Project Metadata

The Yellowknife EXTECH III program was initiated to enlarge and compile an integrated geoscience database to support exploration, in response to declining ore reserves at producing gold mines and reduced mineral exploration.

As part of this program, soil and till surveys were carried out in 1999-2001 in the Yellowknife area, Northwest Territories.  The work is summarized in Geological Survey of Canada Current Research 2000-C3, 2001-C1 and 2002-C7.  The data are published in GSC Open File 4019.

Larger till samples were also collected in the Yellowknife area and near Drybones Bay for kimberlite indicator mineral and gold grain analyses.  The data are published in GSC Open Files 3861 and 3942 (supersedes OF 3861).

Data from these surveys are included in compilation GSC Open Files 5015 and 5084.

A vegetation survey (black spruce bark) was carried out in three areas near Drybones Bay on the east side of Great Slave Lake, approximately 45 km southeast of Yellowknife.  The object of the project was to provide new insight to the chemistry of the underlying rocks and their potential for hosting mineralization.  The biogeochemical surveys are published in Geological Survey of Canada Open File 3919.  A related study that compares biogeochemical data from different sample preparation methods was carried out at two sites near the Giant Gold Mine, Yellowknife.  One site was located 1.5 km north of the Giant Mine mill and the other was approximately 250 m north of the mill.  These data are published in Geological Survey of Canada Open File 4125.

Funding was provided by the Yellowknife EXTECH-III Program and Targeted Geoscience Initiative