Abstract
The Canadian Ni-Cu-PGE-Cr ore systems project, under the fourth phase of the Targeted Geoscience Initiative (TGI-4), spanned a breadth of ore deposit types, tectonic environments (crustal boundaries, suprasubduction zones, astrobleme, intracratonic rift), and processes of formation (magmatic to hydrothermal). This report summarizes key project activities for six mineral districts completed by a collaborative group of more than fifty contributors from the GSC, four provincial geological surveys, academia, and industry to develop and refine genetic models and exploration techniques to determine fertility and pathfinders. Sixty-six new age determinations provide important geochronological constraints to build and refine models for many Cr-(PGE), Ni-Cu-PGE, Cu-PGE, and Fe-Ti-V-(P) prospective and fertile regions. These include Ni-Cu-PGE in convergent-margin settings, Cr in the Bird River and McFaulds Lake ("Ring of Fire") greenstone belts, Cr in La Grande Rivière-Eastmain domains, Cu-PGE in Midcontinent Rift, and Ni-Cu-PGE in the enormous Sudbury mining district. New exploration techniques to detect fertility using advanced mineral chemical microanalytical techniques and discriminant diagrams were developed for oxide phases (chromite, magnetite) in barren and fertile intrusions through examination of Canada's districts (Sudbury Igneous Complex, Ontario; Voisey's Bay, Labrador and Newfoundland) and Archean komatiite (Alexo, Abitibi). The first in situ determination of actual ore-metal concentrations from an early trapped melt hosting a major mining district was completed. Various new indicator minerals and assemblages, such as apatite, biotite, and epidote-amphibole-titanite assemblages, were identified with distinctive chemistry to aid in vectoring towards buried Ni-Cu-PGE and Cu-PGE mineralization.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
