Project Metadata

In 1959, the Geological Survey of Canada carried out a pilot study in NTS 52N (Trout Lake) that included geological mapping and airborne magnetometry.  It was part of a three-year cooperative project between the governments of Ontario and Canada in a ~130 000km² area of the Canadian Shield in northern Ontario.

The work was part of the larger Roads to Resources Program of the federal Government that ran from 1957 to 1963.  The aim of the program was to build roads to facilitate access to minerals and exploration.  Adequate geological knowledge was a prerequisite for location of roads into areas of mineral potential.

In 1960, the work was expanded to include a geochemical component.  Bedrock and surficial mapping, geochemical sampling and aeromagnetic investigations were carried out in NTS 52O, P and 53B, C.  It was decided that stream sediments would not be a viable sample medium because of the weak erosive power of streams in this low relief area and because transported debris was known to be either organic muck or reworked glacial sediments.  Instead, samples of exposed bedrock were collected by field mapping parties traversing the area.

In 1961, the same field activities were completed in NTS 53A, 43D and 42M.

The following Geological Survey of Canada publications are available:

 

GSC Publication	Description
Paper 63-4, p. 40	Summary of Activities: Office and Laboratory, 1962
Paper 64-2, p. 54-55	Summary of Activities: Office and Laboratory, 1963
Paper 63-5, 15 p.	Bedrock Geology, Geophysical and Geochemical Investigations (Parts of NTS 42, 43, 52, 53); includes geology map and aeromagnetic map
Paper 63-23, p. 28-39	Regional geochemical reconnaissance of bedrock in the Red Lake – Lansdowne House area.  (in “Eight Papers on Regional Geochemistry in Canada”)
Bulletin 130	Copper content of rocks in the Red Lake – Lansdowne House area of Ontario
Preliminary Map 50-1963	Copper in bedrock Lake St. Joseph (NTS 52O)
Preliminary Map 51-1963	Copper in bedrock North Spirit Lake (NTS 53C)
Preliminary Map 52-1963	Copper in bedrock North Caribou Lake (NTS 53B)
Preliminary Map 53-1963	Copper in bedrock Wunnummin Lake (NTS 53A)
Preliminary Map 54-1963	Copper in bedrock Miminiska Lake (NTS 52P)
Preliminary Map 55-1963	Copper in bedrock Lansdowne House (NTS 43D)
Preliminary Map 56-1963	Copper in bedrock Fort Hope (NTS 42M)

 

 

The Roads to Resources Program was established by the Diefenbaker Government and ran from 1957 to 1963.  The aim was to complete transportation infrastructure in remote areas of Canada to facilitate easier access to minerals and encourage their exploration.

Between 1959 and 1961 a cooperative project between the Ontario Government (Ontario Department of Mines) and the Federal Government was established to investigate ~50,000 sq mi of northern Ontario.  It was the result of the Federal Government’s policy to aid the provinces in building roads to northern areas for development of the country’s resources.

In the agreement, Ontario would assume 75% of the cost of an aeromagnetic survey of the area and the Federal Government would pay the remainder.  The Geological Survey of Canada was responsible for the cost and execution of all ground surveys.