Jonathan Koulouras, MSc
J. Koulouras1, R. Sherlock1, B. Lafrance1, G. Tuba1, D. Ruiz Arriaga1, O. Côté-Mantha3, P. Mercier-Langevin3, M. Oosterman2
1Mineral Exploration Research Center, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
2Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada
3Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The Amalgamated Kirkland (AK) gold deposit is located in the world class Kirkland Lake gold camp in the southern Abitibi greenstone belt. The Macassa gold mine is currently producing from the South Mine Complex, and production recently began at the AK deposit. The latter is hosted in conglomerate, greywacke, and alkalic to subalkalic volcanic rocks of the Timiskaming assemblage (ca. 2679‒2669 Ma), which is in contact to the south with mafic and ultramafic volcanic rocks of the Larder Lake group (ca. 2710‒2704 Ma). A major 50-200 metre-wide, east-west-trending, ductile high strain zone, named the Larder Lake-Cadillac deformation zone (LLCDZ), straddles the Tisdale-Timiskaming contact.
The AK deposit is located immediately south of the steeply north-dipping, reverse brittle Amalgamated Break. The deposit forms a steeply dipping zone, striking east-northeast, which roughly follows an intermediate porphyritic dike. The AK deposit mineralization consists of brecciated and deformed quartz ± ankerite veins containing pyrite, minor chalcopyrite, molybdenite, galena, sphalerite, tellurides, and native gold. Mineralized and unmineralized veins of the AK deposit have sericite-ankerite alteration halos, creating a wide alteration zone extending up to 75 meters into the surrounding host rocks.
The AK deposit is overprinted by two planar fabrics. The older fabric (S3) is a steeply dipping northeast striking cleavage, which is axial planar to a regional open F3 fold plunging steeply to the east. The second fabric (S4) is a steeply dipping north north-east striking crenulation cleavage, which is axial planar to outcrop scale open F4 folds. Preliminary structural observations suggest that the AK deposit formed along a pre-D3 brittle structure, possibly a splay of the Amalgamated Break, prior to peak regional ductile deformation. Future work will focus on determining the relative timing of gold mineralization at the AK deposit relative to that along other major breaks in the Kirkland Lake gold camp, and on characterizing the geochemical and mineralogical alteration footprint of the deposit.