2013 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.

Economic Geology, v. 108, pp. 719738

The Characteristics and Origin of the Big Lake Mafic-UltramaficHosted

Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Occurrence, Marathon, Ontario, Canada*
MARC RINNE1,,** AND PETE HOLLINGS1
1 Department of Geology, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 5E1, Canada

Abstract
The Big Lake volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) occurrence, located in the Schreiber-Hemlo belt in the
Wawa subprovince of the Superior province, is hosted in an Archean mafic-ultramafic metavolcanic sequence
lacking felsic volcanic or volcaniclastic rocks. Discovered in 2006, the occurrence is a subeconomic assemblage
of pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, cobaltite, and galena currently defined over an area of ~0.5 0.5 km in
plan view. The mineralized zone is less than 10 m thick, with the highest grade intersection containing 4.0 m
of 7.5% Cu, 2.2% Zn, 138.0 gpt Ag, and 9.2 gpt Au.
Mineralization is hosted in metavolcanic rocks of basaltic to komatiitic basalt compositions. The sulfides and
spatially associated hydrothermal alteration (regionally metamorphosed to chlorite, actinolite, hornblende,
biotite-phlogopite, and anthophyllite) are located 5 to 50 m structurally below a thick ultramafic cumulate com-
plex. The host sequence to the occurrence is overturned, with VMS sulfides stratigraphically overlying the
ultramafic cumulates. Rocks stratigraphically below the VMS mineralization are transitional to alkaline basalts
and komatiitic basalts, with convex-upward LREE and fractionated HREE when normalized to primitive man-
tle. Basalts stratigraphically overlying the VMS mineralization have flat normalized REE patterns (La/Ybcn =
12) typical of tholeiitic plateau basalts found elsewhere in the Wawa belt. The lithostratigraphic assemblage
at Big Lake is consistent with an oceanic plateau setting and is interpreted to have formed by eruption of
plateau basalts and thick ultramafic flows from a mantle plume.
Unlike VMS systems that formed above subvolcanic intrusions >0.5 km below sea floor, the Big Lake VMS
occurrence may have formed as a result of cooling of the stratigraphically underlying ultramafic cumulates and
demonstrates that similar styles of ponded flow-driven VMS systems, albeit small ones, may be preserved else-
where in the Superior province or in other Archean cratons.

Introduction
VOLCANOGENIC MASSIVE SULFIDE (VMS) systems are charac-
terized by a number of distinctive features that can be recog-
nized in ancient and modern examples, reflecting varied
scales of convection, tectonic or geologic settings, and alter-
ation-induced exchanges involved in their formation (e.g.,
Herzig and Hannington, 1995). As a result, a generalized ge-
netic model for VMS deposits has been established, involving
base metal precipitation from upward-transported hydrother-
mal fluids formed by convective leaching of subseafloor
strata. It is also recognized that the convection involved,
whether prolonged, episodic, or short-lived and vigorous, re-
quires a heat source. This is in many cases a discrete magma
body situated at least 0.5 km below the seafloor (Franklin et
al., 2005); however, not all VMS camps contain clear exam-
ples of preserved subvolcanic intrusions (Barrie et al., 2001;
Galley, 2003). Where absent, subvolcanic intrusions may have
been structurally removed, or they may have been over-
printed by a later intrusive phase within a continually devel-
oping subvolcanic intrusive system, which may have several
distinct emplacement ages (Galley, 2003).
Alternative models that do not require subvolcanic intru-
sions have been proposed. For example, Hannington et al.
(1999) suggested that a hot ultramafic footwall (a thick suc-
cession of flows or intrusions as opposed to a single subvol-
canic heat source) could have generated the heat required to
Corresponding author: e-mail, mlrinne@utas.edu.au
*A digital supplement to this paper is available at http://economicgeol-
ogy.org/ and at http://econgeol.geoscienceworld.org/.
**Current address: Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits, University of
Tasmania, Private Bag 79, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 7001.
0361-0128/13/4114/719-20
form the Kidd Creek deposits. Barrie et al. (2001) proposed
that the Terminus VMS occurrence of the Abitibi sub-
province developed due to the cooling of a ponded komatiite
flow at the seafloor.
This study presents lithological and geochemical data col-
lected mostly from drill core from the Big Lake VMS occur-
rence near Marathon, Ontario (Fig. 1). The data are used to de-
scribe the conditions, including the tectonic setting, in which
a VMS system developed in an environment that lacks both
felsic to intermediate volcanic-volcaniclastic rocks and foot-
wall subvolcanic intrusions. In particular, we provide evidence
for a direct genetic relationship between the VMS mineral-
ization and an adjacent series of thick ultramafic cumulates.
Geologic Setting and Lithologic Descriptions
The Big Lake VMS occurrence is hosted in Archean rocks
of the Wawa subprovince of the southern Superior province,
Canada (Fig. 1A). The study area is approximately 30 km
southeast of Marathon, Ontario, with access from Umbata
Falls Rd. south of Trans Canada Highway 17 (Fig. 2).
The Wawa subprovince is a volcano-plutonic belt of 2.88 to
2.72 Ga rocks that were interpreted by Percival et al. (2006) to
have been accreted against a proto-continental margin during
a series of orogenies between 2.72 to 2.68 Ga (the Kenoran
orogeny). Volcanogenic massive sulfide formation in this part
of the Superior province was coeval with 2735 to 2698 Ma vol-
canism (Schandl and Gorton, 2002). The Wawa subprovince
comprises a collage of greenstone belts of oceanic arc and
oceanic plateau origins (Williams et al., 1991) and contains two
recognized VMS districts north of the Big Lake VMS occur-
rence: the Winston Lake district (Winston Lake, Pic Lake, and
Submitted: October 5, 2010
719 Accepted: August 27, 2012
720 RINNE AND HOLLINGS

A 9000W 8500W

Quetico-Wawa 1
subprovince boundary 3
7
6
Map area 8
2
Thunder (Fig. 1b) Timmins
Bay
4800N

4
Lake
Superior
5
Sault Ste. Marie
Duluth 100 km N Sudbury

Greenstone VMS deposits / occurrences in italic: 1Winston Lake, Pic Lake,

belts Zenith-Zenmac; 2Big Lake; 3Willecho, Willroy, Geco;
Cities 4Shunsby; 5Stralak; 6Mordey, Kam Kotia, Jameland, Genex,
Canadian Jamieson; 7Kidd Creek; 8Terminus
Cedar Lake

4845N
Marathon Gowan Lake
B Pluton
Pluton

Hemlo Au
Heron Bay Deposit
Pluton
Lake
Pukaskwa
Superior
Batholith

4835N
N
8620W Pulpwood-Playter 8600W 8 km
Harbours Sequence
Metasedimentary rocks Intermediate
metavolcanic rocks
Mafic (ultramafic)
metavolcanic rocks Granitoids
Coldwell Complex Big Lake Ultramafic Complex
gabbro, syenite
Hemlo Structural Zone Big Lake VMS occurrence

FIG. 1. A. Greenstone belts of the Wawa and western Abitibi subprovinces, showing the locations of VMS deposits and
occurrences. The Wawa subprovince is south of the Quetico subprovince and west of the Kapuskasing structural zone. The
western Abitibi subprovince is east of the Kapuskasing zone. After Sinclair et al. (1999) and Barrie et al. (2001). B. Map of
the Schreiber-Hemlo greenstone belt of the Wawa subprovince, showing the location of the study area. All map units shown
are Archean, except for the Proterozoic Coldwell Complex. Modified after Muir (1982) and Williams et al. (1991).

Zenith-Zenmac deposits), and the Manitouwadge district uplift/Kapuskasing structural zone; a broad genetic and tem-
(Willecho, Willroy, and Geco deposits; Fig. 1A). The sub- poral relationship between the Wawa and Abitibi subprovinces
province is south of the Quetico metasedimentary sub- is generally accepted (e.g., Thurston, 2002; Ayer et al., 2004,
province and is bounded to the southeast by the Kapuskasing 2010; Fralick et al., 2006; Stott and Mueller, 2009; Fig. 1A).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 720

 BIG LAKE MAFIC-ULTRAMAFICHOSTED VMS OCCURRENCE, MARATHON, ON
564000mE
Hwy. 17
Umbata Big Lake
Falls Rd. Property
Study
Area
5382000mN
NAD 27
564000mE
UTM Zone 16
FIG. 2. Map of the eastern part of the Big Lake property and study area (outlined). Gray circles show drill collars.
The Big Lake VMS occurrence lies in the southeast part of
the Schreiber-Hemlo greenstone belt (Fig. 1B), a subduction-
accretion assemblage of oceanic plateau-related ultramafic to
tholeiitic metabasalt, tholeiitic to calc-alkaline arc metabasalt
to metadacite, and turbiditic metasandstone units interpreted
to be trench deposits (Polat and Kerrich, 1999). Unlike most
Phanerozoic accretionary complexes, which consist largely of
island arc-derived siliciclastic sedimentary and volcanic rocks
(Shervais, 2006), the Schreiber-Hemlo belt is dominantly
comprised of basaltic rocks (6080 vol%), which have been in-
terpreted to be plume-derived oceanic plateau volcanic rocks
(Polat, 2009). The belt is interpreted to have formed by the
start of subduction along an oceanic plateau margin around
2725 Ma, followed by the development of a back-arc rift basin
(Polat, 2009). Dextral transpression during subduction-accre-
tion of the belt generated orogen-parallel strike-slip faults that
probably served as conduits for the upwelling arc-derived
tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite plutons (Kerrich et al.,
1999). These include the Pukaskwa batholith (ca. 2719 Ma;
Muir, 2003) and the Heron Bay pluton (ca. 2686 Ma; Muir,
2003) south and north of the study area, respectively (Fig. 1B).
The mafic to ultramafic metavolcanic rocks located between
the Pukaskwa and Heron Bay plutons, within the southeast
part of the Schreiber-Hemlo belt (Heron Bay area), are part
of the Pulpwood-Playter Harbours sequence (Fig. 1B). This
sequence has an apparent north-south thickness of approxi-
mately 5km and consists of mafic to ultramafic massive to pil-
lowed flows of mostly tholeiitic composition (Fig. 3; Muir,
1982; Polat et al., 1998). Regional metamorphism is of about
upper greenschist to lower amphibolite facies throughout the
study area. For example, we have documented metamorphic
hornblende anthophyllite in pyroxenite, garnet-biotite
actinolite in metapelite beds and actinolite-hornblende in re-
gional metavolcanic stratigraphy, and chlorite-biotite-antho-
phyllite actinolite in the VMS mineralized zone. Minor
(<1% of total outcrop area) oxide-facies iron formation is in-
terbedded within the Pulpwood-Playter Harbours metavol-
canic rocks, particularly in its southernmost 500 m (Fig. 4). The
majority of metasedimentary rocks in the Pulpwood-Playter
Harbours sequence are light gray, recrystallized and finely
laminated metasiltstone lacking clear evidence of stratigraphic
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
721
566000mE 568000mE
5384000mN
Umbata
Falls Rd. 500 m
N
Study area (as in inset)
5382000 mN
566000mE 568000mE
facing directions. Thin garnetiferous metapelite beds and
laminae are also present within the siltstone units.
The Big Lake Ultramafic Complex is conformable with the
Pulpwood-Playter Harbours sequence, as a prominent, E-
striking series of laterally continuous cumulate peridotite and
pyroxenite with synformal contacts shallowing northward from
about 55 to 5 N (Fig. 5). The Big Lake Ultramafic Complex
is approximately 300 m thick and extends up to 30 km in
strike length as inferred from its magnetic signature (Fig. 1B).
It contains up to six peridotite and pyroxenite units along its
thickest exposure (Fig. 4). Each of the peridotite units con-
tain reef-style accumulations of platinum group elements
(PGE), approximately 1.5 to 2.0 m thick with 0.8- to 2.0-ppm
combined Pt + Pd within a few meters of their northern con-
tacts with pyroxenite (Rinne, 2006). The Big Lake Ultramafic
Complex-hosted PGE are mostly in euhedral-subhedral in-
tercumulus sperrylite and mertieite crystals <5 m across.
The Big Lake Ultramafic Complex pyroxenite units are
dark green hornblende- and actinolite-bearing amphibolite
after pyroxenite cumulates (Fig. 6A, B), with secondary mag-
netite and serpentine. Relict cumulus pyroxene crystals are
mostly <3 mm across. Toward the center of the Big Lake Ul-
tramafic Complex, least altered pyroxenite with less than 20%
secondary minerals is present, allowing for more detailed
description of the protolith. Here, clino- and orthopyroxenes
can be distinguished, and the samples are medium-grained
cumulate-textured websterite, with a ~3/1 ratio of clinopyrox-
enes to orthopyroxenes. About 5% of the Big Lake Ultramafic
Complex pyroxenite is feldspathic, with 10 to 30% plagio-
clase, in places forming diffuse white patches or glomero-
crysts several centimeters long. Less than 10% of pyroxenite
is magnetic, some with visible magnetite porphyroblasts <1
mm across. Most pyroxenite units have sharp upper contacts
with overlying peridotite or cherty siltstone, with minor ex-
ceptions (Fig. 5).
In hand sample, the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex peridotite
is strongly magnetic and has a distinctive blue-gray color (Fig.
6F). The peridotite units are comprised of at least 75% ser-
pentine and talc, mostly diffuse and/or evenly distributed, and
locally as submillimeter-wide veinlets. They consist of densely
packed relict cumulus olivine crystals 0.2 to 3 mm across,
721
722 RINNE AND HOLLINGS

A B

C D

0.5 mm
FIG. 3. Representative photos of mafic-ultramafic metavolcanic rocks of the Big Lake VMS host sequence. A. Outcrop of
deformed pillows with dark green selvages (photo by C. Blackburn). The pillow facing directions are ambiguous. B. Possible
pillow selvages in drill core (hole 73; 238282 m). C. Fine-grained cumulate center of a metavolcanic flow (hole 105;
487493 m). D. Strongly foliated chlorite-actinolite biotite schist similar to rock in photo B (plane-polarized light/PPL).

most <1.5 mm across, with cumulate textures preserved by
magnetite along rounded crystal boundaries and fractures
(Fig. 6D). In about 10% of peridotite in drill core, particularly
within but not limited to the lowermost unit, olivine cumulate
crystals are either absent or too small to identify in hand
sample, and the rock is effectively a serpentinite with a pre-
sumed peridotite protolith. The peridotite units generally
have sharp upper contacts with overlying pyroxenite.
The northern Big Lake Ultramafic Complex contact has
been intersected in one drill hole (BL05-17), moving south
from a brecciated mafic metavolcanic hornfels with ~1%
finely disseminated pyrrhotite and moderate biotite and epi-
dote alteration in its lowermost 2 m, into a fine-grained felds-
pathic pyroxenite with a chill margin coarsening down hole
over 3 m (A. MavTavish, pers. commun., 2005). The better
documented southern transition from Big Lake Ultramafic
Complex cumulates through structurally underlying rock is
typically as follows, moving downhole: a gradual fining of cu-
mulate crystals over several meters into Group I metavolcanic
rock (i.e., the diffuse peridotite-Group I transition indicated
in Fig. 5 and shown in Fig. 7B); hydrothermally altered
Group I rock (VMS mineralization, possible chert frag-
ments); sharp siltstone-conformable contact to finely lami-
nated metasiltstone; and finally a sharp siltstone-conformable
contact into >200 m of Group II metavolcanic rock with in-
terflow siltstone. Groups I and II were divided on the basis of
stratigraphic relationship to the uppermost siltstone bedding
package and VMS mineralization, and while superficially sim-
ilar in hand sample (both chlorite-actinolite-serpentine schists,
locally fine-grained cumulates; Fig. 3), are later shown to be
chemically distinct.
Neither flow-top nor other marginal cooling textures such
as flow-top breccias, spinifex, or chill margins have been pre-
served along the transition from Big Lake Ultramafic Com-
plex-Group I to siltstone or Group II metavolcanic rock, due
presumably to the localization of shearing along this zone
(Fig. 5 inset). However, as discussed later, features such as
metasedimentary rock preserved in the middle of the se-
quence, upstratigraphy fining of cumulus crystals, and Big
Lake Ultramafic Complex-like trace element patterns in
some flows upsection of the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex all
suggest that it accumulated, rather than intruded, as a series
of thick-ponded ultramafic flows coeval with adjacent rock.
The Big Lake VMS occurrence structurally underlies the
eastern margin of the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex (Figs. 4,
5). Most of the sulfide mineralization defines a single locally
anastomosing sheet mostly parallel to and 5 to 50 m below the
base of the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex, with a northward
dip of about 60 near surface, shallowing northward to near
horizontal (Fig. 5). No outcrop of the mineralization has been
found, though its projection to surface is shown in Figure 4.
The mineralization consists of veined or wispy to semimassive
pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite, in decreasing order
of abundance, at up to 80% sulfides by volume over a few

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 722

 BIG LAKE MAFIC-ULTRAMAFICHOSTED VMS OCCURRENCE, MARATHON, ON 723

564 000mE 566 000mE 568 000mE

no outcrop

538 4000mN
538 4000mN

N
50 1 km

no outcrop

no
outcrop
538 2000mN

Surface projection
Big Lake
Y X of Big Lake VMS
Ultramafic
Complex

538 2000mN
Y
X
60
65

68

Pukaskwa batholith
NAD 27
564 000mE 566 000mE 568 000mE UTM Zone 16

Mafic (-ultramafic) meta- Chert-magnetite iron 60

volcanic rocks, locally
medium-grained/gabbroic
Peridotite
Siltstone Schistosity (dip indicated)
formation
Schistosity (vertical)
Pukaskwa granitoid Inferred fault trace
~2719 Ma (Muir, 2003) (vertical) Interpreted tops direction

Intermediate Limit of exposed Broad synform axial trace

Pyroxenite metavolcanic rocks bedrock proposed by Muir (1982)

FIG. 4. Geologic map of the eastern part of the Pulpwood-Playter Harbours metavolcanic sequence of the Schreiber-
Hemlo greenstone belt, showing the location of the Big Lake VMS occurrence. All units shown are Archean. Compiled from
Muir (1982) and recent mapping by C. Blackburn, A. MacTavish, and the authors. Sections X-X' and Y-Y' are shown in Fig-
ures 5 and 16, respectively.

meters (Fig. 8A, C, D). Galena (12 modal % in samples with
~75% sulfide), cobaltite (23%), and pyrite (<1%) are also
present.
This sulfide assemblage (pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-sphalerite-
cobaltite-galena pyrite) is hosted within hydrothermally al-
tered Group I metavolcanic rocks, and with the exception of
higher relative amounts of chalcopyrite toward the southern
part of the occurrence, does not differ significantly through-
out the occurrence. In most drill holes, sulfide contents and
metal grades are highest immediately adjacent to the uphole
contact of the siltstone (Fig. 8). Many of the well-mineralized
core intervals near this contact contain fragments of adjacent
metasiltstone (Fig. 8E), and a few contain sparse centimeter-
scale fragments of what are likely recrystallized chert (Fig.
8C). These fragments are unlike Big Lake metasiltstone units
in terms of their lower clay and/or mica contents and their
lack of preserved laminae. Their high recrystallized quartz
content resembles that of the thin chert-magnetite formation
units encountered south of the VMS occurrence; however,
they contain no magnetite or primary chert.
A thin zone of weak VMS hydrothermal alteration and min-
eralization occurs in the middle of the Big Lake Ultramafic
Complex (Fig. 5), 130 m uphole of the main VMS mineral-
ized zone and about 100 m across in plan view on the basis of
assays with Zn >300 ppm. It is not readily identified as VMS
mineralization in core, occurring as trace pyrrhotite-chal-
copyrite veinlets in weakly biotite-chloritealtered cumulate
pyroxenite, with up to 5 m of 0.1 to 0.5% Zn. Like the main
part of the occurrence, this upper zone is approximately par-
allel to the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex stratigraphy, with
highest metal contents a few meters downhole of fine-grained
cumulate peridotite. Unlike the main zone, however, it occurs
downhole of thin (0.21.4 m) intervals of possible recrystal-
lized chert bands which have also been interpreted as silt-
stone. This thin chert and/or siltstone unit was intersected in
six drill holes across ~200 m in plan view and has sharp upper
and lower contacts with peridotite and pyroxenite, respec-
tively. We interpret this unit to reflect seafloor sedimentation
and/or VMS exhalative activity in between the accumulation
of Big Lake Ultramafic Complex cumulate layers.

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 723

724 RINNE AND HOLLINGS

X 5381850mN N 5382150mN X

(overburden)

W-looking
section at
566660mE
150 m clip
50 m

V.E. = 1:1

Cumulate pyroxenite

Cumulate peridotite
Group I metavolcanic rock Section X-X (as above) Planar fabric
Rinne and( Hollings
diffuse Figure
upper contact)
6 Strong
Metasiltstone (~regional)
recrystallized chert Intense
Group II metavolcanic rock (shear zone)
Weak/Mod.
VMS mineralization (< regional)
VMS-hydrothermal VMS
alteration (see text) mineralization

FIG. 5. Representative N-S geologic section of the host lithostratigraphy to the Big Lake VMS occurrence. Section line
(X-X') is shown in Figure 4. Peridotite and pyroxenite cumulates comprise most of the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex. Black
lines are drill traces. The inset (bottom right) is a summary of the variable intensity of planar fabric in core: Strong is ap-
proximately the average regional metamorphic fabric, which may be texturally destructive; Intense defines a shear zone,
parts of which occur in the cumulates and VMS mineralized zone; and Weak/Moderate in places resembles near-isotropic
strain. Much of this figure is based on assay data and on detailed logs collected by MetalCORP geologists (especially A. Mac-
Tavish) and field staff. Coordinates are in NAD 27 (UTM Zone 16).

Hydrothermally altered rock of the Big Lake VMS occur-
rence, recognized either on the basis of darker color and dif-
fuse veins (e.g., Fig. 9A, B) or by geochemical indices, is
mostly confined to the zone 0 to 10 m uphole of the mineral-
ized intervals (Fig. 5). The hydrothermally altered rocks,
which have been metamorphosed to amphibolite facies as in
the rest of the study area, are comprised of veined chlorite,
biotite to phlogopite, actinolite, talc, and minor anthophyllite
(Fig. 9). The amphiboles were not part of the original VMS-
related alteration assemblage; all anthophyllite occurs as eu-
hedral acicular crystals with a weakly preferred orientation
(Fig. 9C, D), consistent with it having grown as metamorphic
porphyroblasts in an Mg-rich protolith (e.g., Ehrenberg,
1975; Gole et al., 1978; Privett, 1984). Whereas overall con-
tents of the chlorite, biotite to phlogopite, anthophyllite, and
talc increase downhole over several meters to the mineralized
zone, there is little variation in the relative abundances of
these minerals; i.e., few hydrothermal zoning relationships
are evident at the scale of study. Higher relative anthophyllite
contents in the strongly veined samples are likely a function
of (1) protolith Mg content, reflecting Mg enrichment during
VMS hydrothermal alteration and mineralization prior to re-
gional metamorphism; and (2) a possible input of regional
metamorphic CO2-bearing fluids along the sheared margin of
the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex.
Schistosity is strongly developed through most of the
metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of the Big Lake
property but barely evident in the center of the Big Lake Ul-
tramafic Complex (Fig. 5 inset). In the area of study, the pla-
nar fabric strikes approximately east with a steep northward
dip (ca. 65 at surface). At the property scale, this variable
schistosity defines a series of E-trending shear structures that
can also be inferred by the topography, as their surface traces
are now marked by cliff-lined E-trending swamps. One such
shear structure defines the southern contact of the Big Lake
Ultramafic Complex in Figure 4 and runs partly through the

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 724

 BIG LAKE MAFIC-ULTRAMAFICHOSTED VMS OCCURRENCE, MARATHON, ON 725

A B C

1 mm 1 mm

D E F

1 mm 1 mm

FIG. 6. Representative photos of Big Lake Ultramafic Complex cumulates. A. Core photo of pyroxenite with visible cu-
mulate texture (hole 17, 150 m). B. Thin section of typical amphibolite after pyroxenite, with metamorphic actinolite aggre-
gates preserving relict cumulate texture (plane-polarized light/PPL). Dark, high relief aggregates are intercumulus leucox-
ene/titanite (hole 17, 190 m). C) Thin section of websterite, with low-birefringence clinopyroxenes (XPL; outcrop sample).
D. Thin section of serpentinized peridotite with magnetite preserving relict cumulate olivine texture (PPL; outcrop sample).
E. Thin section of serpentinized peridotite with magnetite-dusted interstitial pyroxene and a few relict cores of olivine (XPL;
outcrop sample). F. Core photo showing blue-gray color of serpentinized peridotite. This sample has a fine-grained cumu-
late texture, not visible in the photo (hole 17, 230 m).

A 1
2

1 2

B 1
2

1 2

3 cm .

FIG. 7. A. Core photos of a metavolcanic flow, gradually fining downhole from a uralitized pyroxene-cumulate base (inset
1) to a massive, noncumulate aphanitic flow top (represented by inset 2). Note inferred downhole younging direction. Upper
and lower contacts of this unit (not shown) are sharp (hole 92, 333.3340.2 m). B. Core photos of the lowermost 3 m of the
Big Lake Ultramafic Complex in sharp contact with siltstone (contact marked in red), fining downhole from gray-green
strongly magnetic fine-grained cumulate peridotite (inset 1) to nonmagnetic Group I metavolcanic rock, a very fine grained
chlorite-actinolite-talc-brown mica phyllite (inset 2). This fine-grained rock, which spans tens of meters in thickness in other
drill holes, is interpreted to represent the upper flow-marginal portions of the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex (see text; hole
118, 301.9305.0 m).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 725

726 RINNE AND HOLLINGS

A B
1 cm .
Cpy

Po
Sph Cpy Po, Sph

1 mm .

C D
1 cm .

Cpy

Po, Sph

E
E F 1 cm.

Down hole
(up stratigraphy)
Cpy
(as above)
Po,
Cpy

Po, Sph

Meta-
Metavolcanic Metasiltstone volcanic

FIG. 8. Photos of the Big Lake VMS mineralized zone and associated hydrothermal alteration. Downhole is to the right
in all core photos. A. Thin section of typical Big Lake stringer and/or vein textures of sulfides hosted in hydrothermally al-
tered metavolcanic rock (sample B682321, reflected light, PPL). B. Best mineralized intervals have a semimassive or dif-
fusely banded texture of chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite sphalerite (hole 24, 131.4 m). C. Pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite veins sur-
rounding a recrystallized chert (?) fragment (hole 24, 128.4 m). D. Near contacts between metavolcanic and sedimentary
units, sulfide veinlets are generally parallel to bedding planes (hole 23, 219.0 m). E. Some upper contacts (stratigraphic bot-
toms) of siltstone are marked by brecciated intervals of sulfides surrounding rotated siltstone fragments. F. Sulfide content
generally increases downhole against upper contacts (stratigraphic bases) of uppermost siltstone units, at both meter and
centimeter scales. Cpy = chalcopyrite, Po = pyrrhotite, Sph = sphalerite.

zone of Big Lake VMS mineralization (Fig. 5). The shear zone
is approximately 5 to 20 m wide, defined where estimated
strain intensity or planar fabric > regional planar fabric. Rel-
ative offset or tectonic shortening along this approximately
stratigraphy-parallel shear zone is unclear.
A NW-trending fault system extends through the Pulp-
wood-Playter Harbours sequence, with the fault traces largely
inferred from aeromagnetic anomalies and the offsets of Big
Lake Ultramafic Complex and siltstone units. Six fault gouge
intervals 0.3 to 1.0 m wide are present in core throughout the
study area, and many preexisting faults have apparently been
intruded by Proterozoic diabase dikes (dikes having the same
planar orientation as the NW-trending fault system). The
eastern limit of Big Lake Ultramafic Complex outcrop, as
mapped in Figure 4, is marked by a NW-trending cliff. Al-
though ultramafic cumulates have been intersected below
overburden east of this outcrop, the exact location of the east-
ernmost margin of the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex has not
yet been determined.
Sampling and Methodology
Due to a lack of outcrop, most samples of the Big Lake
VMS occurrence were taken from 53 diamond drill holes in
the study area (Fig. 2). Property-scale mapping and drill core

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 726

 BIG LAKE MAFIC-ULTRAMAFICHOSTED VMS OCCURRENCE, MARATHON, ON 727

cm
A B 1 cm .

C D

cm 1 mm
FIG. 9. Representative core and thin section photos of hydrothermal alteration associated with VMS sulfides in metavol-
canic rocks at Big Lake. A. Hydrothermal alteration is evident in diffuse brown mica (biotite-phlogopite) veins (hole 32). B.
Sulfides are associated with the most intense hydrothermal alteration (hole 24). C. Biotite-chlorite alteration with ~10% an-
thophyllite visible as lighter radiating fans and veins (hole 32). D. Anthophyllite fans in biotite, as in (C), (sample B683718,
PPL).

and surface sampling were used for determination of back-
ground or least altered compositions of the Pulpwood-Playter
Harbours sequence and for general discussion of structure
and tectonic setting.
The geochemical data presented here include drill core
samples collected by the authors, crushed and pulverized to
200 mesh in an agate mill at Lakehead University, with
working surfaces cleaned with acetone between samples.
Powders were sent to the Ontario Geoscience Laboratories in
Sudbury, Ontario, for analysis of major elements by XRF and
trace elements (including the REE and HFSE) by ICP-MS.
Powders were digested in closed beaker first in a mixture of
HF-HCl-HClO4, then in a mixture of dilute HCl-HClO4, as
described by Burnham et al. (2002). ICP-MS analyses were
performed using a Perkin-Elmer Elan 9000 mass spectrome-
ter following a method similar to that of Burnham and
Schweyer (2004).
Additional data presented here are from core samples col-
lected by MetalCORP Ltd. field staff from 2004 to 2007, fol-
lowing standard core sampling procedure, and submitted for
analysis by ALS Chemex Laboratories in Thunder Bay. These
split core samples were crushed in Thunder Bay and pulver-
ized in a low chrome steel mill. Major element oxides and
LOI were analyzed by XRF (Chemex analytical procedure
code MEXRF06; fused bead method), and trace elements
(Ce, Dy, Er, Eu, Gd, Ho, La, Lu, Nd, Pr, Sm, Tb, Th, Tm, U,
Y, Yb) by ICP-MS (ME-MS82) following lithium borate fu-
sion and four-acid (HF, HNO3, HClO4, HCl) digestion.
Samples were also analyzed by ICP-MS (ME-MS61) for Ag,
Al, As, Ba, Be, Bi, Ca, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ga, Ge, Hf,
In, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nb, Ni, P, Pb, Rb, Re, S, Sb,
Se, Sn, Sr, Ta, Te, Th, Ti, Tl, U, V, W, Y, Zn, and Zr, as well as
for Au, Pt, and Pd after the same four-acid digestion. Cu and
Zn contents greater than 1 wt % were analyzed by atomic ab-
sorption spectra (AA62).
Major and trace element results obtained by the Ontario
Geoscience and Chemex methods in overlapping sample
intervals yield similar results (major element contents are
effectively identical), but a limited comparison suggests the
Chemex method yields rare earth and high field strength
element contents about 10 to 15% lower than when using
the Ontario Geoscience method. Therefore, we note the
method used wherever geochemical results are presented
for individual samples, such as in trace element profiles.
For all results, analyses lower than detection limit were ig-
nored (treated as null data). Normalizing values used for
chondrite and primitive mantle are from Sun and McDo-
nough (1989).
A total of 207 whole-rock samples are used here, of which
49 were analyzed by the Ontario Geoscience lab methods de-
scribed previously. Representative data are given in Table 1,
with the full data set available in Appendix Table A1.

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 727

728 RINNE AND HOLLINGS

TABLE 1. Representative Major and Trace Element Data for Rocks of the Big Lake VMS Host Sequence (samples with six-digit ID were analyzed
by ALS Chemex, and those with ID in number-letter format were analyzed by the Ontario Geoscience laboratories)

Gp. I Gp. II
metavolcanic rocks metavolcanic rocks BLUC peridotites BLUC pyroxenites Metasiltstones

73-K 7-K 39-L 546749 626113 546712 626101 626114 73-M 546750

SiO2 46.35 39.89 48.16 47.44 39.59 39.71 42.73 48.11 69.62 70.13
TiO2 0.99 1.52 0.75 0.82 0.75 1.39 2.75 0.86 0.3 0.31
Al2O3 5.62 7.78 12.64 14.93 2.41 7.32 5.54 13.91 14.4 14.24
Fe2O3 14.46 13.42 14.68 11.92 18.79 16.89 21.37 14.83 3.68 2.43
MnO 0.27 0.33 0.22 0.23 0.25 0.24 0.23 0.21 0.04 0.06
MgO 19.61 9 9.22 6.58 26.37 20.35 9.14 7.26 1.24 0.84
CaO 9.25 18.78 11.6 13.81 2.8 7.13 15.73 9.88 2.54 2.89
Na2O 0.32 1.53 2.38 1.78 0.04 0.12 1.05 3.02 4 6.75
K2O 0.05 0.61 0.28 0.42 0.13 0.03 0.36 0.48 3.05 0.08
P2O5 0.03 0.12 0.07 0.05 0.05 0.09 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.07
LOI 3.23 7.8 0.75 1.73 7.26 5.19 0.06 0.63 2.13 1.19
Total 100.19 100.78 100.72 99.75 98.84 98.78 98.92 99.31 101.07 99.02
Ti 5390 7665 4039 11920 18790 16890 21370 14830 1490 2430
P 210 220 410 280 280 320
Cr 3706 756 1069 75 2070 1340 18 83 57 27
Co 77 53.6 67.1 47 161 103 88.4 60.3 9.1 8
Ni 438 261 246 81.5 2220 870 368 118 23 24.4
Rb 1 22 5 10 1 1 2 3 44 1
Sr 79 636 195 190 29 63 103 160 198 209
Cs 0.05 1.33 0.1 0.26 0.18 0.12 0.2 0.99 0.09
Ba 3 132 42 100 10 40 80 685 50
Sc 65 34.1 40.8 4.5
V 248 375 256 258 126 250 799 268 42 41
Ta 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.3
Nb 3.2 6 2.2 2.2 5.9 7.5 5.9 2.1 3.3 3.6
Zr 43 84 52 17 15 44 3 17 123 77
Hf 1.3 2.3 1.5 0.8 0.4 1.3 1.4 0.6 3.1 2.5
Th 0.3 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.9 0.2 2 2.2
U 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.7 0.4
Y 13.5 19.5 20 18.5 5.7 13.5 13.2 15.4 4.4 4.5
La 3.7 7.4 3.7 3.5 6.4 7.5 7.5 3.5 13 7.1
Ce 10.9 20.3 10.9 9.2 14 19.2 18 8.3 25.4 15.9
Pr 1.5 2.8 1.4 1.3 1.8 2.7 2.6 1.4 2.7 2
Nd 7.7 14 7 6.2 7.6 12.1 12.6 6.6 9.7 7.4
Sm 2.3 3.7 2.1 1.9 1.5 3 3.2 1.9 1.7 1.4
Eu 1.5 1.5 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.8 1.1 0.7 0.6 0.7
Gd 2.5 3.8 2.6 2.4 1.6 3.2 3.2 2.3 1.3 1.3
Tb 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.2 0.2
Dy 2.4 3.6 3.2 3 1.2 2.8 2.8 3 0.9 0.9
Ho 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.2 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.2 0.2
Er 1.3 1.8 2 2 0.6 1.5 1.4 1.9 0.4 0.5
Tm 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.1
Yb 1.2 1.6 2 1.9 0.5 1.3 1.1 1.8 0.4 0.5
Lu 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.1
Cu 37 65 6 77 271 103 1185 291 81 143
Zn 80 78 54 68 120 108 98 83 25 19
Mo 0.09 0.29 0.11 0.41 0.09 0.23 0.23 1.62 1.29 0.86
Pb 0.7 6.8 1.3 6.2 1.1 0.6 1.2 3.1 3.2 2.9
Sn 0.9 1.4 0.9 0.4 0.4 0.7 0.9 0.6 0.7 0.4
Sb 0.04 0.1 0.07 0.18 0.14 0.24 0.05 0.05
(La/Yb)cn 2.2 3.26 1.33 1.32 9.18 4.14 4.89 1.39 25.4 10.18
(La/Sm)cn 1.05 1.27 1.15 1.19 2.76 1.62 1.51 1.19 4.91 3.28
(Gd/Yb)cn 1.7 1.96 1.08 1.04 2.65 2.04 2.41 1.06 2.97 2.15
(Eu/Eu*)cn 1.88 1.18 1 1 0.98 0.78 1.04 1.02 1.13 1.56
Al2O3/TiO2 5.68 5.12 16.85 18.21 3.21 5.27 2.01 16.17 48 45.94
Zr/Hf 33 36 35 21 37 33 25 28 40 30
Zr/Y 3.19 4.31 2.6 0.94 2.6 3.24 2.74 1.09 27.89 17.02
Nb/Nb* 0.95 0.84 0.66 0.61 0.75 0.95 0.7 0.53 0.18 0.42
Hole ID 73 7 39 62 6 56 5 7 73 62
Depth (m) 232.6 171.1 277.8 135 152.7 207.4 17.3 203.4 318.2 157.6

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 728

 BIG LAKE MAFIC-ULTRAMAFICHOSTED VMS OCCURRENCE, MARATHON, ON 729

Geochemical Results Near the mineralized zone, the least and most hydrothermally
altered samples at Big Lake can be distinguished geochemi-
Igneous geochemistry cally, as well as by the presence of vein and diffuse biotite to
All of the metavolcanic rocks are of mafic to ultramafic phlogopite, anthophyllite, vein chlorite, and/or generally darker
composition, with SiO2 contents of 37 to 52 wt % (mean 45 wt color in metavolcanic rocks. Estimates of mass-balance
%) and 4 to 18 wt % MgO in least altered samples, compared changes due to local hydrothermal alteration are summarized
to Big Lake Ultramafic Complex peridotites with 37 to 43
(mean 40) wt % SiO2, and pyroxenites with 32 to 52 (mean
44) wt % SiO2 (Tables 1, A1). All metavolcanic samples have 100
low Zr/TiO2 (<0.01) and plot in the basalt to alkaline basalt
A
fields of the Zr/TiO2 versus Nb/Y diagram of Pearce (1996;
Fig. 10). The distribution of Nb/Y ratios is clearly bimodal: 10
subalkaline to alkaline Group I metavolcanic rocks group with
the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex cumulates and a separate
group for sub-alkaline Group II metavolcanic rocks (Fig. 10).
1 Big Lake Group I metavolcanic rock (sample 41-K)
On primitive mantle-normalized diagrams, Group I samples
have weakly fractionated REE (La/Ybcn = 28) and mostly Big Lake Ultramafic Complex peridotite (sample 546712)
convex up LREE patterns, unlike most Group II samples
with nearly flat REE profiles (La/Ybcn= 12; Fig. 11). Though 0.1
100
absolute Nb concentrations are similar in both sample sets
(138 ppm), most Group II samples show weak negative Nb
B
anomalies (Nb/Nb* = 0.40.9), and generally flat Zr and Hf,
10
whereas Group I samples show generally undepleted/flat Nb
(Nb/Nb* = 0.61.3) and have relative depletions in the other Sample / Primitive Mantle
HFSE. Trace element patterns of the Big Lake Ultramafic
Complex peridotites and pyroxenites (not shown) are similar 1 Group I metavolcanic rocks (samples 24-B, 41-K, 73-K)
to those of the adjacent Group I metavolcanic rocks, with
Group II metavolcanic rocks (samples 23-L, 30-L, 39-L)
slightly fractionated REE (La/Ybcn = 49 in both peridotites
and pyroxenites), negative Zr-Hf anomalies, and generally flat 0.1
to weak positive Nb anomalies. 100
C
Alteration and mineralization geochemistry
Hydrothermally altered rock is proximal to mineralization 10
at Big Lake. No broad zones of silification or quartz-epidote
alteration have been recognized during mapping of the Pulp-
wood Playter Harbours sequence, although the sparse sample
1 Big Lake Group II metavolcanic rock (sample 23-L)
data in Figure 12 show a possible Na depletion north of and
within the eastern part of the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex. Winston Lake tholeiitic basalt (sample BD-7-1 from Polat, 2009)

0.1
1 100
Alkali D
Group I Rhyolite Phonolite
Group II Rhyolite
Dacite Trachyte 10
Pyroxenite
0.1 Tephri-
Peridotite Trachy- phonolite
andesite
Zr/TiO2

Andesite / Big Lake Group I metavolcanic rock (sample 41-K)

1
Basaltic Andesite
Schreiber-Hemlo transitional to alkaline basalt
0.01
(sample SC95-33 from Polat, 2009)
Alkali Foidite
Basalt 0.1
Basalt Th Nb La Ce Pr Nd Zr Hf Sm Eu Ti Gd Tb Dy Y Ho Er Tm Yb Lu Al V
FIG. 11. Representative primitive mantle normalized trace element dia-
0.001 grams for Big Lake metavolcanic rocks and cumulates. Except for peridotite,
0.01 0.1 1 10 all samples shown were analyzed by the Ontario Geoscience Laboratories. A.
Group I rocks have trace element profiles similar to Big Lake Ultramafic
Nb/Y Complex cumulate peridotite. B. Group II metavolcanic rocks stratigraphi-
FIG. 10. Zr/TiO2 vs. Nb/Y plot for rocks of the Big Lake VMS host se- cally above VMS mineralization have profiles distinct from Group I rocks. C.
quence. Groups I and II are metavolcanic rock stratigraphically below and Big Lake Group II basalt compared to a tholeiitic basalt from the Winston
above VMS mineralization, as labeled in Figure 5. Peridotites and pyroxen- (Big Duck) Lake belt (from Polat, 2009). D. Big Lake Group I basalt com-
ites are Big Lake Ultramafic Complex cumulates. Fields are from Pearce pared to a transitional to alkaline basalt of the Schreiber-Hemlo belt (from
(1996) after Winchester and Floyd (1977). Polat, 2009). Primitive mantle values are from Sun and McDonough (1989).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 729

730 RINNE AND HOLLINGS

564000mE 565500mE 567000mE in Figure 13, using the means of ten most visibly altered and
500 m
A three least altered Group I metavolcanic samples (these
Looking North and 50 down
(~parallel to BLUC contacts)
means are listed in Table 2, using sample data in Table A1).
V.E. = 1:1 Absolute mass changes were calculated using the method of
Big Lake
MacLean (1990) with Zr assumed immobile (Fig. 14A) and
Ultramafic used to correct for mass change, i.e., for each altered sample:
Complex Mass change of component X = ([Zr]least altered mean / [Zr]sample
Big Lake [X]least altered mean) - [X]sample.
Pukaskwa batholith VMS Most of the least altered metavolcanic samples (Groups I
and II) have Na2O and MgO contents of 2 to 4 and 4 to 18 wt
B Cu (wt. %) %, respectively. Intense hydrothermal alteration, on the basis
<0.1 >2.0
of >30 vol % pervasive to vein chlorite-biotite (phlogopite,
anthophyllite, talc), is limited to Group I samples. Most of the
strongly altered Group I samples contain less than 2 wt %
Big Lake Na2O and 11 to 21 wt % MgO (Fig. 14C-E), as well as
Ultramafic
Complex Hashiguchi Alteration Index >55 (Fig 14e, f; Hashiguchi et al.,
1983). The Mg, Fe, and Al additions (Figs. 13, 14C, D) and
trends to higher Hashiguchi Index (Fig. 14E, F) in strongly
altered Group I are consistent with chlorite and sulfide addi-
tion. Additions of Cu, V, Sc, Co, Pb, and Zn (presumably with
C Mg (wt. %)
similarly behaved Cd, Bi, and In, based on assay data; Table
<8 >15 3) are consistent with the pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-sphalerite-
cobaltite-galena pyrite mineralization associated with the
Big Lake
hydrothermal alteration. Along with Na2O removal (Figs. 13,
Ultramafic 14D, E), the loss of Ba, Ni, Sr, Cr, and P (Fig. 13) may be a re-
Complex
sult of both feldspar- and olivine-destructive alteration, e.g.,
serpentinization at the expense of olivine and VMS hydrother-
mal chloritization at the expense of plagioclase and olivine.
The main mineralized zone at Big Lake is effectively one
D Na (wt. %) thin sheet with little variation in relative metal contents or
<2 >5
sulfide abundances, with a mean composition of 1.79% Cu,
0.84% Zn, 34 ppm Ag, and 0.73 ppm Au in 232 assays (Table
4). Among the best reported drill intervals are hole 23 with
Big Lake 3.7% Cu, 2.2% Zn, 81.0 ppm Ag, and 1.5 ppm Au over 3.1 m,
Ultramafic
Complex and hole 24 with 7.5% Cu, 2.2% Zn, 138.0 ppm Ag, and 9.2
ppm Au over 4.0 m.
Mafic- to ultramafic-hosted VMS deposits may have anom-
alous Co, Ni, or PGE contents reflecting higher metal con-
tents available for leaching from the footwall succession (e.g.,
E Pan and Xie, 2001). At Big Lake, however, Co contents at
100[Fe2O3+MgO] /
[Fe2O3+MgO+Na2O+K2O] comparable Cu or Zn grades are no higher than in Archean
<10 >70
VMS deposits in general (e.g., Archean ore head mean, Table
Big Lake
4) and are significantly lower than in Co-enriched mafic- to
Ultramafic ultramafic-hosted VMS deposits such as the Outokumpu dis-
Complex
trict, Ivanovka, Ishkinino, Windy Craggy, or Potter Doal ore
(Table 4 and references therein). Platinum group element
564000mE 565500mE 567000mE
contents are generally not reported in VMS ore data, but a
limited comparison points to similar Pt and significantly lower
FIG. 12. Projection or wide section of whole-rock data (mostly assay) look- Pd contents at Big Lake than in the chalcopyrite-mineralized
ing north and 50 down, approximately along the N-dipping Big Lake Ultra- ore of the Kuroko, Besshi, Outokumpu, Geco, and Willroy
mafic Complex contacts. A. Distribution of all available whole-rock data, deposits sampled by Pan and Xie (2001).
mostly from drill core, with projected outlines of the Big Lake Ultramafic
Complex and Pukaskwa batholith as mapped in Figure 2. Red lines mark the
approximate margins of the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex along this projec-
Discussion
tion based on map and drill intersections. B. Cu contents show the location
of the Big Lake VMS mineralized zone. C. Mg contents reflect peridotite cu-
Tectonic setting of the Big Lake VMS occurrence
mulate flows and hydrothermal alteration adjacent to the mineralized zone. Volcanogenic massive sulfide systems are known to develop
D. Na contents may be lower in metavolcanic rock north of the Big Lake Ul- in a range of tectonic settings including oceanic rifts, arcs, and
tramafic Complex and in the eastern part of the Big Lake Ultramafic Com-
plex. E. Alteration Index similar to that used by Lentz (1999): 100 [Fe2O3 + back arcs (e.g., Hodgson and Lydon, 1977; Sawkins, 1990;
MgO]/[Fe2O3 + MgO + Na2O + K2O]. There are fewer points because these Lentz, 1998; Hollings et al., 2000; Large et al., 2001a; Schandl
values cannot be generated with the standard assay data. and Gorton, 2002; Piercey et al., 2008; Huston et al., 2010).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 730

 BIG LAKE MAFIC-ULTRAMAFICHOSTED VMS OCCURRENCE, MARATHON, ON 731

12 250 02ppm change:

Nd, La, Pr, Ce, Nb, Zr, Y,
Ta, U, Tm, Lu, Th, Tb, Ho,

Mass change (ppm)

Tl, Sb, Eu, Ag, Yb, Sm, Hf,

Mass change (%)

Er, Cs, Mo, Gd, Dy, Sn

Na2O
MnO
0 0 Ba Ni Sr Cr P

P2O5

TiO2

Al2O3
K2O
LOI

Fe2O3
MgO
SiO2
CaO
Rb Pb Co Sc Zn V Cu

-12 -250

FIG. 13. Estimated mass losses and gains due to mineralization-proximal hydrothermal alteration in Group I metavolcanic
rocks, using the means of ten visibly most altered and three least altered samples as in Table 2. Absolute mass changes were
calculated using the method of MacLean (1990) with Zr assumed immobile (see text). The most altered samples are from
within a few meters of visible VMS mineralization and are interpreted to reflect local stringer zone-proximal and/or dis-
charge-related footwall alteration, particularly chlorite addition and Na loss by feldspar destruction.

A 4 B
4

3
3
Hf (ppm)

TiO2 (%)
2
2
Peridotite
Group I 1
1
Most altered Gp. I
Group II
0 50 Zr (ppm) 150 0 50 Zr (ppm) 150
5
C D
25
4
Na2O (%)

20
3
MgO (%)

15

2
10

1
5

0 50 Zr (ppm) 150 0 5 10 MgO (%) 20 25

100 100
E F Chlorite,
Epidote, Pyrite
Calcite
80
80
Least altered basalts
AI

60
Least altered
CCPI

60 dacites
40
Least altered
40 rhyolites Sericite
20

Albite K-feldspars
20
0 1 3 4 0 20 40 A I 60 80 100
Na2O (%)
FIG. 14. Variation diagrams and alteration plots of Big Lake metavolcanic and cumulate peridotite samples. A. Hf vs. Zr.
B. TiO2 vs. Zr. C. MgO vs. Zr. D. Na2O vs. MgO. E. Alteration Index of Hashiguchi et al. (1983; 100 * [MgO + K2O] / [Na2O
+ K2O + CaO + MgO]) vs. Na2O, F) Simplified alteration box plot of Large et al. (2001b). These diagrams include results
from both OGS and ALS Chemex methods.

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 731

732 RINNE AND HOLLINGS

TABLE 2. Representative Mean Compositions of Ten Most and Three Least Based on the volume of rock available for study, the host
Hydrothermally Altered Group I Metavolcanic Rocks (as in Fig. 13) lithostratigraphy to the Big Lake VMS occurrence can be de-
scribed as a mafic flow-dominated assemblage with interbed-
Gp. I Gp. I
most altered least altered Mass
ded siltstones and thick ponded ultramafic flows or upper
mean mean change crustal intrusions, lacking felsic volcanic or volcaniclastic
rock. Such an assemblage is most consistent with either the
SiO2 42.13 41.18 11.78 mafic-siliciclastic type (which may be formed in oceanic arc
TiO2 1.43 1.55 0.25 settings or sedimented ocean ridges) or the mafic type (which
Al2O3 6.89 7.83 0.82 may also include plume-derived seamounts) of the lithotec-
Fe2O3 18.01 18.00 4.64 tonic classification scheme of Franklin et al. (2005), though a
MnO 0.24 0.33 0.04
MgO 14.90 11.67 7.06
true classification according to this scheme would require
CaO 8.12 9.57 0.63 study of a larger volume of rock than that being considered
Na2O 0.62 1.52 0.75 here. Geochemical evidence, however, points to a plume-in-
K2O 0.52 0.59 0.07 fluenced seafloor setting for the Big Lake VMS occurrence.
P2O5 0.08 0.10 0.00 Polat (2009) has shown that the basalts of the Wawa sub-
LOI 4.90 5.97 0.19 province are predominantly plume-derived tholeiitic with
Total 97.84 98.31 rare transitional to alkaline basalts (Fig. 15). In terms of their
Th-Ta-Yb systematics, as well as their overall trace element
P 404 525 17
Cr 1360 1749 39
patterns shown in Figure 11, basalts or komatiitic basalts of
Co 114.3 129.2 14.4 the Big Lake VMS host sequence are similar to plume-de-
Ni 795 1076 77 rived basalts of the Wawa subprovince, barring larger relative
Ti depletions and weak relative Nb depletions in some of the
Rb 18 19 3 Group II basalts. Specifically, Group II basalts have the flat
Sr 137 231 59 REE patterns typical of tholeiitic plateau basalts that make up
Cs 2.31 2.41 39.27 most of the Wawa greenstone belts, whereas Group I basalts
Ba 179 438 213
have the characteristics of the transitional to alkaline basalts
Sc 38.1 29.9 18.0 of the Wawa subprovince defined by Polat (2009; Fig. 11D).
V 271 273 67 All of the basalts or komatiitic basalts that host the Big Lake
Ta 0.5 0.6 0.0 VMS occurrence can be interpreted to be part of the same
Nb 6.7 8.4 0.0 oceanic plateau sequence, in which the Big Lake Ultramafic
Zr 55 69 0 Complex + Group I rocks and the Group II rocks are derived
Hf 1.7 1.8 0.3 from two geographically and chemically distinct, but both
Th 0.7 0.8 0.1
plume-derived, sources. Polat (2009) demonstrated that the
U 0.2 0.2 0.0
Y 14.1 17.8 0.0 somewhat OIB-like and/or Nb-enriched composition of tran-
sitional to alkaline basalts of the Wawa subprovince (as in the
La 7.0 9.5 0.7 Group I rocks) may have occurred by mixing of enriched/
Ce 18.1 23.0 0.3 OIB-like and depleted/MORB-like sources, formed respec-
Pr 2.4 3.5 0.5 tively by low and high degrees of partial melting at different
Nd 11.3 15.4 1.3 depths in the mantle plume.
Sm 3.0 3.4 0.3
Eu 0.9 1.0 0.2 10
Gd 3.1 3.1 0.7
Tb 0.5 0.5 0.1
Dy 2.8 2.8 0.7 1
Ho 0.6 0.5 0.2 OIB
Er 1.5 1.4 0.5 Modern
1 3
Tm 0.2 0.2 0.0 arc lavas
Yb 1.2 1.3 0.2
Th/Yb

Lu 0.2 0.2 0.1 CA

Wawa island arc
Cu 223 131 149 TH 1 volcanic rocks
Zn 140 69 26 0.1 2 2 Wawa tholeiitic basalts
Mo 0.93 0.63 0.54 Wawa transitional to
Ag 0.3 0.1 0.2 3 alkaline basalts
Tl 0.4 0.4 0.2 N-MORB Big Lake Group I basalt
Pb 9.1 4.3 7.1
Big Lake Group II basalt
Sn 1.4 0.8 0.9 0.01
Sb 0.2 0.1 0.2
0.01 0.1 1 10
Ta/Yb
Notes: Samples used are on the basis of visible pervasive to vein alteration
and most altered samples are proximal to mineralization; absolute mass FIG. 15. Tectonic discriminant diagram comparing Big Lake basalts to
changes were calculated using the method of MacLean (1990) with Zr as- Wawa subprovince basalts (numbered fields) of Polat (2009). Fields after
sumed immobile; data are available in the digital appendix Table A1 Pearce (2008).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 732

 BIG LAKE MAFIC-ULTRAMAFICHOSTED VMS OCCURRENCE, MARATHON, ON 733

TABLE 3. Squared Pearson Correlation Coefficients for Metals plus As, S, Se, and Te in Big Lake Samples with >730 ppm Zn
(R2 values >0.85 are in bold, n = 232)

Ag Au Cd Cu Pb As Bi Co Fe In Ni Pd Pt S Se Sn Te

Ag 0.26 0.69 0.65 0.67 0.78 0.02 0.06 0.02 0.73 0.78 0.66 0.77
Au 0.23 0 0.14 0.11 0.09 0.08 0 0.01 0 0.24 0.14 0.08 0.16
Cd 0.66 0.11 0.27 0.88 0.74 0.64 0.9 0.03 0.1 0.01 0.66 0.81 0.75 0.64
Cu 0.91 0.18 0.66 0.31 0.68 0.67 0.72 0.82 0.02 0.05 0.02 0.7 0.84 0.7 0.73
Pb 0.57 0.11 0.78 0.53 0.2 0.78 0.63 0.53 0.67 0.02 0.13 0.02 0.52 0.64 0.58 0.54
Zn 0.63 0.1 0.99 0.63 0.78 0.25 0.85 0.71 0.62 0.87 0.03 0.1 0.01 0.68 0.77 0.72 0.6

Galley et al. (2007) discussed the evolution of Archean crust
as one dominated by mantle plume activity, forming incipient
rift basins containing basalts and/or komatiites, siliciclastic
sediments, iron formation, and thick mafic-ultramafic sills and
flows. Although plume-derived rocks are common in the
Archean (e.g., Hollings et al., 1999; Polat, 2009), the preserved
parts of Archean plume-influenced oceanic plateau settings
are not commonly host to VMS deposits. The rare exceptions
are the giant Kidd Creek deposit which may have formed in a
setting of plume-arc interaction (Wyman et al., 1999; Franklin
et al., 2005; Galley et al., 2007) and smaller VMS occurrences
associated with the cooling of plume-derived shallow sills or
thick flows common in this environment (e.g., Big Lake and
the Terminus VMS occurrences; Barrie et al., 2001).
Although the Kidd-Munro assemblage is interpreted to
have formed in a rifted arc setting, it has several features in
common with the Pulpwood-Playter Harbours sequence
which hosts the Big Lake VMS occurrence, such as kilome-
ters-thick successions of komatiitic basalt sills and flows inter-
calated with massive mafic flows, including some locally cu-
mulate peridotite flows <180 m thick (e.g., the Foundation
and Empire Members of the Dundonald Formation; Davis,
1997); isolated VMS mineralization spatially associated with a
thick ultramafic flow (Barrie et al., 2001); and an age of em-
placement from 2717.0 2.6 to 2711.5 1.5 Ma (Bleeker et
al., 1999), the Schreiber-Hemlo belt having formed ca. 2725 to
2719 Ma (Polat, 2009). These features do not necessarily point
to a common tectonic origin, but both reflect high heat flow in
a plume-influenced Archean oceanic lithosphere. In the case
of the Kidd-Munro assemblage, this contributed to an excep-
tionally productive environment for VMS, including the Kidd
Creek, Chance, Potter, and Potterdoal deposits (Franklin et
al., 2005). In the case of the Pulpwood-Playter Harbours se-
quence, these conditions of increased and/or plume-derived
heat appear to have produced just the one isolated Big Lake
VMS occurrence. It is possible that Big Lake did not have all
the components necessary to produce a district of large de-
posits such as subvolcanic intrusions or late rifting. As we
later examine, the Big Lake occurrence may instead repre-
sent an isolated low-tonnage type of komatiite- or mafic-ul-
tramafic flow-related VMS such as the Terminus occurrence
(Barrie et al., 2001), which may form in many tectonic envi-
ronments but has little potential to produce large deposits.
Interpreted development of the Big Lake VMS
host stratigraphy
We have described the southward transition from Big
Lake Ultramafic Complex cumulates to the fine-grained
metavolcanic VMS host rock as either sheared (i.e., Big Lake
Ultramafic Complex shear zone with ambiguous ultramafic
protolith siltstone + metavolcanic rock) or gradually fining
into Group I metavolcanic rock (e.g., Fig. 7B). The unknown
magnitude of offset along this shear zone, in addition to the
absence of preserved flow-top or marginal cooling textures
along this transition, permits the possibility of a strictly struc-
tural association of the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex with its
adjacent VMS host stratigraphy. However, several lines of ev-
idence support a coeval stratigraphic, rather than structural,
relationship between the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex and
associated metavolcanic rocks.
Apart from one pillowed outcrop with an interpreted S-
facing direction (Blackburn and MacTavish, pers. commun.,
2005), stratigraphic-facing directions in the Pulpwood-Playter
Harbours sequence have not been well established. However,
assuming a simple crystallization history, geochemical results
in the olivine-cumulate Big Lake Ultramafic Complex peri-
dotites reveal fractionation trends that are consistent with this
south- and/or downward-facing direction along its drilled ex-
tent (Fig. 16). In particular, olivine-compatible elements such
as Co (Fig. 16B), Mg, Ni, and Cr (Foley and Jenner, 2004) de-
crease downhole, whereas less olivine-compatible and/or
more intercumulus pyroxene + plagioclase-compatible Al
(Fig. 16C), Si, and Ca increase downhole. The Pt + Pd con-
tents in Figure 16D show the two previously described PGE
reefs, occurring as conformable layers up to 2 m thick, like
those in other well-layered intrusions or flows (Fiorentini et
al., 2006; Eckstrand and Hulbert, 2007). Regardless of the
exact mechanism(s) responsible for sulfide saturation, such
reef-style accumulations are known to form by gravity settling
of dense sulfides as a thin layer on the floor of the overlying
magma (Eckstrand and Hulbert, 2007). The PGE contents in
both of the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex peridotite units
(Fig. 16D) are therefore also consistent with an overturned
system.
The Big Lake Ultramafic Complex has several features that
are inconsistent with an entirely intrusive origin, including:
(1) its small cumulus crystal sizes (most relict cumulus pyrox-
ene crystals <3 mm across, cumulus olivine crystals <1.5 mm
across); (2) the previously described intrusive chill margin
and evidence for contact metamorphism (hornfels) along its
northern margin and/or stratigraphic base only; (3) the thin
layer of metasedimentary rock in its center (Fig. 5) that we in-
terpret to be the product of seafloor sedimentation during the
upsection accumulation of Big Lake Ultramafic Complex
flows; and (4) the stratigraphic upper Big Lake Ultramafic
Complex contacts fining into Group I metavolcanic rock (e.g.,

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 733

 734

TABLE 4. Representative Metal Contents of the Big Lake VMS Mineralized Zone Compared to Other Mostly Mafic-UltramaficHosted VMS
Deposits and Occurrences

Terminus Potter Doal

Big Lake Big Lake Big Lake Big Lake Big Lakemean Mafic- occurrence Ishkinino (mean of
sample sample sample sample (>730ppm Mafic type siliciclastic type (best 7.5m deposit 2 ore dump
B682384 B682387 B683727 B683696 Zn; n=232) VMS mean VMS mean interval) (East) samples)

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
Reference (this study) Franklin et al. (2005) Barrie et al. (2001) Nimis et al. (2008) Jonasson (2010)

Hole ID 24 24 32 31
Depth (m) 129.4129.8 130.5130.9 113.1114.0 176.4176.7

Ag (ppm) 450 181 47 6 34 10.62 19.29 29.1 4-6 37.5

Au (ppm) 8.65 2.12 0.27 0.07 0.73 1.4 0.75 1.1 14
Bi (ppm) 58.5 39.9 20.7 2.1 10.4 2.6
Cd (ppm) 192 108.5 51.7 7 35.4 57.5
Co (ppm) 1195 1370 441 79 267 1300 330 2100
Cu (%) 13.5 11.65 2.42 0.32 1.79 1.82 1.23 1.37 1.04 8.1
Fe (%) 29.2 26 16.5 5.6 13.4 32.8
Mn (ppm) 842 1055 1640 875 1554 430
Ni (ppm) 646 590 541 147 401 46 10004000 51.5
Pb (ppm) 3820 2060 1085 127 767 200 6800 1000 665
Pd (ppb) 11 37 9 2 7 <20
Pt (ppb) 4 3 12 4 6 <20
Zn (%) 4.75 2.58 1.13 0.15 0.84 0.84 1.58 7.53 0.10.4 2.05

734
Geco and Outokumpu
Canadian Windy Besshi Outokumpu Kuroko Besshi Willroy deposits
RINNE AND HOLLINGS

Ivanovka Archean ore Craggy type ore Geco district ore (mean of 4 (1 cpy-rich (mean of 5 (mean of 2
deposit head mean deposit mean deposit mean cpy-rich samples) sample) ore samples) ore samples)

Nimis et al. Jonasson Peter and Shikazono Pan and

Reference (2008) (2010) Scott (1999) (2003) Fleet (1995) Peltola (1978) Pan and Xie (2001)

Ag (ppm) Jan16 109.9 3.8 32.7 48

Au (ppm) 0.0454 0.2 0.8 0.12 0.64 0.06 4.98
Bi (ppm) 67.7 78.5
Cd (ppm) 410.9 47.3
Co (ppm) 1002000 252.8 700 1221.4 2400
Cu (%) 0.19 2.48 1.4 5.9 1.84 3.8
Fe (%) 24.9 36.4 28.1
Mn (ppm) 354.6 542
Ni (ppm) 2002000 55.1 28.5 1200
Pb (ppm) 9408 500
Pd (ppb) 1.37 1769 242.3 998
Pt (ppb) 0.78 3.27 2.45 5.09
Zn (%) 0.020.15 13.07 1.5 3.72 1

Notes: Big Lake analyses are by ALS Chemex; Canadian Archean Ore Head Mean values are from 59 ore head samples from 14 Canadian Archean VMS deposits from Jonasson (2010, unpub. data)
 BIG LAKE MAFIC-ULTRAMAFICHOSTED VMS OCCURRENCE, MARATHON, ON 735

AY 100 m Fig. 7B) that we interpret to be a gradational contact with ex-

Y trusive rocks. This is also supported by the similar trace ele-
ment geochemistry of the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex and
V.E. = 1:1 Group I rocks (Fig. 11A). This relationship between Big Lake
Ultramafic Complex and Group I volcanic rocks is similar to
that between the cumulate and flow marginal parts of the
Empire komatiite flow of the Kidd-Munro assemblage (Bar-
rie et al., 2001). In light of the above geologic and geochemi-
cal relationships and comparisons to similar environments
(e.g., Barrie et al., 2001), we propose that the Big Lake Ul-
tramafic Complex formed as thick lava pools with a cumulate
base and upper margins that were in contact with seawater or
water-laden unconsolidated sediment.
B The coeval relationship between the Big Lake Ultramafic
Co (ppm)
Complex and adjacent volcanic units imply that the regional
<90 >180 footwall to the Big Lake VMS occurrence is north of the oc-
currence, and the VMS mineralized zone was formed strati-
graphically above the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex, coeval
with the volcanic and chert-magnetite units (exhalites?) that
overlie the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex. The latter has im-
plications with respect to a possible genetic relationship be-
tween the ultramafic cumulates and VMS mineralization.
Proposed genetic model for the Big Lake VMS occurrence
Barrie et al. (2001) proposed that shallow (<<0.5-km depth)
ultramafic magmas can generate significant VMS hydrother-
C Al (%)
mal circulation due in part to their high liquidus temperatures
of approximately 1,350 to 1,650C. Moreover, because of the
<1 >2.5 insulating effects of serpentinization, thick komatiite flows
could have required several hundred years to cool, thus pro-
viding a sufficiently prolonged heat source to form VMS de-
posits as large as those along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Barrie
et al., 2001). An important aspect of this scenario is that
much of the reservoir zone (the volume of rock through
which seawater was drawn by convection during cooling,
and in which most metal leaching occurred) lies below the
ponded flow. In other words, the thick ultramafic flow
served as both heat source and (temporary) insulating cap to
the underlying convection and metal leaching zone, as illus-
D trated in Figure 17. In this case the potential size and dura-
Pt + Pd (ppb)
tion of hydrothermal convection is likely less than what is
0 >300 possible above subvolcanic intrusions, resulting in a smaller
deposit size, if any, with a smaller and/or less intense metal
depletion or footwall alteration zone.
The Empire komatiite flow of the Kidd-Munro assemblage
consists of 70 to 225 m of medium- to fine-grained peridotite-
dunite-pyroxenite cumulates, overlain by 0 to 10 m of flow-
top breccia (locally absent). These are overlain by thinner
basaltic komatiite flows that host the Terminus occurrence,
approximately 50 to 100 m stratigraphically above the Empire
flow (Barrie et al., 2001). Although the dimensions of the Big
Lake Ultramafic Complex are larger than those of the Empire
flow and may represent more than one cooling unit or flow,
FIG. 16. Chemical variations through cumulate peridotites of the Big Lake
Ultramafic Complex, along a wide section centered along line Y-Y' indicated spatial relationships between ultramafic cumulates and VMS
in Figure 4 (view looking ~parallel to peridotite contacts). All data shown are sulfides described by Barrie et al. (2001) are similar to those
assay analyses by ALS Chemex. A. Spatial distribution of all peridotite inter- observed at Big Lake (Fig. 18).
vals (purple) in drill core, with scale and drill core traces indicated. Numbers If the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex was a shallow heat
are drill collar IDs. B. Co decreases downhole in both peridotite units. C. Al
increases downhole, reflecting higher pyroxene or feldspar contents. D. Pt +
source for VMS hydrothermal convection, some mechanism
Pd totals, the highest totals defining thin reefs generally near upper contacts is required to allow ascending fluids to migrate through the
with pyroxenites. entire stratigraphic thickness of the Big Lake Ultramafic

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 735

736 RINNE AND HOLLINGS

Complex. Thermal cracking through a ponded komatiite dur-

A VMS
+Mg, K - Si, Na, Ca
~500 m
Silicified cap insulates underlying reservoir
+Si,Na, Ca (e.g., epidote, albite)
Reservoir zone
-Cu, Zn, Fe
Subvolcanic intrusion
(Heat source drives overlying convection)
B
VMS (small)
+Mg - Si, Na, Ca?
Thick ultramafic flow Hot, insulated from top (serpentinization),
drives underlying convection, and insulates underlying reservoir
(i.e., short-lived heat source + cap)
-Cu, Zn, Fe
Small volume,
short-lived
reservoir zone
500 m
FIG. 17. Section diagrams illustrating key components of (A) a general
double-convection model for the formation of VMS deposits, including a
subvolcanic intrusion ~0.5 to 5 km below seafloor (after Galley, 1993;
Franklin, 1995; and Franklin, 2005), and (B) a possible model for the forma-
tion of shallow sill or ultramafic flow-associated VMS occurrences such as Big
Lake or Terminus (after Barrie et al., 2001). Both cases require (1) a heat
source, (2) an impermeable barrier and/or cap that results in (3) an isolated
reservoir zone (i.e., a zone of closed convection at >380C driven by the heat
source), and (4) a means of plumbing the reservoir (e.g., faulting or thermal
cracking), to result in (5) discharge of metal-laden fluid up to and just below
the seafloor, some of which may precipitate as distal VMS exhalites. In sce-
nario B a thick and relatively slow cooling ultramafic body would be both
heat source and insulator to the system, driving convection for up to a few
hundred years in a small reservoir zone immediately below the heat source.
Compared to scenario A, the relatively small and short-lived convection in
(B) would yield smaller deposits (if any) with weaker, smaller, and/or barely
recognizable regional footwall alteration. Scale in both sections may vary.
ing cooling is possible (Barrie et al., 2001), but no crosscutting
veins are present in the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex cumu-
lates that have a definite VMS hydrothermal origin. It is also
possible that the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex was effec-
tively impermeable during convection, in which case upflow
zones would have been limited to the edges of the Big Lake
Ultramafic Complex. This could account for the presence of
VMS mineralization only above the eastern margin of the Big
Lake Ultramafic Complex and for the lack of volcanogenic
massive sulfides stratigraphically overlying the middle (west-
ern) portions of the Big Lake Ultramafic Complex. Regard-
less of the location of upflow zones, this style of shallow heat-
sourced VMS activity may also account for the smaller size of
the Big Lake VMS occurrence, as well as its weak regional
footwall alteration signature.
Conclusions
The metavolcanic rocks that host the Big Lake VMS occur-
rence represent plume-derived oceanic plateau basalts or ko-
matiitic basalts, locally cumulates in the thicker flows, with
trace element characteristics like those of other oceanic
plateau basalts of the Wawa subprovince. The sequence has
been overturned, and the host rock to VMS mineralization
and alteration is interpreted to be the uppermost flow top
proximal part of a series of thick ultramafic cumulate flows.
Although flow-top textures have not been preserved in the
south Big Lake Ultramafic Complex marginal shear zone, the
upstratigraphy fining of cumulates into flow-top proximal
Group I rocks, the generally small cumulus size, the occur-
rence of a thin metasedimentary unit in between a peridotite-
pyroxenite transition at its center, the intrusive margin and
limited but documented evidence for contact metamorphism
at its stratigraphic base in conjunction with the absence of
such features at its stratigraphic top, and the continued ultra-
mafic volcanism of Big Lake Ultramafic Complex chemistry
up to 200 m upsection from the thickest cumulates are all
supportive of a coeval relationship between the Big Lake Ul-
tramafic Complex and stratigraphically overlying volcanic
stratigraphy.
The locations of VMS mineralization (including the small
occurrence uphole of the main zone) in this periodically sed-
imented and now overturned Archean seafloor environment
suggest that very small VMS hydrothermal cells were active

Big Lake VMS Terminus VMS

occurrence Komatiitic basalt flows, occurrence
siltstone Basalt or basaltic
komatiite flows, argillite

Empire
Ultramafic Flow
BLUC Ultramafic
cumulates
cumulates

150 m Dacite, andesite

V.E. = 1:1
FIG. 18. Section diagrams comparing spatial relationships between Empire Flow and Big Lake Ultramafic Complex cu-
mulates (dark gray), and their associated VMS mineralization (black). Both sections are rotated to assumed horizontal, with
no correction for deformation. Empire section is from Barrie et al. (2001).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 736

 BIG LAKE MAFIC-ULTRAMAFICHOSTED VMS OCCURRENCE, MARATHON, ON
during accumulation or immediately after cooling of the
thickest cumulate flows. This scenario is also consistent with
the absence of intermediate or felsic volcanism and of dis-
crete mafic or felsic magmatic heat sources within several
kilometers of stratigraphic footwall to the Big Lake VMS min-
eralization, and may be one of few ways in which a VMS sys-
tem could form in a plume-influenced setting lacking subvol-
canic intrusions. Such systems may not be commonly
preserved; outside of the Abitibi subprovince, the Big Lake
VMS occurrence is the first documented example in which
the scenario (or some variation) proposed by Barrie et al.
(2001) likely applies.
Exploration for VMS mineralization is typically focused in
settings characterized by bimodal volcanism and subvolcanic
intrusions at least 0.5 km deep, deemed favorable for the de-
velopment of VMS convection cells. This study demonstrates
that VMS mineralization could form in nonbimodal and
nonarc settings, and that similar styles of shallow intrusion or
flow-driven VMS convection cells may have developed else-
where in the Superior province or other Archean cratons.
However, in the absence of other drivers of prolonged con-
vective leaching, rocks overlying thick-ponded ultramafic
flows or very shallow (<0.5 km below seafloor) intrusions are
not expected to host significant seafloor sulfide accumulations;
judging from the Big Lake example, this type of VMS activity
would likely produce isolated low-tonnage occurrences with
smaller metal depletion or footwall alteration zones.
Acknowledgments
We thank the Ontario Centres of Excellence and Metal-
CORP Ltd. for funding this study. This research was also sup-
ported by a Society of Economic Geologists Canada Foundation
student research grant and an NSERC PGS-M scholarship.
Constructive reviews of early drafts of this work were pro-
vided by Bruce Gemmell and Jim Franklin, and we also thank
Larry Meinert with editors George Hudak, Jim Franklin, and
especially Steven Piercey for their helpful reviews. Ian Jonas-
son kindly provided geochemical data of ore head samples
from Canadian VMS deposits. We also thank Aubrey
Eveleigh, Anne Hammond, Ruslan Liferovich, Charles Greig,
Andy Abraham of Zaparo (Leapfrog software), Al MacTavish,
and Charlie Blackburn for help with many parts of this study.
REFERENCES
Ayer, J.A., Trowell, N.F., and Josey, S., 2004, Geological compilation of the
Abitibi greenstone belt: Ontario Geological Survey Map P3565.
Ayer, J.A., Goutier, J., Thurston, P.C., Dube, B., and Kamber, B.S., 2010, Tec-
tonic and metallogenic evolution of the Abitibi and Wawa Subprovinces:
Ontario Geological Survey Open File Report 6260, p. 3.13.6.
Banno, S., Takeda, H., and Sato, H., 1970, Geology and ore deposits in
the Besshi mining district: International Mineralogical Association-Inter-
national Association for Genesis of Ore Deposits, 7th General Meeting,
Tokyo and Kyoto, Field Trip Guidebook 9, 31 p.
Barrie, C.T., Erendi, A., and Cathles, L.M., 2001, Paleosea-floor volcanic-as-
sociated massive sulfide mineralization related to a cooling komatiite flow,
Abitibi subprovince, Canada: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 96, p. 16951700.
Bleeker, W., Parrish, R.R., and Sager-Kinsman, S., 1999, High-precision U-
Pb geochronology of the Late Archean Kidd Creek deposit and surround-
ing Kidd volcanic complex: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY MONOGRAPH 10, p. 4369.
Burnham, O.M., and Schweyer, J., 2004, Trace element analysis of geological
samples by ICP-MS at the Geoscience Laboratories: Revised capabilities
due to improvements to instrumentation: Ontario Geological Survey Open
File Report 6145, p. 54-154-20.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 737
737
Burnham, O.M., Hechler, J.H., Semenyna, L., and Schweyer, J., 2002, Min-
eralogical controls on the determination of trace elements following mixed
acid dissolution: Ontario Geological Survey Open File Report 6100, p. 36-
136-12.
Campbell, I.H., and Griffiths, R.W., 1990, Implications of mantle plume
structures for the evolution of flood basalts: Earth and Planetary Science
Letters, v. 99, p. 7393.
Cawthorn, R.G., Barnes, S.J., Ballhaus, C., and Maltich, K.N., 2005, Platinum
group element, chromium, and vanadium deposits in mafic and ultramafic
rocks: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY 100TH ANNIVERSARY VOLUME, p. 215249.
Davis, P.C., 1997, Volcanic stratigraphy of the Late archean Kidd-Munro as-
semblage in Dundonald and Munro Townships and genesis of associated
nickel and copper-zinc volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits, Abitibi
greenstone belt, Ontario, Canada: Unpublished M.Sc. thesis, Tuscaloosa,
University of Alabama, 201 p.
Eckstrand, O.R., and Hulbert, L., 2007, Magmatic nickel-copper-platinum
group element deposits: Geological Association of Canada, Mineral De-
posits Division, Special Publication 5, p. 205222.
Ehrenberg, S.N., 1975, Feather River ultramafic body, northern Sierra
Nevada, California: Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, v. 86, p.
12351243.
Fiorentini, M.L., Beresford, S.W., Grguric, B., Barnes, S.J., and Stone, W.E.,
2006, Anomalous reef-type platinum-group element mineralization in the
Wiluna domain, Agnew-Wiluna Greenstone Belt, Western Australia [ext.
abs.]: Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists Extended Abstracts,
2006 Volume, p. 15.
Foley, S.F., and Jenner, G.A., 2004, Trace element partitioning in lamproitic
magmasthe Gaussberg olivine leucitite: Lithos, v. 75, p. 1938.
Fralick, P.W., Purdon, R.H., and Davis, D.W., 2006, Neoarchean trans-sub-
province sediment transport in southwestern Superior province: Sedimen-
tological, geochemical, and geochronological evidence: Canadian Journal
of Earth Sciences, v. 43, p. 10551070.
Franklin, J.M., 1995, Volcanic-associated massive sulfide base metal: Geo-
logical Survey of Canada, Geology of Canada, no. 8, p. 158183.
Franklin, J.M., Lydon, J.W., and Sangster, D.M., 1981, Volcanic-associated
massive sulfide deposits: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY 75TH ANNIVERSARY VOLUME,
p. 485627.
Franklin, J.M., Gibson, H.L., Jonasson, I.R., and Galley, A.G., 2005, Vol-
canogenic massive sulfide deposits: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY 100TH ANNIVER-
SARY VOLUME, p. 523560.
Galley, A.G., 1993, Characteristics of semi-conformable alteration zones as-
sociated with volcanogenic massive sulfide districts: Journal of Geochemi-
cal Exploration, v. 48, p. 175199.
2003, Composite synvolcanic intrusions associated with Precambrian
VMS-related hydrothermal systems: Mineralium Deposita, v. 38, p. 443473.
Galley, A.G., Hannington, M.D., and Jonasson, I.R., 2007, Volcanogenic mas-
sive sulfide deposits: Geological Association of Canada Special Publication
5, p. 141161.
Gole, M.J., Barnes, S.J., and Hill, R.E.T., 1987, The role of fluids in the meta-
morphism of komatiites, Agnew nickel deposit, Western Australia: Contri-
butions to Mineralogy and Petrology, v. 96, p. 151162.
Hannington, M.D., Barrie, C.T., and Bleeker, W., 1999, The giant Kidd
Creek volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit, western Abitibi subprovince,
Canada: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY MONOGRAPH 10, p. 130.
Hashiguchi, H., Yamada, R., and Inoue, T., 1983, Practical application of low
Na2O anomalies in the footwall acid lava for delimiting promising areas
around Kosaka and Fukazawa Kuroko deposits, Akita prefecture, Japan:
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY MONOGRAPH 5, p. 387394.
Herzig, P., and Hannington, M.D., 1995, Polymetallic massive sulfides at the
modern seafloor: A review: Ore Geology Reviews, v. 10, p. 95115.
Hollings, P., Wyman, D.A., and Kerrich, R., 1999, Komatiite-basalt-rhyolite
volcanic associations in northern Superior province greenstone belts: Sig-
nificance of plume-arc interaction in the generation of the proto continen-
tal Superior province: Lithos, v. 46, p. 137161.
Hollings, P., Stott. G., and Wyman, D., 2000, Trace element geochemistry of
the Meen-Dempster greenstone belt, Uchi subprovince, Superior province,
Canada: Back-arc development on the margins of an Archean protoconti-
nent: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 37, p. 10211038.
Hodgson, C.J., and Lydon, J.W., 1977, Geological setting of volcanogenic
massive sulphide deposits and active hydrothermal systems: some implica-
tions for exploration: Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Bul-
letin, v. 70, p. 95106.
738 RINNE AND HOLLINGS
Huston, D.L., Pehrsson, S., Eglington, B.M., and Zaw, K., 2010, The geology
and metallogeny of volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits: Variations
through geologic time and with tectonic setting: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v.
105, p. 571591.
Kerrich, R., Polat, A., Wyman, D., and Hollings, P., 1999, Trace element sys-
tematics of Mg-, to Fe-tholeiitic basalt suites of the Superior province: Im-
plications for Archean mantle reservoirs and greenstone belt genesis:
Lithos, v. 46, p. 163187.
Kerrich, R., Polat, A., and Xie, Q., 2008, Geochemical systematics of 2.7 Ga
Kinoje-vis Group (Abitibi), and Manitouwadge and Winston Lake (Wawa)
Fe rich basalt-rhyolite associations: Backarc rift oceanic crust?: Lithos, v.
101, p. 123.
Koo, J., and Mossman, D.J., 1975, Origin and metamorphism of the Flin
Flon stratabound Cu-Zn sulfide deposit, Saskatchewan and Manitoba:
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 70, p. 4862.
Large, R.R., McPhie, J., Gemmell, J.B., Herrmann, W., and Davidson,
G.J., 2001a, The spectrum of ore deposit types, volcanic environments, alter-
ation halos, and related exploration vectors in submarine volcanic succes-
sions: Some examples from Australia: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 96, p. 913938.
Large, R.R., Gemmell, J.B., Paulick, H., 2001b, The Alteration Box Plot: A
simple approach to understanding the relationship between alteration min-
eralogy and lithogeochemistry associated with volcanic-hosted massive sul-
fide deposits: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 96, p. 957971.
Lentz, D.R., 1998, Petrogenetic evolution of felsic volcanic sequences asso-
ciated with Phanerozoic volcanic-hosted massive sulfide systems: The
role of extensional geodynamics: Ore Geology Reviews, v. 12, p. 289327.
1999, Petrology, geochemistry, andoxygen isotope interpretation of fel-
sic volcanic and related rocks hosting the Brunswick 6 and 12 massive sul-
fide deposits (Brunswick belt) Bathurst miningcamp, New Brunswick,
Canada: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 94, p. 5786.
MacLean, W.H., 1990, Mass change calculations in altered rock series: Min-
eralium Deposita, v. 25, p. 4449.
Muir, T.L., 1982, Geology of the Hemlo area, district of Thunder Bay: On-
tario Geological Survey Report 217, 62 p.
2003, Structural evolution of the Hemlo greenstone belt in the vicinity
of the world-class Hemlo gold deposit: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences,
v. 40, p. 395430.
Mungall, J.E., and Naldrett, A.J., 2008, Ore deposits of the platinum-group
elements: Elements, v. 4, p. 253258.
Nimis, P., Zaykov, V.V., Omenetto, P., Melekestseva, I.Yu., Tesalina, S.G., and
Orgeval, J.-J., 2008, Peculiarities of some mafic-ultramafic- and ultramafic-
hosted massive sulfide deposits from the Main Uralian fault zone, southern
Urals: Ore Geology Reviews, v. 33, p. 4969.
Pan, Y., and Fleet, M.E., 1995, Geochemistry and origin of cordierite-or-
thoamphibole gneiss and associated rocks at an Archean volcanogenic mas-
sive sulphide camp: Manitouwadge, Ontario, Canada: Precambrian Re-
search, v. 74, p. 7389.
Pearce, J.A., 1996, A users guide to basalt discrimination diagrams: Geolog-
ical Association of Canada Short Course Notes 12, p. 79113.
2008. Geochemical fingerprinting of oceanic basalts with applications to
ophiolite classification and the search for Archean oceanic crust: Lithos, v.
100, p. 1448.
Peltola, E., 1978, Origin of Precambrian copper sulfides of the Outokumpu
district, Finland: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 73, p. 461477.
Percival, J.A., Sanborn-Barrie, M., Skulski, T., Stott, G.M., Helmstaedt, H.,
and White, D.J., 2006, Tectonic evolution of the western Superior province
from NATMAP and lithoprobe studies: Canadian Journal of Earth Sci-
ences, v. 43, p. 10851117.
Peter, J.M., and Scott, S.D., 1999, Windy Craggy, northwestern British Co-
lumbia: The worlds largest Besshi-type deposit: Reviews in Economic Ge-
ology, v. 8, p. 261295.
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 738
Piercey, S.J., Peter, J.M., Mortensen, J.K., Paradis, S., Murphy, D.C., and
Tucker, T.L., 2008, Petrology and U-Pb geochronology of footwall por-
phyritic rhyolites from the Wolverine volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit,
Yukon, Canada: Implications for the genesis of massive sulfide deposits of
continental margin environments: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, v. 103, p. 533.
Polat, A., 2009, The geochemistry of Neoarchean (ca. 2700 Ma) tholeiitic
basalts, transitional to alkaline basalts, and gabbros, Wawa subprovince,
Canada: Implications for petrogenetic and geodynamic processes: Precam-
brian Research, v. 168, p. 83105.
Polat, A., and Kerrich, R., 1999, Formation of an Archean tectonic melange
in the Schreiber-Hemlo greenstone belt, Superior province, Canada: Im-
plications for Archean subduction-accretion processes: Tectonics, v. 18, p.
732753.
Polat, A., Wyman, D.A., Kerrich, R., and Hollings, P.N., 1996, Geochemical
characteristics of mafic metavolcanic rocks from the Schreiber-Hemlo
greenstone belt, Wawa subprovince: Implications for mantle source and
tectonic setting [abs.]: Geological Association of Canada-Mineralogical As-
sociation of Canada Annual Meeting 1996, Abstracts, p. 45.
Polat, A., Kerrich, R., and Wyman, D.A., 1998, The late Archean Schreiber-
Hemlo and White River-Dayohessarah greenstone belts, Superior
province: Collages of oceanic plateaus, oceanic arcs, and subduction-accre-
tion complexes: Tectonophysics, v. 289, p. 295326.
Privett, D.R., 1984, The Turnersberg instrusive: Petrogenesis of a metamor-
phosed Alpine ultramafite in the eastern inner Piedmont, Iredell County,
North Carolina: Southeastern Geology, v. 25, p. 5560.
Rinne, M.L., 2006, Petrography and genesis of the Big Lake Ultramafic
Complex and associated PGE mineralisation, Marathon, Ontario: Unpub-
lished BSc. thesis, Thunder Bay, Canada, Lakehead University, 177 p.
Sawkins, F.J., 1990, Integrated tectonic-genetic model for volcanic-hosted
massive sulfide deposits: Geology, v. 18, p. 10611064.
Schandl, E.S., and Gorton, M.P., 2002, Application of high field strength ele-
ments to discriminate tectonic settings in VMS environments: ECONOMIC
GEOLOGY, v. 97, p. 629642.
Shervais, J.W., 2006, The significance of subduction-related accretionary
complexes in early Earth processes: Geological Society of America Special
Publication 405, p. 173192.
Shikazono, N., 2003, Geochemical and tectonic evolution of arc-backarc
hydrothermal systems: Implication for the origin of Kuroko and epithermal
vein-type mineralizations and the global geochemical cycle: New York, El-
sevier Science, 387 p.
Sinclair, W.D., Chorlton, L.B., Larame, R.M., and Eckstrand, O.R., 1999,
World Minerals Geoscience Database Project: Digital databases of gener-
alized world geology and mineral deposits for mineral exploration and re-
search: http://gdr.nrcan.gc.ca/minres/index_e.php.
Stott, G., and Mueller, W., 2009, Superior province: The nature and evolu-
tion of the Archean continental lithosphere: Precambrian Research, v. 168,
p. 13.
Sun, S.-S., and Mcdonough, W.F., 1989, Chemical and isotopic systematics of
oceanic basalts: Implications for mantle composition and processes: Geo-
logical Society, London, Special Publication 42, p. 313345.
Thurston, P.C., 2002, Autochthonous development of Superior province
greenstone belts?: Precambrian Research, v. 115, p.1136.
Williams, H., Stott, G.M., Heather, K.B., and Muir, T.L., 1991, Wawa sub-
province: Ontario Geological Survey Special Volume 4, p. 485593.
Winchester, J.A., and Floyd, P.A., 1977, Geochemical discrimination of dif-
ferent magma series and their differentiation products using immobile ele-
ments: Chemical Geology, v. 20, p. 325343.
Wyman, D.A., 1999, A 2.7 Ga komatiite, low Ti tholeiite, arc tholeiite transi-
tion, and inferred proto-arc geodynamic setting of the Kidd Creek deposit:
Evidence from precise trace element data: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY MONO-
GRAPH 10, p. 511528.