IN THIS ISSUE
METAL EARTH DATA DOWNLOADS
HOPE BAY MT SURVEY
FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
CONFERENCE REPORTS & PLANS
UPCOMING COURSES
CAREER & RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
|
Greetings to all readers,
As Director of MERC and Metal Earth, I'm pleased to present our fall 2023 newsletter, which features new Metal Earth data, project updates, publications, upcoming courses, and career opportunities. We invite you to share our news with colleagues and always appreciate your feedback.
Ross Sherlock, Director, Mineral Exploration Research Centre & Metal Earth
|
|
|
Two new interactive web maps have been added to the Metal Earth GeoHub, detailing the Rouyn-Noranda, Malartic and Chibougamau Transects. These new tools display:
- data collected at sample locations
- gravity and magnetotelluric source data files
- geochemical analysis in spreadsheet format
- instructions to download full seismic datasets.
This work was undertaken thanks in part to funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.
|
|
First 3D model of gold-endowed belt in development
Hope Bay represents an 80 km long and 30 km wide gold-endowed greenstone belt in Nunavut. The belt is part of the Bathurst Block in the northeastern Slave craton. In close collaboration with Agnico Eagle and Université Laval, Metal Earth has conducted an MT survey of the Hope Bay greenstone belt. This survey will bring new knowledge on the endowed crust's conductivity, the belt's geological architecture, and deep fault systems.
Importantly, and for the first time in Metal Earth’s history, the MT survey was carried out as a grid, not as a single-line transect, allowing for a reliable 3D model of the crust underlying the Hope Bay belt. Along with the MT survey, which Quantec Geoscience conducted, geological fieldwork was also carried out between geologists from Metal Earth, Agnico Eagle, and Université Laval.
Key rock types and mineralized structures were examined and sampled for further analytical work.
|
|
|
|
Geologists from Agnico Eagle, Université Laval, and Metal Earth looking for significant rocks and minerals in the central part of the Hope Bay greenstone belt. Photo: Rasmus Haugaard.
|
|
Post-Archean Nb-REE-U enrichment in the Superior craton recorded in metasomatised mantle rocks erupted in the 1.1 Ga Midcontinental Rift event
Legros, H., Czas, J., Luo, Y. et al. Miner Deposita (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-023-01214-7.
|
|
|
Random forest classification for volcanogenic massive sulfide mineralization in the Rouyn-Noranda Area, Quebec
Pouran Behnia, Jeff Harris, Haiming Liu, Taus R.C. Jørgensen, Mostafa Naghizadeh, Eric A. Roots, Ore Geology Reviews,
Volume 161, 2023, 105612, ISSN 0169-1368, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2023.105612.
|
|
|
Origin, nature, and evolution of the northern Pontiac subprovince, Canada: Insights from the intrusive record
Antoine Godet, Carl Guilmette, Jeff H. Marsh, Bertrand Rottier, Doug Tinkham, Isaac Siles Malta, Adrian Rehm, Taus R.C. Jørgensen, Mike A. Hamilton, Diogo Ribeiro, Georges Beaudoin, Precambrian Research, Volume 396, 2023,
107169, ISSN 0301-9268, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2023.107169.
|
|
|
MERC & Metal Earth researchers contribute to 6th International Archean Symposium
July 2023 | Perth, Western Australia
Six Metal Earth researchers attended the 6th International Archean Symposium (6IAS), which is the premier international scientific gathering for geoscientists interested in the Early Earth. The program reflected a decade’s worth of advances in our understanding of how the Early Earth evolved and aimed to develop future directions for Precambrian geoscience for the next decade. The symposium continued the highly successful IAS meetings presented by Geoconferences (WA). Academic, government and industry geoscientists involved in Precambrian geoscience attended the 6th IAS, held in July 2023 in Perth, Australia.
Target 2023
After the great success of Target 2017, Geoconferences organized Target 2023 to showcase innovations developed to aid the discovery of new tier-one deposits and broaden the exploration search space under cover. Target 2023 focused on all aspects of mineral exploration and provided an opportunity to workshop solutions to the mineral industry challenges that lie ahead. Metal Earth representatives were among the participants, which involved members of the Australian and international mineral exploration community, including executives, professionals, researchers and university students. The technical program featured a plenary format and multiple poster sessions, impacting multi-commodity exploration from the regional greenfield scale through to the camp scale. The program emphasized key research outcomes that impact our understanding of Mineral Systems and the derived exploration strategies; data integration, interpretation and key exploration targeting inputs; and improved targeting strategies and methodologies.
Metal Earth participants included Taus Jørgensen, David Snyder, Bruno Lafrance, Chong Ma, Phil Thurston, Györgyi Tuba, and Kristine Nymoen.
|
|
|
|
Archean volcanic dome collapse breccia in the Kalgoorlie terrain, Eastern Goldfields, Western Australia. Field trip photo: Györgyi Tuba.
|
|
FUTURE CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES
|
|
|
|
Meet MERC and Metal Earth Director Ross Sherlock, research associates, and graduate students at AME Roundup in Vancouver, January 22-24, 2024. Please find us at the MERC booth (#318) to receive updates on current and upcoming research projects, discuss career opportunities, and learn about our laboratory services.
|
|
|
PDAC-SEG Student Minerals Colloquium Open for Registration
The annual PDAC-SEG Student Minerals Colloquium is open for registration and abstracts.
Presenters have the opportunity to share their research in a poster format with an audience of industry professionals, researchers, academics, and fellow students. Posters are judged by a panel of industry professionals, with three winners selected from each of the BSc, MSc, and PhD categories (nine prizes are available). First, second, and third-place winners will receive $500, $400, and $300, respectively, thanks to generous sponsors.
Students at all levels (BSc, MSc, PhD) with projects related to mineral deposits are encouraged to share their research and register. View details here: https://merc.laurentian.ca/seg-smc.
|
|
Register now:
Potential-Field and Gamma-Ray Spectrometry Methods
Dr. Richard Smith is offering a new course from January - May 2024 that provides more details on potential-field methods (gravity and magnetics) and the gamma-ray spectrometry method. This course is open to industry professionals and university students.
To provide maximum flexibility for learners, students may attend in a classroom in the Willet Green Miller Centre (Sudbury, Ontario), or participate remotely, either at the same time as the other participants (synchronously) or asynchronously (to accommodate the participants in other time zones). This course runs from January 8 - May 4, 2024.
|
|
|
Exploration Geophysics
GEOL 5956
December 6-15, 2023
This 10-day course includes an introduction to the physical properties of rocks and how these can be inferred from geophysical data. The role that geophysics plays in mineral exploration programs will also be discussed. Methods covered gravity, magnetics, electrical and induced polarization, electromagnetics, gamma-ray spectrometry, reflection seismology, borehole, and airborne methods. There are daily exercises, many involving computer applications, and the final day will include a regional interpretation of public domain geophysical data.
Find the latest details here or email Dr. Richard Smith at rssmith@laurentian.ca.
|
|
The Harquail School of Earth Sciences, MERC, and Metal Earth attract top-calibre professionals, graduate and undergraduate students, and postdoctoral researchers for academic and staff roles. Many of these opportunities are made possible with support/collaboration from industry, academic, and funding partners.
Staff/Faculty Postings
- Assistant/Associate Professor in Ore Deposits, Critical Minerals (Tenure-track)
- Metal Earth Post-doctoral Fellow Position at Université Laval
Student Research Projects
- MSc Graduate Opportunity – Indigenous Traditional Knowledge Applied to Geoscience
- MERC/Kinross MSc Project – Metamorphic P-T-t and Fluid History
|
|
|
|
