NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: physical sciences, mining, geological mapping, geology, bedrock, lithology, mineral exploration

Objective(s): To obtain a better understanding of the bedrock geology and mineral potential of the South Bear area.

Project Description: The project is aimed at obtaining a better understanding of the bedrock geology and mineral potential of the South Bear area. Southern Bear project area is in the Bear Structural Province of the Northwest Territories centred approximately 240 km north-northwest of Yellowknife. Geological data on the area is sparse and limited to 1:250 000 regional mapping by the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) in the late 1940's. Aerially restricted information on the area is contained within mining industry assessment reports and some (GSC) reports. The geology of the area is poorly understood and no modern geoscience data sets are available. The mapping project will define the structural, metamorphic, lithological, and geochemical bedrock characteristics of the area and will provide an up-dated geological data base and knowledge of the mineral potential of the area. The data obtained will further the scientific knowledge of the area, as well as aid in mineral exploration such as for diamonds, gold and base metal deposits. The main research team will consist of 2 people, Valerie Jackson (Project leader) and a summer student from the University of Alberta who is collecting data within this project area for a Masters thesis. This team will work from a small camp that will be moved every 5-10 days by float plane. Island campsites are preferred for their breeziness and as a small deterrent against bears. The team will travel by zodiac-style boat to a point on the lake and then walk about 6-15 km mapping the rocks and sometimes collecting small samples of the rocks. The aim is to map an area, so that unless the rocks are very interesting, each day the team will walk a different route. This is the last year of the project and the main focus is to finish mapping small areas that are widely separated. The researchers also plan to make day trips to some interesting and complicated rocks that were identified in past summers to try and understand these better. It is possible that the crew members and associate researchers may base in Gameti for 1-2 weeks, if possible and logistically plausible. When the researchers get back to the camp, the day’s notes will be entered into a computer database. Sometimes 1-5 kg rock samples will be taken for further examination in a laboratory, these samples will give information on the composition and age of the rock and, what has happened to the rock since it was formed. The other members of the research team will join the main team for a few days at a time during the field season. These associate researchers have specific interests in the rocks of the area and will likely join the main crew when there is an aircraft available so that they can fly to their specific areas during the day. It is anticipated that a helicopter will be used for between 25 and 50 hours of flying. This will equate to about 6-10 days of use. It is hoped that the flying will occur in late July to early August and possibly in September. Logistics for this helicopter use have not yet been completed but may involve positioning the crew in Gameti, if possible. Most of the large area, near Hardisty and Tuche lakes, will be mapped using the helicopter. It is also anticipated that the researchers will use a Cessna 185 float plane for about 6 days to fly to different locations. Fixed wing use will be from the two-person camps. The results of this mapping project are presented orally and graphically at the annually held Yellowknife Geoscience Forum in November of each year. They are summarized also on the NWT Geoscience Office website (www.nwtgeoscience.ca) and for the Aurora Research Institute. A volume of abstracts is published from the Geoscience Forum. Interim and final results are published through the NWT Geoscience Office as text and map files. An information presentation was made at the school in Gameti in April 2006. An information package will be provided to the community of Gameti upon completion of the project. Fieldwork will be conducted from July 1 to September 30, 2007 at an area which lies between the community of Gameti and Chartrand Lake (115o30'W and 64o30'N), encompassing Margaret, Hardisty, Tuche, Mattberry, Ingray, De Vries, Norris, Zinto, Black Lichen, and Castor lakes, as well as Rae Lakes and Lac Ste Croix, and the area which is partly limited in the west by the Camsell River system.