SUBSEA-FLOOR FORMATION, ANSIL DEPOSIT, CANADA 2007

Plutonic rocks
Post cauldron sequence
Cauldron (Mine) sequence
Pre-cauldron sequence VHMS deposits

Introduction
THIS paper presents field and petrographic evidence for the three-stage, subsea-floor formation of the Ansil Cu-Zn-
Au- Ag volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposit. The evidence from this study suggests that the shallow subsea-
floor accumulation of massive sulfide through open-space filling and replacment of the substrate is a viable
mechanism for the development of economic volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits. The Ansil deposit is
located 14 km north of Rouyn- Noranda, Quebec, Canada, within the Abitibi greenstone belt of the Archean
Superior province (Fig. 1). It was discovered in 1981 by Falconbridge Copper Ltd., and mined between February
1989 and April 1993. Preproduction reserves were 1.58 Mt grading 7.2 percent Cu, 0.9 percent Zn, 26.5 g/t Ag,
and 1.6 g/t Au (Riverin et al., 1990). It is one of 22 volcanic- hosted massive sulfide deposits within the Central
Volcanic Complex of the Blake River Group (Gibson and Watkinson, 1990), and one of the 17 deposits located
within a 3,000- m section of bimodal, andesite-rhyolite that comprises the cauldron fill to the Noranda cauldron
(Gibson, 1989; Fig. 2). The Flavrian pluton, which is a subvolcanic intrusive complex beneath, and coeval with, the
Mine sequence, has a U-Pb zircon age of 2700.Si; Ma (Mortenson, 1993). The volcanic strata dip homoclinally
20 to 50 to the east, are essentially undeformed, and except for the strata within the amphibolite contact
metamorphic halo about the Lac Dufault pluton, are weakly affected by lower greenschist regional
metamorphism.
Previous studies of the deposit include those by Riverin et al. (1990), Barrett et al. (1991), Galley et al. (1991),
Westen- dorp et al. (1991), and Westendorp (1992). The interpretations presented here are based on underground
mapping at a scale of 1:150, drill core logging, and detailed petrography, mineralogy, and lithogeochemistry
(Galley, 1994).
Geologic Setting
The Ansil deposit occurs at the contact between a rhyolitic flow of the Northwest formation and the overlying
andesite flows of the Rusty Ridge formation (Fig. 3A and B). These two formations, and the underlying andesitic
flows of the Flavrian formation, comprise the first cycle of subsidence within the Noranda cauldron (Gibson, 1989;
 SUBSEA-FLOOR FORMATION, ANSIL DEPOSIT, CANADA 2007

Fig. 2). The stratiform part of the orebody lies within an east-west-trend- ing graben along the upper surface of
the rhyolite. Evidence for the presence of this graben includes well-defined offsets of the rhyolite contact, an
incursion from the east along the graben floor of a thin dacite flow unit (Ansil dacite), and an abrupt thickening
(from 1 to over 20 m) of a finely layered, quartz porphyritic tuff (Cranston tuff) that fills the structure. The orebody
is in part hosted by the Cranston tuff and part by the overlying andesite (Fig. 3A).
The deposit lies along the southwest flank of the 7 km long composite rhyolite flow that is part of the
Northwest formation (Gibson, 1989). Below the deposit the rhyolite is over 250 m thick, with a base of tightly
packed flow lobes and subordinate flow breccia, changing up section through a breccia-rich facies to a
hyaloclastite-rich facies with subordinate flow lobes and breccia. The overlying Ansil dacite consists of highly
amygdaloidal, lobe-hyaloclastite flows up to 45 m thick, interlayered with finely laminated Cranston tuff. The
dacite is overlain by up to 20 m of quartz porphyritic Cranston
FIG. 1. The location of the Ansil deposit. The line A-A' defines the position of a cross section through the Noranda cauldron as shown in Figure
2.
tuff, which has a coarse-grained, thickly bedded basal facies, followed by fine-grained, finely bedded and then
finely laminated facies. The tuff unit is inteipireted to represent subaqueous mass flows that originated at a steep-
sided quartz- feldspar porphyritic rhyolite dome (Cranston QFP) 2,000 m to the north-northeast (Gibson, 1989).
More than 500 m of massive to pillowed flows of andesite overlie the deposit. The contact between the
andesite and the underlying rhyolite ridge is onlapping, with a transitional boundary between the massive and
pillowed facies of the andesite intersecting the rhyolite contact halfway along the length of the sulfide lens (Fig.
3A). This facies boundary played an important role in controlling hydrothermal fluid flow during the formation of
the Ansil deposit.
Mineralization
The deposit consisted of a single massive sulfide lens 320 by 150 m that averages 6 m thick with a maximum
thickness of 35 m (Fig. 3A and B), and an extensive stockwork vein system that extends from 400 m below the
orebody to over 300 m above (Fig. 3B). The sulfide lens plunges 30 to 60 to the east and is enveloped by a
discordant alteration zone characterized by feldspar destruction and Na depletion. This is over 2,000 m long and
up to 500 m wide, crosscutting all three volcanic formations of the first cauldron subsidence cycle (Gibson, 1989;
Riverin et al., 1990; Fig. 4). The alteration zone contains three evenly spaced (approx 500 m apart
 SUBSEA-FLOOR FORMATION, ANSIL DEPOSIT, CANADA 2007

FIG. 2. Stratigraphic position of the Ansil deposit within the reconstructed Noranda cauldron. The orientation of the section axis (A-A') is given in
Figure 1. The two irregular black shapes at the south end of the Noranda cauldron represent Quemont (smaller) and Home (larger), the two largest
volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits in the mining district (modified from Kerr and Gibson, 1993).
along the strike length of the zone) zones of sulfide enrichment, of which Ansil is the only economic occurrence to
date. The long-lived hydrothermal system responsible for the alteration appears to have been controlled by west-
northwest- trending, synvolcanic faulting associated with cauldron subsidence, with sulfide deposits localized at
intersections of cross faults (Gibson, 1989; Galley, 1994).
Three mineralizing events recognized at Ansil are an early- stage sphalerite-pyrite-pyrrhotite with associated
sericite- quartz-albite alteration, a middle-stage pyrrhotite-chalcopy- rite with chlorite-quartz and quartz-
minnesotaite-stilpnomel- ane alteration, and a late-stage magnetite, with associated calc-silicate and chlorite-
carbonate alteration. The stockwork mineralization associated with each stage is spatially distinct and controlled
by an evolving fault pattern (Fig. 5). The discordant zones of sphalerite mineralization are controlled by the
graben-bounding east-west faults, whereas the Cu and magnetite phases are controlled by northerly trending
faults.
Although the early-stage mineralization formed on, and just below, the sea floor, successive middle- and late-
stage mineralization formed in increasingly deeper parts of the substrate as the ore-hosting graben was buried
during continued volcanic eruptions. A brief description of the alteration paragenesis follows: a more detailed
petrographic, whole-rock, and mineral chemical description will be given in an article now in preparation.
Early-stage mineralization is characterized by sphalerite- rich vein stockworks and breccias localized at the
base of the deposit-hosting graben walls (Bleached fragment breccia in Fig. 6). These zones extend for up to 50
to 70 m below the graben floor, with their deepest parts as discordant, sphal- erite-pyrite-rich vein stockworks,
changing up section into funnel-shaped, disrupted breccia pipes with halos of sericite- quartz-sphalerite-pyrite
altered wall rock (Fig. 7a). At the paleosurface of the graben floor the breccia pipes are overlain by conformable
breccia piles, identified as bleached fragment
Mf
fj? HcMlanfotmailaD
 SUBSEA-FLOOR FORMATION, ANSIL DEPOSIT, CANADA 2007

Massive magnetite m Massive sulfide F*T| Flavrian pluton

fflj Magnetite stockwork Footwall cpy-po Andesite
ET3 Alteration zone stockwork
1=1 Cranston tuff
es Zinc zone E3 Ansil dacite
Hangingwall sulfide stockwork
Rhyolite
FIG. 3. A. East-west composite long section through the Ansil massive sulfide deposit with the approximate positions of the mining levels. B. North-
south composite cross section through the Ansil massive sulfide deposit.
Levels

1 OB 11A
breccia (Figs. 6 and 7B). These discordant and conformable breccias consist of clast- to matrix-supported, strongly
seri- cite-quartz altered rhyolite wall-rock fragments. The lower part of the breccia pipes is filled with finely
laminated quartz
that may be pseudomorphous after chalcedony. The remainder of the pipes and the overlying conformable breccia
are filled in with cryptocrystalline quartz, and subordinate sphalerite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, albite and sericite.
Lower Amulet Rhyolite

FIG. 4. Distribution of a discordant, fault-controlled Na depletion zone that crosscuts the Flavrian, Northwest, Rusty Ridge, and Amulet formations
(courtesy of Metall Mining Corp.).
Upper footwall semi-conformable and discordant sulfide zones

Discordant ' Cu-rich stockwork

Lower footwall semi-conformable and discordant sulfide zones Ansil

\
Discordant
Zn-rich stockwork

Semi-conformable I I Seml-conformable
Cu-rich stockwork 1------------------------------------- 1 Zn-rich stockwork
Plunge of discordant pipes
FIG. 5. Plan view of the upper and lower parts of the footwall vein stockwork systems. Note the east-west orientation of the Zn-rich stockwork
and north-south orientation of the Cu-rich stockwork (data from Metall Mining Inc. level plans).
The overlying finely bedded Cranston tuff is also Zn rich, with sphalerite contents of up to 25 percent where
the unit directly overlies the hydrothermal breccias (Fig. 6). The finegrained tops of the normally graded tuff beds
are silicified, and the coarse-grained bases are filled with intergrown sphalerite, pyrrhotite, sericite, quartz, and
albite. Thin 2- to 5- mm-wide sphalerite-filled breccia veins transect the silicified bed tops, linking the various
sphalerite-rich zones. Zn mineralization also occurs in the base of the hanging-wall andesite flows, where a basal
flow breccia is filled with cryptocrystalline quartz and disseminated sphalerite and pyrrhotite. This indicates that
andesitic flows were beginning to onlap the rhyolite ridge during early-stage hydrothermal activity. These flows
possibly acted as an impermeable cap, increasing the residence time of the hydrothermal fluid within the Cranston
tuff, resulting in extensive hydrothermal mineral precipitation.
The middle-stage mineralization involved the development of a pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite stockwork vein system
and associated chlorite-quartz alteration (Fig. 3A and B). The Cu-rich system extends 400 m upward from the
contact of the subvol- canic Flavrian intrusion to the orebody. The morphology of the stockwork vein system varies
from discordant to semicon- formable to stratigraphy. The semiconformable parts of the vein system occur at the
contact between flow-lobe and hya- loclastite facies within the footwall rhyolite formation, and at the contact
between the footwall rhyolite and the ore-hosting Cranston tuff.
The contact between the Cu-rich footwall stockwork systems and the pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-rich massive
sulfide lens is transitional, with the base of the orebody composed of semimassive sulfide infilling chlorite-altered
hyaloclastite (Fig. 7e). This is the elongate and blocky fragment ore shown in Figure 6. The fragment-rich ore is
overlain by a massive sulfide lens that varies in morphology and composition along its plunge length and across
its width (Fig. 6). The west end of the orebody (between levels 6A and 7B) formed a steepsided pyrrhotite-
chalcopyrite dome that is surrounded by pillowed flow and flow breccia of the hanging-wall andesite. The top of
the massive sulfide dome contains up to 40 percent angular fragments of chlorite-altered andesite (Fig. 7f), and
tapers upward into a sulfide spine over 20 m high (Fig. 6). The spine forms the root for a more than 300-m-high
zone of hanging-wall alteration and mineralization that has a fir- tree shape (Fig. 3B). The trunk of the structure is
chalcopy- rite-pyrrhotite-chlorite rich. The limbs spread out along hya- loclastite-rich interflow contacts and
change outward from pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-chlorite rich to sphalerite-pyrrhotite- sericite rich. The hanging-wall
alteration zone extends for over 500 m through the Rusty Ridge formation into the over- lying Amulet formation
(Fig. 4). The occurrence of silicified breccias (Gibson, 1989) along the upper contact to the hanging-wall andesite
flows of the Rusty Ridge formation may be evidence for the sea-floor venting of the Ansil hydrothermal system
more than 500 m above the orebody.
 Bleached fragment Layered chalcopyrlte- pyrrhotlte-
breccia tuff ore
m m

11 Elongate and blocky

fragment ore Hi Layered chalcopyrlte-pyrrhotite/
pyrlte-sphalerlte ore

Hangingwall fragmental Banded massive ore

ore
m

II Sphalerite-rich
Cranston tuff
Massive and sieve- textured ore
FIG. 6. A series of north-south cross sections through the Ansil deposit showing the variation in ore morphology and composition from west (top to
east (bottom) along the plunge length of the orebody.
FIG. 7. a. Polished slab from a discordant, sericite-quartz-albite-altered, pyrrhotite-quartz-sphalerite infilled breccia zone under the south
flank of the orebody. Sublevel 11A. b. Polished slab of sphalerite-pyrrhotite-quartz-albite infilled breccia (bleached fragment breccia) with
sericite-sphalerite-altered rhyolite fragments from a conformable breccia pile under the north flank of the massive sulfide lens. Sublevel 9B.
c. Polished slab of sphalerite-rich Cranston tuff, with the sphalerite concentrated in the coarse-grained (dark) bases of normally graded
layers, the finely laminated tops of layers are variably silicified. Contact with the massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite lens at top of slab.
Sublevel 9C. d. Photomicrograph showing sphalerite (black) and sericite replacing the coarse-grained base of a Cranston tuff bed. Note
abrupt contact with the fine-grained top to the underlying bed. e. Polished slab of chlorite-altered rhyolite hyaloclastite filled in with
pyrrhotite- chalcopyrite along the base of the Ansil massive sulfide lens. Sublevel 8A. f. Polished slab showing chlorite-altered andesite
hyaloclastite fragments along the top contact of the massive sulfide lens. Level 8. Scale bar = 1 cm.
2011
FIG. 8. Series of photomicrographs illustrating the progressive replacement of sphalerite-mineralized Cranston tuff by massive pyrrhotite-
chalcopyrite. a. Chlorite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite veinlet (dark) cross cutting previously sericite-quartz- albite-sphalerite-pyrrhotite-altered
Cranston tuff. Plane-polarized light, b. Chlorite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite alteration overprinting previously mineralized Cranston tuff. Plane-
polarized light, c. Selective pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite replacement of Cranston tuff. Plane-polarized light, d. Sieve-textured massive
chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite containing remnant, coarse-grained bases to the Cranston tuff layers (between white arrows). Combination of
reflected and plane-polarized transmitted light.
The morphology, mineralogy, and textures of the orebody change west to east along the plunge length
of the deposit (Fig. 6), showing increasing evidence for ore formation through replacement of the Cranston
tuff. Farther east from the steep-sided sulfide dome, remnants of Cranston tuff occur along the footwall and
hanging-wall contacts, and along its north flank (Fig. 6). Within the massive chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite lens
there are up to 2-m-long rafts of sphalerite-mineralized Cranston tuff. The tuff remnants are
characteristically maroon due to the presence of finely disseminated, early- stage sphalerite (Fig. 7c).
At the contact between the Cranston tuff and the massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite lens there is a
decimeter-wide transition zone. With decreasing distance to the massive sulfide lens there is an increase in
alteration, starting with (1) chlorite- pvrrhotite-chalcopyrite veinlets transecting the tuff (Fig. 8a), 2 the
development of chlorite patches through replacement ol finer grained phenoclasts and early-stage alteration
minerals (Fig. 8b), and (3) the selective replacement of the tuff layers with massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite
(Fig. 8c). The primary mineralogy is progressively replaced by massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite (Fig. 9a-d).
This resulted in a sieve- textured ore in which planar concentrations of corroded, coarse-grained quartz
phenoclasts form discontinuous bands throughout the massive sulfide lens (Fig. 8d).
The east end of the massive sulfide lens gradually disappears into the enclosing, sphalerite-rich
Cranston tuff, with some of the tuff beds selectively replaced by pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite (Fig. 9a).
Subeconomic concentrations of sphalerite have been traced for several tens of meters by diamond drilling
downplunge within the Cranston tuff, defining the eastern continuation of the ore-hosting graben structure.
Late-stage hydrothermal activity led to the formation of calc-silicate and Ca-Fe skarn alteration zones
below and in contact with the orebody. This was accompanied by the development of a footwall magnetite
stockwork vein system and the replacement of as much as 300,000 t of massive sulfide by magnetite (Fig.
3A). The footwall Cu-rich stockwork vein system is partly encased by a zone of epidote-albite-pyrite
alteration, which intensifies up section toward the base of the orebody. Epidote alteration is overprinted by
disseminated and veined magnetite, accompanied by calcite and chlorite.
FIG. 9. Series of polished slabs showing the progressive replacement of previously sphalerite-mineralized Cranston tuff by massive
pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite. Scale bar = 1 cm. a. Polished slab of Cranston tuff partially replaced with disseminated pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite.
The base of one bed is completely replaced by pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite. Darker areas consist of abundant disseminated sphalerite.
Sublevel 11A. b. Polished slab from the core of the massive sulfide lens showing remnant Cranston tuff within massive pyrrhotite-
chalcopyrite. Dark areas within tuff are chlorite altered. Note ghost layering in massive sulfide at top of slab. Sublevel 8A. c. Polished slab of
intensely sphalerite-mineralized Cranston tuff (dark areas) selectively replaced by pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite (light areas). Transition zone
along the north Hank of the deposit between Cranston tuff and massive sulfide. Sublevel 9B. d. Polished slab of banded chalcopyrite-
pyrrhotite- pyrite-sphalerite ore representing almost completely replaced Cranston tuff. Some of the banding is tectonic. Located near the
eastern termination of the orebody on sublevel 10B.
Magnetite occurs along the margins of the pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite stockwork system from the base of the
footwall rhyolite (Fig. 3A). The magnetite veins increase in abundance and size toward the orebody.
to a coarse-grained hedenbergite-andradite skarn assemblage (Fig. 10a). The skarn is overprinted by a
retrograde ferroacti- nolite-quartz assemblage, followed by a magnetite-Fe carbon- ate-stilpnomelane-
greenalite assemblage. Magnetite precipitation also involved the replacement of parts of the massive
The massive sulfide-wall rock contact is altered in places
FIG. 10. Polished slabs from the magnetite-rich sections of the deposit.
a. Ca-Fe skarn composed of andradite (Ad) in ferroactinolite and hedenberg- ite (Hd) overprinted by massive magnetite (Mt). Lower
left corner shows aviolitic ferroactinolite clusters partly replaced by magnetite. Sublevel 10A.
b. Contact between massive magnetite (Mt) and massive sulfide. A thin pyrrhotite band (Po) forms a discontinuous margin between
the magnetite and the copyrite-rich ore (Cp). Ore contains chlorite-altered fragments of wall rock. Sublevel 9C. c. Magnetite
selectively replacing Cranston tuff along the upper contact of the massive sulfide lens. Sublevel 9B.
sulfide lens and Cranston tuff (Fig. 10b; Riverin et al., 1990; Westendorp et al., 1991). Layering may be
locally traced from the Cranston tuff into the massive magnetite lenses (Fig. 10c. Disseminated magnetite
occurs in the immediate hanging wall to the orebody, as does at least one small, stratiform massive
magnetite lens. This lens is overlain by a massive pyrrhotite lens, both of which occur in interflow andesite
hyaloclastite.
Discussion
The field and petrographic relationships between the Ansil deposit and its host rocks, and the well-
defined paragenesis of the alteration and sulfide-magnetite facies provide strong evidence that the
hydrothermal activity responsible for deposit generation was initiated before the emplacement of the
footwall rhyolite formation, and continued during its eruption and that of the overlying 500 m of hanging-
wall andesitic flows. Deposit formation was not a sea-floor end product of hydrothermal activity, but rather
took place in the subsea floor during the protracted life of the system. The deposit developed within a major
zone of hydrothermal activity, as defined by a broad discordant zone of Na depletion, which was controlled
by synvolcanic growth faults whose formation spanned the emplacement of the three volcanic formations
that define the first cycle of subsidence in the Noranda cauldron (Figs. 2 and 4). The continuous reactivation
of these faults may have been due to the cyclical inflation of, and evacuation of magma from, the underlying
shallowly emplaced intrusive complex, a process commonly cited for the formation of axial and radial fault
systems in cauldrons (Lip- man, 1975; Wohletz and Heiken, 1992). The importance of faults in controlling
hydrothermal discharge is well documented from ancient and modern submarine hydrothermal systems that
develop along ocean spreading ridges (Varga and Moore; 1985; Lydon and Galley, 1986; Gibson, 1989; Rona
and Clague, 1989; Galley et ah, 1990; Morton et ah, 1990; Fornari and Embley, 1995).
The three distinct phases of deposit development are linked to the progressive maturation of the
hydrothermal system. Deposit formation began on the sea floor and continued through replacement of
volcanic strata and zone refining of earlier formed sulfide accumulations. This took place in a continually
deepening subsurface environment. The early phase of sericite-quartz-albite-pyrite-pyrrhotite-sphalerite al-
teration and mineralization involved the development of breccia pipes that breached the sea floor to form
conformable breccia piles. These breccia pipes formed along the bounding faults to a narrow graben that
formed at the top of the rhyolite flow composing the Northwest formation. The graben is an expression of a
set of growth faults that were active during the emplacement of the three formations of the first cauldron
cycle (Fig. 4). The infilling of the breccia zones with finely laminated, fine-grained quartz, sphalerite, and
pyrite, and the sericite alteration of the wall rocks is indicative of associated fumarolic acitivity (Fig. 11A).
The formation of explosion breccias is due to the rapid volume expansion of a subsurface fluid brought about
by subcritical phase separation (Nelson and Giles, 1985). The funnel shape of the discordant breccia pipes is
a function of the increasing ability of the two-phase system to expand outward and upward with decreasing
static pressure. The almost total lack of pumice fragments and bubble-wall shards within these pipes
restricts the origin of these breccias to either phreatic or hydrothermal processes (Fisher and Schminke,
1984). The control on the distribution of these breccias by the graben-bounding faults, the intense phyllic
E

Sphalerite-pyrlte

j Northwest rhyolite
200 m
I----------1
Sealevel

Sealevel
__Ayvyvy
N S
Sealevel
... .../ V./

Sealevel

tlgil Hydrothermal breccia : Cranston tuff

PP!'] Chalcopyrite-pyrrhotlte I Magnetite

 FIG. 11. Evolution of the Ansil deposit. A. Formation of a graben along the slope of a rhyolite flow, followed by early-stage development
of hydro- thermal explosion breccias with attendant sphalerite-rich alteration. B. Deposition of the Cranston tuff infilling the graben.
Continued early-stage hydro- thermal activity with attendant Zn enrichment and silicification of the tuff beds. Alteration and mineralization
is most intense above the breccia zones. C. Middle-stage development of the pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite footwall stock- work zone and
replacement of the previously altered Cranston tuff. Hanging- wall andesite flows begin to onlap the rhyolite ridge and cover the deposit-
hosting graben. D. Continued replacement of the Cranston tuff and replacement of the andesite flow pillowed facies, with incremental
development of the hanging-wall stockwork zone. E. Late-stage development of the footwall calc-silicate alteration and Ca-Fe skam, with
attendant formation of a footwall magnetite stockwork and partial replacement of the massive sulfide lens.
alteration of contained fragments and wall rocks, and the fracture infilling with hydrothermal minerals are all
characteristics of hydrothermal explosion breccias (Hedenquist and Henley, 1985; Porter and Ripley, 1985;
Sillitoe, 1985).
The absence of K feldspar and predominance of sericite in the early-stage mineralization indicates that
the hydrothermal fluid had a pH of between 5 and 6 in a temperature range of 200 to 300C. The presence
of sphalerite-pyrite-pyrrhotite assemblages in the alteration zone in this pH range, and with an assumed low
total S concentration (10~3 m) indicates that the hydrothermal fluid had a temperature between 210 and
230C at log/o2 between 40 and 45. This is compatible with silica solubility studies by Fournier (1985)
which suggest that fluids which precipitate large volumes of silica in a surface to near-surface environment
were neutral to slightly alkaline, chloride-rich waters that flowed quickly to the surface from reservoirs with
temperatures between 200 and 270C. Preliminary fluid inclusion data from the early-stage mineralization
(Molnar and Galley, in prep.) indicate a temperature of formation between 250 and 270C.
If the temperature of formation is taken as between 230 and 270C, and if the presence of
hydrothermal explosion breccias is taken as evidence for boiling, then early-stage mineralization took place
at water depths of less than about 300 m (Bishoff and Rosenbauer, 1984). Other evidence for a shallow-
water environment during early-stage hydrothermal activity is the presence of climbing ripple marks within
the overlying Cranston tuff. This corroborates estimations by Gibson (1989) of less than a 500-m water
depth for the emplacement of the footwall rhyolitic flow.
The selective replacement of the overlying, graben-infilling Cranston tuff with sphalerite, sericite, quartz,
and albite, and the infilling of the basal flow breccias in the overlying andesite by the same mineral
assemblage is evidence for continued early-stage hydrothermal activity during infill of the deposithosting
graben by the volcaniclastic mass flows (Fig. 11B).
The commencement of middle-stage, Cu-rich hydrothermal activity coincided with the formation of
northerly trending faults and fractures along the graben floor. The restriction of the Cu-rich stockwork vein
system to below, and above, the graben suggests that the veins formed along dilational zones created at the
intersections of east-west and north- south fault sets.
The formation of the bulk of the Cu-rich ores within the Cranston tuff and lowermost andesitic flows, and
the development of an extensive hanging-wall alteration system indicates that eruption of andesite had
already commenced when this phase of hydrothermal activity began (Fig. 11C). The influx of 500 m of
submarine andesitic flows placed the developing orebody deeper in the subsea floor, thereby isolating it
from destruction by on-going volcanism, and allowing for its continued refinement. The rapid effusion of
andesite was accompanied by subsidence of the cauldron floor and increase in the height of the overlying
water column (Gibson, 1989). Subseafloor hydrothermal activity involved the replacement of earlier Zn-
mineralized Cranston tuff and hyaloclastite-rich parts of the pillowed facies of the hanging-wall andesite with
massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite (Fig. 11D). The facies change from massive andesite flows to pillowed flows
above the graben (Fig. 3A) diverted the upward flow of hydrothermal fluids to the top of the western end of
the graben. This resulted in the formation of a steep-sided pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite lens and overlying
stockwork vein system that penetrated into the andesite at the west end of the orebody.
The late-stage development of the sulfide-poor calc-sili- cate-skarn assemblages, magnetite veins, and
massive magnetite lenses indicates that, though still vigorous, the hvdrother- mal system was no longer
tapping its reservoir of sulfur and base metals (Fig. HE). The complete replacement of parts of the host
strata by coarse-grained skarn assemblages requires reactions at high fluid/rock ratios, with fluid
temperatures in excess of 350C, and possibly over 400C (Gustafson, 1974; Winkler, 1974). The high
concentrations of Ca and Fe required in the hydrothermal fluid to develop these late-stage mineral
assemblages suggest a fluid source from within a high-temperature, epidotized part of the hvdrotherinal sys-
tem. Epidosites that may be evidence for the high-temperature root zones of hydrothermal systems occur
within the trondhjemitic phase of the underlying, subvolcanic Flavrian pluton (Kennedy, 1985), and in the
synvolcanic andesitic dike swarms that transect this part of the Noranda cauldron (Gibson, 1989). Similar
calc-silicate assemblages occur within the sheeted dike swarms in the Troodos Ophiolite (Lydon and
Jamieson, 1984) and at the roots of hydrothermal discharge zones in the Samail Ophiolite (Stakes and Taylor,
1992).
The formation of volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits in a shallow, subsea-floor environment has
important implications with respect to studies of modern ocean-floor massive sulfide deposits. In general,
the average-sized bare ridge massive sulfide deposit described on the sea floor is about one or two orders of
magnitude smaller than the 1 Mt average calculated for analogous ancient deposits (Franklin, 1986). This
comparison is somewhat misleading, as Franklin (1986) only included economic deposits of > 100,000 t in
his calculation for ancient massive sulfide deposits, and both volcanic- and sediment-hosted deposits are
included. Nevertheless, it does seem likely that midocean ridge exhalative deposits will be smaller due to
the transient nature of midocean ridge environments in which periodic volcanism inundates the rift floor,
buiying and destroying sea-floor accumulations of sulfide. The small size of modern deposits may also be
due to abundant subsea-floor accumulation of sulfide in a highly permeable substrate, with the sea-floor
manifestation of the hydrothermal systems representing the tip of the iceberg. Geophysical traverses
across ridge crest vent fields reveal zones of high bulk porosity astride axial ridges. Hooft and Detrick (1993)
used seismic velocity data at 930' N (East Pacific rise) to estimate bulk porosities of 23 to 43 percent for the
upper 100 m of fast-spreading oceanic crust. At a 200- m-depth porosity values declined to less than 10
percent. Seafloor gravity anomalies within the caldera of Axial Seamount, a setting more analagous to the
Noranda cauldron, indicate that a zone of highly porous crust underlies the high-temperature Ashes vent
field (Hildebrand et ah, 1990). Holmes and Johnson (pers. commun. of unpublished data) have calculated a
bulk porosity of about 35 percent from the data of Hildebrand et al. (1990). Holmes and Johnson (1993)
attributed the presence of a high-porosity zone to the presence of large-scale voids caused by upper crustal
fracturing, faulting, and lava drainback. The downward change in crustal density is due to the collapse and
infilling of these voids by progressive hydrothermal sealing, and lower down by the presence of high-level
magma chambers (Rohr, 1994). The presence of a porous substrate would allow the ingress of seawater and
mixing with rising hydrothermal fluids. The resultant drop in temperature of the hydrothermal fluid would
result in the precipitation of sulfides and associated silicate minerals within the subsea floor. Plugging of the
porous substrate by hydro- thermal mineral accumulation may cause a change in seafloor hydrothermal fluid
discharge from diffuse to focused, resulting in the formation of sea-floor sulfide mounds. This would appear
to be the case at Middle Valley, a sediment- covered ridge located along the Juan de Fuca spreading center
(Goodfellow and Franklin, 1993). Sulfide accumulation is expressed at the surface by a small sulfide mound,
but it is underlain by a discordant pipelike body of massive sulfide extending over 93 m below the sea floor.
The study of other ancient deposits illustrates the process of subsea-floor massive sulfide generation.
The ophiolite- hosted Turner-Albright volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposit in Oregon is described by
Zierenberg et al. (1988) as consisting of several stacked massive sulfide lenses, two of which appear to have
formed in the shallow subsea floor. Other deposits consisting of stacked sulfide lenses such as Tulsequah
Chief, British Columbia (Nelson and Payne, 1985), appear to have formed from the infiltration of hydro-
thermal fluids into permeable volcaniclastic rocks (Thompson, 1994).
In the Noranda cauldron the Millenbach deposit (Knuckey et al., 1982) consists of a series of stacked
lenses, as do the Amulet and Old Waite deposits (Spence, 1975); these may well be another example of
contemporaneous formation of sea floor and subsea-floor orebodies. The bowl-shaped morphology of the H
orebodies of the >150 Mt Horne deposit (Noranda), the presence of altered rhyolite fragments within the
massive sulfide, and the truncation of volcanic units against the ore lenses all suggest that the deposit grew
by replacement of the host rhyolite and preexisting sulfide in a subsea-floor environment (Kerr and Mason,
1990).
In other cases, volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits occur in replaced and altered carbonate
sedimentary units that formed during earlier, diffuse hydrothermal fluid discharge. Examples include Chisel
Lake, Manitoba (Galley et al., 1993); Hercules, Tasmania (Zaw and Large, 1992); Vermilion-Err- ington,
Ontario (Gray and Gibson, 1993); and the Garpenberg deposits, Sweden (Vivallo, 1985).
In conclusion, the Ansil orebody is an example of shallow, subsea-floor formation of a volcanic-hosted
massive sulfide deposit. Its formation took place within a long-lived hydro- thermal system that was
controlled by synvolcanic growth faulting during cauldron subsidence. During the progressive burial of the
deposit-hosting graben, early-stage hydrothermal fluid flow was controlled by the east-west trending gra-
ben-bounding faults, with middle- and late-stage fluid flow controlled by northerly trending synvolcanic
faults. The progressive replacement of volcanic and volcaniclastic strata and early formed hydrothermal
mineral assemblages is expressed by the extent of metal zonation, the scale of both footwall and hanging-
wall alteration, and the relationship of the deposit to host strata. This process should be considered neither
unusual nor unique, and is most likely to occur in shallow subseafloor environments containing highly
permeable strata.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the mine staff at the Ansil mine for their generous assistance to the principal
author during this study. Critical reviews by Doreen Ames and Dave Huston, and two Economic Geology
reviewers, greatly improved the manuscript. We would like to thank Metall Mining Corporation for their
financial support for this project, and for permission to publish this paper which is Geological Survey of
Canada contribution 53994.
November 30, 1994; April 18, 1995
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