Geology of the Crestaurum gold deposit, Yellowknife Greenstone Belt, Northwest Territories, Canada

The shear zone-hosted Crestaurum gold deposit occurs in the north-central part of the late Archean Yellowknife Greenstone Belt, 15 kilometres north of the Yellowknife, NWT. Kam Group mafic volcanic flows and associated mafic dykes, the Crestaurum tuff, and the Ryan Lake pluton underlie the Crestaurum area.; Four distinct mineralization events are recognized within the Crestaurum Mine area and include syn-volcanic stockwork sulphides, syn-plutonic molybdenite mineralization, the syn-D2 Crestaurum shear zone-hosted gold deposit, and late sphalerite and galena mineralization. The Crestaurum shear zone-hosted mineralization is the most economically significant in the area. Gold mineralization is associated with early arsenopyrite and late stibnite and antimonide minerals. The styles and physiochemical conditions of mineralization are consistent with mesozonal mineralization followed by epizonal mineralization, which is similar to the Con-Giant systems. This indicates a belt-scale gold deposit continuum that formed during late Archean, indicating there may be yet undiscovered, or significantly untested, gold deposits in the northern Yellowknife Greenstone Belt.