U-Pb Zircon Ages and Pb Isotope Geochemistry of Gold Deposits in the Carolina Slate Belt of South Carolina

Authors

R. A. Ayuso, U.S. Geological Survey, Mail Stop 954, National Center, Reston, Virginia 20192
J. L. Wooden, U.S. Geological Survey, Stanford-U.S. Geological Survey Micro-Isotopic Analytical Center (SUMAC), Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-2220
N. K. Foley, U.S. Geological Survey, Mail Stop 954, National Center, Reston, Virginia 20192
Robert R. Seal II, U.S. Geological Survey, 954 National Center, Reston, Virginia 20192, USAFollow
A. K. Sinha, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2005

Comments

Published in Economic Geology, v. 100, pp. 225–252.

Abstract

Volcanic rocks of the Persimmon Fork Formation host the largest known gold mines of the Carolina slate belt. U-Pb (SHRIMP) zircon ages have been obtained from rocks closely associated with pyrite-enargite-gold deposits at Brewer (quartz-topaz rhyolite breccia from the argillic alteration zone in the Brewer pit and felsic ash-flow tuff from the quartz sericite alteration zone), from the disseminated and semimassive pyrite-gold deposits at Haile (crystal lithic rhyolitic ash-flow tuffs from the Champion pit), and from the Ridgeway deposit (felsic ash-flow tuff from the stratigraphic host of the North pit gold deposit). Generally, the zircons are fine grained, fractured, and contain crystal imperfections (corrosion, inclusions, and pits). ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U zircon spot ages for all deposits span a wide range, mostly from 400 to 760 Ma. Inclusions and cores indicative of inherited domains in the zircons were not found, and only a few analyses range from 1.1 to 1.8 Ga. A distinct xenocrystic zircon population was not identified. The ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U weighted age averages of zircon indicate the following crystallization dates for the volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks closely associated with the gold deposits: 550 ± 3 Ma for Brewer, 553 ± 2 Ma for Haile, and 556 ± 2 Ma for the Ridgeway deposit. These zircon crystallization ages represent close estimates of the age of the original gold mineralizing events. Younger zircon spot ages can be attributed to the effects of Paleozoic regional metamorphism.