| Title | Targeted Geoscience Initiative 5, Gold Project: a summary of contributions to the understanding of Canadian gold systems |
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| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Mercier-Langevin, P; Lawley, C J M ; Castonguay, S; Dubé, B; Bleeker, W; Pinet, N; Bécu, V; Pilote, J -L; Jackson, S E; Wodicka, N; Honsberger, I W; Davis, W J; Petts, D C; Yang, Z; Jautzy, J; Lauzière, K |
| Source | Targeted Geoscience Initiative 5: contributions to the understanding of Canadian gold systems; by Mercier-Langevin, P (ed.); Lawley, C J M (ed.); Castonguay, S (ed.); Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8712, 2020 p. 1-30, https://doi.org/10.4095/323662  Open Access |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2020 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| Related | This publication is contained in Targeted Geoscience
Initiative 5: contributions to the understanding of Canadian gold systems |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Canada; British Columbia; Alberta; Saskatchewan; Manitoba; Ontario; Quebec; New Brunswick; Nova Scotia; Prince Edward Island; Newfoundland and Labrador; Northwest Territories; Yukon; Nunavut;
Canada |
| NTS | 1; 2; 3; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30; 31; 32; 33; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 52; 53; 54; 55; 56; 57; 58; 59; 62; 63; 64; 65;
66; 67; 68; 69; 72; 73; 74; 75; 76; 77; 78; 79; 82; 83; 84; 85; 86; 87; 88; 89; 92; 93; 94; 95; 96; 97; 98; 99; 102; 103; 104; 105; 106; 107; 114O; 114P; 115; 116; 117; 120; 340; 560 |
| Lat/Long WENS | -141.0000 -50.0000 90.0000 41.7500 |
| Subjects | economic geology; Science and Technology; Nature and Environment; Economics and Industry; Education and Training; mineral deposits; gold; mineral exploration; exploration methods; exploration
guidelines; ore mineral genesis; mineralization; ore controls; models; tectonic setting; tectonic evolution; crustal evolution; source rocks; transport mechanisms; fluid flow; flow mechanisms; field methods; analytical methods; mineral exploration
statistics; exploration activities; mining activities; economics; Superior Province; Collaborative research; Methodology; Phanerozoic; Precambrian |
| Illustrations | schematic diagrams; pie charts; bar graphs; time series; location maps; geoscientific sketch maps; histograms; cumulative frequency diagrams; tables |
| Program | Targeted Geoscience Initiative (TGI-5) Gold ore systems |
| Released | 2020 06 11; 2023 03 17 |
| Abstract | The discovery of new mineral deposits is essential to maintain a stable supply of mineral commodities, however, new mineral discoveries are in ever more remote, deeper, and/or covered geological
environments, which presents significant challenges. The fifth phase of the Targeted Geoscience Initiative (TGI-5) was developed to address these challenges and to advance our understanding of ore-forming processes at various spatial scales and
across geological time. Here we present a selection of highlights from research activities comprising the Gold Project. These research activities, all of which included significant field components, focused on different aspects of the gold mineral
systems and included gold districts with variable metal endowment (e.g. southern and northern Neoarchean Abitibi greenstone belt), geological setting (e.g. pre-, syn-, and post-orogenic processes), and geological age (e.g. Paleoproterozoic
Trans-Hudson, and Phanerozoic Appalachian orogenic belts).
The southern Abitibi is host to many different types of giant gold deposits (e.g. synvolcanic and orogenic gold ore systems), although the sources of ore-components for these mineral
systems remained unclear. New TGI research addressed this knowledge gap and demonstrate that (1) diagenetic sulphides (pyrite nodules) and their host sedimentary sequences within the Superior Province are pre-enriched in gold; (2) Archean
calc-alkaline felsic volcanic centres associated with large synvolcanic gold deposits further suggest that igneous differentiation in the lower crust may be associated with the generation of synvolcanic gold-rich magmatic-hydrothermal systems; and
(3) undocumented upper mantle pathways existed, which were revealed by anomalous ore-forming element concentrations within cratonic mantle samples from the southern Superior Province. Together these research activities provide new insights into the
upgrading of ore components from the mantle to the upper crust, although the role of these pre-enriched source rocks to gold ore systems remains unclear.
Other research activities focused on the complete source-to-ore pathways of gold-bearing
fluids for multiple gold districts across Canada. The similar pacing of events and timing of auriferous vein development within the overall tectonic evolution for several of these gold districts likely reflects a common driver (e.g. upwelling
asthenosphere) and/or tectonic triggers (e.g. crustal extension and associated magmatism). However, the contrasting metal endowment of areas with otherwise similar histories (e.g. southern versus northern Abitibi belt) suggests that the prospectivity
of gold districts is not entirely related to the large-scale drivers and triggers of ore-forming fluids. Moreover, long-term preservation is another critical factor in gold ore systems, which is promoted by rapid burial; limited post-ore
remobilization during hydrothermal and metamorphic overprinting; and long-term craton stability. Indications of preferential preservation, such as the occurrence of synorogenic polymict conglomerate, constitute key exploration criteria.
New
analytical methods that were developed as part of TGI-5 are also providing new tools (e.g. rapid in situ element mapping and data interrogation approaches; new geochronological methods; clumped isotope thermometers) for recognizing ore-proximal
depositional controls from the rock record. An improved understanding of these controls and efficient vectoring tools are increasingly important for mineral exploration targeting. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
The main objective of phase 5 (2015-2020) of Natural Resources Canada and Geological Survey of Canada's Targeted Geoscientific Initiative (TGI) program
was to generate new knowledge, methodologies and models to enhance the exploration industry's ability to detect buried ore deposits. This synthesis volume contains 20 individual papers that discuss craton to deposit-scale characteristics of
auriferous deposits, plus some support material pertaining to the TGI-5 Gold project. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 323662 |
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