Grant: Alliance Grants

This NSERC Alliance Grant proposal represents a sub-project within a larger study funded by the Australia Mining Industries Research Association (AMIRA). The project "P1061B - South American Exploration Initiative" is run through the Center for Exploration Targeting at the University of Western Australia and is sponsored by 5 mining companies (Barrick Gold, Newmont, AngloGold Ashanti, Reunion Gold and Centamin) for three years under the coordination of AMIRA. The CA$310,000 provided to Laurentian University represents a small portion of the US$1.7 M for the project as a whole, excluding in-kind contributions from local partners. Barrick Gold have requested that AMIRA and the University of Western Australia direct a portion of their sponsorship to fund this sub-project on the stratigraphy and gold metallogeny of the Guiana Shield.The South American Exploration Initiative aims at updating and integrating the geology of the Guiana Shield. It represents the first sustained collaborative effort at integrating and modernizing the geology of the Guiana Shield since the 1970's, seeking to overcome the scientific isolation caused by colonial era divisions of the region between five different countries, each with a different language and culture. It includes researchers representing academia, industry and government in each of countries in the region. The project is subdivided into a series of modules each focusing on a different aspect of the regional geology. Our NSERC Alliance Grant proposal falls into module 1, stratigraphy and structure, and module 3, gold metallogeny. Other modules focus on the magmatic (module 2) and metamorphic (module 4) evolution of the region, and on capacity building (module 5) in Guyana and Suriname.