Kirkland Lake (Macassa mine)
Ontario, Wawa-Abitibi Subprovince, Canada
Orogenic goldAu (Te)
- Type
- Archean gold associated with syenitic intrusions, with both intrusion-related and orogenic features
Giant Archean gold deposit hosted by the Timiskaming Group alkali tuff and the comagmatic Kirkland Lake mafic syenite and syenite porphyry, cut by the '04 Break fault. Lithium in the altered rock, around +4 ‰, carries the mark of a magmatic-hydrothermal fluid; the decrease of δ7Li to +2 ‰ along fluid pathways reflects kinetic fractionation, and the fault shows a V-shaped profile where lithium, gold and δ7Li decrease together towards the central veinlet.
δ7Li in ‰ (per mil) Values of the same system
Standard : L-SVEC
| Value | Range | n | Mineral or matrix | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.58 ± 0.96 ‰ | 1.6 / 15.3 ‰ | 15 | whole rock, altered Timiskaming Group alkali tuff Mean and standard deviation of 14 analyses, excluding the anomalous +15.3 ‰ value (sample 16KL-914, with fine hematite), which is included in the range. Table 1; sample 16KL-925 and its repeat (16KL-925-L2) are counted separately. Analytical uncertainty at 2σ of 0.2 to 0.9 ‰. | Nadeau et al. (2021), Lithium isotopes at gold deposits: Insights from the giant Kirkland… |
| 3.64 ± 0.95 ‰ | 2.3 / 5.2 ‰ | 9 | whole rock, altered mafic syenite (including one brecciated sample) Mean and standard deviation of 9 analyses. Table 1, including brecciated sample 16KL-1057 at the margin of the '04 Break. | Nadeau et al. (2021), Lithium isotopes at gold deposits: Insights from the giant Kirkland… |
| 3.17 ± 1.42 ‰ | 0.4 / 5.2 ‰ | 9 | whole rock, '04 Break fault zone (brecciated syenite porphyry and central albite-carbonate veinlet) Mean and standard deviation of 9 analyses. Table 1. V-shaped profile: +4.2 to +5.2 ‰ at the margins, down to +0.4 ‰ near the fault axis, where lithium and gold were leached. | Nadeau et al. (2021), Lithium isotopes at gold deposits: Insights from the giant Kirkland… |
| 3.2 ± 1.51 ‰ | 0 / 16.4 ‰ | 24 | whole rock, altered (albitised) syenite porphyry Mean and standard deviation of 22 analyses, excluding the two anomalous values of +16.4 and +14.0 ‰ (duplicate analysis of gold-bearing sample 16KL-1069, with quartz-carbonate-pyrite veinlets and 0.91 ppm Au), which are included in the range. Table 1. The authors ascribe these heavy values to the preference of quartz for 7Li. | Nadeau et al. (2021), Lithium isotopes at gold deposits: Insights from the giant Kirkland… |
Deposits of the same type
- Coniaurum Canada
- McIntyre Canada
- Hollinger Canada
- Porcupine (Timmins district) Canada
- Siscoe Canada
- Sigma Canada
- Pascalis Canada
- Moose River Canada
Cite this page
IsoFind Atlas (2026). Kirkland Lake (Macassa mine), isotope signatures. https://www.isofind.tech/isotopes/en/deposits/kirkland-lake-mine-macassa/ (accessed 2026-10-13).
@misc{isofind2026kirklandlakemacassamineisotop,
title = {Kirkland Lake (Macassa mine), isotope signatures},
author = {{IsoFind Atlas}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://www.isofind.tech/isotopes/en/deposits/kirkland-lake-mine-macassa/},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-13}
}Updated : 2026-10-13