The nature and origin of the Brucejack epithermal gold deposit, British Columbia

浅成低温热液型金矿拥有世界上已知的黄金储量的很大一部分，并在全球和加拿大的黄金产量中占有越来越大的份额。尽管采矿业越来越重视，但自1990年代后期以来，新的浅成热液金矿的发现率明显下降。虽然有许多因素影响了这种下降，但人们普遍认为，需要更好地了解控制浅成热液金矿形成的条件和过程，以帮助采矿公司制定更成功的勘探战略。不列颠哥伦比亚省西北部斯图尔特-埃斯凯溪矿区的Brucejack金存款是最近发现的一个大型特高品位（高达41，000克/吨Au）低或中硫化浅成热液存款矿床的所在地。在Brucejack的Valley of the Kings区域内，勘探钻石钻孔已对长时间的低温热液金矿化进行了取样，以支持正在进行的地下勘探开采。对该存款的这种先进勘探为研究浅成低温热液成矿系统中金的来源、物理化学条件和富集过程提供了前所未有的机会。该项目旨在通过化学（包括同位素）和岩石学特征描述其矿石矿化和相关热液蚀变，通过流体包裹体分析确定其矿化流体的成分，通过热力学分析重建控制金矿化的物理化学条件，并定量测试合理的成矿模型，为Brucejack存款开发成因模型。如果成功，该项目将改进现有的浅成热液金矿成因模型和指导其勘探的战略。在当地，它还将提高对Brucejack金矿化与Stewart-Eskay Creek矿区邻近世界级斑岩矿床铜金矿化之间遗传联系的理解。

Epithermal gold deposits host a significant portion of the world's known gold reserves and are responsible for a growing share of both global and Canadian gold production. Despite increased attention from the mining industry, discovery rates for new epithermal gold deposits have declined markedly since the late 1990s. Although many factors have influenced this decline, it is widely agreed that a better understanding of the conditions and processes controlling the formation of epithermal gold deposits is needed to help mining companies develop more successful exploration strategies. The Brucejack gold deposit in the Stewart-Eskay Creek mining district of northwestern British Columbia is host to a recently discovered, large and exceptionally high-grade (up to 41,000 g/ton Au) low- or intermediate-sulphidation epithermal deposit. Within the Valley of the Kings zone at Brucejack, exploration diamond drill holes have sampled long intervals of epithermal gold mineralisation in support of ongoing exploratory underground mining. Such advanced exploration of the deposit offers an unparalleled opportunity to investigate the source, physico-chemical conditions and processes governing the concentration of gold in epithermal ore-forming systems. This project aims to develop a genetic model for the Brucejack deposit by chemically (including isotopically) and petrographically characterising its ore mineralisation and associated hydrothermal alteration, determining the composition of its mineralising fluids through fluid inclusion analysis, reconstructing the physiochemical conditions that controlled gold mineralisation through thermodynamic analysis and quantitatively testing plausible models of ore formation. If successful, the project will improve on existing models for the genesis of epithermal gold deposits and the strategies that guide their exploration. Locally, it will also improve understanding of the genetic links between gold mineralisation at Brucejack and copper-gold mineralisation in adjacent world-class porphyry deposits in the Stewart-Eskay Creek mining district.