The legendary # 4 porphyry deposit at the Barnat mine of the Abitibi greenstone belt, Quebec was probably the ideal gold deposit in that area. Most geologists who worked in the Abitibi in the 1970's were striving to understand how it formed and how could someone find a similar deposit.
The # 4 porphyry deposit formed entirely within a porphyritic intrusion (extrusion) and was located in a sequence of altered ultramafic lavas (komatiites). The porphyry had a stockwork of veins mineralized with quartz and pyrite. There is no detailed description of the geology of the deposit, but it contained probably a million tons of about 6 grams per ton.
Many other porphyry deposits were mined at the same mine, but were of much lower grade and tonnage.
It is thought that the komatiites were the source of the gold. The intrusions and their hydrothermal solutions leached the gold and deposited it within the cooling magma.
The accompanied map after Fallara, 2000 shows the location of the porphyry between two major regional faults that are thought to have concentrated several gold deposits in the area.