-grained,
nonporphyritic chilled carapace to these bodies passes
downward and inward into a more porphyritic rhy-
olite. This transition is marked by a zone up to several
meters thick of crenulate quartz-layered rock which
consists of alternating bands of porphyritic rhyolite
and crenulate quartz layers, the quartz layers showing
irregular contortions (Fig. 3A). The bands of quartz
vary in thickness from 1 mm to as much as 1 m, but
most are in the range of 1 to 10 cm thick. Each of the
quartz layers grew in the same direction pointing in-
ward away from the walls of the intrusion. Similar
textures consisting of bands of orthoclase and peg-
matitic rhyolite were observed in one of the rhyolite
stocks. Wallace et al. (1978) described these crenulate
quartz layer textures in the Henderson porphyry mo-
812 E. M. BAKER AND A. S. ANDREW
TABLE 1.
Summary of Geologic Relationships at Kidston
Age Timing Event-Lithology Relationships
Permian Postbreccia Andesite dike
Permo-Carboniferous Postbreccia Postbreccia mineralization
Late Paleozoic
Middle Proterozoic
Brecciation
Prebreccia
Postbreccia rhyolite dikes
Phase 3 breccia
Phase 2 breccia
Phase I breccia
Prebreccia mineralization
Prebreccia rhyolite
Oak River granodiorite
Einasleigh metamorphics
Cuts postbreccia mineralization
Cuts breccia pipe and
postbreccia rhyolite dikes
Dikes intrude the breccia pipe
Intrudes phase 2 breccia
Formation of the breccia pipe
Clasts within the breccia, cuts
prebreccia rhyolite dikes
and prebreccia
mineralization
Cuts prebreccia rhyolite dikes
Intrudes host rocks, cut by
breccia pipe
Host rocks to brecciation
Host rocks to brecciation
LEGEND
[] Andesire dike
o
Post-breccia
rhyolite dike
Quartz-feldspar porphyry
) "":"'[] Pre-breccia rhyolite
rhyolite dike
Oak River
e> ++ porphyritic I Granodiorite
.: Phase 3 breccia {with rounded clasts)
[ Phase 2 breccia
Phase I breccia {tourmaline breccia)
[ Crenulate quartz-layered rock
[-- Foliation
[-----] Old workings
Approximate boundary
'+\+ outer zone breccia
of lithological types within
FIG. 2. Surface geology of the Kidston breccia pipe showing
the distribution of the three breccia phases, the relationship of
pre- and postbreccia rhyolite dikes to brecciation, and the base-
ment stratigraphy within the pipe as reflected by dominant clast
types.
lybdenum deposit and interpreted them as forming
in response to rhythmic fluctuations in the partial
pressure of H20 and HF during crystallization of the
rhyolite.
In the northeast part of the pipe, the contact be-
tween one of these prebreccia dikes and the breccia
pipe is flow banded against the breccia contact, in-
dicating that the rhyolite was fluid and still being in-
truded when it was truncated by the breccia pipe.
Syn- and postbreccia rhyolite
The breccia pipe itself was intruded by a coarser
grained and more porphyritic (Fig. 3B) postbreccia
rhyolite dike. Phenocrysts are larger (9.-5 mm) and
more abundant (greater than 25%) than in the pre-
breccia rhyolite. The postbreccia dikes have a radial
distribution pattern and do not extend outward be-
yond the breccia pipe margin (Fig. 9.). A small irreg-
ular and discontinuous synbreccia porphyritic rhyolite
dike has intruded the breccia in the Wise's Hill area.
Clasts of this synbreccia rhyolite dike, some of them
showing a slightly flattened pumaceous texture, are
present in the adjacent breccia.
Postbreccia andesite dikes
Two andesite dikes, up to several meters in width,
trend northwest-southeast and cut through the breccia
pipe and surrounding host rocks. The dikes also cut
the sheeted veins indicating that they are postminer-
alization. The andesite dikes are medium grained and
nonporphyritic with up to 15 percent acicular ilmen-
ite. The dikes are strongly altered to muscovite, car-
bonates, and chlorites with amygdales filled with cal-
cite and quartz.
AU BRECCIA PIPE, KIDSTON, QUEENSLAND 813
"' lcm, '
FIG. 3. Rock types within the Kidston breccia pipe. All scales in cm except A which is close to
actual size. A. Crenulate quartz-layered rock consisting of quartz (white) and porphyry (dark). The
quartz layers have all grown in one direction, resulting in one regular and one irregular surface quartz
layers. B. Postbreccia rhyolite porphyry showing the coarse grain size and abundance of phenoerysts.
C. Phase 1 quartz-tourmaline cemented breccia, with tabular clasts of prebreccia rhyolite. D. Phase 2
breccia consisting of angular dasts of prebreccia rhyolite and granodiorite supported by smaller dasts
and a matrix of comminuted elast material.
Oxidation
Sulfides have been weathered to an average depth
of 30 m throughout the orebody. The upper half of
the oxidization profile is stained a red-brown color
due to goethite and hematite after pyrite and pyr-
rhotite. In the lower half of the weathering profile,
which is bleached, pyrite and pyrrhotite are partly
replaced by jarosite, and cavity space originally filled
with carbonate is filled with fine-grained porcelaneous
supergene alunite. Sulfur and hydrogen isotope stud-
ies (Bird et al., 1989) suggest all the alunite minerals
found at Kidston are supergene.
Brecciation
The Kidston breccia pipe is trapezoid in shape with
surface dimensions of 1,100 X 900 m (Fig. 2). The
breccia pipe extends downward beyond the level of
the deepest drilling, approximately 300 m below sur-
face. The pipe margins dip steeply, generally inward
at greater than 80 , but locally outward. Where the
pipe margins are exposed, the contact with the host
rocks is abrupt. Three phases of breccia have been
distinguished within the Kidston breccia pipe on the
basis of timing relationships (Table I and Fig. 2).
Phase I
The broad outline of this breceia as shown in Figure
2 reflects the broad distribution of phase I breccia
clasts within the phase 2 breccia. Prior to the disrup-
tion by the phase 2 brecciation event, the phase 1
breccia consisted of several steeply dipping dikelike
zones. The breccia consists mainly of angular, tom-
monly thin tabular clasts ofprebreccia rhyolite, many
containing stockwork quartz-pyrite-molybdenite
veins, cemented in a quartz tourmaline matrix (Fig.
3C). Other clasts are from metamorphic or granodi-
orite rocks. The parallel alignment of thin tabular
clasts of rhyolite, called shingle breccia, has been de-
scribed in other tourmaline-bearing breccias where
they are considered to have formed by regular break-
age and detachment of zones of sheeting like those
around pipe walls and large fragments (Sillitoe, 1985).
Phase 2
The phase 9. breccia comprises the bulk of the
breccia pipe (Fig. 2). The clasts are angular to sub-
angular, mostly ranging in size from 1 to 20 cm. The
distribution of clast types within the phase 2 breccia
reflects the host-rock-type stratigraphy prior to brec-
ciation. Schist and gneiss clasts are dominant in the
northeast of the pipe where the surrounding host
rocks are metamorphics and granodiorite in the
southwest of the breccia pipe (Fig. 2). Contacts be-
tween lithologic breccia types are gradational over
several meters. These contacts can be mapped
through the breccia pipe out into the host rocks on
either side of the pipe (Fig. 2). The internal geometry
of the small rhyolite stocks, in the Wise's Hill area,
can still be recognized on the basis of clast distribu-
tion. A number of large blocks of unbrecciated host
rock, up to several hundred meters in diameter, are
present within the breccia (Fig. 2). In contrast with
the smaller clasts, these large blocks show no evidence
of significant rotation during brecciation as the meta-
morphic foliation roughly parallels that in the adjacent
host rocks. Commonly, clasts of two or more differing
lithologies will be present, even within a hand-sized
specimen, with less common lithotypes such as pre-
breccia rhyolite occurring as isolated clasts within a
mixture of the dominant clast types (Fig. 3D). The
metamorphic foliation within these relatively small
clasts shows no preferred orientation or alignment.
The matrix to the breccia, which comprises less
than 30 percent of the rock, consists of smaller chip-
sized clasts and finer material derived from commi-
nuted clast material. The clasts are partly supported
by this matrix material and partly in contact with each
other. Cavities up to several centimeters in diameter
and infilled with hydrothermal minerals comprise
several percent of the breccia by volume. Two gen-
erations of cavities are present; cavities representing
open spaces between clasts which were not filled by
rock flour at the time of breccia pipe formation and
later cavities and veins produced by fracturing of the
already cemented breccia.
Phase 3
This breccia is distinguished from the phase 2
breccia by the presence of spheroidal clasts of rhyolite
up to 40 cm in diameter. However, angular to sub-
angular clasts of metamorphics, granodiorite, and
rhyolite make up the bulk of the breccia. Some of the
angular clasts contain stockwork vein mineralization
which is not found in the adjacent phase 9. breccia.
The vein assemblage differs markedly from the only
other area of exposed stockwork vein mineralization
at Wise's Hill. The breccia is matrix supported, al-
though clasts comprise at least 50 percent of the total
volume. The matrix, like that of the phase 2 breccia,
consists of comminuted clast material. In the northern
part of the pipe, a 1-m-wide dike of this breccia cuts
the phase 2 breccia. No fragments of the phase 2
breccia have been recognized within the phase 3
breccia, although they would be difficult to recognize
in a breccia which is distinguishable only by the pres-
ence of clasts of spheroidal rhyolite and clasts con-
taining stockwork vein mineralization.
In addition to these three main breccia types, sev-
eral 1- to -m-wide dikes of breccia were found cut-
ting the host rocks adjacent to the breccia pipe mar-
gin. These breccias consist of semirounded clasts of
host-rock material supported in matrix of comminuted
clast material.
Mineralization and Alteration
The mineralization at Kidston has been divided into
pre- and postbreccia on the basis of timing relative
to breccia pipe formation. Prebreccia mineralization
is present within breccia clasts as stockwork quartz
veins. Postbreccia mineralization occurs as veins cut-
ting the breccia and infilling of breccia cavities. The
economic-grade gold mineralization at Kidston is of
postbreccia age and is confined to an inverted funnel-
shaped zone of quartz-carbonate-sulfide veins and
cavities, referred to as the sheeted vein zone.
Prebreccia assemblages
The quartz stockwork veins within breccia clasts
consist of 2- to 20-mm-thick veins of gray, fine-grained
glassy quartz with thin, dark-colored bands of sulfides
and oxides parallel to the vein walls. In thin section,
the quartz is equigranular and shows no preferred
growth orientation. These stockwork veins are present
within the clasts of the phase 2 and 3 breccia. The
sulfide and oxide assemblages of stockwork veins
within the two areas differ significantly.
The quartz-magnetite-pyrite stockwork veins occur
only within the phase 3 breccia. Veins in which mag-
netite is more abundant than pyrite are associated
with selvages of epidote-chlorite-muscovite-carbon-
ate alteration overprinting an earlier, more pervasive
phase of orthoclase-albite alteration. Veins in which
the pyrite is more abundant than magnetite are
sociated with either silicification or muscovite-car-
bonate alteration. Centimeter-wide microdikes of
rhyolite cut early generations of stockwork veins in
some of these clasts. These microdikes are themselves
cut by later generations of similar stockwork veins
(Fig. 4A), indicating that the stockwork veining and
emplacement of rhyolite are spatially and temporally
related. The magnetite-pyrite stockwork veins asso-
ciated with silicification are highly anomalous in gold.
Quartz-molybdenite_-pyrite _ arsenopyrite _ chal-
copyrite-bearing stockwork veins are concentrated
within the chilled carapaces of the prebreccia rhyolite
bodies at Wise's Hill. These stockwork veins do not
extend downward into the zone of crenulate quartz
layers. Associated alteration consists of weak silicifi-
cation and muscovite-carbonate replacement of pri-
mary plagioclase within the rhyolite. Clasts of this
mineralization occur within the phase 1 breccia. Clasts
of the phase 1 breccia containing this stockwork vein
mineralization are present within the phase 2 breccia.
Postbreccia assemblages
Postbreccia mineralization consists of the infilling
of open spaces within the breccia such as cavities and
parallel fractures (sheeted veins). In contrast to the
prebreccia stockwork quartz veins, the postbreccia
sheeted veins cut through the breccia clasts and ma-
trix. Also, the quartz in the postbreccia sheeted veins
and cavities is combed, indicating open-space filling.
The centers of most of these veins and cavities are
filled with carbonate and sulfides. The alteration as-
sociated with vein and cavity infilling is most strongly
developed within the breccia matrix and rims of clasts.
FIG. 4. Examples of mineralization types within the Kidston breccia pipe. A. Prebreccia quartz-
pyrite-magnetite stockwork vein. Note the rhyolite microdike cutting early generations and being cut
by later generations ofstockwork veins. B. Postbreccia early-stage quartz-epidote _ pyrite _ pyrrhotite
cavity infi!ling surrounded by a narrow rim of white orthoclase alteration of the breccia matrix and
clasts. Note the radiating epidote needles (dark) in the center of the cavity adjacent to the calcite
(massive white). Some of the epidote needles (white) are replaced by a mixture of muscovite and calcite.
C. Early-stage calcite _ pyrite ___ pyrrhotite cavity-infilling mineralization surrounded by weak muscovite-
calcite-chlorite alteration. D. Late-stage quartz-ankerite-sulfide cavity-infi!ling mineralization surrounded
by muscovite-ankerite alteration.
The centers of some of the larger clasts are unaltered.
Within the breccia matrix, the intensity of alteration
decreases away from the cavities and veins, making
it possible to relate the various cavity and vein assem-
blages to specific alteration types (Table 2). Based on
overprinting relationships, the postbreccia cavity in-
filling and vein assemblages can be divided into early,
transitional and late stage (Table 2). A three-dimen-
sional zoning pattern for the cavity-infilling assem-
blages has been constructed on the basis of drill core
information (Figs. 5 and 6).
Early stage: The quartz-epidote _ pyrite _ pyr-
rhotite and quartz-orthoclase _ pyrite ___ pyrrhotite
cavity-infilling assemblages are confined to an in-
verted funnel-shaped zone around the periphery of
the breccia pipe (Fig. 5). Cavity infilling consists of
quartz with either radiating needles of green epidote
(Fig. 4B) or squat crystals of white orthoclase. Sub-
hedral to euhedral pyrite and/or pyrrhotite grains are
present in some of these cavities and are intergrown
with the quartz, epidote, and orthoclase. Sphalerite
where present is intergrown with pyrite and pyrrho-
tite. Hydrothermal allanite is present as an accessory
mineral within these cavities. Where calcite is present
within these cavities, the epidote needles adjacent to
calcite are altered to a mixture of muscovite, calcite,
and quartz. Cavities are surrounded by a distinctive
i i i
199600E Z00t,00E
--
-7910000N O , 2100m
I I I
TABLE 2. Relationship between Brecciation, Mineralization,
and Alteration in the Kidston Breccia Pipe
Stage Mineralization Alteration
Prebreccia
Postbreccia
Early
Transitional
Late
qtz-py-mt stockwork
veins (mt > py)
qtz-py-mt stockwork
veins (py > mt)
qtz-mo-py
stockwork veins
qtz-epi q- py q- po
q- cal cavity infilling
qtz-or q- py q- po
cavity infilling
cal q- py q- po cavity
infilling
bio-mt-po cavity
infilling
bio-sid-py cavity
infilling
Transitional between early-stage and late-stage
cavity-infilling assemblages
qtz-ank-cal-sulfide mus-qtz, mus-ank
sheeted vein and
cavity infilling
ep-chl-mus-carb
qtz
qtz-mus-carb
or, or-alb-mus-cal-chl
or, or-alb-mus-cal-chl
mus-cal-chl
bio-and-qtz-mus-mt-chl
bio-sid
Abbreviations: alb -- albite, and = andalusite, ank = ankerite,
bio -- biotite, carb -- carbonate (ank and/or cal), cal = calcite, chl
= chlorite, cpy = chalcopyrite, epi = epidote, gal = galena, or
-- orthoclase, mt = magnetite, mo = molybdenite, mus = mus-
covite, po -- pyrrhotite, py = pyrite, qtz -- quartz, sid -- siderite,
sph = sphalerite
MINERALIZATION ALTERATION
:: i Ou(3rtz-epidotezpyrite_*
pyrrhotite
':"::" B iot ite- s iderite- pyr ite Biotite-siderite
-- C(3lcite *_ pyrite_* pyrrhotite Mu scovite-c(31cite- chlorite
o26 88 I Drillhole(prefix PAK)
FIG. 5. Distribution of early-stage mineralization and alteration
assemblages for the 520-m level. The potassium silicate assem-
blages are restricted to a circular band around the periphery of
the pipe.
Orthoclose, orthoclose-olbite-
muscovite- colcite
centimeter-wide white alteration rim (Fig. 4B) in
which the primary plagioclase and biotite have been
completely replaced by hydrothermal orthoclase.
Throughout the surrounding breccia which is altered
to a pale green color, primary orthoclase is unaltered
and plagioclase and biotite are replaced to varying
degrees by a fine-grained mixture of hydrothermal
orthoclase, albite, muscovite, calcite, and chlorite.
These mineral assemblages are associated with sub-
economic gold mineralization.
Isolated patches of biotite-siderite-pyrite and bio-
tite-magnetite-pyrrhotite cavity infilling are restricted
to the Wise's Hill area (Fig. 5). Rare quartz-magnetite
sheeted veins are also restricted to the Wise's Hill
.-7911000N N
_ .:iii :'h-
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A
':.- ;? -'.'X
LEGEND
' Quortz-pyrite-lxse roelois
':.':' Quartz-pyrite-arsenopyrite
-base metols
!! Ouortz-pyrrhotite > pyrite - bose metols - mo[ybdenite
B
..,
,,."//..'/ / I
Zone of lppm Au
026 Drillhole (prefix PAK)
88 I Drillhole( prefix PAK)
FIG. 6. Distribution of late-stage quartz-sulfide mineralization
within sheeted veins for the 520-m level. The zone of +1 ppm
Au is shown. The associated sericite-carbonate alteration zone
(not shown) is most strongly developed within the sheeted vein
zone and weakly developed 50 to 100 m into the hanging-wall
zone.
area, representing the first evidence of postbreccia
fracturing within the pipe. The alteration surrounding
biotite-siderite-pyrite cavities consists of the intense
replacement of the breccia matrix by secondary bio-
tite and siderite (Table 2). The biotite-magnetite-
pyrrhotite infilling assemblage was not strongly de-
veloped and the associated alteration consists of sec-
ondary biotite with or without andalusite, muscovite,
magnetite, and chlorite replacing primary plagioclase
and biotite. Magnetite and pyrrhotite partly replace
epidote needles in some of the quartz-epidote _ py-
rite ___ pyrrhotite cavity-infilling assemblage, indicat-
ing that the magnetite-pyrrhotite-bearing assem-
blages were introduced later than the quartz-epidote-
bearing assemblages. The biotite-pyrite-siderite cav-
ity infilling is later than the magnetite-pyrrhotite as-
semblage. The secondary biotite-bearing cavity min-
eralization is associated with ore-grade gold miner-
However, the mineralization is too weakly developed
to contribute any substantial tonnage.
Calcite _ pyrite _ pyrrhotite cavity infilling is
present throughout the remainder of the pipe (Fig.
5). The cavities are devoid of any matrix material and
consist of massive white calcite (Fig. 4C). The amount
of pyrite and pyrrhotite within these cavities de-
creases outward away from the contact with the zone
of quartz-epidote _ pyrite _ pyrrhotite mineralization
(Fig. 5). Ankerite is also present in many of these
cavities, either as intergrowths with the calcite or fill-
ing irregular fractures within calcite and the sur-
rounding breccia. Within the breccia matrix and
clasts, primary plagioclase and biotite grains are re-
placed by a fine-grained mixture of muscovite, calcite,
and chlorite (Table 2). This alteration has a charac-
teristic pink color making it easy to distinguish from
the other alteration assemblages. Early-stage assem-
blages are associated with only weakly anomalous
grades of gold mineralization.
The outward progression from the quartz-epidote
___ sulfide- to calcite ___ sulfide-filled cavity assem-
blages lacks any recognizable intermediate phase.
However, some of the quartz-epidote-sulfide-filled
cavities on the periphery of this zone are surrounded
by a rim of pink orthoclase which grades outward into
the typical pink-colored muscovite, albite, quartz,
calcite, and chlorite alteration associated with calcite-
filled cavities.
Transitional stage: The distribution of transitional-
stage cavity assemblages is similar to that of the early-
stage quartz-epidote-sulfide assemblage. Transitional
cavities show an internal zoning from an outer quartz-
epidote _ pyrite _ pyrrhotite or quartz-orthoclase
_ pyrite _ pyrrhotite assemblage to an inner assem-
blage of quartz-ankerite-pyrite _ pyrrhotite ___ base
metals. In contrast to early-stage cavities, transitional-
stage cavities contain only minor amounts of epidote
or orthoclase lining the walls of cavities and significant
amounts of ankerite and/or calcite in the center of
cavities. Alteration consists of an early-stage ortho-
clase-albite-muscovite-calcite assemblage overprinted
by a muscovite-ankerite assemblage identical to the
late~stage alteration assemblage (Table 2).
Late stage: The late-stage quartz-ankerite ___ pyrite
___ pyrrhotite assemblage occurs within the sheeted
veins and, to a lesser degree, the late-stage cavities.
These late-stage sheeted veins and cavities, which are
host to the economic-grade gold mineralization, are
restricted to an inverted funnel-shaped zone around
the margins of the breccia pipe (Fig. 6). This distri-
bution roughly coincides with the distribution of
early-stage quartz-epidote and quartz-orthoclase
cavity-infilling assemblages (Fig. 5). The veins and
cavities consist of inward-facing comb quartz on the
margins, followed by quartz and sulfides, then an-
kerite and sulfides but without quartz, and finally in
the centers of veins and cavities ankerite without sul-
fides (Fig. 4D). Adjacent to veins and cavities the
breccia matrix is completely replaced by muscovite
and quartz, giving the breccia a gray to white color.
Away from cavities and veins the intensity of alteration
decreases from complete to partial replacement of
primary plagioclase and biotite by a fine-grained mix-
ture of muscovite and ankerite. With decreasing in-
tensity of alteration the breccia matrix and clast color
changes from gray to white to creamy yellow to the
color of unaltered rock. Sulfides present within
sheeted veins and cavities include pyrite, pyrrhotite,
sphalerite, chalcopyrite, galena, molybdenite, bis-
muthinite, and bismuth tellurides.
The sulfide assemblage within sheeted veins shows
a zoning pattern consisting of pyrite-galena-sphaler-
ite-chalcopyrite in the highest part of the system cen-
tered on Wise's Hill, outward and downward through
pyrite-pyrrhotite-galena~sphalerite-chalcopyrite plus
arsenopyrite to pyrite-pyrrhotite-galena-sphalerite-
chalcopyrite and molybdenite (Fig. 6). The economic-
grade gold mineralization is associated with the upper-
level pyrite-(minor pyrrhotite)-galena-sphalerite-
chalcopyrite zone. More than 90 percent of the gold
occurs as discrete grains, generally from 20 to 100
ttm in diameter. The remainder of the gold is believed
to be present as small inclusions or in solid solution
with pyrite, arsenopyrite, and bismuth tellurides. Sil-
ver abundance is similar to that of gold, but no silver
mineral has been identified.
Fluid Inclusion Studies
Techniques
The majority of inclusions studied were contained
in quartz. No suitable primary inclusions were ob-
served in the carbonate phases. Although only a few
of the inclusions selected for study were unequivo-
cally of primary origin, all inclusions selected were
relatively large and irregularly distributed. In con-
trast, inclusions of secondary origin were smaller and
confined to planes. The inclusions studied have been
trapped during the hydrothermal event responsible
for the deposition of the host mineral. Homogeniza-
tion and freezing was undertaken on a Chaixmeca
dual-purpose heating-freezing stage, with some par-
allel checks being made with a stage designed by the
U.S. Geological Survey. Identification of daughter
phases was based on microscopic identification and
by opening inclusions and analyzing them using scan-
ning electron microscopy (SEM) and qualitative en-
ergy dispersive analysis (EDA), as described by Le
Bel (1976) and Anthony et al. (1983).
Fluid inclusions have been classified into types S,
L, V, and C, based on their relative volumetric prop-
erties at room temperature, as proposed by Nash and
Theodore (1971) and Weisbrod (1981). Inclusions
containing only liquid and vapor phases have been
divided into type L and V, depending on which of the
phases is dominant at room temperature. Inclusions
containing liquid CO. at room temperature have been
classified as type C. Type S inclusions contain one or
more daughter mineral phases in addition to liquid
and vapor. Salinities were calculated using the method
described by Roedder (1971) for type S and Potter
and Clynne (1978) for Wm,ce.
Observations and results
Prebreccia mineralization: Prebreccia stockwork
veins and the quartz in crenulate quartz layers are
characterized by the abundance of type S and V in-
clusions and relatively rare type L inclusions. The
timing relationships appear to be complex with all
inclusion types occurring as early (primary) inclusions
as well as within planes of secondary inclusions. In
many cases type S inclusions show local variations in
the number and relative proportions of daughter
phases present as well as in homogenization temper-
ature. However, small clusters of type S inclusions,
all with the same number and relative proportions of
daughter phases and homogenization patterns, were
also present in many of the samples examined.
Daughter phases identified using SEM-EDA tech-
niques include halite, sylvite, iron chloride, potas-
sium-iron chloride, potassium-iron-aluminum chlo-
ride, calcium carbonate, calcium-iron carbonate, and
aluminosilicates. Halite homogenizes over a temper-
ature range of 200 to 500C, whereas iron chloride
invariably homogenizes below 400C and sylvite be-
low 150C. Undifferentiated phases homogenize be-
tween 200 and 600C (Table 3). In all but a few
cases, the vapor phase homogenizes at a lower tem-
perature than the final dissolution of daughter min-
erals as shown in the example of crenulate quartz lay-
ers and quartz-molybdenite-pyrite stockwork veins
in Figure 7A. Quartz ___ magnetite ___ pyrite stockwork
veins showed similar homogenization behavior. Type
V inclusions homogenize over the temperature range
of 380 to 460C, whereas the bulk of type L inclu-
sions homogenize below 400C (Fig. 7C).
Postbreccia mineralization: Postbreccia mineral-
ization is characterized by abundant type L and less
common type V inclusions. Rare type S inclusions are
present within early- and transitional-stage mineral-
ization. All the inclusions studied were from quartz-
bearing assemblages taken from the semicircular zone
around the periphery of the pipe. No reliable data
were obtained from the carbonate cavity-infilling as-
semblages throughout the remainder of the pipe. The
results are summarized in Table 3 and Figure 8.
Early- and transitional-stage mineralization show
similar homogenization patterns with type S, C, and
V inclusions and a small but significant portion of the
type L inclusions clustering in the range 360 to
TABLE 3.
Au BRECCIA PIPE, KIDSTON, QUEENSLAND
Summary of Homogenization and Salinity Data for Fluid Inclusion
819
Inclusion
Stage type
Homogenization temperature (C)
NaCI Undifferentiated Th (L-V) Tm (ice)
Salinity wt
% NaCI
equiv
Prebreccia
qtz-mo-py, S
crenulate L
quartz V
layers Critical
qtz-py-mt S
L
V
Critical
Postbreccia S
Early L
V
Critical
Transitional S
L
V
C (L and V)
Critical
Late L
V
C (L and V)
Critical
275-500 300-600
200-500 200-600
480 340-500
320-600
130-350
200-540 -3 to 20
260-520 -8to -2
380-440 -3.9
250
260-520 -14 to -1
320-600 -8to -4
420-460 -7.1 to -3
250
160-500 -7to -1
340-500 -4
380-500
250
180-480 -3to -2
300-420 -1
320-520
360-400
120-420 -6to -1
340-420 -4to -2
320-480
380-420
40-50
5-20
3-12
6
40-50
2-20
6-13
5-10
50
2-10
6.5
<50
3-5
2
7-11
2-10
3-7
0-10
See Table 2 for abbreviations
500C (Fig. 8A and B). The cluster of type L inclu-
sions in the 260 to 360C range corresponds with
the range ofhomogenization temperatures of the bulk
of type L inclusions in the late-stage mineralization.
These lower temperature inclusions are probably of
secondary origin, trapped during the late-stage min-
eralization event.
Late-stage mineralization contains lower temper-
ature inclusions with the bulk of type C and V inclu-
sions homogenizing between 300 and 400C and
the bulk of type L inclusions in the range 260 to
380C (Fig. 8C). Although many of the lower tem-
perature type L inclusions in the range 120 to 260C
appear to be of primary origin, inclusions of secondary
origin with a similar homogenization temperature
range are also present in the quartz. These lower
temperature inclusions were most probably trapped
during the deposition of carbonate and sulfide in the
center of quartz veins and cavities.
The salinities of type L, V, and C inclusions from
all three phases of postbreccia mineralization are
similar and range from 2 to 10 wt percent NaC1 equiv
(Table 3).
Interpreted conditions of trapping
Prebreccia mineralization: Homogenization of type
S inclusions is by the dissolution of daughter phases
with the vapor phase disappearing prior to complete
dissolution of halite. Therefore, the fluid trapped in
these inclusions could not have been in equilibrium
with a vapor phase at the time of trapping. Based on
the experimental data of Sourirajan and Kennedy
(1962) pressure >800 bars would be required to in-
hibit boiling in a fluid with a temperature 500C
and a salinity 40 to 50 wt percent NaC1 equiv.
The vapor trapped as type V inclusions is inter-
preted to have formed by boiling of the highly saline
fluid trapped in type S inclusions. At a temperature
>500C and pressure of approximately 800 bars, a
vapor with a salinity range of 5 to 10 wt percent NaC1
equiv would be produced by boiling a fluid with a
salinity similar to that present in type S inclusions.
These type V inclusions could not result from trapping
of vapor produced by boiling of the liquid in type L
inclusion because the salinity ranges are similar. Since
both type L and V inclusions exhibit critical homog-
enization behavior over a temperature range of 380
and 460C, and the overall range of homogenization
temperatures is higher for type V inclusions, it is pos-
sible that the type L inclusions represent the con-
densate of the vapor phase trapped under near critical
conditions at a temperature above 380C. The ex-
perimental data of Sourirajan and Kennedy (1962)
indicate that at these temperatures, a fluid with the
salinity of type L and V inclusions would exhibit near
critical behavior over the pressure range of 300 to
500 bars. Assuming that confining pressure was close
to hydrostatic during times ofbrecciation and fracture
propagation, the pressure range of 300 to 500 bars
is indicative of a depth of approximately 3,500 m. A
600
5OO
400
Th(S) 3OO
200
100
(a)

mO
o
0
0 0 0 ' KCI
o NaCI
e Unidentified 1
0 d I i I I
0 1_ 0 200 300 400 500 600
Th(L-V!
(b)
e - T(L-V)
Th(S]
Freq
100 200 300 400 500 600
Temperature (C)
(c)
1!f Type L&V
Th (critical)
ijjj ..,. :.: [] Type V
Freq / [] Type L
oo 260 30 4(o 5oo 600
Temperature (C)
FIG. 7. Homogenization data for fluid inclusions in prebreccia
stockwork quartz veins and crenulate quartz layers. A. Plot of
Th(S) versus Th(L-V) for type S inclusions. B. Histogram of Th(S)
and Th(L-V) for type S inclusions. C. Histogram for Th(critical),
Th(L), and Th(V) for type L and V inclusions.
similar depth is obtained for type S inclusions (800
bars) if a lithostatic pressure is assumed.
Postbreccia mineralization: In the early-stage
postbreccia mineralization, type L inclusions are
much more abundant than type S and V inclusions.
Using the data of Potter (1977) to apply a pressure
correction to type L inclusions, which homogenize in
the temperature range 360 to 500C, and assuming
the pressure obtained for prebreccia mineralization
(350-500 bars), the trapping temperature for this
fluid would have been in the range 400 to 540C.
The type L inclusions which homogenize over a lower
temperature range are probably of secondary origin,
introduced during transitional- to late-stage miner-
alization. The rare type S inclusions, which homog-
enize by halite dissolution, would have been trapped
during periods of fluid overpressuring. A high-tem-
perature, high-salinity, overpressured fluid could mi-
grate upward into the breccia column before boiling
if the breccia were sufficiently impermeable due to
sealing of cavities by hydrothermal minerals. Type V
inclusions are interpreted as having been produced
by intermittent boiling of the highly saline fluid
trapped in type S inclusions. No type C inclusions
were observed in early-stage postbreccia mineraliza-
tion.
Transitional-stage mineralization shows an overlap
in fluid inclusion types and homogenization temper-
atures with early- and late-stage mineralization (Table
3). The introduction of CO2 into the system during
transitional-stage mineralization was accompanied by
a drop in temperature of the fluid. However, since
there is no marked difference in salinity of type C and
type L and V inclusions, there is no fluid inclusion
evidence to suggest that a lower temperature, lower
salinity fluid of possible meteoric origin was intro-
duced into the system during transitional- to late-stage
mineralization. The absence of any evidence for mix-
ing of fluids at the time CO2 was introduced suggests
that the COa was probably derived from the same
source as the fluid trapped in type L inclusions.
Late-stage mineralization differs from early-stage
mineralization in containing no type S inclusions and
abundant type C inclusions. Type C and V inclusions
homogenize under near-critical conditions over a
(a)
Freq11I
O/
IO0 200 300 4do 560
Temperature (o C)
[] Th (critical)
E Type V
[] Type L
Type S (Th(S))
(b)
20 L Type C, Th(V)
JTypeC, Th(L!
16 ['-J Th (critical)
12
Freq Ll Type V
i [] Type L
Type S. Th(S)
100 200 300 400 500 600
Temperature (C)
(c)
. Type C, Th(V) 30 J Type C. Th(L)
20 ['-J Th (cr,tica,)
me. ..... , = Type v
'' x [] Type L
100 200 300 400 500
Temperature (C)
FIG. 8. Histograms of homogenization temperatures for type
S, L, V, and C inclusions in early- (A), transitional- (B), and late-
stage (C) postbreccia mineralization.
temperature range of 300 to 420C. Applying the
same assumptions in pressure correction as above, the
high-temperature cluster of inclusions would have
been trapped in the range 300 to 400C. Type L
inclusions in the lower temperature cluster would
have been trapped at temperatures between 170 and
300C. These lower temperature inclusions are in-
terpreted as having been trapped at the time of car-
bonate and sulfide deposition in the centers of late-
stage veins and cavities. Since gold occurred within
the sulfide grains, the economic-grade gold mineral-
ization would therefore have been deposited over this
temperature range.
Stable Isotope Studies
Minerals and whole rocks were analyzed using
conventional preparation techniques (McCrae, 1950;
Bigeleisen et al., 1952; Clayton and Mayeda, 1963;
Robinson and Kusakabe, 1975) on a Micromass 602D
mass spectrometer for O, C, and H and on a modified
Micromass 602 mass spectrometer for S. All analyses
are reported as values in per mil relative to V-SMOW
for O and H, V-PDB for C, and CDT for S. Routine
analytical precision for standard material is _0.1 for
O and C, +_2 for H, and ___0.2 for S.
Analytical results
Prebrecciation stage: Quartz from stockwork veins
in rhyolite has a well-defined, narrow range of 180
values between 9.4 and 9.8 per mil (Table 4). This
narrow range of values contrasts with the spread in
180 values measured in quartz from the granodiorite
and metamorphic hosts (80 = 8.9-10.8%0). Epidote
and chlorite from the selvages to quartz-pyrite-mag-
netite stockwork veins have D values of -57 and
-81 per mil, respectively.
A single analysis of quartz from crenulate quartz
layers is enriched in 180 relative to the stockwork
veins. If these veins represent a zone of boiling and
volatile loss, this enrichment probably reflects pref-
erential partitioning of 160 into the volatile phase.
Postbrecciation stage: Quartz from early-stage
cavities has a narrow range of 180 values which are
enriched in 80 compared with stockwork veins. The
D values of chlorite and muscovite from alteration
halos around the early-stage cavities are the same as
those from minerals from the alteration selvages to
the stockwork veins.
Quartz from late-stage cavities and quartz-ankerite-
pyrite cavities and veins are enriched in 80 relative
to early- and transitional-stage quartz. The similarity
in 180 values of quartz in sheeted veins and cavities
supports the geologic and fluid inclusion evidence that
suggests filling of late-stage cavities and formation of
sheeted veins were contemporaneous. Textural re-
lations, as well as large quartz-calcite fractionations
(2%0), suggest calcite and ankerite filling these cav-
ities and veins (180 = 6.7-14.8%0) postdate quartz
precipitation. Carbon isotope values of calcite and
ankerite from late-stage cavity infilling and sheeted
veins have values between -7.8 and -5.8 per mil.
Hydrogen isotope analyses from fluid inclusion ex-
tracted at 300C (Table 5) from sheeted veins and
cavity infilling have D values between -90 and -71
per mil.
Oxygen isotope values of whole-rock samples of
fresh and altered granodiorite (Table 6) were analyzed
to measure the effects of the postbrecciation alteration
on the isotopic composition of the host rock and to
estimate the amount of water that passed through the
system. Petrographically unaltered granodiorite re-
mote from the pipe (from drill core at the plant site)
and adjacent to and within the pipe has values be-
tween 8.3 and 10.0 per rail. Pervasive chloritic, ser-
icitic, and carbonate alteration around sheeted veins
has resulted in an increase in the 180 value of the
whole rock to a maximum value of 10.9 per mil in
chloritized selvages.
Sulfur isotope values in pyrite, pyrrhotite, and
sphalerite from early- and late-stage cavities and veins
and their alteration halos have a narrow range of val-
ues between 2.2 and 4.3 per mil (35 analyses; Table
4). Where sulfide minerals are in textural equilibrium,
they are also in isotopic equilibrium with fraction-
ations suggesting temperatures around 300 +_ 80C
(Kajiwara and Krouse, 1971). There is no apparent
isotopic difference between the late-stage sulfides
which are associated with most of the mineralization
and those in prebrecciation or early postbrecciation
assemblages.
Evolution and origin of the hydrothermal fluid
Fluid evolution at Kidston is traced for each rec-
ognized phase of alteration (Table 7; Fig. 9) by using
the isotopic composition of alteration fluids, temper-
ature estimates of fluids derived from fluid inclusion
studies, and fluid inclusion salinity data.
The calculated 80 composition and high salinities
of fluid inclusions from prebreccia stockwork veins
and crenulate quartz layers are typical of waters in
equilibrium with igneous rocks at high temperatures
(Fig. 9). Calculated D values of -50 to -20 per rail
are in the range for a vapor separating from a crys-
tallizing magma which has not undergone extensive
degassing (Taylor, 1988). The isotopic composition
of the computed early-stage fluid is similar to the pre-
breccia fluid except for a wider range in 80 values,
due mainly to a larger temperature uncertainty. The
associated fluid inclusions also have somewhat lower
salinity.
Uncertainties in temperature estimates for the fluid
responsible for late-stage cavity infilling and sheeted
vein formation are a problem in determining the fluid
composition for this phase of alteration. For a lower
TABLE 4.
Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen, and Sulfur Isotope Values in the Kidston Breccia Pipe
CSIBO DDH/m blsO bD blaC ba4S
no. Description Mineral (%o V-SMOW) (%o V-PDB) (%o CDT)
Prebrecciation
Oak River granodiorite
70075 86/91.3
72257 111/260.8
102647
Einasleigh metamorphics
70085 87/129.4
72206 101/64.6
72230 103/144.5
72268 113/207.4
Prebrecciarhyolite
70094 93/238.2
70096 93/240.7
72210 101/112.7
72226 103/63.2
70098 93/242.9
WH23-1
WH23-2
Postbrecciation
Early stage
70069 53/107.8
72203 101/53.4
72207 101/80.9
72208 101/106.75
72260 111/299.5
81/91.3
70075 86/91.3
72234 104/108.1
72257 111/260.8
116/50.6
Late stage
70062 32/246.05
70064 45/74.9
70067 53/98.65
70070 53/109.3
70073 60/50.8
70074 60/51.3
70080 86/101.6
70082 86/117.2
70083 87/19.8
70087 88/100.85
70088 88/101.15
70092 93/207.1
70093 93/220.3
70094 93/238.2
70095 93/239.4
70097 93/241.2
70098 93/242.9
Granodiorite qtz 10.8
Granodiorite qtz 11.6
Granodiorite po
Gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss
Pegmatite
Stockwork vein
Stockwork vein
Stockwork vein
Stockwork vein
Crenulate-rock
Alteration
Alteration
qtz 10.2
bio 6.9
qtz 8.9
qtz 10.3
qtz 9.3
qtz 9.4
qtz 9.6
qtz 9.6
qtz 9.8
PY
qtz 10.6
epi
chl
Cavity infilling qtz 10.3
Cavity infilling py
Cavity infilling py
Alteration chl
Alteration chl 7.7
mus 9.3
Alteration py
Alteration or 10.8
mus 8.8
Alteration epi
PY
Sheeted vein qtz 13.3
Cavity infilling cal 9.4
ank 11.0
Sheeted vein py
Sheeted vein po
ank 9.8
ank 7.3
PY
gal
cal 7.1
Sheeted vein cal 9.1
cal 8.6
cal 8.0
-81
-57
-81
-87
-80
-71
-68
-51
-6.6
-6.7
-6.5
-6.6
-5.8
-5.9
-6.0
-6.5
-7.8
-7.4
-7.1
0.2
3.8
3.4
3.7
3.0
3.0
3.0
2.2
3.6
1.1
Au BRECCIA PIPE, KIDSTON, QUEENSLAND
T^BLE 4. (Cont.)
823
CSIRO DDH/m b80 fid baC ba4S
no. Description Mineral (%o V-SMOW) (%o V-PDB) (%o CDT)
70099 93/264.9 Cavity infilling cal 6.7 -6.9
po 2.3
70100 93/271.7 Sheeted vein qtz 12.7
cal 7.6 -5.9
py 3.2
72211 101/131.6 Sheeted vein qtz 13.2
72212 101/132.3 Sheeted vein py 3.2
sph 2.4
72213 101/135.85 Sheeted vein ank 11.4 -6.3
py 3.6
sph 2.5
72214 101/136.5 Cavity infllling ank 14.1 -6.1
py 2.8
72219 101/182.8 Sheeted vein qtz 12.5
qtz 13.0
72222 101/190.75 Sheeted vein qtz 12.9
py 3.3
sph 2.6
72225 103/57.3 Cavity infllling py 4.0
sph 2.4
sph 2.5
72228 103/119.5 Sheeted vein py 3.8
sph 2.9
72229 103/127.6 Sheeted vein py 3.5
sph 2.4
cpy 2.8
72231 104/42.2 Cavity infllling cal 11.1 -6.5
ank 11.6 -7.1
72233 104/96.5 Cavity infllling cal 11.3 -7.1
72239 108/19.8 Cavity infilling ank 14.4 -6.3
sph 2.6
72243 108/52.25 Cavity infllling qtz 10.5
ank 12.3 -6.2
py 3.7
sph 2.7
72244 108/57.5 Sheeted vein ank 14.0 -6.1
py 3.4
sph 2.4
72253 111/227.4 Sheeted vein qtz 13.3
72259 111/280.5 Sheeted vein cal 10.3 -7.5
py 3.3
72260 111/299.5 Sheeted vein ank 13.1 -6.4
72261 111/288.9 Sheeted vein qtz 12.6
72264 111/314.7 Cavity infilling qtz 13.3
cal 11.2 -6.0
72270 113/255.15 Sheeted vein py 4.6
70089 88/146.4 Alteration py 4.3
72257 111/260.8 Alteration py 4.2
See Table 2 for abbreviations
temperature limit of 300C, the calculated bsO
composition of the water in equilibrium with quartz
and the bD value of inclusion fluids suggest that an
evolved meteoric water may be a component in the
latest, and gold-depositing, phase of the mineralizing
fluid. Interaction of a strongly sO depleted fluid, such
as an unmodified Permian meteoric water, with the
rocks would result in SO-depleted values at any geo-
logically reasonable temperatures.
These values can also be obtained from a magmatic
TABLE 5. Hydrogen Isotope Data from Decrepitated Inclu-
sions within Surface Samples of Late-Stage Sheeted Veins and
Cavity Infilling in the Kidston Breccia Pipe (D reported in
%0 V-SMOW)
CSIRO Temperature range (C)
no. Description 200-300 300-400 400-500
70052 Cavity infilling -76 -71
qtz
70053 Sheeted vein -88
qtz
70054 Sheeted vein -111 -90
qtz
-78
action of a fluid with sO value of 8 per mil at 300C
and water-rock ratios (at. %) of about 0.4 to 1.2. The
resultant hydrothermal fluid has sO values of 5.4 to
6.4 per mil, within the range calculated to be in equi-
librium with quartz from late-stage veins and cavities.
An initial fluid with lower sO values of between 5
and 8 per mil would result in a similar shift in sO at
higher water-rock ratios up to two for closed system
circulation and one for an open system. Fluids with
sO values of less than 5 per mil at 300C cannot
cause 1sO enrichment of the altered rocks using this
model under the assumed conditions.
fluid which has undergone extensive crystallization
and degassing to lower D values (Taylor, 1988) and
exchange during alteration with rocks to lower sO
values (Pollard et al., 1991). A modified magmatic
fluid also explains the similarity in salinities and com-
position of type L and V fluid inclusion salts between
the late- and early-stage fluids. Using the rock-water
interaction model of Taylor (1977), the enrichment
sO values of sericitic and chloritic altered rocks
(sO = 10-11%0; Table 6) relative to unaltered
granodiorite (sO: 9%0) can be obtained by inter-
Origin of sulfur and carbon
Sulfur isotope values for coexisting minerals from
late-stage sheeted veins and cavity infilling are in
equilibrium and suggest temperatures of between
250 and 430C (Kajiwara and Krouse, 1971), con-
sistent with fluid inclusion estimates. The narrow
range of34S values from the prebreccia Mo and post-
breccia Au mineralization sequence at Kidston (Table
6), together with the absence of primary sulfates and
presence of pyrrhotite, indicates relatively reducing
conditions prevailed, so the values measured for sul-
TABLE 6. Oxygen Isotope Analyses of Granodiorite from within and around the Kidston Breccia Pipe
8 0
CSIRO no. DDH/m Description (%o V-SMOW)
Plant site
102702 98/33.6 Biotite granodiorite 9.4
102722 100/80.3 Biotite granodiorit e 8.7
Outside breccia pipe, beyond sheeted vein zone
Outside breccia pipe, within sheeted vein zone
102640 45/104.8 Biotite granodiorit e 9.6
Within breccia pipe, adjacent to sheeted veins
102619F 16/67.0
102619G 16/67.0
102619E 16/67.0
102619D 16/67.0
102619C 16/67.0
102619B 16/67.0
102619A 16/67.0
Within breccia pipe, clasts
102575C 10/87.2
102579A 10/91.5
102579B 10/91.5
102579C 10/91.5
102607B 10/146.0
Biotite granodiorite 10.1
Biotite granodiorite 9.8
Chloritized granodiorite 9.9
Outer green altered granodiorite 9.2
Inner brown altered granodio-
rite 10.3
Sericitized granodiorite 10.6
Qtz vein 12.4
Biotite granodiorite
Pale green chloritized selvage
Deep green chloritized selvage
Sericitized granodiorite
Sericitized granodiorite breccia
9.8
10.9
10.2
10.6
10.6
Au BRECCIA PIPE, KIDSTON, QUEENSLAND 8 25
-10 / SMOW
/ post -
-30 / breccia .. pre-breccia
/ 'early'
-50 ///J--'magmatic
.....// V/ water'
-70 "/ ate llJl i i i { i i {i --post-breccia
iiiiii iii i
-110
-130 / / meteoric water
t / (low latitude)
-150 / I I I I I I I
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
(180 (% V-SMOW)
FIG. 9. Calculated fields for oxygen and hydrogen isotope
composition of pre- and postbreccia alteration fluids at Kidston.
Fields for low-latitude Permian meteoric waters from eastern
Australia (Sun and Eadington, 1987) and magmatic water (Shep-
pard et al., 1969) are also shown. MWL -- meteoric water line.
fides approximate the sulfur isotope composition of
the mineralizing fluid (Ohmoto, 1986). Like porphyry
Cu-Au and Mo deposits elsewhere, the sulfur was
probably derived from an A-type magma, specifically
the parent for the rhyolite clasts and dikes.
The carbon isotope compositions of carbonates
from early- and late-stage breccia infilling and sheeted
veins also have a narrow range in values, which are
depleted in 13C relative to marine carbonates but
within the range of values for CO2 degassed from a
magmatic source (Taylor, 1986).
Model for Breccia Pipe Formation
The spatial and temporal relationships of both
brecciation and mineralization to rhyolite emplace-
ment suggest that magmatic hydrothermal processes
as well as the mechanical process directly associated
with rhyolite emplacement were involved in breccia
formation. Figure 10 shows the various stages of
breccia pipe formation and the interpreted relation-
ships of the breccia and intrusive phases in the third
dimension.
The quartz-tourmaline cemented breccia (phase 1)
is spatially associated with the small rhyolite stocks
in the southwest portion of the breccia pipe. The
shingle breccia texture which is a characteristic fea-
ture of this breccia has been recognized in other
tourmaline-bearing breccia pipes by Sillitoe (1985)
and Allman-Ward et al. (1982), and it is interpreted
as forming due to decompression associated with a
drop in pressure as volatile-rich magmatic hydro-
thermal fluids escape from the upper portions of a
crystallizing melt (Fig. 10A). The close spatial and
temporal relationship between this breccia and the
quartz stockwork veins, which formed in the carapace
of the rhyolite stocks during crystallization, is consis-
tent with a magmatic hydrothermal origin for the
phase 1 breccia. Fluid inclusion data from the stock-
work veins indicate that these processes occurred at
a depth of approximately 3,500 m.
The phase 2 breccia comprises the bulk of the
breccia pipe. This breccia contains partly disrupted
dikes of synbreccia rhyolite and flattened pumaceous
fragments of dike material indicating a direct mag-
matic involvement in breccia pipe formation. The
presence of large unrotated blocks of host rock within
the breccia pipe and the preservation of host-rock
stratigraphy within the breccia itself indicate that
brecciation occurred without large-scale movement
of the brecciated material. However, on a scale of
several meters, the smaller clasts are well mixed and
rotated, indicating that brecciation involved more
than in situ fracturing. Therefore, the most likely
mechanism for brecciation appears to have been col-
lapse (Fig. 10B). Since the host-rock stratigraphy is
steeply dipping, there are unfortunately no fiat
marker horizons which can be used to determine what
degree of downward movement was associated with
collapse. Two possible processes which could have
caused collapse at this scale are magma withdrawal
and the escape of a large volume of hydrothermal
fluid from the apical portion of a crystallizing intrusion
as envisaged by Norton and Cathies (1973). At a
TAI3LE 7. Summary of Fluid Compositions in the Kidston Breccia Pipe
80 D Salinity
T (C) (%0 V-SMOW) (wt % NaCI equiv) Composition
Prebrecciation 500-600 8 -50 to -20 40-55 NaCI rich
Postbrecciation
Early 340-500 4-8 -50 to -20 20-30 NaC1 rich
Late
Quartz 300-400 2-8 -90 to -71 2-10 NaCI rich
Carbonate 275-350 0-8 ? 0.5-0.7 CO rich
Fractionation factors used for calculations of fluid compositions are from O'Neil and Taylor (1967, 1969), O'Neil et al. (1969),
Suzuoki and Epstein (1976), Graham et al. (1980, 1987), and Clayton et al. (1989)
LEGEND :
r stockwork veins
Crenulote quartz-layers
'*;'*'..- Aphonffic rhohte
I Phase . breccia
( tOurmoline breccla)
; Pre- post-brecclO
porphyrytic rhyolite
J Phase 2 breccio
(gronodiorlte/metomorphic clasts
:=] Phase 3 brecclo
Sheeted vein zones
deeper level of the pipe where the breccia and un-
derlying intrusions are juxtaposed, it may be possible
to determine which of these processes was responsible
for collapse.
The presence of phase 3 breccia dikes cutting the
phase 2 breccia indicates that this breccia is intrusive
in origin (Fig. 10C). A deep-level origin for this brec-
cia is supported by the presence of quartz-pyrite-
magnetite stockwork veins bearing clasts which are
not characteristic of the style of mineralization ex-
posed at the present level of erosion and therefore
are interpreted as having become entrained in the
breccia at a deeper level in the system and transported
upward to their present position. The spheroidal clasts
which are a characteristic feature of this breccia have
been observed in other breccia pipes by Sillitoe
(1985) and are interpreted as forming by exfoliation
associated with decompression during rapid ascent of
material to shallower levels within the system. Con-
sidering the intrusive nature of the breccia, the deeper
source for some of the clasts, and the evidence for
relatively rapid ascent provided by the spheroidal
clasts, brecciation is more likely to have been related
to the rapid upward escape of hydrothermal fluids
than to mechanical processes associated with the em-
placement of the postbreccia radial dikes which in-
trude it. Therefore, third-stage brecciation is inter-
preted as resulting from either the explosive inter-
action of hydrothermal fluid already resident within
the breccia pipe with the postbreccia rhyolite or the
explosive escape of magmatic volatiles from a phase
of postbreccia rhyolite which crystallized in the
deeper levels of the breccia pipe.
Subsequent to breccia pipe formation, a series of
postbreccia dikes of porphyritic rhyolite were em-
placed into the breccia pipe (Fig. 10D). These dikes
do not transgress the breccia pipe margin, suggesting
that the stress fields which were responsible for cre-
ating the radial pattern were restricted to the breccia
pipe itself. The inward-dipping sheeted veins cut
these radial dikes (Fig. 10E), indicating that the frac-
turing which localized the sheeted veins was pro-
duced subsequent to or during the emplacement of
these dikes. Koide and Bhattacharji (1975) recognized
that radial and concentrically inward dipping fractures
could be produced in the host rocks by forceful em-
placement of intrusive bodies. The forceful emplace-
ment of the postbreccia rhyolite porphyry into the
lower portion of the breccia pipe resulted in the for-
mation of the radial fractures, occupied by the dikes,
and the inverted funnel-shaped zone of enhanced
permeability which played a major role in localizing
early-, transitional-, and late-stage mineralization.
The upper portion of the pipe did not breach the
contemporary land surface; stable isotope evidence
indicates that no significant amounts of meteoric water
were introduced into the system during postbreccia
mineralization. Therefore, the breccia pipe is likely
to have graded upward through a zone of fracturing
and faulting, without significant brecciation, into an
overlying column of undisturbed host rock. The frac-
tures which acted as conduits for the escaping hydro-
thermal fluid would presumably contain some evi-
dence of brecciation. The tourmaline breccia in the
Wise's Hill area (phase i breccia) and a narrow breccia
dike peripheral to the breccia pipe may represent
such structures (Fig. 10A and B). Figure 10F shows
the position of the present erosion surface.
The postbreccia and postmineral andesitc dike
which cuts through the breccia pipe is part of a north-
west-trending dike swarm. The localization of this
dike is presumably controlled by a more regionally
induced stress pattern.
Model for Hydrothermal Fluid Evolution
Prebreccia
Petrographic, fluid inclusion, and stable isotope
data indicate that the original prebreccia mineralizing
fluid was a high-temperature (+500C), highly saline
40-50 wt % NaC1 equiv), magmatic fluid (sO
-- 8%0, D = -50 to -20%0) exsolved from a number
of small rhyolite bodies. The growth of crenulate
quartz layers within the rhyolite bodies and the for-
mation of stockwork vein mineralization and breccia-
tion in the overlying rocks occurred in response to
the cyclic buildup and release of fluid pressures within
the crystallizing rhyolite. Repeated episodes of brec-
ciation and stockwork vein formation appears to have
resulted in a drop in fluid pressure from approximately
800 bars (lithostatic) to 300 to 500 bars (hydrostatic),
FIG. 10. Model for formation of the Kidston breccia pipe. A. Development of prebreccia stockwork
quartz veins in the rhyolite carapace and phase 1 quartz-tourmaline cemented breccia associated with
the buildup of hydrothermal fluid during crystallization of the underlying batholith. B. Formation of
phase 2 breccia, resulting from the collapse of the overlying rocks into the space produced by magma
withdrawal and/or the escape of magmatic hydrothermal fluid from the crystallizing rhyolite body. C.
Intrusion of phase 3 breccia produced by the rapid escape of hydrothermal fluids either directly from
a crystallizing rhyolite melt or due to the explosive interaction of a rhyolite magma with hydrothermal
fluids already resident within the breccia pipe. D. Intrusion of the postbreccia rhyolite. E. The forceful
emplacement of the postbreccia rhyolite into the lower portion of the breccia pipe produced radial
fractures, which the rhyolite has intruded, and inward-dipping concentric fractures which host the
economic-grade gold mineralization. F. Present level of erosion through the breccia pipe.
causing periodic boiling of the highly saline fluid to
produce a vapor with a salinity range of 5 to 10
wt percent NaC1 equiv. The vapor condensed over a
temperature range of 380 to 460C under near crit-
ical conditions due to adiabatic expansion and/or ad-
sorption of heat by wall rocks to form a liquid of similar
salinity.
Postbreccia
Early-stage, postbreccia quartz-epidote-sulfide
cavity-infilling mineralization was deposited from a
magmatic fluid (lSO = 4-8%0, D = -50 to -20%0)
with a salinity ranging from 5 to 10 equiv wt percent
NaC1, at temperatures clustering in the ranges 300
to 400 and 400 to 540C (homogenization tem-
peratures corrected for pressure). The early-stage
postbreccia fluid was a liquid with similar salinity,
range of homogenization temperatures, and isotopic
composition to condensate trapped as type L inclu-
sions in the prebreccia mineralization. This liquid is
interpreted as having condensed from a vapor pro-
duced by boiling of a highly saline magmatic fluid at
a deeper level in the system, under similar conditions
to those described for the formation of the liquid
trapped as type L inclusions in the prebreccia min-
eralization.
During the latter part of the early-stage mineral-
izing event, the deposition of the quartz-epidote
_ pyrite _ pyrrhotite cavity-infilling mineralization
appears to have made the breccia suciently im-
permeable that a highly saline magmatic fluid was able
to migrate upward into the system with only a limited
amount of boiling. The introduction of this highly sa-
line, higher temperature fluid resulted in the trapping
of type S and V inclusions and the localized over-
printing of quartz-epidote-sulfide mineralization by
a hydrothermal biotite-magnetite-pyrrhotite assem-
blage.
The lower temperatures associated with transi-
tional- to late-stage mineralization resulted in a
change from orthoclase to muscovite stable alteration.
The extensive replacement of biotite by muscovite
led to the fluid becoming suciently enriched in Fe
that the composition of the transitional- to late-stage
carbonate was ankerite. During transitional- to late-
stage mineralization, the bulk of the quartz infilling
was deposited over a temperature range of 300 to
380C. The lower temperature population of fluid
inclusions ranges from 170 to 300C and is inter-
preted as having been trapped during the deposition
of the sulfides and carbonate.
The econominc-grade gold mineralization which is
hosted by sulfides within the late-stage sheeted veins
and cavities would have been deposited over a tem-
perature range of 350 to possibly as low as 170C.
The data of Seward (1973) suggest that a drop in the
temperature from 300 to 170C would have caused
a drop in solubility of gold bisulfide complexes by one
or two orders of magnitude. Therefore, cooling of the
fluid as it ascended through the breccia column must
have played an important role in localizing the late-
stage gold mineralization over a restricted vertical
and horizontal interval of the breccia pipe. This is
demonstrated in the Wise's Hill area, where the de-
crease from economic to subeconomic gold grades
over a vertical and lateral distance of 200 m is accom-
panied by an increase in the ratio of pyrrhotite to
pyrite, reflecting increasing temperature. Fluid in-
clusion and stable isotope data suggest no significant
quantities of a lower temperature, lower salinity fluid
were introduced into the system at this stage.
Fluid inclusion data indicate that the transitional-
to late-stage fluid was similar to that associated with
early-stage quartz-epidote-sulfide mineralization ex-
cept of the presence of CO2. Stable isotope data in-
dicate that the CO2 was introduced from a cooling
rhyolite magma.
Summary and Conclusions
The Kidston breccia pipe is spatially and temporally
associated with the emplacement of a series of Permo-
Carboniferous rhyolite dikes and stocks into middle
Proterozoic metamorphics and granitoids. The coin-
cidence of a regional gravity low with the dike swarm
and the association of these dikes with areas of caul-
dron subsidence and ring dikes is interpreted as in-
dicating that the breccia pipe is underlain by a large
Permo-Carboniferous batholith. The earliest phase of
brecciation (phase 1) is interpreted to have formed
as a result of the escape of a boron-rich magmatic
hydrothermal fluid from the apical portions of one or
more bodies of crystallizing rhyolites. The bulk of the
breccia pipe, phase 2 breccia, formed by collapse in
response to either magma withdrawal or the escape
of a large volume of magmatic hydrothermal fluid,
presumably from the apical portion of the postulated
underlying batholith. The final phase of brecciation,
the phase 3 breccia, which was intruded into the cen-
ter of the breccia pipe, is presumed to have formed
either in response to the explosive interaction of the
postbreccia rhyolite and hydrothermal fluids already
present within the breccia pipe or by the escape of
magmatic hydrothermal fluids from the postbreccia
rhyolite body at a deeper level in the pipe. Fluid in-
clusion data and the absence of any significant amount
of meteoric water in the hydrothermal system suggest
that the breccia-forming processes occurred at a depth
of approximately 3,500 m and that the breccia pipe
did not breach the contemporary land surface. Pre-
sumably any hydrothermal fluids and volatiles which
escaped from the system during brecciation and min-
eralization did so via fractures, some of which have
been mapped as breccia dikes.
Prebreccia mineralization consists of stockwork
quartz veining in the carapace of several rhyolite
stocks. The similarities in fluid inclusion and stable
isotope data from the stockwork veins and crenulate
quartz layers within the rhyolite bodies indicate that
the fluid responsible for stockwork vein mineraliza-
tion was a high-salinity, high-temperature magmatic
fluid exsolved directly from the crystallizing rhyolite
bodies. Hydraulic fracturing associated with localized
brecciation and stockwork vein formation resulted in
intermittent fluctuations between lithostatic and hy-
drostatic pressure conditions allowing the highly sa-
line fluid to boil. The vapor produced by the boiling
of this fluid was cooled by adiabatic expansion and
condensed under near-critical conditions as a mod-
erately saline lower temperature liquid.
The postbreccia mineralizing fluid was a moder-
ately saline (5 to 10 wt % NaC1 equiv) magmatic liq-
uid, interpreted as having formed by condensation of
a vapor produced by the boiling of a highly saline
magmatic fluid at a deeper level within the breccia
pipe.
During the early-stage prebreccia mineralization,
the fluid was channeled up the inverted funnel-shaped
zone of enhanced permeability. Within this zone of
enhanced permeability, cavities were infilled with
quartz-epidote _ sulfide mineralization and associ-
ated orthoclase-albite-muscovite-calcite alteration.
Throughout the remainder of the breccia pipe, cavity-
infilling mineralization consisted of calcite _ sulfide
with muscovite-calcite-chlorite alteration. The change
in cavity assemblages presumably reflects the de-
creasing temperature and fluid-rock ratio as the fluid
percolated out of the more permeable zone into the
surrounding breccia. The infilling of cavities resulted
in decreased permeability within the breccia pipe al-
lowing the highly saline magmatic fluid to penetrate
to higher levels in the pipe before boiling. The biotite-
magnetite-pyrrhotite and biotite-siderite-pyrite as-
semblages which overprint the earlier quartz-epidote
_ sulfide mineralization are probably associated with
this highly saline fluid.
The economic-grade gold mineralization is hosted
by the transitional- to late-stage quartz-ankerite
_ sulfide cavity infilling and sheeted vein mineraliza-
tion localized within a zone of sheeted fractures more
or less coincident with the inverted funnel-shaped
zone of enhanced permeability present during early-
stage postbreccia mineralization. A transitional-stage
cavity-infilling and vein assemblage represents the
progression from early-stage to late-stage mineraliza-
tion. A decrease in temperature during transitional-
to late-stage mineralization resulted in the partial
overprinting of early-stage cavity-infilling assem-
blages by muscovite-ankerite alteration. Economic-
grade gold mineralization was deposited over a
temperature range of 300 to 170C. At these tem-
peratures gold would have been transported predom-
inantly as a bisulfide complex (Seward, 1973). The
lateral and vertical decrease in the grade of gold min-
eralization within the late-stage sheeted veins and
cavities is associated with an increase in ratio of pyr-
rhotite to pyrite which is interpreted as reflecting in-
creasing temperature. Therefore, the primary controls
on deposition of gold within the sheeted veins appears
to have been temperature.
The inverted funnel-shaped zone of enhanced per-
meability which was produced by the forceful em-
placement of the postbreccia rhyolite into the lower
portion of the breccia pipe has been the main control
on the distribution of postbreccia mineralization as-
semblages. The persistence of this zone through time
as reflected by the late-stage sheeted veins cutting
through the breccia already cemented by early-stage
assemblages indicates that throughout the entire
postbreccia hydrothermal episode rhyolite magma
was being forcefully intruded into the lower portions
of the breccia pipe. This relationship adds further
support to the hypothesis that both brecciation and
gold mineralization at Kidston are genetically related
to rhyolite magmatism.
Acknowledgments
Placer Pacific and Kidston gold mines kindly made
available data and samples and assisted with logistical
support. The assistance of Garth Wilson, John Gallo,
and Frank Tullemans with these matters is greatly
appreciated. Andrew Bryce assisted with stable iso-
tope analyses. R. A. Binns provided samples of grano-
diorite for isotopic analysis. Research undertaken by
EMB as part of this project was sponsored by Austra-
lian Mineral Industry Research Association under the
supervision of Gregg Morrison at James Cook Uni-
versity. EMB wishes to acknowledge the considerable
effort G. W. Morrison, P. J. Pollard, and R. W. T.
Wilkins put into discussing various aspects of this re-
search. The manuscript has benefited from thoughtful
reviews by P. E. Brown, R. H. Sillitoe, G. F. Taylor,
and an anonymous Economic Geology reviewer.
May 10, 1990; February 7, 1991
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Economic Geology

Vol. 86, 1991, pp. 810-830

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