Project Metadata

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

 

 

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.