A diatreme-hosted gold deposits in Montana tunnel, Montana

Richard H. Silitoe, Grauberger L Garry dan James Elliott E., 1985

The two largest dikes, dated at 45 to 50 m.y. (middle Eocene), were intruded into the diatreme
prior to the cessation of brecciation and mineralization. The diatreme underlies a 1 –km2 area
and is known from drilling to extend steeply downward for at least 310m.

The principal rock type in the diatreme is a matrix-rich breccias. It is characterized by a sand-
size tuffaceous matrix of quartz latitic composition containing fragments of contiguous volcanic
wallrocks and intrusive rocks derived from the Late Cretaceous Boulder batholiths. The batholith
is inferred to underlie the Montana Tunnels area. Foundered blocks of volcanic wall rocks lie at
various attitudes against the wall of the diatreme and within it. Those compose of Elkhorn
Mountains Volcanics underwent hydraulic brecciation after they sank into the diatreme. Blocks
interpreted to be composed of pyroclastic base surge deposits from a subarial tuff ring and a
piece of carbonized wood subsided into the diatreme from the paleosurface. The diatreme is
separated into two unequal parts by a west-northwest-striking oblique slip fault.

Sulfide minerals in the diatreme occur as dissemination in the breccias matrix and, in sub-
ordinate amounts, as widely spaced, multidirectional veinlets and as the matrix to brecciated
blocks of Elkhorn Mountain Volcanics. All forms of mineralization consist of pyrite, sphalerite,
galena, minor chalcopyrite, and rare electrum accompanied by a gangue of manganocalcite,
siderite, and minor quartz. Clastic grains and fragments of the sulfides and gangue minerals are
common and attest to multiple alternating episodes of brecciation and mineralization. In the ore
zone the introduction of abundant manganocalcite and siderite was accompanied by pervasive
sericitic alteration but only weak kaolinization and silicification. Sericitization grades outward
beyond the ore zone to chlorite-montmorillonite-carbonate alteration, an assemblage that also
characterizes the interiors of the late mineral dikes in the diatreme.

Gold occurs in electrum, with a fineness of about 550, as inclusions of less than 200 mu m in
pyrite and sphalerite. Inclusions of electrum and galena were precipitated together. Silver is
present mainly in solid solution in galena. The Montana Tunnels gold-silver deposits is
characterized geochemically by anomalously high concentrations of zinc, lead, and manganese
and, in comparison to many volcanic-hosted precious metal deposits, is low in arsenic, antimony,
and mercury. This metal association and low fineness of the gold are features shared by the Wau
gold deposit in Papua New Guinea. It suggest that the mineralized diatreme observable at
Montana Tunnels were emplaced several hundred metres beneath the paleosurface, upon which a
gold-bearing maar volcano, like that partly preserved at Wau, was constructed.
Phreato magmatic breccias
Phreatomagmatic occurs when upwelling magma encounters water. This may be ground water,
connate water, or a body of surface water.

Endogenous (non-eruptive) phreatomagmatic breccias

They commonly form near-vertical pipes known as diatremes.

They may or may not vent to the surface.

Commonly polylithologic, often with a large proportion of wall rock clast. The matrix is
composed of a mixture of comminuted and finely divided, often tuffaceous juvenile material.
May contain a chaotic mixture of clast types, or there may be identifiable subhorizontal layer
representing the stratigraphic sequences of country rocks through which they have passed, often
indicating very little net vertical despite extensive clast rounding and a high proportion of matrix
(these breccias are almost always matrix-supported). A noteworthy feature of some
phreathomagmatic breccias pipes is the downwards displacement of clast, with clasts of
distinctive composition being encountered as 1000 m below their equivalent stratigraphic
position in the surrounding formation. Transport of fragments of wood or lacustrine sediments to
great depths is not uncommon. These featurs are interpreted as due to collapse of a fluidized
breccias column (Reynold, 1954). Phreatomagmatic breccias pipes may be multi generational,
with later breccias cutting through earlier-formed deposits.

Although the breccias process is not directly related to mineralization, phretomagmatic breccias
are prime candidates for selective mineralization by later hydrothermal fluids. A good example is
the deposit at Montana Tunnels (Sillitoe et al. 1985).

In term of exploration, the extent of the breccias can only be used empirically as a guide to the
location of ore. Mineralisation was probably not related directly to brecciation process, and the
extent of the breccias can only be used empirically as a guide to the location of ore. It is
important to separately evaluate the mineralizing process.

Applied to vent breccias of phreatomagmatic origin,

Commonly considered to underlie maar crater, though in many cases the surface expression is
unknown, and they may not necessarily vent to the surface. The key feature of phretomagmatic
breccias is the presence of (generally rare) juvenile magmatic clasts. These generally glassy,
porphyritic, finely fragmented. In our experience, they often have a hydrous mineralogy,
containing minerals such as hornblende and/or biotite. Juvenile clasts are a key, but not a
major component, rarely comprising more than 10% by volume. The most abundant clasts are
lithic fragments derived from surrounding lithologies, and these originate from both deeper and
shallower stratigraphic levels. Low density material like wood may descend to considerable
depth.
Veined and altered clasts can be common. However, post-brecciation alteration is typically
weak and restricted to low temperature minerals (though this may not always be the case). The
matrix is clastic, comprising finely ground clast material. The matrix may show vague
sedimentary feature such as grading and bedding, though these are typically near-vertical,
and parallel to margins of the breccias body. At depth, the matrix may gradually acquire an
igneous texture, whilst retaining the patch brecciation. Although poorly sorted, there is a
limited range of clast sizes, with the largest being a few centimeters in diameter (except for wood
fragments).
Accretionary “lapilli” may occur. Because the word lapilli is specific to pyroclasts, it strictly
should not be used to describe similar features that are not of pyroclastic origin, but in reality the
texture within the accretionary ball in diatreme breccias are virtually indistinguishable from
those in pyroclastic deposits.

H.7 I.1