Tri-territorial database : Indicator Minerals

The scientific research and results of this project are available via GEOSCAN.

Since 1991, exploration companies have collected tens of thousands of glacial sediment samples in northern Canada, prepared heavy mineral concentrates and tested them, primarily for diamond indicators.  With the exploration focus in the North now shifting to other commodities, the GEM Indicator Mineral Project is compiling indicator mineral data for surficial sediments, beginning with Nunavut. Project objectives are to establish a digital, web-accessible database of known indicator mineral sample localities, abundance and mineral chemical data for samples collected by industry and government agencies.

The database will contain information for diamond, precious metal, base metal and uranium indicators, and will be compatible with the existing Slave Craton kimberlite indicator mineral (KIDD) database (http://gateway.nwtgeoscience.ca), in collaboration with the Northwest Territories Geoscience Office. It will be augmented by re-examining diamond companies’ archived heavy mineral concentrates for indicator minerals of other commodities. The data will help define glacial dispersal trends in concert with the Tri-territorial Surficial Geoscience Integration Project, and ultimately provide a framework for target generation for a broad range of commodities. In areas where complex ice flow and glacial dispersion patterns have impeded resource discovery in northern Canada, detailed indicator mineral case studies will be conducted to address these issues. The project will be conducted with contributions from the Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office, NWT Geoscience Office, and the Canadian exploration industry.

For further information please contact:

Roger Paulen, GSC-Ottawa, ropaulen@nrcan.gc.ca
(613) 947-8963