Petrogenesis of magmatic-hydrothermal graphite deposits: A case study of the Albany graphite deposit, northwestern Ontario

脉状石墨矿床赋存于火成岩中，全球罕见；然而，这些矿床有潜力生产高纯度石墨，以与每年80亿美元的合成石墨市场竞争。超高纯度石墨（99.95% C）是支持加拿大新兴绿色技术部门所必需的，因为这种类型的石墨是制造锂离子电池、燃料电池、石墨烯基应用和球床核反应堆所必需的。加拿大即将开发世界上第一个火成岩脉状石墨矿床，即位于安大略省赫斯特附近的奥尔巴尼矿床。这项拟议研究的行业赞助商禅雅塔风险投资有限公司（Zenyatta Ventures Ltd）在2010年发现了奥尔巴尼。由于矿脉石墨的开采和加工成本远低于合成石墨（由昂贵且能源需求高的石油焦提炼而成）的生产和环境成本，对加拿大来说，主要的好处是为其新兴的绿色技术部门建立自己的超高纯度石墨供应。尽管潜在的经济效益是巨大的，但由于已知的全球发现很少，因此对火成岩脉状矿床的地质认识有限，因此缺乏有关火成岩脉状矿床的数据。因此，禅雅塔风险投资公司和湖首大学之间建立了研究伙伴关系，以研究奥尔巴尼矿床的起源。这项研究将涉及野外和实验室技术的整合，包括岩心测井、微观研究、全岩地球化学、光谱调查、放射性同位素地球化学、地质年代学和稳定同位素地球化学。除了潜在的长期经济利益外，通过学生培训和研究，加拿大将在短期内受益，这将导致更强大的矿床模型的发展，这些模型可以应用于加拿大的勘探行业和在国外工作的加拿大公司，以帮助未来的发现。

Vein-type graphite deposits hosted in igneous rocks are globally rare; however, these deposits have the potential to produce high-purity graphite required to compete with the $8 billion per year synthetic graphite market. Ultra high-purity graphite (>99.95% C) is required to support Canada's emerging green technology sector, as this type of graphite is required for the manufacturing of Li-ion batteries, fuel cells, graphene-based applications, pebble-bed nuclear reactors. Canada is on the verge of potentially developing the world's first igneous-hosted vein graphite deposit, the Albany deposit, near Hearst, ON. Zenyatta Ventures Ltd, who is the industrial sponsor of the proposed research, discovered Albany in 2010. As mining and processing costs for vein graphite would come at much lower production and environmental costs than synthetic graphite (produced by expensive and energy demanding refinement of petroleum coke), the principal benefit to Canada is the establishment of its own supply of ultra-high purity graphite for its emerging green technology sector. Although the potential economic benefits are significant, the geological understanding of igneous-hosted is limited owing to very few known global discoveries and the resulting paucity of data on igneous-hosted vein deposits. Consequently, a research partnership between Zenyatta Ventures and Lakehead University has been established to study the origin of the Albany deposit. This research will involve the integration of field and laboratory techniques, including core logging, microscopic studies, whole-rock geochemistry, spectroscopic investigations, radiogenic isotope geochemistry, geochronology and stable isotope geochemistry. In addition to the potential long-term economic benefits, Canada will benefit in the short-term through student training and research, which will lead to the development of more robust mineral deposit models, which can be applied by exploration industries in Canada and by Canadian companies working abroad to aid in future discoveries.