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Economic Geology

BULLETIN OF THE SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS

VOL.94 September
1999 No. 6

AgeConstraints
onJerrittCanyonand
OtherCarlin-Type
GoldDeposits in theWesternUnitedStates.-
Relationship
to Mid-Tertiary
Extension
andMagmatism
A. H. HOFSTRA,
• L. W. $NEE, R. O. RYE, H. W. FOLGER,
U.S.Geological
Sur•ey,FederalCenter,Box25046,Denver,Colorado
80225

J. D. PHINISEY,
R. j. LORANGER,A. R. DAHL,
AngloGold,*
Elko,Nevada89801

C. W. NAESER, H. j. STEIN,

U.S.Geological
Suruey,
NationalCenter,12201Sunrise
ValleyDr.,Reston,
Virginia22092

AND M. LEWCHUK • • •

Department
of Geology,
University
of Windsor,
Windsor,
Ontario,CanadaN9B3P4

Abstract

Carlin-type golddeposits aredifficultto dateanda widerangeof ageshasbeenreported forindividual de-


posits.Therefore,severalmethods wereemployed to constrainthe ageof the golddeposits in the Jerritt
Canyon district.
Datedigneous rocks withwell-documented crosscutting relationshipstooreprovided themost
reliableconstraints.K/Arand4øAr/3•Ar datesonigneous rocksareasfollows: andesitc dikes324Ma,serieitie
alterationin andesitc dikes118Ma, basaltdikes40.8Ma, quartzmonzonite dikes39.2Ma, andeale-alkaline
ignimbrites 43.1to 40.1Ma. Of these,onlythe andesitc andbasaltdikesaredearlyalteredandmineralized.
Thegolddeposits are,therefore,
younger thanthe40.8Ma basaltdikes.Theserieitie alteration in theandesitc
dikesisunrelated to thegolddeposits. A numberof datingtechniques didnotxvork. K/Arand4øAr?•Ar dates
onmicafrommineralized Ordovieian to Devonian sedimentary rocksgavemisleading results. Theyoungest
dateof 149Ma fromthesmallest <0.1-/xm-sizefractionshows thatthetemperature (120ø-260øC) anddura-
tion(?)ofhydrothermal activity
wasinsufficientto resetpreexisting fine-grained micas in thehostrocks. The
temperature anddurationwasalsoinsufficient to annealfission tracksin zirconfromOrdovieian quartzitesas
theyyieldMiddleProterozoie datesin bothmineralized andbarrensamples. Apatites weretoosmallfor fis-
siontrackdating.Hydrothermal sulfides havepronounced crustalosmium isotope signatures (187Os/188OSinltial
= 0.9-3.6)butdidnotyielda meaningful isoehron duetoverylowBeandOsconcentrations andlargeanal•-
iealuncertainties.Palcomagnetic datingtechniques failedbecause thehydrothermal fluidssulfidized nearlyall
oftheironin thehostrocksleaxSng noremnantmagnetism.
Whenpublished isotopicdatesfromotherCarlin-type depositsin NevadaandUtaharesubject to therig-
orousevaluation developed fortheJerrittCanyon study, mostdeposits canbeshmvn to haveformedbetween
42 and30 Ma.K/Arand4øAr/a9Ar datesontheyoungest preoreigneous rocksrangefrom41to32 Ma,whereas
theoldest postore igneousrocksrangefrom35to 33 Ma.Hydrothermal adulariafromtheTwinCreeksdeposit
yieldssimilar4øAr/a•Ar datesof 42 Ma. K/Ardatesonsupergene aluniterangefrom4 to 30 Ma. K/Arand
4øAr/a•Ardatesonmicas separated fromsedimentary (395-43Ma)andigneous (145-38Ma)rocksareusually
mucholderthanthegolddeposits andmostaresuspect because theyarefromincompletely resetpreoremicas
or frommixtures of preoreandore-stage mica.Fission trackdatesonzircons arealsogenerally olderthanthe
deposits(169-35Ma) andarenotcompletely resetbymineralization. Apatites arelildeyto beresetbythehy-
drothermal systems (andbyyounger thermalevents) andyielddates(83-22Ma) thatareyounger thanthose
from zircon.

Corresponding
author:
email,ahofstra@helios.cr.
usgs.gov
•Formerly:
Independence
MiningCompany, Inc.
•Presentaddress:
Departmentof EarthResources,
ColoradoStateUniversity,
FortCollins,
Colorado80523.
•Present address:
School
of GeologyandGeophysics,University
of Oklahoma,
100E. BoydSt.,Ste.810,Norman,OK 73019.
Vol 94, 1999,pp. 769-802
0361-0128/99/2085/769-34
$6.00 769
770 HOFSTRA ET AL.

Independent supportof a mid-Tertiary ageis provided by the low8DH2ovaluesof hydrothermal fluids


from10widelyseparated Carlin-type deposits (-134 ñ 23%0).Thelow•JDH20 valuesareconsistent
witha
mid-Tertiaryagewhentheelimate wascoolbutareinconsistent withtheCretaceous andJurassic
agesfavored
bysomeworkers whentheelimate waswarm.Theageanddistribution of Cadin-type
depositscoincides
with
areasthatunder,ventextension andeale-alkalinemagmatism overthesametimeperiod.Despitethisrelation-
ship,thedepositslackdearspatialor genetic relationshipsto mid-Tertiaryepizonal
plutons.
Rather,manyde-
positsarelocalized
alongpreexistingcrustalfaultzones.In theGetehell trend,structures
tappeddeep-sourced
metamorphic (ormagmatie) fluidsandsubsequently variably exchanged meteoricwater.In theothertrends
anddistricts
onlyvariably
exchanged meteoric waterhasbeendetected. Theserelationships
suggesteitherthat
allofthedepositsformedfromdeep-sourced fluidsandweresubsequently floodedbymeteoricwater,or,that
fluidsfromdifferentmumesevolved to produce depositswithsimilareharateristies.
Introduction 1995;andreferences therein).In particular, thisworkhas
THENORTH-CENTRAL BasinandRangetectonic province con- improved understanding of the geologic framework, parage-
rainssomeof the world'slargestactivegoldminesandis a netic sequence, physical and chemical attributes of the ores,
goldprovince of worldimportance. Themajority of thegold roleof organiccarbon,chemical andisotopic composition of
isproduced fromsedimentary rock-hosted, disseminated re- ore fluids,and processes of ore deposition. The ore deposi-
placement golddeposits calledCarlintypedueto theirsimi- tionalprocesses documented at JerrittCanyoncanbe shown
larityto the famousCarlinmine(Fig. 1). Over100Carlin- to applyto many other Carlin-type deposits.
typedeposits areknownwithdeposit gradesranging from1 The age of Carlin-type deposits hasbeenthe subjectof
to 20 g/t,although mostof theoreisin the 1- to 2-g/trange majordebateandawiderangeof agesfromtheLateJurassic
(Christensen, 1995).Collectively,thesedeposits areestimated to middleTertiaryhasbeenreported.For example, Wilson
to haveoriginally contained about5,000t of gold(Chris- and Parry (1995) consider -150 Ma to be the age of gold min-
tensen, 1995), more than half of which residesin the Carlin eralization at Mercur,Utah,whereas Mako(1997)prefersan
trend(-3,100t). Over1,000t of goldhasbeenproduced by age<31.6Ma. Presnell(1992)favorsan ageof -150 Ma for
open-pitandunderground methods. Barneys Canyon,Utah.Arehartetal. (1993)favoran ageof
TheJerrittCanyon district(Fig.1)hasaccounted forabout -117 Ma for the Post-Betze deposit in the Carlintrendand
10percentof thegoldproduction in theregion.The district consider many Carlin-type deposits in Nevadato be Creta-
has reserves of about 100 t and resources of about 300 t. The ceousin age.Ilchik(1995)prefersa lessthan39 Ma agefor
golddeposits in theJerrittCanyon havebeenthesub- the Post-Betze
district deposit. Drewes-Armitage etal. (1996)favor
jectofdetailed cooperative studies byU.S.Geological Survey, an age of ~95 Ma for the Genesis and Blue Stardeposits in
academia, andindustry scientists for nearly10 yr andmuch the Carlin trend. Silberman etal. (1974) and Berger etal.
hasbeenlearnedabouttheirorigin(Hofstra,1994;Phinisey, (1975)preferan 80 to 90 Ma agefor goldmineralization at
Getcheil,Nevada,andconclude thatgoldmineralization was
spatially
andgenetically relatedtotheOsgood Mountains gra-
120ø 118ø i 116ø 114ø 112ø I nodioritestock.Joraleman (1975),however, favorsa much
younger Miocene ageforGetcheil. Groffetal.(1997)present
-'42ø'1'- OREGON i IDAHO i evidence for three episodes of mineralization at Getchellbe-
, ! tween 95 and 42 Ma. Maher etal. (1993) favor a late Eocene
toearlyOligocene
ageof38to34 MaforCarlin-type
deposits
in the Battle Mountain-Eureka belt.
I • Me'lhvC ,
.. PB•)I,.- GQ Uncertaintiesaboutthe ageof the deposits
stemfroma
j .. •,,,•
GB'•,
Carlin
Trdnd .MB
paucityof datableminerals
thatarecogenetic
withgoldand
_ 40ø,• .. •Co ,
I
'M from the fact that the structural zones that localize Carlin-
ß typedeposits alsorecordmultipleepisodes of deformation,
.4,k. ' ' magmatism, andhydrothermal activityunrelated to the de-
x, ' ;', Battle Mtn,
posits.
The superposition of eventshasmadeit difficult(and
important) to ascertainwhethera givenisotopic daterelates
'x -Eureka Belt
_ 38 ø '• to Carlin-typemineralization orto unrelatedevents. Thisun-
'% NEVADA • UTAH certaintyaboutagehasmadeit difficultto assess therelation
CALIFORNIA N ,
of goldmineralization to specificepisodes of magmatism and
' I tectonicsin theCordillera andhinderedattempts to develop
100 kilometersN •...... comprehensive geneticmodelsandexploration strategies.
I " I I . '1 'x, i ARIZONA Thepurpose of thispaperisto establish constraints onthe
0 100 miles x ,
ageofJerrittCanyon andto evaluate theutilityof thevarious
Fro.1. Location
of Carlin-type
golddepositsinthewesternUnitedStates. geochronologic methods used.Theresults showthatonlycer-
Minesmentioned in thetextinclude:
AR = Alligator
Ridge,C = Carlin,Co= tain geochronologic methodsandsamplematerialprovide
Cortez, GB = Genesis-Bluestarand Beast,Ge = Getcheil, GP = Gold Pick,
meaningful constraints on the ageof the deposits. Insights
GQ = GoldQuarry,JC= JerrittCanyon, M = Mereur,MB = MeleoandBar-
heysCanyon,Me = Meikle,P = Pinson,PB = Post-Betze, R = Rustlerand gained fromstudies atJerrittCanyon areusedto evaluate the
Windfall,T = TonkinSprings,
TC = TwinCreeks.TheCarlintrendandBat- reliability
of published datesfromotherCarlin-type deposits.
fie Mountain-Eurekabeltareindicated
bythedashed lines. Reinterpretation of published datesyieldsa mid-Tertiary age
AGECONSTRAINTS..
JERRITT
CANYON
& OTHERCARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. 7'71

for mostCarlin-type
deposits.Independentsupport for this continentalshelf along the Roberts Mountainsthrust
interpretation
comesfromtheverylow8DH•2O valuesof hy- (Robertset al., 1958). In the Independence Range,the
drothermalfluidsthatreflectextrememid-Tertiaryclimate Roberts Mountains allochthon(ValmyGroup)formsa grossly
conditions.
Theevidence suggeststhatCarlin-type
depositsnorthwest-dipping holnoclinalstack,aproximately
1.9 km in
formed soon after the onset of extension and calc-alkaline thickness(Watkins and Browne, 1989), that was folded and
magmatism in thelateEocene,a timethathappened to co- brokenbythrustfaultsduringitsemplacement (Milleret al.,
incidewith unusallycoolclimates.Resolution of the age 1984).Severalimbricatethrustsandsouth-verging foldsare
questionallowsdiscussionof the relationship
betweenCar- presentin miogeoclinal rocksbelowthe RobertsMountains
lin-typedepositsandthe Tertiarytectonicevolution of the thrust(Daly et al., 1991)that probablyformedduringthe
Cordillera. Antler orogeny.The RobertsMountainsallochthonshead
sediment eastinto a fore-deepbasin,westinto a marginal
TectonicHistory basin,andwaseventually overlainby Mississippianto Per-
It is important to reviewthetectonic historyof theJerritt mianshelfdeposits; the "overlapsequence" of Robertset al.
Canyon districtandsurrounding region(Fig.2) to providea (1958).In areaswithinabout30kmof theJerrittCanyon dis-
framework withinwhichto evaluate the geochronologic re- trict,the overlapsequence records upliftandsubsidence re-
suitsandbecause manyotherCarlin-type deposits occurin lated to the Late Mississippian to Middle Pennsylvanian
similarsettings.Following LateProterozoicriftinganddevel- Humboldtorogeny (Ketner,1977),whichwasapproximately
opmentof a trailingcontinental margin,thewesternmargin coeval withconvergent tectonics
thatproduced theAncestral
of NorthAmerica wasaffected by severalepisodes of con- RockyMountainsfarthereast.The RobertsMountainal-
tractional deformation (Fig.2). Extensionaldeformation has lochthon andoverlapsequence weresubsequently overiden
affectedthe regionsincethe lateEocene.Magmatism was by eugeoclinal rocksof the Golcondaallochthon due to ac-
mostintense in theLateJurassic, LateCretaceous, andmid- cretionof an islandarc duringthe Late PermianandEarly
Tertiary; theagesfavored forCarlin-typedeposits (Fig.2). TriassicSonomaorogeny(Miller et al., 1984).About8 km
Passive marginsedimentation wasinterrupted bythe Late northof theJerrittCanyondistrict,the Golconda allochthon
Devonianto Early Mississippian Antlerorogeny, wheneu- is representedby the Schoonover sequence thatformsa -7-
geoclinalsiliciclasticrockswere thrusteastwardonto the kin-thickhomoclinal stackof imbricatethrustplatesthat
strikenortheast and dip steeplynorthwest(Miller et al.,
1984).
Beginningin the Late Triassic,the westernmarginof
Deformation North America became the site of semicontinuous east-di-
rectedsubduction(Speedet al., 1988)andformation of the
Cordilleranorogenicbelt. In the continentalforeland,
episodesof thin-skinnedcontractional deformation(e.g.,
ElkoandSevierorogenies, Fig. 2) werelocallyfollowed,or
accompanied, by extensionalfaulting, magmatism,and
• E o o '• :• o• metamorphism (Bartonet al., 1988;Bartonand Hanson,
1989; Thorman et al., 1990, 1991). It is not clear to what ex-
tent the JerrittCanyondistrictwasaffectedby thesecon-
d d tractionalevents,althoughnorth- to northeast-striking
foldsarepresentthatmayhaveformedduringoneor both
of theseevents(Daly et al., 1991).Althoughthereare no
D M •P P Tr J K T Mesozoic plutonsin the district,all of the Paleozoicsedi-
ß
mentaryrocksxvereaffectedby regionallow-grademeta-
morphismthat convertedorganicmatter to microcrys-
Mafic • Felsic ---- • tallinegraphiteandalteredconodonts to colorindicesof 4
o
to 5 (Hofstra, 1994). During the Paleoceneand early
._E
Magmatism ., Eocene,the JerrittCanyondistrictwasin a part of the
Cordillerathat lackedappreciable magmatism, and con-
tractionaldeformationwas mainlyin areasfarther east
Favored Ages ß ß ß ß (Christiansen and Yeats, 1992). Beginningin the late
Eocene,the JerrittCanyondistrictand surrounding areas
400 300 200 100 0 wereaffectedby calc-alkaline magmatism andextensional
deformation thatwereroughlysynchronous with evolution
Ma
of the Ruby Mountains metamorphic core complex farther
east(Dalyet al., 1991).Sincethe late Miocene,the region
FIG. 2. Majorepisodes of deformationand magmatism in northern hasbeenaffectedby widespread normalfaultingand bi-
Nevada andnorthwestUtah•vithfavoredagesforCarlin-type
deposits.The modalbasalt-rhyolite volcanism characteristic of the Basin
Jurassic
andCretaceousages
forCarlin-typedeposits
arebasedonmicas sep-
aratedfrommineralizedsedimentaryandigneous rocks.Themid-Tertiary andRangeprovince. The JerrittCanyondistrictis located
agefor the deposits
is basedprimarilyon crosscutting with in the Independence
relationships Mountains,a north-trendingrange
datedigneousrocks. boundedby alluvialvalleysthatis typicalof the province.
772 HOFSTRA ET AL.

Geologyof the JerrittCanyonDistrict of pelagic,siliciclastic,


andvolcanic
rocksthathavebeenin-
cludedin the SnowCanyonFormation of the ValmyGroup
Stratigraphy (Churkinand Kay,1967).According to Leslie(1990),the
Figure3 is a geologic mapof the JerrittCanyondistrict. SnowCanyonFormationis Late Cambrianto MiddleOr-
The districtisprimarilyundedainby Ordovician eugeoclinaldovician in age.Miogeoclinalrocks(Fig.4) includepartsof
rocksthatarepartof the RobertsMountains and the OrdovicianPogonipGroup, the OrdovicianEureka
allochthon
miogeoclinal sedimentary rocksof Ordovician to Devonian Quartzite,the Ordovician-Silurian
HansonCreekFormation,
age.In thedistrict,
theRoberts Mountains allochthonconsiststhe Silurian-Devonian Roberts Mountains Formation, and a

116000'00 ß
Mill Site
Legend
v volcanic rocks
v

Tertiary volcanic rocks

/ Western facies

l--41
•22'30" Roberts Mountains
Formation
Hanson Creek
Formation

Eureka Quartzite

PogonipGroup

Contact

Anticline

Syncline

Thrust fault

High-angle fault

Gold ore deposit

v N

Pie
Creek
volcanic rocks o • 2 3 4 5Km
I
o
i i
i
i i i
2
! I i
$ Miles

A A'

3000
m •"•'•
'•'- •': "... .. \\•_
•)), .•••..•-3000 m

FIC.3. Geologic
mapandcross section
oftheJerrittCanyon
district.
Westernfacies
(WF)refersto theLowerOrdovi-
cianSnowCanyonFormation
oftheValmyGroupwhichcomprises theRobertsMountainsallochthon.
LowerOrdovicianto
MiddleDevonianmiogeoclinal
sedimentaryrocks
areexposedinwindows through
theRoberts Mountainsallochthon.
Gold
deposits-prospects
arehosted
in theRobertsMountainsandHanson CreekFormationsandareindicatedbytheblackcir-
cles:A -- Alchem,BB = Burnsbasin,CM = CaliforniaMountain,DS = DASH, M = Mahala,MC = MarlboroCanyon,MiC
= Mill Creek,MM = Murraymine,NGH = NorthGenerator Hill,PC = PieCreek,PS= PattaniSprings,
SC-- SavalCanyon,
SpC= Spaghetti
Creek,ST = SteerCanyon,
WC = Winters Creek,WGH = WestGenerator
Hill,WP = Waterpipe
Canyon,
WW = WrightWindow.
Adapted fromDalyet al.(1991).
AGECONSTRAINTS:
]ERRITTCANYON
& OTHERCARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. 773

Thrust Fit Collapse Refractory


Roberts
Mountains
ThrustBreccias
Breccias
Jasperoids
GoldOre
o

E.F.L.

lOO
Roberts
Mountains
Fm.

Disconformity
2OO
Unit 1

Unit 2

Hanson Creek
3OO Fm.
Unit 3

Unit 4

4oo Unit 5

Eureka
Quartzite

7oo

Pogonip
Group

9OO
? ? ? ?
Concealed

FIC.4. Stratigraphic
section
for miogeoelinal
rocksthathostgoldorein theJerrittCanyon
district.Strataaffected
by
thrustfaultbreccias,
collapse
breccias,
jasperoids,
andrefractory
goldorearealsoindicated.
E.F.L.= Eastern FaciesLime-
stone.

Middle Devonian limestone called the "Eastern Facies Lime- Mioceneto Holocene sequenceof fluvialandlacustrinesed-
stone."Nearlyall of the goldhasbeenproduced fromthe imentaryrocksthatwereshedoff the nearbyrangesduring
RobertsMountains andHansonCreekFormations (Fig.4), BasinandRangeuplift(Coats,1987).Theonlyvolcanic rocks
althoughtheotherrockunitsarelocallymineralized. fromthissequence thathavebeenstudiedin anydetailare
The flanksof the Independence Rangearecovered by a thosecropping outonthe eastsideof therange(Fig.3). The
continental
sequence of Eoceneto Miocenefluvialandlacus- Mill Sitevolcanic
complex consistsof a basaldaeiteash-flow
trinesedimentaryrocksandvolcanic rocks(Fig.3) thatblan- tuff and andesitieto daeitie lavas,domes,breeeias,and tuffs
ketedtherangepriorto BasinandRangefaulting in themid- eruptedfromlocalvents(Pansze, 1992a).The PieCreekvol-
dle Miocene.In the valleyson either side of the eaniesconsistof rhyoliteto rhyodaeite
ash-flowtuff, flows,
Independence range,theserocksare overlainby a late andsmalldomes eruptedfromlocalcenters (Pansze,
1992b).
774 H¸FSTRA ET AL.

All of the rocksin the Mill Sitevolcanic complexareuni- areavailable in Hofstra(1994),Phinisey (1995),andPhinisey
formlyfreshandunaltered; nofavorable traceelementshave et al. (1996).Thebriefdescriptions thatfolloxv establish their
been detected (Pansze, 1992a). The volcanic rocks in Pie relationship to goldmineralization andprovidea basisfor in-
Creekare freshand unalteredexceptfor scattered occur- terpretation of thegeoehronologie results.
rencesof quartzveins,silicification, and argillicalteration Andesite dikesandoccasionally sillsarepresentandknown
alonga northeast-trending faultbetweenthe volcanics and to be mineralized in mostof the golddeposits in the south-
the SnowCanyonFormation. A fewsamples of thevolcanics westhalfof the district(Graeie,New Deep,WestGenerator
wereweaklyanomalous in arsenic (20-40ppm)butcontained Hill, Saval,Burns Basin,Mill Creek, SpaghettiCreek,
no gold(Pansze, 1992b).The volcanicrocksin the district MASH,andWaterpipe Canyon deposits) butareabsent from
wererelatively unaffected by the hydrothermal system that mostofthedeposits in thenortheast partofthedistrict(Marl-
produced thegolddeposits. boroCanyon,NorthGenerator Hill, Alehem,PattaniSprings,
andWintersCreekdeposits; Fig. 3). Severalandesitedikes
Ore deposits areexposed in the BurnsBasindepositandin placesareore
Thegolddeposits arehosted in miogeoclinal carbonate and grade.Individualandesite dikescanbe tracedintermittently
clastic rocksexposed in windows through theallochthon (Fig. alongstrikefor morethana kilometer. Theyareusually near
3). The deposits arehighlyirregular in shapebut arehosted vertical(___20 ø)andmanycutacross foldsandthrustfaults,in-
primarilyin carbonaceous andpyritic,laminatedcalcareouseludingthe RobertsMountainsthrust.Andesitedikesare
siltstoneof the RobertsMountainsFormationand argilla- commonly porphyritie withplagioelase, amphibole, biotite,or
ceous,dolomitic limestonesof the Hanson Creek Formation augitephenoerysts in a feltedmatrixofplagioelase withsmall
(Fig4). Theirdistribution iscontrolled byintersections of fa- amounts of augite,olivine,biotite,andilmenite.Although the
vorablelithologies with a complex arrayof structures. High- primarymineralogy and geochemistry of thesedikesshow
angleeast-northeast-, northeast-, andnorthwest-striking nor- theyhavebasaltic compositions, thefieldterm"andesite" has
mal faultsare the majorore controls,althoughfoldsand beenretainedto distinguish themfromthe youngerbasalt
thrustfaultsalsoinfluence thedistribution of ore.The high- dikes.
estgradesandlargestdeposits occurwheredoselyspaced Three differentalterationassemblages havebeenrecog-
high-angle faultsintersect foldsandthrustfaultsin favorable nizedin theandesitc dikesthatformedduringthreeseparate
lithologies. events:(1) a latemagmatic or deutericalteration assemblage
Mostof the goldis produced fromrelatively unweatheredconsisting of barianK feldsparovergrowths on plagiodase,
blackearbonaeeous pyriticrefractory ores,with lesserpro- withminorbiotite,apatite,andtraceamounts of sulfides and
duetionfromweathered tan andbuff oxidized (formerlyre- girtinsite; (o.)sericiticalteration of feldspars with minorcar-
fraetory)ore,andfromjasperoid ores.In thesedeposits the bonateandtracesof sulfides; and(3) argillicalteration ofpre-
oresarerefractory because goldis enclosed withinironsul- existingsilicates with sulfidation of iron-bearing minerals.
fide minerals and/or because the carbonaceous matter robs The barianK feldsparassemblage hasbeenrecognized in
goldfromcyanide solutions. Thehigh-grade refractory oresin nearlyeveryunmineralized andesitc dikethathasbeensam-
the districtareusuallydeearbonated, sulfidized, andlocally pledbutismoreprominent in somedikesandlessprominent
containrealgarand/ororpimentin openspaces(Hofstra, in others.Sericiticalterationis nearlyubiquitous in the an-
1994).The silieifieation thatproduced jasperoid, whichmay desitcdikes,variesconsiderably in intensity, anddoesnot
or maynotbeore,andthedecarbonation andsulfidation that haveanyrecognized spatialcorrelation to knowngoldde-
produced refractory orearethe majormanifestations of the posits.Thereis no clearzonalrelationship bet•veen the in-
hydrothermal system. Jasperolds arebestdeveloped in or ad- tensityof sericiticalteration andthebarianK feldspar assem-
jacentto cherrylithologies of the HansonCreekFormation blage.Argillicalterationand sulfidation is onlypresentin
(unit1 andattheunit3-4contact, Fig.4). Refractory oresare dikeslocated in goldorezones. At theselocations, theyareal-
bestdeveloped in unit 3 limestones, in the RobertsMoun- teredto an assemblage of quartz,kaolinitc,leucoxene, and
tainsFormation(Fig.4), andlocallyin igneous dikes. sulfides.
Mamasite andlesseramounts of arsenian pyritepre-
Intrusions
dominate in strongly mineralized andesitc dikes,whereasar-
senopyrite ispredominant in lowergradebutstillstrongly al-
The Paleozoic sedimentary rocksin the districtarecutby tered samples.Quartz-realgar-marcasite _ calciteveinlets
three different sets of dikes. The dikes that have been occurlocallyin strongly mineralized dikes.Someof thevein-
mapped aresmallandverywidelyscattered. Threetypeshave lets also contain trace amountsof cinnabar,tetrahedrite, na-
beenrecognized: (1) nmnerous small,1- to 6-m-thick,N 40ø tivearsenic,andbotryoidalintergrowths
of antimonial
spha-
to 70øW-strikingandesitc dikesandsills,(2) severalsmall, lerite and an unidentifiedZn-Sb-T1-Assulfide (Phinisey,
<5-m-thick, variablyorientedbasalticdikesandsills,and(3)
twoquartzmonzonite dikeseachabout20 m thickthatstrike Basaltdikesarethe onlyotherigneous rocksknownto be
N 50øE.In the BumsBasinpit, a northwest-trending an- mineralized.
Althoughtheywerefirstexposed by miningin
desiredike is crosscut by an east-northeast-trendingbasalt theWestGenerator Hill pit (Fig.5), theyhavealsobeenen-
dike.Whereandesitc or basaltdikesoccurwithinlargerore counteredin the BurnsBasin,Saval-Steer Canyon,andNew
zonesin sedimentary hostrockstheyareargillically altered, Deepdeposits (Fig.3). Basaltdikesaregenerally lessthan5
sulfidized,and locallycontainore-gradegold.The quartz m in widthandtypicallyare discontinuous, branch,change
monzonite dikes do not occur in ore zones and are barren of strike(northwest to east-northeast), or locallybecomesills.
gold.Detaileddescriptions andchemical analyses ofthedikes Contacts withsurrounding hostrocksaresharpandusually
AGECONSTRAINTS:
JERRITT
CANYON
& OTHER
CARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. T75

2426000
realgar,
marcasite, andnativearsenic
arealsopresent (Fig.7).
Clastsof argillized
andsulfidizedbasaltoccurin silicified
so-
lutioncollapsebreccias(Fig.5).
500 ft.
Osc AllofthebasaltdikeslackthebarianK feldspar assemblage
and sericitic alteration common in andesitc dikes. For exam-
ple,at theintersection betweenbasaltandandesitc dikesin
: ,

J the Burns Basin pit, plagioclase in the andesite dike is re-


placedby serieite, whereas plagioelase in the basaltdikeis
,SOhc 1,2 not.Theserelationships indicatethattheserieitie alteration in
/J'JJ
J/J/ theandesite dikesformedpriorto emplaeement of thebasalt
JJ
J//J/
JJJJJ
dikesandisunrelated to thegolddeposits.
JJJJJ Quartzmonzonite dikesareknownat onlytwolocations in
J
J JJJJJ
JJJ/J
thesouthwest part ofthe district
away from known orebodies.
J
JJJJJ Theylackserieitie or argilliealteration, containlessthan5
J JJJJJ
ppbAu,andappear tobeunrelated tothegolddeposits. They
/J/J/J J/J/ consistdominantly ofplagiodase andK feldspar withvariable
J/J
JJJJJJJJJ
J J/J//
amounts of biotite,hornblende, quartz,andaccessory mag-
JJJ JJJJJJJJJ netiteand apatite.AlterationmineralsincludebarianK
J J J J J J J J
JJJ
feldspar,ehlorite,epidote,zeolite,andcalcite.Thepresence
.... j JJJJJ/ J ofgranophyrie intergrowths of quartzandK feldspar suggests
J//J//J/
theycrystallized froma hydrous melt.Although theRoberts
6800 JJ/DS'r/n
/// .....
Mountains
K feldspar,
Formation isalteredto anassemblage
andapatitefor1 to 3 m atdikecontacts,
of diopside,
thesmall
/J/J/J//
•ii•ii• ////J/J/ amount ofhornfels suggests thatthedikeswereaccompanied
•:ili•!!!•.
/J//J/J/
j/j/j/j/
byonlysmallamounts of magmatie water.
/J/J// Although thequartzmonzonite dikesandMill Sitevolcanic
OSC JJJJ/J/
/j//j/
complexare highlymagnetic andmusthavebeenderived
fromlargermagma chambers atdepth,themagnetic anomaly
mapof Nevada(Hildenbrand andKueks,1988)shows that
2422000 theJerrittCanyon districtliesin a magnetic low.Several drill
holesin thedistrict havepenetrated to depths of650to 1,300
F•c. 5. Simpriledgeologic mapof theWestGenerator Hill pit showing m, but all havefailedto intersect a largeintrusion or meta-
northeast-striking, southwest-plunging antichne,the RobertsMountains
thrust(RMT), Tertiarybasaltdikes(Tbi), Ordovician SnowCanyonFm. morphic aureole.The parent magma chambers forthese dikes
(Osc), Devonian and Silurian RobertsMountainsFormation (DSrm), and andvoleanies mustbe locatedat deeperlevels.Apparently,
units 1, 2, and 3 of the Silurian and Ordovician Hanson Creek Formation thegolddeposits arenotrelatedto a shallow intrusive center.
(SOhcl,2,3). In ore zones,the Roberts MountainsFormation and unit 3 of
theHansonCreekFormation aredecalcified, andexhibitrealgat Masstransfer
sulfidized,
onfractures,whereasthebasaltdikesareargillized
andsulfidized
andrarely
containrealganUnits1 and2 of theHansonCreekFormation arebrecciated Furtherevidence thatgoldmineralization
isyoungerthan
andsilicifedandlocallycontainfragmentsof alteredbasalt.Adaptedfrom the basaltdikesis providedby masstransferstudies.
The
Hodkiewizc(1992). chemicalcompositionofsamplesofbarrenhostrockandvari-
ablyalteredrefractory
oreswasdeterminedto measure
gains
and lossesof elements associated with alteration and mineral-
not significantly disruptedby subsequent faulting.Basalt ization.Theisoeon diagrams (Fig.8A-D)showthatthebasalt
dikesarevesieular andporphyritie, containing olivineandpy- dikes,andesitedikes,unit 3 limestonesof the HansonCreek
roxenephenoerysts in a feltedmatrixof plagioelase (Fig.6 A- Formation,and dolomitiesiltstonesof the RobertsMountains
D). In the least altered dikes outside of ore zones, olivine Formation wereallaffected bythehydrothermal solutions in
phenoerysts arecompletely alteredto serpentine,calcite,and a similarmannerandhavenearlyidentical traceelementen-
quartz(Fig.6C-D), pyroxene phenocrysts (augitc)arefresh richments (Au,As,Sb,Hg, T1,S, +Ag,+Te,+Se,+W,+ base
(Fig.6A-B),andplagioclase in thegroundmass ispartiallyal- metals,+Si,+Fe,+Ba),depletions (carbonate carbon, Ca,Sr,
teredto calcite.Although themineralogy, textures,andorien- Mg,Na, +K),andimmobile elements (A1,+Ti,+K, +Fe,+Si).
tationsof basaltdikesdistinguish them from the andesitc The assemblage of depletedelements reflectsargillicalter-
dikes,theycanalsobe identifedonthebasisof theiruniform ationof the dikesanddecarbonation of the sedimentary host
TiO2/A1203massratio of 0.072. rocks.Potassium isrelatively immobile or depleted in allfour
In the WestGeneratorHill pit, wherebasaltdikesare rocktypes.It is,therefore, unlikely thatlargeamounts of hy-
locatedin a high-grade (0.2oz/t)carbonaceous refractoryore drothermal micaprecipitated fromthe ore fluidsunlessit
zonein the RobertsMountains Formation(Fig.5), theyare formedattheexpense of preexisting K silicateminerals such
variablyargillized, sulfidized, andcontainup to 72.5 ppm asmuscovite, biotite,orpotassium feldspar.Thecombination
gold.Plagioclase isalteredtokaolinitc, whereas pyroxene and of relatively immobile ironandintroduced sulfurandgoldis
olivineare preferredsitesfor replacement by quartzand evidence thatmuchof thegoldprecipitated bysulfidation of
ironsulfides (Fig.6E-H). Veinlets containing quartz,calcite, host-rockiron (Hofstra et al., 1991;Hofstra, 1994).
776 HOFSTRAET AL.

Fxc.6. Photomicrographs
oftextural
features
observed
inbarren(A-D)andmineralized
(E-H) basalt
dikesfromtheWest
GeneratorHilldeposit
under crossed
polars
(exceptforF,which isunderreflected
light)A. Phenocrysts
ofpyroxeneand
olivine
(serpentinized)
ingroundmass ofplagioclase.
B.Glomeroporphyriticpyroxene.C. Serpentinized
olivine
phenocryst.
D. Serpentinized
skeletal
olivine
phenocryst.
E. Opaque ironsulfides
atformersites
ofpyroxene andolivine.
Plagiodase
in
thegroundmasshasbeenreplacedbyquartz
andkaolinitc.F.Glomeroporphyritic
pyroxenereplaced
bypyrite.G.Olivine
phenocryst
replaced
byironsulfides.
H. Skeletal
olivine
phenocrystreplaced
byquartz andironsulfides.

Geochronologic Studiesin theJerrittCanyonDistrict


Severalmethods wereemployed to constrain the ageof
thegolddeposits in theJerrittCanyondistrict:(1) K/Arand
4øAr/a9Ar dateson igneous rocks,(2) K/Ar and 4øAr/a9Ar
datesonmicasin alteredsedimentary rocks,(3)fission track
dateson detritalzircons, (4) Re-Osisotope composition of
sulfides,
and(5)paleomagnetic studiesoforesanddatedig-
neous rocks. Table 1 and Figure 9 summarizethe
geochronologic results.4øAr/a9Ar age spectra,analytical
methods, datatables,anddetaileddescriptions of thesam-
plesdatedarein Hofstra(1994),Phinisey (1995),andFol-
geret al. (1996).Thegoalof thesestudies wasto placethe
L :1000pm igneous and hydrothermal events into theircorrecttempo-
Fxc.7. Reflected lightphotomicrograph of a realgar
veinletin a basalt
ral positionswithin the complex tectonic history of the re-
dikefromtheWestGenerator Hilldeposit.
Theveinlet consists
ofearlycal- gion.Insights gained from thiswork forms the basis for a
cite(cc)andquartz(qtz)•vithlaterealgar (as)andmarc- critical
(d). Nativearsenic reviewofpublished datesfromotherCadin-type de-
asite(inc)areintergrown
•viththecalcite
andquartz. posits(below)ß
AGECONSTRAINTS:
]ERRITT
CANYON
& OTHER
CARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. 777

1000000

Constant
AI s•
1000001
Constant
AI,
K,
Fe,
]
Ti 62 % MassDecrease
AI/•
F?K/¾'.•' J.
100000. 35%MassDecrease
• S•g Ca
100001
ppm1000J Sb
As Ti,• •'•J
I P•/•/
10000
? Ti•,/•/•e
Altered • Hg mml A B.•a,•l• 1000•
Limestone • Au ß ?lNi- ,•.r.B/•a•ll 1'

• J90-2-1
1001Tm•ll
Se
ppm
Altered lOO• Not
Anal•ed
•VJ•
ß Lt/ - Dolo.
J90-5-1
Siltst.
u/gn
, lO• • Li• •r
/ •/c[ r
1-

O.Ol Const•
nt
Mass 0.1-

o.ool 0.01 /
• ,,,,,-1
Con•nt
Ma•
, ,,,,,,,i r ' ''""1 ........ I ........ I ........ I ........ I ........

B
ppm ,- ppm
Unaltered Limestone Unaltered Dolomitic Siltstone
J90-2-4 J90-5-4

lOOOOOO:
1000000
1
AI203J
Constant AI203 s
100000Constant
TiO2& Ai203l
] 54%MassDecrease
/ I •ø2•/il I 100000.32
Yo
o
Mass
Decrease
T TI02 Fe203

,oooo.
! t tl
= •ooo• • • I• •/•t•ol!,j[• I
E• lOO
o.• 10
• 1

0.1 0.1-

0.01 0.01- //'•'•"• Constant


Mass
0.001 o.ool
•........
• ........
• ........
• ........
• ........
• ........
• .......
• ........
• .......
o ppm " ,- o o
"Fresh" Basalt " "Fresh" Andesite "
88WG17 SH99C-717

Fro.8. Isocondiagrams
shoxving typicalmassfluxassociated
xvithalteration
andmineradization in theJerrittCanyon
dis-
trier.A. Limestone
fromunit3 of the HansonCreekFormation, NorthGenerator Hill deposit.
B. Dolomitiesiltstone
from
theRoberts Mountains
Formation, •VestGenerator Hill deposit.
C. BasaltdikesfromtheWestGenerator Hill deposit.
D.
Andesitc dikefromtheDASHdeposit. In thesediagramsthechemical composition ofleastalteredrock(xaxis)isplotted
againstthechemical compositionof moreintensely
alteredrocks(y axis).If therexverenofluxof elementsin or outof the
rockduring alteration,
thedatawouldplotalong thelineofconstantmass.Theisoeon isa linedefinedbytheimmobile com-
ponents in thesample thatcorrespondsto zeroconcentration
change. Theposition oftheisoeons in A-D indicatesthatal-
terationwasassociated withmass losses
of62to 32percent. Gainsorlosses ofindMdual mobilecomponents canbedeter-
minedbyinspection; components thatplotabovetheisoeon areintroduced, components thatplotonorneartheisoeon are
immobile, andcomponents thatplotbelowtheisoeon aredepleted.Seetextforfurtherdescription.
778 HOFSTRAET AL.

TABLE
1. Summary
of Geochronologic
Results
forIgneous
andSedimentary
Rocks
fromJerrittCanyon
Sample Elev Mineral Plateau
date Totalgasdate(Ma)Source
3
no. Northing
• Easting• (ft) Unit Rocktype (sizefraction) Method
2 (Ma) IsochronDate (Ma)

69NC41 2373700 392840 6,706 Tv (PieCr.) Rhyodacite tuff Biotite K-Ar 40.7 ñ 1.2 1
88MGI-52 2431160 401200 6,960 Tv (Millsite) Dacite tuff Biotite K-Ar 43.1 ñ 1.7 2
MSV91-4 2418750 403040 7,600 Tv (Millsite) Andesitcflow Bioitite 40Ar/39Ar 41.6 ñ 0.1 41.5 ñ 0.1 2
88MGI-54 2429750 408500 6,500 Tv (Millsite) Andesitcflow Hornblende K-Ar 41.1 ñ 2.2 2
J88-41 2429750 408500 6,500 Tv (Millsite) Andesitcflow Hornblende 40Ar/39Ar 40.1 ñ 0.1 40.1 ñ 0.2 2
j88-41 2429750 408500 6,500 Tv (Millsite) Andesitcflow Biotite 40Ar/3SAr 40.3 ñ 0.2 41.0 ñ 0.2 2
j88-3 2424870 382900 7,200 Tbi Basaltdike Plagioclase 40Ar/3SAr 40.8 ñ 0.1 42.1 ñ 0.2 2
j90-1 2424870 382900 7 120 Tbi Altered basalt ¾Vholerock 40Ar/3SAr No plateau 85.9ñ 4.8 2
88MGI-18 2390400 378800 7 880 Tmi Monzonite dike Hornblende K-Ar 39.9 ñ 2.3 2
Smith Cn 2390400 378800 7 880 Tmi Monzonite dike Hornblende 40Ar/3Sr 39.2 ñ 0.1 39.1 _+ 0.2 2
Smith Cn 2390400 378800 7 880 Tmi Monzonite dike Biotite 40Ar/39Ar No plateau 48.9 ñ 0.2 2
Smith Cn 2390400 378800 7 880 Tmi Monzonite dike Zeolite 40Ar/3Sr 43.7 ñ 2.6 50.2 ñ 2.5 2
88MGI-15 2407648 390495 7 784 Mai Andesitc dike Biotite K-Ar 321 ñ 11 2
88MGI-150 2407648 390495 7 784 Mai Andesitc dike ¾Vhole rock K-Ar 259 ñ 10 2
88MGI16 2424168 381658 7 203 Mai Andesitc sill ¾Vhole rock K-Ar 308 ñ 13 2
JGS-74 2415500 374750 6 250 Mai Andesitc
dike Amphibole
1 4øAr/3•Ar 321.8 ñ 0.54 324.5 _+ 3.0 2
JGS-74 2415500 374750 6 250 Mai Andesitc
dike Amphibole
2 4øAr/Sør 319.0 ñ 0.54 322.4 _+ 3.0 2
JGS-74 2415500 374750 6 250 Mai Andesitc dike •Vhole rock 4øAr/S0r No plateau 186.2ñ 0.3 2
88MGI-1 2406929 389212 7 817 Mai Andesitc dike •Vhole rock 40Ar/SSr No plateau 195.5ñ 0.3 2
EMAH2-355 2405666 402878 7,044 Mai Alteredandesitc 20-40/xfraction 40Ar/SSAr No plateau 140.2ñ 3.3 2
EMAH2-355 2405666 402878 7,044 Mai Alteredandesitc <20/z sericite 4OAr/39Ar No plateau 129.4ñ 0.2 2
GR50A-648 2421000 383000 6,200 Mai Altered andesitc Sericite K-Ar 118 ñ 3 3

Grain size (m)


j90-5-1 2423600 382500 7,180 SDrm Altered
Roberts
Mtns.2M1 mica 40Ar/SOAr 40-20/x 324.5 ñ 0.9 4
j90-5-1 2423600 382500 7,180 SDrm Altered
Roberts
Mtns.œM1 mica 40Ar/SOAr 20-5/x 283.7 ñ 1.1 4
J90-5-1 2423600 382500 7,180 SDrm Altered
Roberts
Mtns.2M1 mica 40Ar/SOAr 2-1/x 245.8 ñ 1.6 4
J90-5-1 2423600 382500 7,180 SDrm Altered
Roberts
Mtns.2M1 mica, US 40Ar/SOAr <0.1/x 149.1 ñ 0.4 4
J90-5-4 2423600 382500 7,180 SDrm RobertsMtns 2M1 mica 40Ar ,SOAr 40-20/x 384.4 ñ 1.2 4
J90-5-4 2423600 382500 7,180 SDrm RobertsMtns œM1 m•ca 40Ar ,SOAr 5-2/x 307.5 ñ 1.5 4
J90-5-4 2423600 382500 7,180 SDrm RobertsMtns 2M1 mica 40Ar ,SOAr 0.54).1/x 262.3 ñ 1.9 4
J90-5-4 2423600 382500 7,180 SDrm RobertsMtns 2M1 m•ca 40Ar ,SOAr <0.1/x 257.4 ñ 0.5 4
J90-2-1 2425500 387000 7,680 OShc Altered
Hanson
Cr. 2M1 mica 40Ar ,SOAr 40-20/x 394.4 ñ 1.1 4
J90-2-1 2425500 387000 7,680 OShc Altered
Hanson
Cr. 2M1 m•ca 40Ar ,SOAr 5-2/x 367.5 ñ 0.8 4
J90-2-1 2425500 387000 7,680 OShc Altered
Hanson
Cr. 2M1 m•ca 40Ar 'SSr 2-1/x 340.3 ñ 1.0 4
j90-2-1 2425500 387000 7,680 OShc Altered
Hanson
Cr. 2M1 m•ca 40Ar 'SSr <0.1/x 289.8 ñ 1.1 4
J90-2-4 2425500 387000 7,680 OShc HansonCr. 2M1 m•ca 40Ar 'SSr 40-20/x 382.6 ñ 1.3 4
J90-2-4 2425500 387000 7,680 OShc HansonCr. œM1 m•ca 40Ar ,SOr 5-2/x 380.5 ñ 1.5 4
J90-2-4 2425500 387000 7,680 OShc HansonCr. 2M1 m•ca 40Ar 'SSr 2-1/x 356.3 ñ 1.2 4

Grains FissionTrackDate (Ms)


J88-47 2437450 389450 9,337 Om McAfeeQtzt. Zircon Fissiontrack 6 1593 ñ 571 2
ID-6 2464000 391500 10,200 Om Mineralized
McAfeeZircon Fissiontrack 6 1172 ñ 315 2
J88-55 2433300 380000 6,800 Osc SnowCanyon Zircon Fissiontrack 6 1245 _+328 2
J88-24 2425500 385500 7,200 Osc 10 m fromore Zircon Fissiontrack 6 1294 _+363 2
j88-44 2400000 383500 7,600 Oe EurekaQtzt. Zircon Fissiontrack 5 1018 ñ 261 2

1NevadaCoordinate
System,Eastzonetranverse
mercator
projection
.240Ar/aOAr
analyses
byLarrySnee(USGS),K/Aranalyses
byKrueger Enterprises,
Inc.forIndependence
MiningCo.Inc.,andFission
trackanalyses
by
CharlesNaeser(USGS)
3Sources
ofisotopic
dates:
1 = McKeeet al.(1976),2 = Hofstra
(1994),3 = Phinisey
(1995),4 = Folgeret al.(1996)
4Apparentagemaximum,
nota trueplateau

K/Atand4øAr/SaAr
datesonigneous
rocks exhibited
weakpropylitic
alteration
(J88-3).The-80 to +100
meshfraction
ofthissample wastreatedfirstwith10percent
The volcanicrocks,quartzmonzonitedikes,and basalt HC1 to remove calcite and then with bromoform to remove
dikesprovideevidence for episodicmagmatic activityin the pyroxene phenocrysts. The resulting separateconsistedpri-
district between 43.1and39.2Ma (Table1, Fig.9). Samples marilyof plagioclase andyieldeda concordant agespectra of
of biotite and hornblende from the basal dacite tuff and an- 40.8 _ 0.1 Ma (Fig. 10) thatis interpreted
to be the ageof
desitcflowsin theMill Sitevolcanic complex yielddatesbe- dikeintrusion. The othersample(J90-1)wasargillically al-
tween 43.1 and 40.1 Ma and are similar to a 40.7 Ma date on teredandmineralized andconsisted predominantlyofquartz,
biotitefroma rhyodacite tuffin thePieCreekarea.Twosam- kaolinitc, andironsulfides. An untreated whole-rock sample
plesfroma basaltdikein theWestGenerator Hill pit were ofthismaterial didnotyielda usefulagespectrum because of
dated.Onesample wasunmineralized andbarrenofgoldbut itsverylowpotassium contentandapparent incorporationof
AGECONSTRAINTS:
JERRITT
CANYON
& OTHER
CARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. 779
i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

btll•l Pie Creek Volcanics

hbb•
MillSiteVolcanics
hbo Quartz Monzonite Dikes
pl Basalt Dikes
• dike

T j 40-20p
w.r. emplacement
•o Andesite
0
•-
v
Dikes
/ .w.r. sericitic
alteration
ß w.r.
• w.r.
• w.r.
i•1 bt
u• ß amp

o
Q.
(D
•M1mica ore,'1 arren
•.5-•.•,
1-0.5p
2-1,

• Sil.-Dev.
'0
0
Roberts
Mountains
Fm.
•'• 5-2,
40-20,
20-5,

<0.1
r5 2M1 mica
ore,89g/t•

barren
0.5-0
2,1p
•-0i5•
Ord.-Sil.HansonCreekFm. • 20,5p
5,2•
• 40;2;0,
barren ', -- ', Eureka

Zircon mineralizer•rren
I = ',McAfee
-- ', McAfee
Ordovician Quartzites 10mfrom
ore: ',Snow Canvon Fm
barren', _- ',Snow Cany6n Fm.

30
T I K
100 300 1000 3000

Age (Ma)
Fie.9. Sulnmarygeochronologydiagram ofK/Ar,4øAr/39Ar,
andfission
trackdates fromtheJerrittCallyon
district
(con-
structed
frominformationinTable1). Logarithlnic
timescalewithPrecambrian,
periodandepoch boundaries shmvnatthe
baseofthediagram. Errorbarsshown are___l•r,
except forfission
trackdateswheretheyare___2•r.
Manysymbols arewider
thantheerrorbars.Goldmineralization
isyoungerthanthe40.8Mabasalt dikes(thinvertical
line).Seetextforfurtherde-
scription.

125
excess4øAr(Fig. 10).The totalgasdateof 85.9Ma for this
sampleis meaningless. Hornblendefromthe quartzmon-
zonitedikein SmithCreek(88MGI-18)yieldeda plateau 100 -
• • J90-1,
WR
dateof 39.'2_+0.1Ma. Biotiteandzeoliteyieldedlessprecise

I •gArgilli
Alter
dates.
75-
ThelateEoceneageoftheserocksisconsistentwiththere-
gionalpatternofmid-Tertiary
magmatie activity.
In particular,
thequartzmonzonitedikes(39.2Ma) arenearlythesameage 50-
astheMountNevaplutonandassociated dikes(39.3-9.5Ma)
in the Tuscarora Mountains 15 km to the west and the 39.3
25-
Ma dikein thePost-Betze deposit50 kmto thesouthwest in
Carlintrend(Henryand Boden,1997).The plateaudate
fromthebasaltdikesisveryimportant becauseit constrains
the ageof goldmineralization
to lessthan40.8Ma andpro- I 20I 30I 40I 50I 60I ;0 80I 90I 100
10

videsa usefulreferencepointuponwhichto evaluate results Percent39ARK Released


fromthe othergeoehronologie methods. Giventhatthevol-
canicrocksareessentiallythe sameageasthe basaltdikes,
FIe. 10. Agespectra
fortwosamples froma basaltdikein theWestGen-
the lackof significant
alteration
andmineralization in them eratorHill deposit;
onerelativelyfresh(J88-3)andtheotherargillically
al-
suggeststhatthehydrothermal system didnotextendto shal- teredandmineralized(J90-1).The 40.8Ma plateaudatefor plagioclase
is
lowenoughlevelsto affectthevolcanic rocks. basedonfiveheatingstepsthatcontained66.7percentofthe39Arreleased.
Tensamples fromfourandesitc dikesandonesillyieldeda WR = wholerock.Seetextfor furtherdescription.
widerangeofdatesbetween 324.5and118Ma (Table1;Fig.
9). Theoldestisochrondatesonamphibole (324.5-322.4Ma)
780 HOFSTRA ET AL.

and a K/Ar date on biotite (321 Ma) indicate that the dikes theycanbe resetfromtheir crystallizationagesby diffusive
wereemplaced in latestMississippian
time.Theyoungest dates lossofradiogenic
4øArprovidedthetemperature andduration
on sericite(2M1 mica)provideevidence for a previously un- of hydrothermalactivitywere sufficient(Fig. 11). Alterna-
recognized hydrothermal eventat about129to 118Ma thatis tively,themicascanbe resetif theyarecompletely recrystal-
unrelatedto goldmineralization. The two sericitesamples lized.To testwhetherthe micasin mineralized sedimentary
datedwere from alteredand mineralizeddikes(EMAH-2-355, rocks canprovidefurtherconstraintsontheageof goldmin-
3 ppmAuandGR-50A-648, 72.5ppmAu).The129to 118Ma eralization, pairsof mineralizedandunmineralized samples
dates on the relict sericite from these dikes show that it was rel- were collected from the Hanson Creek and Roberts Moun-
atively unaffected bythelessthan40.8Magold-depositing hy- tainsFormations anddatedisotopically by conventional K/Ar
drothermal event. The intermediate dates of 259 to 140 Ma on and4øAr/39Ar methods (Folgeret al.,1996).Twosetsof sam-
whole-rock samples reflectthe relativeproportion of igneous pleswerecollected,onefroman orezonein theWestGen-
andhydrothermal minerals in thesamples andtheamountof erator Hill deposithostedin dolomiticsiltstones of the
argonlost from igneousmineralsduringsubsequent hy- Roberts Mountains Formation and one from an ore zone in
drothermal events.Thenearvertical dip(ñ20ø)andnorthwest the NorthGenerator Hill pit hostedin unit3 limestones of
strikeof the andesitc dikesindicatethat the leastprincipal the HansonCreekFormation. At bothsamplesitesthe rocks
stress direction was oriented northeast-southwest in Late Mis- wereunoxidized andfresh,withno evidence of weathering.
sissippian time. The andesitcdikescut across the Roberts Thechemical composition of thesamples wasdetermined to
Mountains thrust,thrustfaultsin lowerplaterocks, andlarge measure gainsandlosses of elements associated withalter-
south-verging east-west-trending folds.Thesestructures are, ationandmineralization in eachformation (Fig8A-B).The
therefore, older than the andesitcdikes and must have been moststrongly mineralized samples of theRoberts Mountains
produced bysouth-directed compression duringtheLateDe- and HansonCreek Formations contained17 and 89 ppm
vonianto EarlyMississippian Antlerorogeny or LateMissis- gold,respectively.Clayminerals fromthebarrenandminer-
sippian Humboldt orogeny. Boththeandesitc andbasalt dikes alizedsampleswereseparated intoseveral differentsizefrac-
arederivedfrommantlemagmas (Wilson,1989),suggestingtions(40-20, 20-5, 5-2, 2-1, 1-0.5, 0.5-0.1, and<0.1tzm)for
thatthedistrict isunderlain byolddeeppenetrating structures.mineralcharacterization(XRD andSEM) andisotopic dating
(Table 1).
K/Atand4øAt/SOAr
datesonmicasin sedimentaryrocks Giventhatthegolddeposits areyounger thanthe40.8Ma
Argondiffusion micas(Robbins, basaltdikes,thesesamples
modelsfor fine-grained areideallysuitedtointerpretK/Ar
1972;Dodson,
1973;HamesandBowring, that and 4øAr/39Ar
1994)suggest isotopedateson micasfrom a Carlin-type

10,000,000 .............

Grain size (!zm) '


o.1 o.5 2 2M1M;ca
1,000,000I• • •*•q• Hames&Bowring,
1994
100,000

E lO,OOO

1,000

100

10
0.1 0.5 I 2
Grmn raze (prn)
1
150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Blocking Temperature, øC
FIC.11. Argondiffusion models showingtheclosure temperatureforvarious
grainsizesof whitemicaasa function
of
heatingduration.Depending onthediffusionparametersusedin themodel(Robbins= thinlinesor HamesandBowring =
boldlines),theclosure temperaturesforanygivengrainsizedifferbyabout50øC.Bothmodels suggest
thatonlyveryfine
grainedmicas lessthan0.5g in sizearelikelyto beresetatthetemperature
(-200ø+ 50øC)andduration (104-106yr?)of
hydrothermal activity
in Carlin-type
deposits.
Adapted fromHamesandBowring (1994).
AGECONSTRAINTS:
JERRITT
CANYON
& OTHER
CARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. 781

deposit.Theisocon diagrams forthesesamples (Fig.8A-B) apatite andzircon), because theseminerals canberesetfrom


indicatethatpotassium wasnotintroduced duringalteration.theircrystallization agesbyrelatively low-temperature ther-
X-raydiffraction analysesofthedifferent sizeseparatesshow mal events,andbeeansedifferentmineralsareresetat differ-
that2Mrmicaispredominant in allsamples andthat1M mica enttemperatures (Faure,1986).Fission tracksin apatitean-
isabsent. Illite-smectite(<30expandibility) wasrecognized in neal at about100øto 150øC(Naeser,1981),whereasthosein
the0.5to 0.1-and<0.1-tzm-size fractionsfromthesample of zirconannealat about 175ø to 240øC (Harrisonet al., 1979;
the mineralizedRobertsMountainsFormation.The X-ray Hurford,1986);the temperatures requiredto resetthese
diffraction spectra showthatmicain alteredsamples ismore minerals is a functionofthedurationof heating(Fig.12).
crystalline (i.e.,lowerKublerindexandhighermeanparticle Mineralseparations wereearfledoutto isolate bothzircon
thickness) thanmicain unaltered samples. Comparison of andapatite fromsamples ofmineralized andesitcdikes, bar-
measured andsimulated particle-size
distributionsforbarren renquartzite (J88-44,J88-47,
J88-55), quartzite
inclose prox-
andmineralized samplessuggest theincrease in crystallinityimityto ore(J88-24), andweaklymineralized quartzite (ID-
istheresultof random ripening (Eberlet al.,1998);a mech- 6). The mineralized andesitcdikelackedappreciable zircon
anismof recrystallization where crystaldissolution and andtheapatites weretoosmall(,(60tz) forfission trackdat-
growthisrandom withrespect to particlesize.Theapparent ing.Thequartzites containedzirconbutnotapatite whichse-
agesderivedfromeachsizefraction will,therefore,depend verelylimitedthestudy. Thezircons fromallofthequartzite
onthedegreeof recrystallization. samples yielded Precambrian dates(Table1,Fig.9) andwere
The coarsersizefractions(40-20 tzm) in bothmineralized not significantly affectedby subsequent events.All of the
andbarrensamples yieldmaximum or plateaudatesof 402 samples passed theX2testat the95 percent confidence in-
Ma for the Roberts Mountains Formation and 435 Ma for the terval,indicating thatthereisonlya single population of fis-
Hanson CreekFormation, whicharesimilar totheageofsed- siontracksin eachsample. Zircons thathavebeenpartially
imentary deposition anddiagenesis. Figure9 shows thattotal resetbysubsequent thermalevents usually showevidence of
gas4øAr/a9Ar datesforbothmineralized andbarrensamplestwoor morepopulations. Thefission trackdatesaresimilar
decrease withdecreasing grainsize,a trendthatprobably re- to U-Pb dates on zircons (2.3-1.5 Ga) from correlative
flectsmultiplegenerations of micaformedoveranextended quartzites thatareinferredto havebeenderivedfromthe
periodof timeandpreferential lossof radiogenic 4øArfrom NorthAmerican craton(Wallin,1990).Although it wasantic-
smaller particles duringtheburialhistoryof therocks.Most ipatedthatboththe regional verylowgrademetamorphic
important,the mineralized sizefractions are consistentlyeventandgoldmineralization mightbe recorded in these
younger thantheirunmineralized counterparts. However, the samples, neitheroftheseevents heated therockslongenough
youngest totalgasdateof 149Ma, fromthe finestsizefrac- at a highenough temperature to significantly
annealfission
tion (<0.1 tzm)of mineralizedRobertsMountainsFormation,
is stillmucholderthanthegolddeposits.Assuming thede-
positsformedat 40 Ma andexcluding thesamples thatcon- Experimental
tainedillite-smectite,
lessthan15 percentof the 2M1mica Track Retention
hadto undergo randomripeningto explainthe decreased 0% 100%
agesof the mineralizedsamples.
The morepronounced age
decrease
in the <0.1- and0.1 to 0.5-tzm-size
fractionsof the
mineralized RobertsMountains Formation mostlikelyreflect [Geologic / -/...'-:.•."'..'-.'://• t10a
thegreaterproportion of illite-smectitein thosesamples. Al- [ Track '-"-'.-'i:.'-"• • 107
thoughlossof radiogenic 4øArbyvolumediffusion mayalso IRetention/::-.__.._::.-.__.-:
// • / [-lo6
havecontributed to the decreased ageof the mineralized / / ':':--::...:i::'-//$/ ho
samples,if it weresignificant,thesamples wouldhaveyielded / / / [104
muchyounger dates. / / // /
The resultsfromJerrittCanyonclearlyshowthatthe ap- I / / /
parentagesderivedfromeachsizefractionreflectthe pro- / /
portionofyoungandoldmicainthesample andthatthetem- Hours| / / / [,oo
perature(120ø-260øC; Hofstra,1994)andduration (104-106

'X Year
yr?)of hydrothermal activity wasinsufficient to resettheiso- lO
topicclockofpreexisting fine-grained micasbydiffusive loss 1
ofradiogenic 4øAt.
Fine-grained micasfromotherCarlin-type
depositsare,therefore, unlikely to yieldtheageof goldmin- 900 600 300 200 lOO
eralization,unlessthe systemwasmuchhotterandlonger
livedsuchthatpreexisting micaswerecompletely reset,or Temperature, øC
unlessa generation ofmicacanbeidentified thatisclearlyco- FIC.12. Arrhenius
diagram forfission trackannealing in apatite
andzir-
geneticwiththeoresthatcanbe separated foranalysis. con.Thefigureshows thatfairlyhightemperatures arerequiredto anneal
fission
tracks
in zirconbutthatapatiteislikelyto beresetatthetemperature
Fission
trackgeochronology (-200ø ñ 50øC)andduration(104- 106yr?)of hydrothermal activityin Car-
lin-typedeposits. Thegeologic trackretention
forzircon
isonlyanestimate
Thefissiontrackmethodispotentially
usefulforbothther- basedonpublished dataandis notaswellestablished asthatforapatite.
mometryand geochronology becausecommonaccessoryAdapted fromHarrison et al.(1979),Naeser (1980),Balet al.(1983),Hur-
mineralsin sedimentary
andigneousrockscanbe dated(e.g., ford (1986), and Naeseret al. (1989).
782 HOFSTRA ET AL.

tracks in zircon.Although
theduration ofhydrothermal
activ- IsotopicDatesfromOtherCadin-typeDeposits
ity is uncertain(104-106yr?),the Precambrian
fission
track
dates are consistent with fluid inclusion studies which show PublishedK/At, 4øAr/•9Ar,
and fissiontrack datesfrom a va-
thattemperatures above 200øC wereonlyattained in thecen- rietyof sample mediaarepresented in theAppendix andil-
ter of majororezones(Hofstra,1994).Although the fission lustrated in Figure13.The materialdatedincludes igneous
trackmethodwasnotsuccessful at JerrittCanyon,it hasthe rocksandminerals (feldspar, hornblende, biotite,zircon,ap-
potential tobesuccessful in deposits thatcontain moreabun- atite),hydrothermal micasseparated from alteredigneous
dantandlargerapatites. Zirconislesslikelyto be reset,ex- rocks,hydrothermal adularia,detritalzircon,apatite,and
ceptpossibly in thecenterof orezones. fine-grained micasseparated fromalteredsedimentary rocks,
Re-Os method
and supergene alunites. The range of dates obtained from
eachtypeof sample materialis quitelargeandvaried(Fig.
TheRe-Osisotope methodof datingwasutilizedin anat- 13).
tempttodateore-stage sulfidesdirectly andtodetermine the An olderlimitontheageof mineralization isprovided by
sourceof osmimnin theseminerals(Stein et al., 1994). Sam- theCambrian toTriassic ageofmarinesedimentary rocks that
plesincluded pyrite,marcasite, andarsenopyrite separatedhost the deposits(Thormanand Christensen, 1991). A
frompervasively argillizedandsulfidized basaltandandesitc younger limitisprovided by14Ma ashbedsin alluvium that
dikesandorpiment andrealgatfromveins.Thedisseminatedblanket theTwinCreeks deposit (McGuire,1995)and14.4to
sulfides in the sedimentary hostrockswereavoided because 15.1 Ma ashbedsin the lacustrineCarlin Formation (Fleck et
ore-stage pyriteisnearlyimpossible to separate fromthedia- al., 1998)thatblanketseveral deposits in theCarlintrend.A
genetic pyritein thesamples. TheRe-Osresults didnotyield younger limitisalsoprovided bysupergene alunites fromsev-
a meaningful isochron, dueto theverylowconcentrations of eraldeposits thatyieldK/Atdatesbetween 3.6and30.0Ma
Re(lowppb)andOs(lowppt)andassociated largeanalytical(Fig.13A).Thealunitedatesindicate thatatleastoneCarlin-
uncertainties, but do showthat thesemineralshavepro- typedeposit (GoldQuarry)wasnearthesurface andin the
nouncedcrustalOs isotopesignatures. Calculated initial zoneof weathering in the Oligocene andthatseveral others
187Os/•88Os usinganageof 40 Ma yieldvaluesof 0.9 to 3.6. were exhumed in Miocene and Pliocene time.
Theinitial18;Os/lSSOs reflectwidelyaccepted values foraver- Theageconstraints provided bycrosscutting relationships
agecrustal rockandtherefore suggest thattheorefluidstra- betweengoldmineralization and datedigneous rocksare
versedthe thicksedimentary sequences in thisregion.The olderthan30 Ma (Fig.13B).Whereas K/Ator4øAr/•9Ar dates
Re concentrations in orpimentandrealgatareexceptionallyonigneous rockshavethepotential to be themostreliable,
low(nearblanklevel)demonstrating theirusefulness for ini- thisis onlytrue if the crosscutting relationships with gold
tial •S7Os/•S8Os information. Although theRe concentrations mineralization are carefullydocumented. The smallsizeof
in ironsulfides arehigherthanorpiment andrealgat, theRe- the gold,subtlealteration, anddifferences in the relative
Os resultsfrom the andesitcdikesindicatethat theycon- suseptibility of different igneous rocksto alteration canoften
tainedsmallamounts of preexisting magmatic or hydrother- makeassessment ofwhetheranigneous rockispre-or post-
mal sulfides. Basedon thisexperience, open-space filling oredifficult.Forexample, theinterpretation thatthe39.3Ma
minerals thatareentirelyfreeof contamination frompreex- (HenryandBoden,1997)biotite-feldspar porphyry dikeat
istingsulfides arepreferredoverreplacement minerals. Al- the Betzedepositis youngerthangoldmineralization (Are-
though ironsulfides typicallyoccurasreplacements inCarlin- hartet al, 1993)hasbeenquestioned byIlchik(1995)andre-
type deposits, somecontainopen-space fillingpyriteor centlyshown tobeerroneous byEmsbo etal.(1996).Further
marcasite thatmayyieldmeaningful dates. examination of thedikebyEmsbo,in theoriginal drillhole,
adjacent drillholes,andwhereit is nowexposed in thepit,
Palcomagnetic method showthatit is onlyalteredandmineralized ondikemargins
Thepalcomagnetic method wasemployed in anattempt to orwhereit ishighlyfractured. In areas wherethedikeisnot
dategoldmineralization because it hasbeenusedsuccessfully fracturedit can appearto be postore.A similarbiotite-
in several carbonate-hosted Mississippi Valley-type Zn-Pbde- feldspar porphyry dikedatedat 40.3Ma (Clodeet al.,1997)
posits (e.g.,Symons, et al.,1995).Giventhecomplex defor- ispresent in theGenesis andBlueStardeposits thatisweakly
mational history oftheIndependence Mountains, theapproachmineralized in high-grade ore zones(Williams, 1997).The
was to determine how much the characteristic remanence nearby Beastdeposit contains a rhyolite dikedatedat37.3Ma
magnetization of the oresdiverges fromthatof the -40 Ma that contains ore-grade gold(Resselet al., 1998).Igneous
igneous rocksin the samestructural blocks.Fouroriented rocksfromthe BattleMountain-Eureka beltbracketthe age
handsamples werecollected at eachof 37 sitesthroughoutofCarlin-type golddeposits (Cortez, TonkinSprings, Roberts
the district.Regrettably, the remanent magnetization of the Creek Mountain)to betweenabout38 and 34 Ma (Maher et
oresamples wasessentially niland,therefore, furtherworkto al., 1993).JerrittCanyonis younger thana setof 40.8Ma
characterize the characteristic remanence magnetization di- basaltdikes.At Alligator Ridge,silicification prestoned to be
rections of samples fromthe volcanic rocksandunaltered relatedto the golddeposits isyounger thanearlyto middle
dikeswashalted.Theorefluidsapparently replaced anypre- Eocenefluvialand lacustrine sedimentary rocksbut older
exisiting magnetic minerals withnonmagnetic minerals con- than a tuff dated at 35.3 Ma (Nutt, 1996; Nutt and
sistent with the evidence for sulfidation of host-rock iron in Good, 1998).Windfalland Rustlerare youngerthanrhyo-
thedeposits. Palcomagnetic methods are,therefore, unlikely dacitedikesand flowsdated at 36.8 Ma (Wilsonand Wilson,
to besuccessful in directlydatingCarlin-type golddeposits. 1986;Nolanetal.,1974).Mercurisyounger thanthe31.6Ma
AGECONSTRAINTS:
JERRITT
CANYON
& OTHER
CARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. 783

ene alunite

16
14
12 Pre-ore igneous rocks
10 igneous
8 rocks
6
4

B 2o
6 H,
Adula•
• Getcheil Mica-sedimentary
Mica-igneous •
2

Getcheil

Post-ore Hydrothermal apatite Pre-ore zircon


zircon
apatite
1

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Age (Ma)
FIc. 13. Summary histogramsof isotopic
datesfromCarlin-typedeposits
basedondatain theAppendix. A. K/Arand
4øAr/•9Ar
datesfromsupergene alunite.B. K/Ar and4øAr/•9Ar
datesfrompre- andpostoreigneous rocks.C. K/Arand
4øAr/•9Ar
datesonhydrothermal
adularia andwhitemicafromigneous andsedimentary
hostrocks.
D. Fissiontrackdateson
hydrothermalapatite
andapatiteandzirconfrompre-andpostore igneousandsedimentary
rocks.
Theisotopic datessug-
gestthatmostCarlin-type
depositsformedwithintheagerangeindicated bythestippled
pattern.Seetextforfurtherde-
scription.

EagleHill rhyoliteplug(Mako,1997;Kerr,1997).TheSouth- evidence of boilingwasdocumented in onesample(Groff,


eastPediment prospect nearMelcoandBarneys Canyonis 1996).Hall et al. (1997)presentfurtherpetrographic evi-
younger thanbasallatiticvolcanic rocks(GunterandAustin, dencethatadularia isorestageandconfirm the42.0Madates
1997) datedat 38.2 to 39.2 Ma (Deino and Keith, 1997). Sim- (Fig.13C).Theunusual occurrence of adularia
in thisdeposit
ilargoldmineralization alongthe MainHill faultoverprintsmaybedueto boilingor to highconcentrations ofpotassium
porphyry coppermineralization (GunterandAustin,1997)in in orefluids.Regardless, the 42 Ma datesuggests thatTwin
the39.8Ma Bingham monzonite stockand38.0Ma Bingham CreeksandGetchellaretheoldestCarlin-type depositsin the
latiteporphyry dikes(Warnaars et al.,1978).Wheredatesare region.
available onigneous rocks, theyconstrain theageofthegold Published isotopicdatesonwhitemicas(2M and1M illires
deposits to themid-Tertiary. andillite-smectites)
separated frommineralized sedimentary
TwinCreeksandGetchellareunusual in thattheycontain (395-43Ma) andigneous (145-38Ma) rocks(Fig. 13C and
hydrothermal adularia(Groffet al., 1997).Twosamples
40 9
of App.)aregenerally mucholderthanthedeposits. Theexcep-
adularia fromTwinCreeksweredatedusingthe Ar/aAr tionsareTwinCreekswherethereis evidence of potassium
method andyielded similardates of42.0Ma(Fig.13C;Groff metasomatism thatisrelatedtogoldmineralization andBing-
et al., 1997).Crustificationsequences andcrosscutting rela- hamCanyon wherephyllicallteration
formedduringthecol-
tionships suggestthe adularia is relatedto precipitation of lapseof theporphry system butpriorto goldmineralization.
quartz,orpiment, realgar, stibnite,pyrite,andgold(Groff's Thereareseveral reasons whythemicadatesgenerally donot
stage five)andoccurs in bothveinsandvugs.Fluidinclusionreflecttheageofgoldmineralization. Geochemical studiesof
784 HOFSTRA ET AL.

thedeposits (Bakken,1990;KuehnandRose,199'2;Hofstra, history oftheregionandrecords multipleigneous andhydro-


1994;Phinsey, 1995;Emsboet al.,1996)showthatpotassiumthermalevents unrelated to goldminer'alization. Manyof the
is generallynotintroduced by the hydrothermal fluidswith datesarenotverymeaningfnl because theyreflectthecom-
the resultthatpotassium silicatealterationis generally not binationof twoor moreevents.Of the numerous published
well developed. In mostcases, the hydrothermal micasthat datesfromthe deposits, onlya few placemeaningfnl con-
have been dated have not been shown to be related to the straintsontheageof goldmineralization. Theageconstraints
goldsystem andin somecasesare clearlyrelatedto preore providedby thesesamples (Table2) indicatethe deposits
events(e.g.,chemical andthermaleffectsof Mesozoic orTer- formedin themid-Tertiary between 4'2and30 Ma.Thiscon-
tiaryplutons).Wheregold-stage micashavebeenidentified, clusion is confirmed, asdiscussed below,by theextremelow
they oftencannotbe separated from oldergenerations of 8Dn,•o values oftheorefluidswhichreflecttheunusually cool
micain thesample. Finally,theisotopic clockof fine-grained climaticconditions thatexisted in themid-Tertiary.
micasisunlikelyto be resetat thetemperature andduration
of Carlin-type mineralization. Thisissupported bytheargon Palcoclimatic Constraints onthe Ageof
diffnsion modelsusedto estimate the blocking temperature Carlin-type Deposits
of fine-grainedmicas(Fig.11),whichsuggest thatonlymicas Increased interestin globalelimatechangehasprompted
lessthanca.0.5 in sizearelikelyto be resetat thetempera- numerous stableisotopestudiesthat havesignificantly im-
ture (-200 _ 50øC) and duration(<104-106yr?) of hy- provedour understanding of elimarieconditions in the past
drothermal activitycharacteristicof thedeposits. In support (e.g.,Emiliani,1954,1966; Savin,1977;Berggren andProthero,
of this conclusion, the <0.1-tzm-size fractionfrom Jerritt 199'2;Frakeset al., 199'2;Francisand Frakes,1993;Prothero,
Canyon isonlypartially reset.Mostofthepublished dateson 1994;andmanyothers). Thesestudies showthatat anygiven
micasfromsedimentary rocksareoncoarser 1- or 2-tzm-size
fractionsthatareunlikelyto havebeenreset(Fig. 11).The
widerangeofdatesfromthedeposits reflectvariations in the TABLE 2. MostReliable
AgeConstraints onCarlin-typeGoldDeposits
relativeproportion of preoremicasandore-stage micain the Mine Material Dated Date (Ma) Reference
samples andvariations in the degreeof resetting of the pre-
ore micas.Thusisotopicdateson micacanonlypro'ridea Post-Ore
maximum constraint on the ageof the deposits unlessore- GoldQuarry Supergene alunite 30.0_+1.2 1
stagemicacanbeidentifedandseparated fromoldergener- Tonkin
Springs Andesitc flow 33.4 _+2.6 3
ations of mica. RobertsCr. Mtn. Rhyodacite
porphyry 33.9_+1.0 3
Cortez Rhyolite
porphyry
dike 34.8_+1.1 4
Zirconsyielda widerangeof oldfission trackdatesthatare AlligatorRidge Tuff 35.3_+0.1 9
similarto thosefrommicas,whereas apatites yieldyounger
dates(Fig. 13D). The resultsindicatethatthe temperature Pre-Ore
anddurationof hydrothermal activity
weregenerally toolow JerrittCanyon Basaltdike
•Vindfall-RustlerRhyodacite dikeandflow
40.8_+0.1
36.8_+2.2
0
5
to completelyannealfissiontracksin zirconandthatapatite TonkinSprings Rhyolitetuff 37.5_+0.4 3
is moreeasilyreset;a resultconsistentwithfissiontrackre- Post-Betze Biotite-feldsparporphyry
dike 39.3_+0.4 6
tentionmodels forzirconandapatite(Fig.12).For example, Genesis-Blue Star Biotite-feldsparporphyry
dike 40.32:0.3 13
at thePost-Betzedepositzirconsfromthe158Ma Goldstrike Beast Rhyolitedike 37.3_+0.1 12
Mercur Rhyolite plug 31.6_+0.9 2
stockyield169to 98 Ma datesanddetritalzircons fromthe SE Pediment
SilurianandDevonianRobertsMountains Formationyield (Melco) Latitic volcanicrocks 38.2 + 0.1 10
datesof 120 to 35 Ma (Arehartet al., 1993). Detrital zircons Main Hill Fault

fromOrdovician rocksat JerrittCanyon showlittleevidence (Bingham) Latiteporphyry 38.0+ 0.2 11


of fissiontracklossandyieldMiddleProterozoic dates(this Ore Stage
study).At Getcheil,zirconsfromthe 91 to 94 Ma Osgood Twin Creeks Adularia 42.0 _+0.3 7
Mountains granodioritestockyielddatesbetween91 and66 Pinson Apatite 42.7_+5.3 8
Ma, whereas apatitesyielddatesbetween83 and22 Ma (B.
BergerandC. Naeser,unpub.data).However,because ap- Reference:

atitesaresoeasilyresetit islikelythattheveryyoung22 Ma 0 Hofstra, 1994


1 Heitt, 1992
daterecordsa youngerthermalevent.Hydrothermal apatite 2 Moore, 1973, Mako, 1997; Kerr, 1997
froma vugin ore-grade jasperoidat Pinson
yieldeda dateof 3 Maher et al., 1993
42.7_+5.3 Ma (B.BergerandC. Naeser, unpub.data)thatis 4 Rytuba,1985;McCormack andHayes,1996
in agreement with the 4øAr/3•Ardateon adulariafromthe 5 WilsonandWilson,1986;Nolan et al., 1974;McKee et al., 1971 (mean
of 6 dates)
nearbyTwinCreeksdeposit.
From this review it is dear that more work is needed to 6 Emsboet al.,1996;Arehartet al.,1993;HenryandBoden,1997
7 Groff, et al., 1997;Hall et al., 1997
constrain
the ageof Carlin-type
deposits.Aftercarefulcon- 8 Bergerwrittencommunication,
1997;Naeserunpublished
data
sideration
of the geoehronologie
methods used,the material 9 Nutt, 1996; Nutt and Good, 1998
dated,the chemicalenvironmentof oredeposition, andthe 10 Gunter and Austin, 1997; Deino and Keith, 1997
11 Gunter and Austin, 1997; •Varnaarset al., 1978
temperatureanddurationof hydrothermal activity,
it is dear 12 Resselet al., 1998
thatmostof theisotopic
datesfromthedeposits placeonlya 13Clodeet al.,1997;Williams,1997;Emsbo,unpublished
data
maximum or minimumconstraint on the ageof mineraliza-
tion.The widerangeof datesreflectsthe emnplex tectonic SeeAppendix
formoredetails
AGECONSTRAINTS:
JERRITT
CANYON
'&OTHERCARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. 785

location, theisotopic coinposition of certainmarinecalcare- origin,whereasthe 8DH20valuesof inclusion fluidsrange


ousfossils (especially
foraminifera) in theoceans andmete- froin-108 to -155 per rail (Hall et al., 1984).The lowest
oriewateronthe continents hasvarieddramatically through 8Dmovaluesare incompatible with the 81sOvaluesof the
timein response to globalchanges in elimate.In general,cold quartzandareprobably dueto meteoricwatertrappedin see-
elimates leadto lowisotopic values. ondaryfluidinclusions. GiventhattheThompson CreekMo
deposit isdirectlyoverlain
byEoceneChallisVoleanies (Hall
JerrittCanyon8DH20values
et al.,1984)andislocatedintheBayhorse miningdistrictthat
The8DH,•O valuesof hydrothermal fluidsat JerrittCanyon contains 51 Ma fluorspardepositswithlow•DH2Ovalues of
areverylow,suggesting thatthe elimatewasunusually cool -127 to -148 per rail (SealandRye,1993),it is likleythat
whenthedeposits formed. GiventhattheonlyageconstraintsEocenemeteoricwaterwastrappedin thesequartzveins.
on JerrittCanyonare that it is lessthan40.8 Ma andolder Similarly, at Buckingham, the quartzveinshavemagmatie
thanBasin-and-Range faulting,its 8Dn2ovalueswerecom- 8•sO values (11.5-14%•), variable •DH20 values (-77 to
paredwiththosefromtwonearbylateEocenehydrotherlnal-118%•), andthe samples with the lowest8Dn2ovaluesare
systems (LoneMountain,25 km to the south,andTuscarora, doseto lateEocene porphyry dikes(Theodore et al.,1992,p.
15 km to the east).The results(Table3) indicatethat the low- 279).Theserelationships shmvthat bothdeposits wereaf-
est8DH2ovaluesfroinJerrittCanyon(-113 to -140) aresim- fectedby Eoceneigneous andhydrothermal events, suggest-
ilar to thosefromthe 38 Ma LoneMountain(-135%o)and39 ingthat•:hesamples
withthelowest
•Dn2o
values
reflect
the
Ma Tuscarora (-140%o)hydrothermal systems. Theverylow isotopic composition of Eocenemeteoric waterandnotLate
8DH2o values fromeachlocation areindicative of exception-Cretaceous meteoricwater.Furthermore, the meanglobal
allycoolclimaticconditions andmayindicate thatall three temperature in theLateCretaceous wasextremely warm(see
deposits areaboutthesameage.However, a morecompleteFig.14),makingit unlildeythatthelower•DH20valuesfrom
knowledge of how8D valuesof meteoric watervariedover thesetwodeposits couldhaveexisted atthelatitudeofthede-
timeisneeded toverifythisconclusion. Thisprompted anef- posits.The 8DH2ovaluesfrointhe OsgoodMountains and
forttoconstruct a 8D-agecurveformeteoric waterin there- Humboldt,Nevada,andSunshine andAtlanta,Idaho,pro-
gion.Sincethehydrothermal fluidsin manyotherCarlin-type videmorereasonable constraints on the 8DH•ocomposition
deposits alsoconsisted largelyof meteoricwater(Table3), of Late Cretaceous meteoric water and are relied on here.
comparisons oftheir8DH2o valueswiththe8D-agerecordfor The validityof the 8Dn2o-age curvecanalsobe evaluated
the regioncanbe usedto estimate theirage,or at the very in terms of the environmental factors that existed in the west-
least,to discriminate between theMesozoic andmid-TertiaryernUnitedStates overthistimeperiod.Isotopic patterns ob-
agesproposed forthedeposits. served in continental precipitation todayvaryasa function of
latitude,elevation, surface air temperature, amountof pre-
8D-agecurvefor thenorth-central partof cipitation,and distance from the coast(Dansgaard, 1964).
the western United States
Eachof theseparameters affectstheaverage degreeof rain-
The8D rs.agecurveforlneteorie waterin theregion (Fig. outof moisture froma givenair massasit movesfromthe
14)wasconstructed from8Dn•odataandisotopic datescom- soumeregions (mainlysubtropical oceans) to the siteof pre-
piledfromseveral sources(Table3). Supergene alunites from cipitation. Although paleolatitudes wereasnmehas7øfarther
the GreatBasinprovidea fairlycontinuous recordof varia- south150 m.y.ago,for the past100 m.y.,theyhavebeen
tionsin the 8D of meteoric wateroverthepast30 Ma (Are- withina fewdegrees of thepresent latitude(Engebretsen et
hartandO'Neil,1993).Manyofthesesupergene alunites are al.,1985).Atmospheric circulation patterns would,,therefore,
fromCarlin-type golddeposits (Arehartet al., 1992).The havebeendominated, astoday,bywestto eastflow.Although
alunite8DH2o-age recordagrees reasonably wellwiththatof fossilflora indicatethe westernCordillera(in easternCalifor-
meteoricwaterhydrothernml systems in the samearea(Are- nia andwesternmost Nevada)hasbeenan importanthigh-
hartandO'Neil,1993).Bycombining thesupergene alunite land(rainoutarea)sincethe Pliocene (Axelrod, 1980),prior
8D•o-age curvewith ageand8Dn2odatafromoldermete- to that elevations were lower. Fossil flora also indicate that
orichydrotheruml systems in theregion(Table3) it ispossi- highelevations (>1-3 kin)haveexisted in theinteriorofwest-
bleto construct a 8DH•o-age curvefor thepast170m.y.as ern North America since the late Eocene (Axelrod, 1968;
shownin Figure14. Priorto 170 Ma, thisareawaslargely Wolfe,1994).Fossilfloraandfaunafrointhecontinent sug-
coveredby seawater. The 8D•o valueshavebeencorrected gestthatthe elimatewasdistinctly warmerin the mid-Juras-
to 41øNlat usinga correction factorof 5 per railperdegree sicto mid-Eocene (Francis and Frakes, 1993; Hallam, 1994)
latitude to be consistentwith the alunite curve of Arehart and andthatelevations weregenerally lessthan600to300m (Ax-
O'Neil(1993).Although thecurveconstructed in thismanner elrod, 1968; Wolfe, 1994). Fossildata alsoindicatethat the
is sketchy (Fig. 14),it clearlyshows thatthe 8D of meteoric coolelimates of the mid-Eocene to earlyMiocenewerefol-
water intheregion variedsubstantiallyover thepast170m.y. lowedby warmerconditions in the middleMioceneuntil
andthat 8DH•ovalueswere lowestat about30 Ma. glaeiationandcoolingresumed in thelateMiocene(Axelrod,
In constructing the8Dn•o-age curve,thelowest8DH•oval- 1985;Prothero, 1994;Wolfe,1994).Thehigh8D of meteoric
uesfromtheLateCretaceous Thompson Creek(89Ma)and water(SD > -110%•)in mid-Jurassic tothemid-Eocene (Fig.
Buckinghain (86 Ma) Mo deposits werecensored because 20) is consistent withthe relatively lowelevation, warineli-
theyare overprinted by younger igneous andhydrothermalmate,anddoseproximity to western(PacificOcean)and
events. At Thompson Creek,the 8tsOvaluesof the quartz eastern (CarmelSea-Cretaceous Seaway) coastlines thatchar-
veinsrangefrom10.7to11.2perrail,suggestive ofa magmatieacterized muchofthisperiod.The8D of meteoric water(SD
786 HOFSTRA
ET AL.

^ l--.- -• ^ o

-• 04

I t•

,• I
I I

LO Le'• 0

>

•z
o •
>-,,_so Z g z .=•
AGECONSTRAINTS:
JERRITT
CANYON
& OTHER
CARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. 787
-2O
Ice House World • Green House World
-30 -
Maximum Glacial ,'
-40-
TøC Buildup in Antarctica ,'

-50-
,• ' Surface Water Temperature,'
-60-
!

-70- --20 tt! [itU• Rc

2 • 15
• -100Supergene
Alunites,
NV Age
ix./ ', 'I
NV

Samples ! ,i
closeto _: ;Overprinted
38Ma dikes iby50 Ma
!ihydrothermal
ilactivityin
Constraints ::thedistrict
5

TøC

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170

Age, Ma
FIe. 14, 8D-agecurveshowing thehydrogen isotopecomposition
ofmeteoricwateroverthepast170m.y.(constructed
frominformationin Table3). In mostrepects the8D-agecurveagreeswithwhatweknowaboutpalcoclimates (seetextfor
furtherdescription).
The8D-agecurvealsocorresponds wellwiththepalcotemperature
curvesforsurface
waterandbot-
tomwaterin thePacific
ocean(dashed lines)estimated
fromoxygenisotopeanalyses
ofcalcareousmicrofossils
(Douglas and
Woodruff,1981).Theunusually loxv8D•,2ovalues fromCarlin-type
depositssuggest
thattheyformednearthelowin the
curvewhentheclimate wasunusually cool.The8D•o values fromCarlin-typedeposits
agreewiththe42to30 Ma agecon-
straints
onthedeposits(boldrectangle).

< -110%o)sincethemid-Eocene isconsistentwiththehigher aregenerally


lessthanpresent-day meteoric water(Fig.14).
elevations and cooler climatic conditions. For suchwidelyseparated deposits to havesuchsimilariso-
The&DH.zo-age curveforthecontinent alsogenerally
mim- topically
lightfluids,suggests thattheyformedat aboutthe
icsthe globalfossilforaminifera
&lSOpatternin the oceans sametime,nearthe low in the •Dn.zo-age curve(Fig. 14),
(Fig.14),withrelatively
large&D•o valuesgreaterthan-110 whentheclimatewasunusually cool.Mostimportant, theage
per mil in theJurassic,
Cretaceous,
andearlyTertiary,when
theworldwasin a green-house stateandlow&DH•o values
of Late Ore Getcheil and Twin Creeks Main Ore
less than -110 and often as low as -140 to -160 in the late
EoceneandOligocene, whentheworldwasin anice-house 114ost•C•rl/n-type
Oepos/ts
state.Mostimportantly,
the &DH•ominimumat -30 Ma cor- 10

9
relateswith a rapidshiftin &zsOvalues,maximum glacial
buildups in Antarctica,
andthe maximum dropin sealevel
worldwide (Prothero,1994).Although
therearemanyuncer- Kaolinite

taintiesin the datausedto constructthe &D-agecurve,in


mostrespects thecurveis consistent
withourknowledge of
globaltemperature variations
andenvironmental factorsin
thewestern UnitedStatesoverthistimeperiod.It is,there- 1,
fore, reasonable to usethe curveto estimatethe age of O,
Carlin-type deposits. - 180 -160 -140 -120 -100 -80 -60 -40

fiD, %0
•Dne of Carlin-type
deposits
F•c. 15. Histogram
of8Dn.2ovaluesformeteodewaterorefluidsfrom10
The •D•o valuesof hydrothermal
fluidsfrom10 widely Carlin-type golddeposits
correctedto41øNlat (Table3). The8Dn•ovalues
separatedCarlin-type
deposits
weremeasured directly
using forkaolinite
werecalculated
usinga temperature
of200øCandthehydrogen
fluid inclusionsor calculatedfrom the •D of kaolinitc(Table isotope
fractionation
factorof GilgandSheppard(1996).Results
fromfluid
3). As above,the •D•.zo valueswere correctedto 41øNlat to inclusions arein goodagreement withdatafromhypogenekaolinires.
All
conform thatthe Carlin-type
with the •D-agecurve.Figure15 shows 8Dn.2o
deposits
values
studied
showevidenceofmeteoric
<-110permil.Thelargerangeof8Dn.2o
waterwithverylow
values
fromGetehell
•DH.zovaluesof fluid inclusions
aresimilarto thosecalculated andTwinCreeks(arrow)indicatethata deep-sourced
magmatie
or meta-
forhypogenekaolinitc.
Thecorrected •D•.zovalues(-111to morphicfluidwasalsopresentin theGetehelltrend(Clineet al.,1996,1997;
-157%o)areunusuallylowforthelatitudeofthedepositsand Groff, 1996).
788 HOFSTRA ET AL.

estimates obtained fromcomparison ofthefluid8D1t2o values havebeenoverridden bythesubduction zoneatabout55 Ma,


withthe8Du2o-age curveagreewiththe49,to30 Ma agecon- was under north-centralNevada during mineralization
straintsonthedeposits (Tableœ).The low8Du2ovaluesfrom (42-30 Ma), and under south-central Idaho ca. 15-10 Ma
thegolddeposits areclearlyat oddswiththeCretaceous and (Oppligeret al., 1997;Murphyet al., 1998).
Jurassic ages(basedonmicadates)favored by manyworkers Figure16shows thespatial relationofCarlin-type deposits
(Silberman et al.,1974;Bergeret al.,1975;WilsonandParry, to southward sweeping patterns of extension andcalc-alkalic
1990,1995;PresnellandParry1999,;Arehartet al., 1993; magmatism in thispart of the cordillera.Betweenabout55
Drewes-Armitage et al., 1996)whenthe elimatewasmuch and43 Ma,portions of Idaho,Montana, andWashington un-
warmer.Togetherthe palcoclimate andgeochronologic re- derwentextension, magmatism, andformation of metamor-
suitsprovidecompelling evidence thatCarlin-type deposits in phiccorecomplexes (Fig.16A).Carlin-type deposits arenot
northernNevadaand northwestern Utah formedduringa knownin thisarea.At about43 Ma, therewasan abrupt
singlemetallogenie eventin themid-Tertiary. It is,therefore, southward shiftof magmatic activityinto northernNevada
important to consider thegeologic settingatthistimeandthe andnorthwestern Utah(Fig.16B;Stewart,1977;Armstrong
relationship of mineralization to tectonics. and Ward, 1991; Christiansenand Yeats,1992) that was coin-
cidentwitha change in platemotions (Coney,1987;Enge-
Relationship to Mid-TertiaryExtension andMagmatism bretson et al.,1987;StockandMolnar,1988).Whereas mag-
In thissection we discuss howCarlin-type deposits fit into matismwasmainlydistributed across thisregionin east-west
theTertiarytectonic historyof theregion,describe theirspa- trendingbelts,extension wasstrongest in a north-trending
tial relationships to shiftingpatternsof magmatism andex- zonein eastern Nevadawheremetamorphic corecomplexes
tension inthemid-Tertiary (Fig.16),andcompare their•iDH2o eventually formed(Fig.16B).Figure16Cshows thatthelocus
valuesto potentialfluid sources. Togetherthisinformation of magmatism and extension shiftedprogressively to the
places important constraints onthenatureof Carlin-type hy- southuntilabout21 Ma whenmagmatism beganto wane.
drothermal systems in thissetting.Thisdiscussion benefits Thereisabroadspatial coincidence between Carlin-type gold
fromprevious attempts to relateCarlin-type deposits to tec- deposits andthe43 to 34 Ma magmatic belt(Fig.16B),but
tonics(e.g.,Seedoff,1991;Hofstra,1994,1995;Thormanet deposits arefewor absentin the main34 to 28 and28 to 21
al.,1995;IlchikandBarton,1996;Oppliger et al.,1997). Ma magmatic beltsto thesouth(Fig.16C).Thisrelationship
Cadin-typedepositsare locatedin a part of the North suggests that thereis a link betweenhydrothermal activity
American cordillera (northern Nevada and northwestern andtheonset ofextension andmagmatism in the34to43 Ma
Utah)thatunderwent dramatic changes before,during,and belt(Hofstra, 1995).Withinthisbeltthedeposits donotshow
afterthe deposits formed(Seedoff,1991;Burchfielet al., consistent spatialor temporalrelationships to metamorphic
1992; Christiansen and Yeats, 1992, Wernicke, 1992; corecomplexes or majorvolcanicor plutoniccenters,al-
Humphreys, 1995;Ward,1995;Murphyet al., 1998).In lat- thoughfelsicdikesarepresentin somedistricts whichmust
estCretaceous to earlyEocenetime,thisregionwascharac- haveemanated fromlargerintrusions at depth(Henryand
terizedbyrapidconvergence rates(>10mm/yr),shallow sub- Boden,1997).Rather,thedeposits arepreferentially located
ductionof a segment of theFarallonplate,a thickoverriding in linear trends (Carlin, Battle Mountain-Eureka, Getcheil)
North Americanplate (-60 km), a compressional stress thatatthesurface aremanifest bythealignment of structural
regime,a gapin the magmatic arc,abnormally lowgeother- windows, folds,faults,igneous intrusions, andoredeposits of
malgradients, a lackof hydrothermal oredeposits, lowtopo- several different typesandages, suggesting thattheyarelong-
graphic reliefwithseveral largeshallow lakes,andawarmcli- livedzonesof weakness in the crust(e.g.,Roberts,1960,
mate(Fig.14).DuringthemiddleEoceneto earlyMiocene, Madrid and Roberts,1991; Peters,1996, Emsboet al., 1997;
the regionwascharacterized by slowerconvergence, buck- Groffet a1.,1997; thisstudy).Gravitygradients, magnetotel-
ling,andassimilation of the shallow-subducted segmentof luricsurveys, andSrandPbisotope dataof graniticintrusions
theFarallonplateintothemantle,shifting patterns of exten- suggest that the Carlintrend and Battle Mountain-Eureka
sionand calc-alkaline magmatism in the overriding North beltdeveloped alongdeepbasement structures produced by
American platethatlocallyresulted in theformation of meta- LateProterozoic riftingof thecontinental margin(Grauchet
morphiccorecomplexes andcalderas, increased geothermal al., 1995,Rodriguez, 1998,Woodenet al.,1998).Dilationof
gradients, an abundance of hydrothermal ore deposits (e.g., faultsandfractures in thesezonesduringmid-Tertiary north-
Cadin-typegolddeposits, porphyryCu-Mo-Au-Wandre- west-southeast extension mayhavecontrolled emplacement
lateddeposits, and volcanic-hosted epithermal Au-Agde- of igneous dikesandunderlying intrusions, provided connec-
posits),breakup of thegentletopography, anda coolclimate tionsbetweendeepfluidreservoirs andthe meteoric-domi-
(Fig.14). Duringthe middleMioceneto Holocene, the re- natedregimein the uppercrust,andservedto focusflowof
gionwascharacterized bya transform margin,directcontact convectingmeteoricwater.
of asthenosphere withthebaseof theNorthAmerican plate, The deposits formedin a dynamic environment conducive
upliftandwidespread Basin-and-Range extensional faulting to the generation andmovement of differenttypesof hy-
whichthinnedthe crust(-30 km),bimodalbasalt-rhyolitedrothermal fluids.At the onsetof extension, anymetamor-
magmatism, highgeothermal gradients, numerous volcanic- phicfluidsresiding atmidcrustal levelswouldlikelyrisealong
hosted epithermal Au-Agdeposits, andvariable climates (Fig. dilatantstructures. Theincreased geothermal gradients from
14).Thehistoryof deformation, magmatism, andhydrother- magmatism wouldalsogeneratemetamorphic fluidsthat
malactivity in thisregionmayhavebeenstrongly influenced couldbe released bysubsequent episodes of extension. Rise
by the ancestral Yellowstone hot spotwhichis inferredto and fractionation of magmasresultedin the formationof
AGECONSTRAINTS:
JERRITT
CANYON
& OTHERCARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. 789

porphyry Cu-Mo-Ausystems thatarescattered acrossthe43 orefluidsbyleaching ofgoldfromthemiogeoclinal sedimen-


to34Ma magmatic beltandinclude theimportant deposits in tarysequence, by leachingoldergold-bearing sedimentary
the Bingham CanyonandBattleMountaindistricts (Albino, exhalative orpluton-related deposits encountered alongfluid-
1995).Continued extensional faultingmayhavereduced con- flow paths(Ballantyne et al., 1997;Emsboet al., 1997;
finingpressures on hydrous magmas causing exsolution of Theodore, 1998),orbyuptakeof magmatie or metamorphic
volatiles,crystallization
of magmas, andincreased interaction fluidsascending fromdeeperlevels.
with meteoricwater (Gansand Bohrson,1998). Meteoriccir- It is,therefore, reasonable to consider thatCarlin-type de-
culationnearepizonal plutonsandvolcanic centersresulted positsmayhaveformedfrom(1) metamorphic fluidsthatas-
in theformation ofa several epithermal Au-Agdeposits such cendto shallow levelsin thecrust(e.g.,Groveset al.,1998),
asthoseat Tuscarora (HenryandBoden,1997).Widespread(2) magmatie fluidsreleased fromporphyry intrusions (e.g.,
circulation of meteoric waterwouldhavebeenpromoted by Sillitoeand Bonham,1990), or (3) meteoricwater that evolved
theincreased heatflowduetomagmatism andincreased frac- tobecome anorefluidbydeepcirculation through sedimen-
turepermeability resultingfromextension. Isotopic studies
of taryrocks (e.g.,IlehikandBarton, 1996,1997).Mixingbetween
theRubyMountains metamorphic corecomplex (RM, Fig. fitridsfromdifferent sources islikelyin thissettingandin each
16B) showthat meteoric fluids circulatedto the brittle-duc- ease fluidsfromdeeper levelsmustdisplace or mixwithlocal
tiletransition at depths of 10to 12kmby32 Ma wherethey meteoric ground wateratthesitesofmineral precipitation.
interfaced withmagmatic andmetamorphic fluids(Wickham It is temptingto presume thatthe numerous similarities
et al., 1993).Meteoricwatersmayhaveevolvedto become among Carlin-type deposits reflectthepresence ofa common

55-43 Ma 43-34 Ma

Allu•tial D•clining
basins Challis
Belt
magrhatic
0
cer•erso

Alkalic
magmatic
Lakes
centers

MagmaticGapø I
Eroding
upland

Alluvial blasins

34-21 Ma

FIG.16. Paleogeographic mapsshowing the changingpatternsof exten-


sionandmagmatism in thewesternUnitedStatesbefore,during,andafter
goldmineralization,
Regionalextension
direction
isindicated
bythelargear-
rows.a. 55 to 43 Ma. Extension
andmagmatism wasmainlyin Idahoand
westernMontana. b.43to34 Ma.Extensionandmagmatism shiftedabruptly
into northern Nevada and northwest Utah. e. 34 to 21 Ma. The locus of ex-
tensionandmagmatism shiftedgradually to the southuntilabout21 Ma
whenmagmatism beganto wane.MostCarlin-type deposits(blackdots)lie
withinthe43to34Ma magmatie belt,suggestingtheyformed soonafterthe
onsetof extension
andmagmatism in thisbelt.Seetextfor furtherdescrip-
Alluvial•
basins centers
tion.AdaptedfromWust(1986),Renet al., (1989),ChristiansenandYeats
(1992), Wernieke(1992), and Brookset al. (1995).
790 HOFSTRA ET AL.

orefluidin eachdistrict.However, therearesignificant dif- amongthe deposits. In thiscase,the highISDHsO valuesof


ferences in therangeof8Dnsovaluesobtained fromeachdis- mainore-stage fluidsin theGetehelltrendindicatethatallof
trier (Table3; Fig.15). Furthermore,the ageconstraints on the depositsformedfrom deep-sourced metamorphic (or
the deposits (Table2) suggestthatdepositsin differentdis- magmatie)fluids;the low iSDnsovaluesin each district
triers formed at different times relative to the onset of exten- recordingthe influxof meteoricwaterduringthe waning
sionandmagmatism.
Forexample,in theGetehelltrendgold stagesof the hydrothermal systems. To discriminateamong
wasintroduced
bymagmatieormetamorphic fluidswithhigh thesepossibilitiesrequiresmoreaccurate constraints
on the
8Dnsovalues
andlaterstagemineralsprecipitated
fromvari- ageofthedeposits, knowledge of thetiminganddistribution
ablyexchanged
meteoricwaterwithlow8Dnsovalues(Fig. of extensionalfaultingandigneous aetMty,andinformation
15; Cline et al., 1996,1997). Given the absenceof mid-Ter- onthesources of orefluidcomponents in eachdistrict.
tiaryintrusions in theGetehelltrend(Croftet al.,1997), evi-
dencethatthe deposits (42.0Ma; Croftet al., 1997)are -1 Summary andConclusions
m.y.olderthanthe onsetof igneous activityin nearbyareas Themostreliableisotopic datesconstrain theageof many
(41Ma; Doebriehet al., 1996)butlikelycoincident withthe Cadin-type deposits to between42 and30 Ma. Independent
change fromcontraction to extension, it isreasonable to con- support forthisinterpretation comes fromthelowisDHso val-
eludethat they formedfrom metamorphic fluidsreleased uesofhydrothermal fluidsthatareconsistent witha mid-Ter-
duringa change in stress regime. Alternatively, if evidence for tiaryage,whentheclimate wascool,butareinconsistent with
a 42 Ma porphyry system canbe found,thentheymayhave the Cretaceous andJurassic agesfavoredby someinvestiga-
formedfrommagmatie fluids. tors,whenthe climatewaswarm.The deposits probably
In contrast,the depositsin mostof the other districts formedovera periodof about10m.y.soonaftertheonsetof
formedaftertheonsetof magmatie activity (Table2) andap- extension and magmatism in northernNevadaandnorth-
parently afterthechange to anextensional stress regime.The western Utah.Withinthissetting, Cadin-type deposits arelo-
deposits in thesedistricts arecommonly localized by north- calizedalongdilatantfracture systems thatfocused fluidflow.
west-andnortheast-trending fractures that alsocontrolled In the Getcheiltrend,thesestructures tappeddeep-sourced
the emplaeement of igneous dikes(e.g.,TealandJackson,metamorphic (ormagmatic) fluidsandsubsequently variably
1997;thisstudy).Thedikesmayindicate thatthehydrother- exchanged meteoric water.In theothertrendsanddistricts,
malsytems wereinfluenced byheatorfluidsfromunderlying ore-controlling stuctures appearto havebeeninfiltrated only
intrusions. However,fluidswithhighisDHsO valueshavenot byvariably exchanged meteoric water.Although themid-Ter-
beendetectedin thesedistricts despitea numberof detailed tiarytectonics oftheregionprovided anenvironment suitable
studies(Table3). If a deep-sourced magmatic or metamor- forthedevelopment of largehydrothermal systems, if exten-
phicfluidwaspresent, it iscompletely overwhelmed by me- sionalfaultingandeale-alkaline magmatism wereallthatwas
teoricwater with low ISDH2o values.It is, therefore,reason- required toproduce Carlin-type deposits theyshould bepre-
ableto conclude thatthesedeposits formedfromcirculatingsentin similarsettings to the northandsouth.Asyet,none
meteoric ground water,thethermaldriveforfluidcirculation hasbeenrecognized in theselocations. Apparently additional
coming frommagmatism(regional or local)withthedeposits factors were critical to their formation. Possibilities include
localized alongdilatantfracturesystems that focused fluid the requirement of crustalfault zones,sulfur-rich source
flow.It is unlikelythatthehydrothermal sytems weredriven rocks,gold-enriched soumerocks,or an underlying mantle
by thermalperturbations resulting fromcrustalthinning,as plume.
proposed by IlchikandBarton(1996,1997),because thede-
positsaregenerally olderthan,or lateralfrom,domains that Acknowledgments
underwent significant extension in thelateEoceneandearly
Oligocene and they are olderthanwidespread Basin-and- Thispaperbenefitedfromdiscussions withP.Emsboandj.
Rangefaultingthataccounts formostof thecrustal thinning Cline. We thank C. Gent for providing some of thehydrogen
in the area. isotopeanalyses andB. Bergerfor isotopicdatesfromthe
Therearetwowaysto reconcile the conflicting evidence Getehelltrend.This reportwouldnot havebeenpossible
fromtheGetcheiltrendandtheotherdistricts. Onepossibil- withouttheexpertise andcooperation of theminingcompa-
ityisto acceptthatthehighisDHso values fromtheGetcheil nies that allowed access to their properties andcollection of
trend and the low ISDH2o valuesfrom the other districtsare samples. Ananonymous reviewer, Q. Browne, andG. Arehart
trulyrepresentative of the sourceof the orefluids.Thisas- provided constructive reviews.
sumption leadsto the conclusion thatfluidsfromdifferent March12, 1997;April14, 1999
sources canevolveto produceCarlin-type deposits withvery
similarcharacteristics. In thiscase,thesimilarities amongthe REFERENCES
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AGECONSTRAINTS:
]ERRITTCANYON
& OTHERCARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. 791

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AGECONSTRAINTS:
JERRITTCANYON& OTHERCARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. 795

•o z z •o •o z

•z6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 • • •
796 HOFSTRA ET AL.
AGECONSTRAINTS:
]ERRITT
CANYON
& OTHER
CARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.$. 797
798 HOFSTRA ET AL.
AGECONSTRAINTS..
JERRITTCANYON• OTHERCARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,U.S. 799
800 HOFSTtlA ET AL.
AGECONSTRAINTS:
JERRITT
CANYON
& OTHERCARLIN-TYPE
GOLDDEPOSITS,
U.S. 801
80'2 HOFSTRA ET AL.

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