Normeg

Normeg


Mine Type: Pit, Underground

Tags: ankerite archean arsenopyrite basalt chlorite dyke fuchsite gabbro galena greenstone belt proterozoic pyrrhotite sericite

Gold Map

The Meliadine gold project (including the Wolf, Normeg, Wesmeg, Pump, West F-zone, F-zone and Discovery deposit) is located in the Kivalliq District of Nunavut in northern Canada, approximately 25 km northwest of Rankin Inlet on the west coast of Hudson Bay. A private all-weather access road constructed by Agnico Eagle connects Rankin Inlet to the Meliadine project. The current Meliadine exploration camp is located on the shore of Meliadine Lake, approximately 2.3 km east of the Tiriganiaq deposit.

Regional geology: Rankin Inlet Greenstone Belt

Located in the Northwest Hearne Sub-domain of the Churchill Structural Province that forms part of the northern Canadian Shield. Supracrustal rocks of this belt consist of mafic volcanic rocks, felsic pyroclastic rocks, sedimentary rocks and gabbro sills of about 2.7 billion years old that have been polydeformed and metamorphosed (Bannatyne, 1958; Laporte, 1983; Tella et al., 1986; Tella, 1994).These rocks were deformed in both the Archean and Proterozoic eras.

Meliadine area regional geology:

Meliadine area regional geology

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Deposit geology:

The Normeg deposit is composed of 19 zones that were constructed using a minimum horizontal width of 3 m. The zones are located between the Tiriganiaq Formation and the uppermost iron formation in the Wesmeg Formation and show a strike length of more than 2 km. The wireframes have been interpreted as deep as 650 m below surface.

The absence of iron formations is a characteristic of the Normeg zones. Quartz veining, sericitic and fuchsite alteration intensities are the most important guides used in recognizing the Normeg deposit. The zones strike generally east-west (272°) and dip approximately 61° north.

Mineralization:

Located between the Tiriganiaq and the Wesmeg deposits, more precisely between the Lower Fault (the contact of the Tiriganiaq Formation sediments and the underlying Wesmeg Formation mafic volcaniclastics) and the uppermost iron formation or the uppermost ultramafic unit of the Wesmeg Formation.

Normeg is within a stratigraphic sequence that strikes approximately east-west and dips approximately 60° to the north. The sequence is within the northern part of the Wesmeg Formation and is hosted by chlorite-rich massive basalts and interlayered mafic volcaniclastics with rare gabbro dykes.

Mineralization in Normeg is strongly associated with sheared quartz veins with strong sericitic alteration haloes in the mafic volcanic rocks. Those veins, cross-cutting or sub-parallel to the foliation, locally contain chlorite, calcite and tourmaline. The Normeg zones are identified as the 900 series lodes, though the deposit is mainly characterized by the 911 and 920 lodes.

Free gold occurs disseminated in the sheared/fractured quartz veins. The gold is commonly associated with fine- to coarse-grained arsenopyrite and pyrite, and fracture-filled galena,
pyrrhotite and pyrite.

Alteration envelopes occur adjacent to quartz-ankerite veining and are characterized by sericite, silica and fuchsite assemblages that overprint the pre-existing regional greenschist metamorphic facies.

Note:

For mineral resources (as at December 31, 2014):

History, local geology, deposit geology, and deposit type are described under the Tiriganiaq deposit.

Mineral Resources (Dec. 31, 2014)

Class Ore (ktonnes) Au grade (g/t) Au (kg) Au (oz * 1000)
Indicated 1596.00 4.22 6738.26 216.00
Inferred 2588.00 8.12 21011.89 675.00

Source: