Project Metadata

McClenaghan, M.B.

2009-2012

Izok Lake Indicator Minerals Project, 2009-2012



Project Description

The application of indicator mineral methods to exploration in glaciated terrain for volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits (VMS) is being tested in the Izok Lake area, Nunavut and Northwest Territories.

Heavy mineral concentrates from selected regional till samples collected in the area in 1994 and published in GSC OFs 3341 and 3317 were repicked in 2011 for selected VMS indicator minerals.  Previously, only kimberlite indicator minerals and gold grains were counted and removed.

In the summers of 2009 and 2010, till and bedrock samples were collected at a local scale around the Izok Lake Zn-Cu-Pb-Ag VMS deposit to document the indicator mineral signatures of VMS deposits.

In 2012, an additional fifteen till samples were collected near the Izok Lake deposit to complement published data for the till samples collected in 2009 and 2010.  Two gossanous bedrock samples were also collected to recover and study the indicator mineral gahnite (Zn spinel).

The following GSC Open Files have been published:

 

GSC Open File Collection Year Publication Year Data
7029 repicking of samples collected in 1994 (OFs 3341 and 3317) 2012 VMS indicator minerals
7075 2009-2010 2012 Indicator mineral abundance data: bedrock and till
7046 2009-2010 2012 Till geochemistry
7173 2009-2010 2013 Indicator mineral signatures: bedrock (probe data and mineral distribution maps)
7343 2009-2010 2013 Indicator mineral signatures: till (probe data and mineral distribution maps)
7386 2012 2013 Indicator mineral weight and abundance data
7603 2012 2014 Gahnite study
7770 2012 2015 Till geochemistry

 

 

Survey History

Index Survey
1 Till sampling survey, Point Lake area, NTS 86H, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, 1994. ( more)
2 Till and lithogeochemical survey, NTS 86H/10, Izok Lake area, Nunavut and Northwest Territories, 2009-2010. ( more)
3 Till and lithogeochemical survey, NTS 86H/10, Izok Lake area, Nunavut and Northwest Territories, 2012. ( more)

Project Funding

The Government of Canada is investing $100 million over five years (2008-2013) in its Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals (GEM) program to provide the geoscience knowledge necessary for private sector exploration companies to guide investment decision,  as well as for government to inform land-use decisions such as the creation of parks and other protected areas. GEM is being delivered federally by the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP), Earth Sciences Sector (ESS), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).  In some cases, provincial and territorial agencies have contributed funding to GEM projects.

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