| Title | Optimal ferromagnetic fraction in till samples along ice-flow paths: case studies from the Sue-Dianne and Thompson deposits, Canada |
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| Author | Sappin, A -A ;
Dupuis, C; Beaudoin, G; Pozza, M; McMartin, I; McClenaghan, M
B |
| Source | Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis vol. 14, 2014 p. 315-329, https://doi.org/10.1144/geochem2013-212 |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2014 |
| Alt Series | Earth Sciences Sector, Contribution Series 20130265 |
| Publisher | Geological Society of London |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Northwest Territories; Manitoba |
| NTS | 85M; 85N; 86C; 86D; 86E; 86F; 86K/01; 86K/02; 86K/03; 86K/04; 86K/05; 86K/06; 86K/07; 86K/08; 86K/09; 86K/10; 86K/11; 86K/12; 86K/13; 86K/14; 86K/15; 86L; 53M/05; 53M/06; 53M/11; 53M/12; 53M/13; 53M/14;
54D/03; 54D/04; 63O; 63P; 64A/01; 64A/02; 64A/03; 64A/04; 64B/01; 64B/02; 64B/03; 64B/04 |
| Area | Thompson; Great Bear |
| Lat/Long WENS | -120.0000 -116.0000 67.0000 63.0000 |
| Lat/Long WENS | -100.0000 -95.4000 56.1667 55.0000 |
| Subjects | economic geology; surficial geology/geomorphology; iron oxides; copper; gold; nickel; mineralization; indicator elements; magnetite; hematite; tills; glacial deposits; Sue-Dianne Deposit; Thompson
Nickel Belt; Thompson Deposit |
| Illustrations | location maps; tables; plots |
| Program | GEM: Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals Iron-oxide Copper-gold (IOCG) / Multiple Metals - Great Bear Lake (NWT) |
| Released | 2014 06 18 |
| Abstract | Iron oxides are minerals resistant to chemical alteration and mechanical abrasion, and which have ferromagnetic properties and a range of chemical compositions. These characteristics are useful as
indicator minerals in exploration, for example using till in glaciated terrains. Iron oxide proportions, grain size, and chemical composition of till samples collected near the Sue-Dianne Cu-Au-Ag IOCG deposit in the Great Bear magmatic zone
(Northwest Territories, Canada) and magmatic Ni-Cu deposits in the Thompson Nickel Belt (Manitoba, Canada) show that subsamples containing c. 100 grains from the 0.25-1.0 mm grain size ferromagnetic fraction yield a representative mineralogical and
compositional range of oxide grains from a till sample. Subsamples with less than 100 grains yield statistically less representative data. The 1-2 mm grain size fraction typically contains too few iron oxide grains and thus using this fraction is not
statistically representative. The composition of iron oxides from eight till and five bedrock samples was determined along transects up- and down-ice of the Cu-Au-Ag Sue-Dianne IOCG deposit. At, and immediately down-ice of, the deposit, hematite is
the principal oxide and shows dominant BIF and IOCG chemical signatures in the Ca+Al+Mn v. Ti+V discriminant diagram. Up-ice and farther down-ice of the deposit, magnetite and titanomagnetite are the dominant oxides and magnetite shows dominant
Kiruna and IOCG signatures. The composition of iron oxides from six till samples along a north-south transect and 11 till samples from a 180 km-long east-west transect, along the older and younger directions of ice-flow, respectively, was determined
in the Thompson Nickel Belt (Manitoba, Canada). The proportion of magnetite in till with the signature of Ni-Cu deposits increases for at least 1 km south of the Pipe Ni-Cu deposit along the direction of the older southward ice flow, whereas the
glacial dispersal of magnetite with a chemical signature typical of Ni-Cu deposits was limited during the younger westerly ice flow. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
This research helped to determine the optimal fraction in glacial sediments to best represent the variations in composition of iron oxide minerals.
Samples were collected near mineralized rocks of iron oxide copper-gold deposits in the Northwest Territories and Ni-Cu deposits in northern Manitoba. Iron oxides have the potential to help trace mineral deposits in the unconsolidated glacial
sediments left during the last glaciation. This work will help provide the geoscience knowledge required to develop effective mineral exploration methods over the Canadian Shield. The work was conducted at Université Laval, in collaboration with
participants from the IOCG Great Bear Project (Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals Program) and the Targeted Geoscience 3 Program at the Geological Survey of Canada. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 293124 |
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