Targeted Geoscience Initiative 4: Contributions to the Understanding of Precambrian Lode Gold Deposits and Implications for Exploration (B. Dubé and P. Mercier-Langevin, eds.)

Abstract

Targeted Geoscience Initiative 4: Contributions to the Understanding of Precambrian Lode Gold Deposits and Implications for Exploration. B. Dube, P. Mercier-Langevin, editors. Geological Survey of Canada, Quebec. Open File 7852. 297 p. doi:10.4095/296624. This publication is available for free download through GEOSCAN (http://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/). Maybe I am just growing more skeptical in my old age, but much of what I read these days on gold deposits tends to rehash material that we have known for years. Other research commonly focuses on new data collected by state-of-the-art instrumentation that does little to address key issues to better aid our understanding of the economic geology of gold. This new volume on Canadian Precambrian gold deposits, however, represents a welcome contribution to our science that contains an exceptional amount of important new material on the geology and genesis of lode gold deposits. It is perhaps the most significant volume on the geology of gold published during the past decade. The papers in this well-edited volume summarize numerous studies conducted by Geological Survey of Canada geologists and their many collaborators as part of the TGI-4 research program carried out between 2010 and 2015. The opening paper, by Dube et al., summarizes many of the key findings of the major research themes of the project (BIF-hosted gold, intrusion-related gold deposits, and kinematics of crustal-scale faults) and discusses the resulting exploration implications. The progression—from relatively early formed auriferous VMS deposits, through synvolcanic intrusion-related deposits, and on to youngest BIF-hosted, classic quartz-carbonate vein-type, and other intrusion-related deposits—is well illustrated for key deposits in Quebec, Ontario, Nunavut, and Manitoba. A diversity in deposit styles is emphasized for the Superior Province, which is critical for geologists in planning their exploration strategies. …