Telbel Mine, Baie-James, Jamésie, Nord-du-Québec, Québec, Canadai

Regional Level Types
Telbel Mine	Mine
Baie-James	Municipality (Regional)
Jamésie	Territory Equivalent to a Regional County Municipality
Nord-du-Québec	Administrative Region
Québec	Province
Canada	Country

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A gold property owned by Agnico Eagle Mines. Located near Joutel. Workings feature a 1,200 meter deep production shaft.

The Eagle and Telbel mines and the Eagle West open pit/underground mines formed part of Agnico’s past-producing Eagle–Telbel mining complex. This operation produced approximately 1.15 million oz Au between 1974 and 1993 from about 5.4 Mt of ore at an average grade of 6.5 g/t Au and <10 g/t Ag. The Eagle mine had a production shaft that extended to approximately 950 m, whereas the Telbel shaft reached 1200 m. Production began at the Eagle shaft; subsequently, operations were transferred to the Telbel shaft, which was sunk in 1982. The two headframes are more than 1000 m apart. The Eagle–Telbel deposit is located at the top of a submarine volcanic complex, named the Joutel Volcanic Complex (JVC). The JVC was studied in detail by Legault et al., and most of the following description is from them. The 5–7 km thick JVC comprises five volcanic phases of basalt to rhyolite overlying the synvolcanic Valrennes complex. The first phase is effusive mafic volcanism with massive, pillowed, and pillow breccia flows with an interdigitated lapilli–tuff–breccia and lapilli–tuff. The second phase is the principal, hosting Cu-Zn-Ag volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits (Poirier, Joutel Copper, and Explo-Zinc), associated with massive, flow-banded, and lobate rhyolite to dacite flows with associated lapilli–tuff–breccias. Felsic volcanism continued with the emplacement of massive to brecciated flows (phase 3b) whereas deposition of turbiditic tuffs, lapilli–tuffs, and lapilli–tuff–breccias is associated with resedimented mafic volcanics (phase 3a). Phases 4 and 5 are related to the construction of a second volcanic center. Phase 4 is mostly pyroclastic deposits, including tuffs, lapilli–tuffs, and lapilli–tuff– breccias, ranges from 700 to 1400 m in thickness, and corresponds to the Eagle member. The mafic to felsic volcanoclastic rocks of phase 5, which have a thickness of 100 to 300 m and are laterally extensive (20 km), are interpreted as talus deposits and referred to as the Harricana Group. The volcanic portion is at the base and the upper part is dominated by sedimentary rocks, including volcanic conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones, and pyritic graphitic black shales. The Eagle–Telbel deposit is hosted at the base of phase 5. Gold occurs within several specific siderite–pyrite stratigraphic horizons (1–3 m) within a volcanoclastic and sedimentary sequence, mostly at the volcanic base of phase 5. The HDZ is located >100 m southwest of the gold mineralization in the stratigraphic footwall in the Telbel sector of the deposit, whereas in the Eagle part, the gold deposit lies within the HDZ. The first stage corresponds to a gradual and pervasive replacement of the volcaniclastic rocks by siderite in the footwall phase 4 rocks and phase 5 volcanic base. Hydraulic brecciation follows the siderite alteration, with a network of barren massive pyrite veinlets. In the stratigraphic footwall of the deposit, the stockwork carbonate front, which is lacking in the hanging wall, increases in intensity towards the deposit. The gold mineralization stage is manifested by arsenic-rich pyrite associated with ferroan dolomite as a replacement of the siderite horizons and as stockwork. In some places, mineralization takes the form of a characteristic alveolar texture with final colloform chalcedony filling.
Gold addition, in all pyrite morphologies, is related to weak gains of As, Te, and W, interpreted to be introduced by sporadic pulses of magmatic fluids. A low-temperature and low-depth convective seafloor hydrothermal system, forming pyrites as exhale precipitate or sub-seafloor replacement, with sporadic inputs of magmatic fluids mixing into the hydrothermal convecting fluids is proposed as the genetic model. The Eagle–Telbel is the first documented syngenetic gold deposit formed at the seafloor with the contribution of intrusion-related gold-bearing fluids during the Archean time.

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.

Mineral List

8 valid minerals.

Rock Types Recorded