Date of Award

12-17-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Gold deposits located within the accretionary and subduction-related tectonic environment of south-central Alaska are interpreted to have formed via devolatilization of hydrous assemblages through regional metamorphism (orogenic model) or by intrusion-related hydrothermal processes (intrusion-related gold system model). The Valdez Creek mining district is located in the southern Clearwater Mountains of south-central Alaska along the intermontane-insular belt suture of the North American Cordillera. The 67-56 Ma south-vergent Valdez Creek shear zone resulted in the thrusting of North American-derived Maclaren schist (intermontane) structurally above lower greenschist-facies rocks of the Clearwater metasediments (Insular). The ~ 5km thick ductile shear zone preserves a complete inverted Barrovian metamorphic gradient ranging from lower greenschist-facies conditions in the south to upper-amphibolite-facies in the north. This event records the terminal suturing of the Wrangellia composite terrane with the North American margin. Placer gold mining and lode gold exploration is currently focused within the footwall of the Valdez Creek shear zone. The region also contains previously undated Cretaceous intrusive rocks associated with gold-in-soil geochemical anomalies. Here, competing gold system models were investigated to identify the predominant mineralization process. This information is used to improve exploration strategies in the area and further develop our understanding of gold formation in the Clearwater Mountains, Alaska. Constraining mechanisms of gold mineralization through integrating structural analysis, geochemistry, and a multiphase geochronologic framework provides a robust tool to determine dominant ore-forming mechanisms. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U geochronological methods were used to determine the timing of gold mineralization and constrain ages of igneous rocks associated with known lode sources. Detrital gold geochemistry methods were used to compare placer gold and lode gold compositions. Bulk rock major and trace element geochemical methods were also used to evaluate a primary gold-model by investigating compositional differences of gold-like elements across the Valdez Creek shear zone. Detailed mapping and structural analysis were completed to test if gold mineralization is compatible with shear zone activity (supporting an orogenic model) or if mineralization was unrelated to regional metamorphism and overprinted by the shear zone from 67-56 Ma (supporting an intrusion-related gold system model). The ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U zircon data collected from the alkali pluton suite and the placer system indicates gold-hosting veins were localized within and adjacent to alkaline plutons in the region. These data also indicate that detritus in the placer system was locally derived. White mica ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology integration ages from undeformed gold-bearing quartz veins proximal to intrusions supports a young mineralization age for gold between 62.11 Ma to 66.58 Ma. Similarities in gold chemistry were also identified within placer gold samples collected from current mining operations and a lode gold location within the catchment. Structural observations show gold-bearing mineralization in quartz veins is likely synchronous with the penetrative deformation associated with the Valdez Creek shear zone. Discrete and network vein orientations throughout the shear zone have geometries compatible with top-to-the-south shear sense of the Valdez Creek shear zone. These results are compatible with a local gold lode source for the Valdez Creek placer deposit that formed coeval with the Valdez Creek shear zone. Bulk rock major and trace element geochemistry results from across the Valdez Creek shear zone metamorphic gradient show a systematic decrease in As, Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb, and Au across the greenschist-amphibolite facies transition indicating that auriferous fluids may have been derived from the shear zone. We hypothesize that metamorphic fluids generated from the dehydroxylation of chlorite occurred simultaneously with shearing along the Valdez Creek shear zone. In this system, auriferous fluids were likely concentrated within or proximal to rigid intrusion(s) in the footwall of the shear zone, coinciding with vein development and fluid channelization, similar in process to the Juneau Gold Belt.

Handle

http://hdl.handle.net/11122/14973

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