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EVALUATING ISOTOPIC EQUILIBRIUM AMONG SULFIDE MINERAL PAIRS IN ARCHEAN ORE DEPOSITS: CASE STUDY FROM THE KIDD CREEK VMS DEPOSIT, ONTARIO, CANADA

John W. Jamieson and Boswell A. Wing

Department of Geology and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742

Mark D. Hannington

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5

James Farquhar

Department of Geology and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742

Corresponding author: e-mail, john.jamieson{at}gov.ab.ca

Recent developments in the measurement of ³⁴S and ³³S in sulfide minerals provide a new framework to evaluate isotopic equilibrium among sulfide minerals and a new tool to investigate mineralizing processes or sources of sulfur in ore-forming systems. Isotopic equilibrium requires that values of ³⁴S and ³³S are highly correlated between mineral pairs and that deviations (quantified as ³³S) from a reference mass-dependent fractionation are the same for both minerals within experimental error. In this contribution, we apply this framework for the first time to natural samples, and evaluate isotopic equilibrium among sulfide minerals from the Archean Kidd Creek volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit in Ontario, Canada. Two of eight sulfide mineral pairs showed clear isotopic disequilibrium, in agreement with interpreted paragenetic relationships; six other pairs have isotopic compositions that are consistent with equilibrium. We discuss the implications of these results for the interpretation of mineral paragenesis and sulfur isotope geothermometry at Kidd Creek. This technique offers new possibilities for evaluating sulfur isotope systematics in Archean (>2.45 Ga) ore deposits, in which the range of ³⁴S values is small but non-zero values of ³³S are common.

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