Zirconolite and xenotime U-Pb age constraints on the emplacement of the Golden Mile Dolerite sill and gold mineralization at the Mt Charlotte mine, Eastern Goldfields Province, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

Birger Rasmussen, Andreas Mueller, Ian Fletcher

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

55 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In situ SHRIMP U-Pb dating of magmatic zirconolite (CaZrTi2O7) in the Golden Mile Dolerite from the Mt Charlotte gold deposit (Yilgarn Craton, Australia), yielded the first robust emplacement age (2680 ± 9 Ma) for the principle host-rock of gold mineralization in the Kalgoorlie district. In contrast, co-magmatic zircon gave ages from ca. 2680 Ma to ca. 2170 Ma, reflecting isotopic resetting of high-U and -Th crystals. In situ SHRIMP analysis of hydrothermal xenotime (YPO4), which co-exists with gold in alteration pyrite, provided a Pb/Pb isochron age of 2655 ± 13 Ma. This date indicates that the youngest deposit in the Kalgoorlie district (Mt Charlotte) predates circa2.65 Ga, and provides a new minimum age for the structurally older Golden Mile deposit. Our results indicate that gold mineralization at Mt Charlotte is ~50 million years older than indicated by recent 40Ar/39Ar ages and places new constraints on the timing of late-stage regional faulting (D4) in the province.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)559-572
Number of pages14
JournalContributions to Mineralogy and Petrology
Volume157
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009

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