| The Caledonian Highlands of southern New Brunswick consist predominantly of Late Neoproterozoic rocks, generally considered to be part of the Avalon terrane of the northern Appalachian Orogen. This study investigated the characteristics of mineralization, particularly mineralogy and hydrothermal alteration, at metallic mineral occurrences on the eastern portion of the Caledonian Highlands. Mineral occurrences were visited and sampled where possible, and petrological and geochemical analysis was undertaken on these samples. Four major occurrences were studied in detail: Chambers Settlement (Cu-Mo-Zn), Vernon (Cu-Ag), Teahan (Cu-Pb-Zn), and Lumsden (Cu-Pb-Zn).; The host rocks of the four major occurrences were geochemically discriminated using trace element ratios such as Zr/TiO2, etc. These ratios were used to classify the rock compositions that exist at each prospect visited. Pearce Element Ratio (PER) diagrams, molar element ratio (MER) diagrams, petrographic examination, and XRD analyses demonstrate that the degree of alteration can be identified and quantified, and that hydrothermal activity involved muscovite, chlorite, kaolinite, pyrophyllite, talc, and carbonate formation.; Results from this study indicate that there are several mineralization types in the Caledonian Highlands, and that the degree of hydrothermal alteration varies with host lithology and mineralization type. Furthermore, Cu, Zn, Mo, W mineralization appears to be commonly associated with the deeper portions of hydrothermal systems. |
