An Overview of World-Class Gold Districts in Canada's Newest
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JULY 2002 Issue 74 An Overview of World-Class Gold Districts in Canada’s Newest Territory – Nunavut Rob Carpenter Indian and Northern Affairs Canada PO Box 100, Iqaluit, Nunavut, X0A 0H0 Email [email protected] Introduction The Lupin Mine is currently Nunavut’s sole gold producer and has poured over 3 million ounces of bullion since production began in 1982 (Fig. 1). However, recent gold exploration activities across Nunavut have resulted in several significant discov- eries which are at, or approaching, feasibil- ity. This renewed interest in gold explora- tion in Canada’s north is largely due to the availability of extensive, under-explored land parcels that are capable of hosting near-surface and high-grade gold deposits. Acquiring these large land parcels also im- proves the overall effectiveness of explora- tion and increases the chance of discover- ing much sought after gold “districts”, such as the well known Timmins and Kirkland Lake gold districts of the Archean Superior Province. Emerging gold districts in Nunavut in- clude: the Hope Bay Project, located in the northern part of the Archean Slave Prov- ince; the Meadowbank Project, and; the Meliadine Project, both located in the Ar- chean Western Churchill Province (Fig. 1). These districts contain a total gold resource ,QVLGH WKLV LVVXH Fig. 1 – Generalized geology map of Nunavut showing the location of the producing President’s Message 3 Lupin Mine and the Hope Bay, Meadowbank, and Meliadine gold districts as well as other advanced gold exploration projects in the Archean Slave and Western Churchill Duncan Derry Medallist 11 Provinces (after Wheeler et al., 1997). William Harvey Gross Medal 13 exceeding 10 million ounces, hosted in at Hope Bay, Meadowbank, and Meliadine PACROFI VIII 16 least 15 individual deposits, and potential projects represent the three largest unde- for further greenfield discoveries in each veloped gold resources in Canada. This Calendar of Events 18 district remains high. Collectively, the (Continued on page 4) 2002-2003 MDD EXECUTIVE LIST MDD Goals and Objectives Chairperson: Frank Santaguida The Gangue is published quarterly by the Min- Falconbridge Ltd.,, Exploration office, Kidd Creek Minesite, P.O. Box 1140, Tim- eral Deposits Division of GAC and is distrib- mins, ON P4N 7B5; Tel: (705) 264-5200 ext. 8231; Fax: (705) 267-8874; uted to its members. The Mineral Deposits Di- email: [email protected] vision of the Geological Association of Canada is Canada’s foremost society for promoting the Past Chairperson: Steve Piercey study of mineral deposits by supporting local Dept. of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University, Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, ON and national meetings, symposia, short courses P3E 2C6; Tel: (705) 675-1151 ext. 2364; Fax: (705) 675-4898; and field trips. We sponsor the publication of email: [email protected] research relating to ore deposits and metallog- eny, and recognize the contributions of out- standing Canadian economic geologists by an- Vice Chairperson: Moira Smith nually awarding the Duncan Derry and Wil- Teck Cominco Limited, #600 - 200 Burrard Street liam Harvey Gross medals and the Julian Vancouver, BC V6C 3L9; Tel: (604) 640-5373; Fax: (604) 685-3069 Boldy Certificate. email: [email protected] Publication Schedule: Secretary: Lyn Anglin SUBMISSION DATE Geological Survey of Canada, 101 - 605 Robson Street, Rm. 1401, Vancouver, BC December 15 January V6B 5J3; Tel: (604) 666-2562; Fax: (604) 666-1124; email: [email protected] March 15 April June 15 July Treasurer: Robert J. Cathro September 15 October Cathro Exploration Corp., 3230 Dogwood, RR#1, Chemainus, BC, V0R 1K0; Tel: (250) 246-4738 or, Arizona, Tel/Fax: (480) 423-1006; email: [email protected] Information for contributors: The objective of this newsletter is primarily to Publications: Dirk Tempelman-Kluit provide a forum for members and other profes- 4697 West 4th St., Vancouver, BC; sionals to voice new ideas, describe interesting Tel/FAX: (604) 224-5582; Fax: (604) 224-6903; email: [email protected] mineral occurrences or expound on deposit models. Articles on ore deposits, deposit mod- Professional Development – Field Trips: Dani Alldrick els, news events, field trips, book reviews, con- BC Geological Survey, 5 - 1810 Blanshard Street, Victoria, BC V8T 4J1; ferences, reprints of presentations to compa- Tel: (250) 952-0412; Fax: (250) 952-0381; email: [email protected] nies, mining groups or conferences, or other material which may be of interest to the eco- Program Chair for Vancouver: Steve Rowins nomic geology community are welcome. Dept. of Earth & Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Manuscripts should be submitted by email in Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4; Tel: (604) 822-5065/6396; Fax: (604) 822-6088; WP or WORD format. A printed version email: [email protected] should be mailed or FAXed. Illustrations should be camera-ready (ideally as CDR digi- tal files); photos should be of good qual- Medals Committee: Dan Marshall Dept. of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser Univ., Vancouver, BC V5A 1S6 ity. Short items dealing with news events or Tel: (604) 291-5474; Fax: (604) 291-4198; email: [email protected] meetings can be submitted by FAX, postal mail or email. Contributions may be edited for clarity or brevity. For Information & Submissions: Kay Thorne—THE GANGUE NB DNRE-Minerals, PO Box 6000 Fredericton, NB E3B 5H1 Email: [email protected] NEW MDD Website: David Lentz http://mdd.harbour.com/ Dept. of Geology, University of New Bruns- wick, Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3 Email: [email protected] July 2002 – Gangue No. 74 MDD DIRECTORS President’s Message • John Thompson (2001-2004) Dear Members, Teck Exploration Ltd. #600 - 200 Burrard Hello to all new and long-standing MDD members. I am honoured to be tak- Street, Vancouver, BC. V6C 3L9 ing over the executive reigns for this year (2002-03). As Vice-Chairperson last Tel: (604) 687-1117; year, I was able to see firsthand the leading role MDD has taken with respect to email: [email protected] promoting and facilitating mineral deposit research through initiating and spon- soring publications, field trips, and meetings throughout the year. The recent • Jan Peter (2001-2004) GAC-MAC conference in Saskatoon exemplified this by sponsoring several ses- Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth sions, field trips, and one symposium. Special sessions that highlighted current Street, Ottawa, ON K1A 0E8; Tel: (613) multidisciplinary research projects in Saskatchewan (Athabasca Basin Uranium) 992-2376; email: [email protected] and in the Northwest Territories (Yellowknife Gold) attracted much interest and MDD will be featuring these projects in future publications. Also during the con- • Georges Beaudoin (2000-2003) ference, MDD acknowledged the work of two outstanding researchers: Professor Dept. de geologie et de genie geologique, Alan Clarke (Queen’s University), the recipient of the Duncan Derry Medal, and l’Universite Laval, Quebec City, QC; Tel: Jan Peter (Geological Survey of Canada), the recipient of the William Harvey (418) 656-3141; Fax: (418) 656-7339; email: Gross Medal; their citations and acceptance speeches can be found in this issue of [email protected] The Gangue. Three papers presented at the conference were also recognized for their excellence and the authors were presented with the Julian Boldy Award (see • Mike Lesher (2000-2003) details elsewhere in this issue). MDD’s active participation in the GAC-MAC Dept. of Earth Sciences, MERC, Laurentian annual meetings demonstrates the scientific significance of mineral deposit re- Univ., Sudbury, ON; Tel: (705) 675-1151 search, but also represents the importance of this research to the exploration and ext 2276; Fax: (705) 673-6508; email: mining community. [email protected] MDD promises to uphold its level of activities in 2002-03 and this year will be an exciting one for me, personally. I will share my Executive duties • Tom Lane (2000-2003) (thankfully) with an extraordinary group of people. Professor Steve Piercey Consultant, Toronto, ON (Laurentian University, Sudbury), who now acts as Past-Chairperson, has left the email: [email protected] MDD legacy in great shape making my job a bit of a challenge to emulate his contributions. The new MDD Executive includes Moira Smith (Teck-Cominco • Metals Ltd., Vancouver) as Vice-Chairperson, who has several years of industry Dan Marshall (1999-2002) experience in exploration. Her nominators from the West Coast gave glowing Dept. of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser Univ., praises of her skills, enthusiasm, and work ethic that will benefit MDD greatly. Vancouver, BC; Tel: (604) 291-5474; Fax: Lyn Anglin (GSC, Vancouver) is also a new addition as Secretary, who replaces (604) 291-4198; email: [email protected] Gary Wells (Inmet Mining Co., Vancouver) after many years of excellent service (many thanks). Outgoing personnel also include Andrew Conly (University of • Dave Peck (1999-2002) Toronto) as Past-Chairperson, who has fueled several projects on behalf of MDD Falconbridge Exploration Ltd. (take a bow – Andrew) and we hope we can still tap into Andrew’s ability to 21C Murray Park Road, Winnipeg, MB; make things work well. This year will also mark the final one for Robert Cathro Tel.: (204) 888-9860; Fax: (204) 885-4152; (Cathro Exploration, BC) as Treasurer. Replacing him will be difficult, since he Email: [email protected] has managed to keep the MDD financial portfolio growing despite hard economic times, so we will be aggressively seeking for his substitute. MDD is also on the • Jeremy Richards (1999-2002) search for someone to take on the duties of Short Course Co-ordinator. This role Dept. of Earth Sciences, Univ. of Alberta, is now faced with the growing problem of poor attendance and cancellations in Edmonton, AB; Tel: (403) 492-3430; Fax: which MDD is taking a serious look on how to improve this situation. Any sug- (403) 492-2030; gestions or volunteers are welcome to contact me.