Volcanological, structural, and metamorphic reconstruction of the Snow Lake VMS district

火山成因块状硫化物矿床是海底黑烟囱中的金属沉淀形成的铜、锌和铅矿床。矿床形成于沿着大洋中脊、大洋火山岛弧和岛弧后的盆地。 在古代岩石中，VMS矿床通常发现于火山岛弧和弧后环境中，可能是由于弧相对于洋中脊环境的保存。 这些矿床生产的锌占世界供应量的很大比例，是铜和银以及“高科技”工业部门使用的稀有金属的重要来源。 在马尼托巴，VMS矿床与雪湖火山岛弧和弧后有关，这些岛弧和弧后是在古Manikewan洋打开期间早期形成的，并在该洋闭合期间由于构造板块的运动和碰撞而变形。 我们项目的目标是重建雪湖火山岛弧的构造、岩浆、火山和变质演化，以便更好地了解其所含VMS矿床的成矿作用，并为北方马尼托巴和萨斯喀彻温省的古弧火山序列的演化和成矿作用提供新的制约。产生的新知识的直接受益者，以及在本研究期间培训的高素质地球科学家，是加拿大采矿和勘探行业，他们在加拿大和全球范围内勘探VMS和相关矿床，并间接地受益于许多依赖采矿作为主要经济驱动力的加拿大北方农村社区。矿产和采矿业对加拿大的国内生产总值（GDP）贡献巨大（2009年为320亿美元），采矿业占加拿大商品出口的19%。成功的勘探对加拿大矿业的可持续发展至关重要，因此，对所有加拿大人的福祉至关重要。

Volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits are copper, zinc and lead deposits that form by the precipitation of metals from black smokers on the sea floor. The deposits form along mid-oceanic ridges, in oceanic volcanic island arcs, and in basins behind the arcs. In ancient rocks, VMS deposits are typically found in volcanic island arc and back arc environments, likely due to the preservation of arc versus mid-oceanic ridge environments. These deposits produce a significant proportion of the world's supply of zinc and are important source of copper and silver as well as rare metals that are used by the "high-tech" industry sector. In Manitoba, VMS deposits are associated with the Snow Lake volcanic island arc and backarc that formed early during the opening of the ancient Manikewan Ocean and were deformed during closure of this ocean due to the movement and collision of tectonic plates. The goal of our project is to reconstruct the tectonic, magmatic, volcanic and metamorphic evolution of the Snow Lake volcanic island arc in order to better understand the metallogenesis of its contained VMS deposits, and to provide new constraints on the evolution and metallogeny of ancient arc volcanic sequences in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The direct beneficiary of the new knowledge generated, and of the highly-qualified geoscientists trained during this research, is the Canadian mining and exploration industry who explore for VMS and related ore deposits in Canada, and globally, and indirectly the many rural, northern Canadian communities that depend on mining as their main economic driver. The minerals and mining sector contributes significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Canada, ($32 billion in 2009) and mining accounts for 19% of Canada's goods exports. Successful exploration is crucial to the sustainability of the Canadian Mining Industry and, therefore, to the well being of all Canadians.