Resource Assessment of Emerald in the Northern Cordillera: parts of NTS 1051
Principal Investigator: Falck, Hendrik (8)
Licence Number: 13324
Organization: Resources, Wildlife & Economic Development (RWED)/GSC
Licensed Year(s): 2003 2002
Issued: Jun 17, 2002
Project Team: Dr Lee Gro

Objective(s): In 1997, R. Berdahl discovered emeralds near the Lened pluton in the southwestern Northwest Territories. This property, which is currently held by Liberty Mineral Exploration Incorp., has produced a number of transparent to translucent yellow-green emeralds up to 2.0 cm in length. The geology of the Lened occurrence is similar in some respects to the Columbian deposits. Emeralds have also been discovered nearby in the Yukon and a small number of gems have already have been fashioned from Crown emeralds. The purpose of this project is to develop exploration guidelines for emeralds in the NWT. We propose to spend July 2002 in the Lened area, where we will produce detailed geological maps and collect samples for laboratory analysis (whole-rock chemistry, electron probe microanalysis, and X-ray techniques). The goal is to determine the source of the beryllium, vanadium, and chromium. We will also study the regional structure and stream sediment geochemistry to determine whether these can aid in finding mineralized areas. The final produce will be a report with exploration guidelines for emeralds in the NWT.